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Altered Senses?


rach73

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Hi,

I just wanted to ask if anyone has noticed a change in their sense of taste and smell, or maybe just one has changed for you?

My sense of smell has become quite acute - I can smell if someone hasn't washed their hair ( I don't mean not washed it for months LOL, maybe a day or two) to me it gives off a particular smell.- maybe that comes under phantom smells as well - see below?

I also have the problem of what I can only describe as phantom smells.Lately I have asked my husband if hes had a drink because I can smell stale alcohol - unlikely as a) he drinks about 3 times a year B) he would be sacked if he drank at work. I was also convinced that my carpets upstairs smelt of dog urine - yes I have dogs, big dogs but I would notice a big wet patch if someone had an accident. My lounge curtains are also smelling of urine - no one else can smell it. I will smell it for days even weeks on end and then it goes its very bizarre.

My sense of taste has really changed also. Foods which I have adored no longer do it for me. Everything tastes of salt - this was before I started adding salt to food. Now I just have to accept it. Things like orange juice would taste of salt?? I have always adored cottage cheese and could eat it plain straight out of the tub - since a young age. Now I can't stand the stuff, it tastes sour and revolting. I loved sweets chocolate etc, if it was in the house I had to eat it. Now I couldn't care less, it no longer tastes as good. Its all just very strange.

I seem to have to have strong flavours now before anything registers on my tongue.

I have had brain scans MRI and Ct's, nothing has shown. Has anyone else noticed their senses changing since becoming ill?

Thanks

Rach

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wow, there were few of us discussing on other topic (about allergies) about smell of cigarettes and how much it bothers us. I'm also very sensible of smells (if something is roasted or has some other strong flavor it's a killer for me). I also have the problems you have, smelling things what other people don't, but I'm not diagnosed with dysautonomia, just MVP for now..

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Oh definitely the smell sensitivity. I guess for me it would fall under "mutilple chemical sensitivity." Exposure to minute amounts of perfume, cleaners, paint etc. triggers racing heart, I can taste it my mouth, my ears feel clogged and ringy, I feel dizzy (dizzier), disoriented and the list goes on. I cannot even go in my backyard if the neighbors are doing laundry. I can smell things in other people's houses?? It's just awful. Most people cannot even smell what I am smelling. I have had the same thing with the alcohol with my husband --have you been drinking??? -- he rarely does. It seems like if he has eaten certain things his breath will smell like alcohol to me? What you say reminds me of pregnancy when many smells are heightened and certain foods you once enjoyed suddenly become revolting. I am having the opposite problem, however with my sense of taste. It can be quite dulled, especially when I am feeling particularly dizzy -- I literally cannot taste my food. It's so annoying because I love food! It's all so odd, but I guess has to do with some overactivity/hypersensitivity and/or mixed signals in the brain.

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Yes, my son's senses have changed also. There are some sounds he can not stand! He can play his stereo loudly, but the TV has to be very soft. The sound of a can top being popped can make him writhe in pain. He smells peanut butter cookies or dill pickles from time to time, both of which he likes and just makes him want to eat some. But if I burn something it makes him pysically ill and symptomatic. He was telling his sister she stinks (don't you love teenagers!) but she didn't. His taste as been off from time to time, also.

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Hi,

Thanks for your replies.....that was quick!

I am actually a smoker so cigarette smoke doesn't bother me. I'm not massively chemical sensitive either although I have stopped using a lot of chemicals around the house. I rely on white vinegar and washing up liquid to do a lot of my cleaning now.

Saying that I have got extremely sensitive to perfumes and aftershave. Its unfortunate as my mother in law and sister in law buy for me for Xmas- I dont have the type of relationship with them where I can tell them it causes me problems as they struggle to believe I am ill anyway.

I can't wear perfume as I get headaches or it just stays up my nose for days on end LOL. So I end up gift recycling and passing it onto someone else! Before I became ill I could wear any perfume, now its none.

One smell I absolutely love is Jeyes Fluid I don't know what the US equivalent is, its a type of bleach based cleaner thats dark brown and used for kennels etc. But this stuff is actually put in areas where undesirables congregate to make them move on! I use it on the patio for the dog urine! But my neighbor is really sensitive to the smell so I only use it on days when she is at work. I just can't get enough of that smell, but a lot of people hate it! Saying that the smell of bleach makes me feel sick and stays up my nose for days!

After I posted this I forgot one really weird change in taste for me which is Fry's Turkish delight - again I am not sure if you have a US equivalent. The choc bar divides people in the UK as a lot of people don't like it. I have always loved it.............until I got ill. I will eat it if its bought for me, but I just don't enjoy it like I used to!

Thanks for your replies

Rach

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I have always been sensitive to sound and smell since my CFS started long ago. It all got much worse, but I took supplements for low seratonin. Seratonin affects these things. I am better now, I am easily startled too, but that has improved also.

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Hi,

just been chatting with my mum this morning and she says my sister's sense of smell is very acute, but she also has the phantom smell issue.

I also do the burning smell, which causes me to panic!

Its very odd but I am happy to see that my sensory weirdness isn't something that I am dealing with alone!

Rach

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