Does Anyone Else Have A Strong Sense Of Smell?

[artluvr09]

I am so sensitive to smells. Like maybe an hour ago my Grandma sprayed hairspray and I keep smelling it. It is stuck in my nose and the smell bothers me so much makes me lightheaded. I cant stand hairspray, perfume, most lotions, and more. The hairspray smell is stuck in my nose. It is bothering me like crazy!!!

How do you deal with scent sensitivity? I't can be so frustrating!

[Katybug]

Unbearably so. I can smell things long before and long after everyone else and tend to be much more sensitive to certain things like cleaners (and perfumes but only if I'm in a warm environment on this one). I am also super sensitive to sound and light. Pots/migraine neuro says he hears this all the time from us. He said that it is theorized that our nerves are hypersensitive. I actually even have something called allodynia where a normal touch like a hug with medium pressure is actually painful to my skin like I am bruised.

[Ncpotsmom]

My daughter is exactly the same, she can smell everything and some smells make her nauseous while others make it difficult for her to breathe. Smells from food, perfumes, paint and much more seem to bother her. She is also very sensitive to sounds and light. Sorry but, apart from avoidance, we haven't found anything that helps.

[sue1234]

I have a strong sense of smell, even before POTS. My skin is sensitive to touch also. And recently very light sensitive. At times I am just more comfortable being a hermit.

[Kellysavedbygrace]

Me too.

"Hypersensitivity" to the world around me (including smells) but especially light, sound, touch, motion, is one of my top 4 "living a normal life" problems. Interestingly enough, smell was the last one to develop. After onset I had more of a problem with light sound, touch, proprioception (where I am in relation to the world around me) but soon I started noticing the hypersensitivities to smells and tastes. And while I'm hypersensitive to all smells to some degree it is the artificial or chemical smells that make me symptomatic. Here are some specific smell problems I've had and how I've learned to manage them:

- if the bug man sprays for ants and roaches in the living room (4 rooms away from my bedroom where I am) I can within seconds taste a faint bit of the chemical in my mouth. Since I live in Florida, where bugs are a problem, he no longer sprays the inside of the house. He sprays the outside perimeter and I use borax and bay leaves inside.

- when my girls paint their finger nails or remove polish, in their room 5 rooms away I have difficulty breathing. they have to do it outside. They throw away the cotton or paper towels they used for this it has to go in the outside trash.

- when I go to the beauty parlor to get my hair colored, my hair dresser uses the sensitive skin products but I wear a Hepa filter mask because the chemicals/smells in the salon will cause very erratic hemodynamics. I've had my BP drop to 80/50 for 5 hrs afterwards, I've had my HR jump into the 150-180 range and have had to lie down on their back floor, or had my HR drop really low into 50's w low BP. I make sure to schedule my Appts at the end of the day, take extra antihistamines, drink lots of water and avoid exercise anytime earlier in the day.

- I can no longer tolerate perfume, cologne, fragranced beauty products, fragrance candles, oil burners, etc. I now use all natural beauty products and as long as the smell is all natural and not too strong I can usually tolerate it. If I am out and someone near me is wearing a strong fragrance, I have a cloth in my purse that helps filter the smell that I can use as needed. The same applies for cleaning products. I cannot tolerate chlorine or ammonia based products so we use vinegar, baking soda, lemons, tea tree oil and all natural soap without sulfates.

I suspect most of my hypersensitivities are mast cell activation related as this is a common problem for folks who have MCAS but I don't know for sure. Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss more.

[blueskies]

Interesting, I'm hypersensitive to sound, light, taste but my sense of smell switches on and off. Sometimes completely absent, sometimes I smell things what I consider to be a normal amount, sometimes smells are extremely strong and impact negatively on me. I have noticed though that when I can't smell but I'm in a situation that there should normally be a strong smell attached that I will get pots-dizzy anyway. So even when my sense of smell is not working I'm still reacting to the chemicals around me.

My husband is a heavy smoker and although a lot of the time I can't smell it I sure can taste it in my mouth. As if I'm the one who has been smoking - my mouth tastes like I've licked an ashtray. He smokes in a room at the end of our apartment with the door closed and the windows open and hangs out the window to puff away. I wish for both our sakes that he'd stop but I can't get too heavy about it because he puts up with a lot of my pots stuff interfering with our life.

blue

[seattle chris]

Yes, was very sensitive to smells, light and to a lesser degree sound for a period of time.

[Lethargic Smiles]

Yes! I can clearly smell my fiance's can of Pepsi and it is about 15 feet away.