[gravyyy]

Weird I know, but for the past 5 days all I can smell is stale cigarette smoke. It's so strong but I know it's not on me... I don't smoke and haven't been around smokers lately at all. This happened to me one other time in July 2008 after I was discharged from the hospital after 2 weeks... thought it was because even though the smokers on the unit went outside, the whole unit still smelled like stale smoke. So that made sense to me, though I thought smelling it for several weeks after that was silly. I worry that it's a hallucination or a manifestation of psychosis. I am in touch with reality... I know there's no smoke. But in school I remember studying that olfactory hallucinations most commonly manifest as the false smell of either burning or cigarette smoke. I didn't mention this to my new T today mostly because I can't decide if I like her but I'm not sure what's happening.

Anyone ever have this happen????? I'm starting to freak out just a little. Wont see my new pdoc for another 2 weeks.

[teads613]

You never had seizures , did you? Sometimes they can manifest like that.
Jan

[volatile]

I smell things like gasoline and bleach all the time where neither are anywhere near me. Oh I smell chlorine a lot too. I smell all sorts of stuff now that I think about it.

[looking4polaris]

Could be you're the first person to catch me sneaking cigarettes...can you smell them out there in cyberspace?
Actually, though, I have had olfactory hallucinations when on a couple of different meds. Usually, it was worst right when I started and when I switched off to something new. I always figured it was a side-effect akin to getting a bad taste in your mouth like I do from some antibiotics. I suggest telling your t or doc just to get some input. I don't think they would react badly or anything and they might be able to figure it out with you. I know it's super annoying, but I always considered it much milder and easier to deal with than auditory (or visual) hallucinations. When I'd complain about smelling something that wasn't there, my dh would laugh and say "there goes your amnosia (his little made up name for it)."

[MickG]

I can certainly relate. For the longest time I could smell burning and cigarettes as well. Now the interesting thing is when I went through a period of psychosis the smell became more prominent (I had visions of going through a tunnel that smelled to holy heaven of a musty smell mixed with stale cigarettes) but I began to relate that smell to a basement of a childhood home and after recognizing that smell as the smell of the basement I no longer had a problem with it. The psychosis was a sort of self-healing experience.

It would be worth exploring this with your doctor. I wish you the very best. Be well.

[perpetuallysad]

I smell burning things all of the time. I used to ask other people if they smelled it, but no one ever did. Its gotten so bad that my neighbor's house was on fire a few weeks ago and I nearly convinced myself it was in my head, had I not eventually seen huge plumes of black smoke I would have not even went over there to help them.

Random: I read somewhere that people with brain tumors and brain damage often smell "phantom" smells. I don't think (or hope I don't) have either, but who knows?!

[BNLsMOM]

I always thought I had a good smeller, but maybe it has been hallucinations the whole time...

[cybermember]

Usually when I start smelling foul smells is when things are off. I've noticed my illness develops in layers if allowed to progress. The first layer being auditory hallucinations, the second layer visual hallucinations and the third layer olfactory hallucinations. I have also experienced tactile hallucinations, but can't remember when they come into play.

Smelling things could be benign, but if this really concerns you then call your T and fill her in. She can only help you by what you tell her and if you don't tell her she can't help you. Also I suggest journaling what you are experiencing for when you see your new pdoc. If you are stressed out find ways to de-stress yourself as stress tends to exacerbate symptoms.

Keep us posted.

[gravyyy]

wow.. all great replies... it doesn't take the horrible smell away, but at least I know I'm not alone. I will speak with my old T about it tomorrow as she's supposed to call to check in. Next week I may have a chat with new T about it and then the following week I'll try to bring it up to pdoc, especially if it's still going to. I won't be a happy camper if it's still going on though... thanks for your responses... I appreciate it.

[lonegael]

Yep, when i was having siezures on torranil, I would smell blood before I would zonk out. I still do if I get a headrush. Just to be on the safe side, don't tell your doc that you are having "olfactory hallucinations" or he might go with that and miss something bad. I have had acquaintances who went around smelling things, assumed that they were "oversensitive to chemicals" or "allergic to electricity" and go all alternative just to find out the conditions were medical, progressive, and should have been taken care of IMMEDIATELLY (spelling again, I know). So, don't get scared but have it checked. Huggs to you.

[VickiesPath]

Cigarette smoke can permeate all of the clothing and even the suitcase or bag you took with you to the unit. If you have any of those chothes that you have not washed yet, it can still be around. Even on papers or in your hair (I'm sure you've washed it by now.)

Also, it can still be in your sinus cavities. I don't think you are hallucinating. I smelled cigarette smoke for a very long time after I left my mother's home after taking care of her before she died. Her home was so full of cigarette smell that I smelled of it for weeks. I even had to wash the inside and outside of my suitcase.

When I was there, I had to go outside on breaks because I would get headaches.

[gravyyy]

Yeah, can't be from the inpatient unit... that was over a year and a half ago... certainly have washed all those clothes, moved 2 times and have showered since then.. lol!! My mom smokes and when I stay at her house for a long time things will smell like smoke certainly but it's not like this, that's ewhy I think it's not real.

It wouldn't be as big of a deal if it hadn't happened before but because it has it's worrisome that it was like 2 weeks then and it's going to be going on 1 week now but there was over a year and a half in the middle where I was fine. I won't be telling the new pdoc I'm hallucinating though... I agree that it would just automatically put that thought in his head and he'll just go with that rather than thinking there could be other reasons. I do think it's a hallucination though... not a horrible one, but the smell is terrible! Thanks again everyone... I appreciate it.

[pondbc]

Originally Posted by gravyyy

Weird I know, but for the past 5 days all I can smell is stale cigarette smoke. It's so strong but I know it's not on me... I don't smoke and haven't been around smokers lately at all. This happened to me one other time in July 2008 after I was discharged from the hospital after 2 weeks... thought it was because even though the smokers on the unit went outside, the whole unit still smelled like stale smoke. So that made sense to me, though I thought smelling it for several weeks after that was silly. I worry that it's a hallucination or a manifestation of psychosis. I am in touch with reality... I know there's no smoke. But in school I remember studying that olfactory hallucinations most commonly manifest as the false smell of either burning or cigarette smoke. I didn't mention this to my new T today mostly because I can't decide if I like her but I'm not sure what's happening.

Anyone ever have this happen????? I'm starting to freak out just a little. Wont see my new pdoc for another 2 weeks.

YES! I can't believe I am reading your words...have smelt it so many times, plus yucky cigar smoke. It's OK, you are not the only one.

[northern]

Do you get very bad headaches /migraines? As smelling burning or other unpleasant odour is a pre cursor to such headaches.

I get the smell of 'Bush Fires' & 'Ether' then shortly after get a wacking great migraine that slays me for approx 36hours. And Yes I have had all the checks, CT Scan, Nurosurgeon etc and I was told this is a normal side affect for some people, so is vision disturbance etc.

Recently smelt Geraniums in the car driving to my new Pdoc. Believe this is from the new meds for Bi Polar as I was also experincing cold like symtoms and feeling a bit spacey. She told me that some do get the same sort affects, some less, some more.

[Moose72]

I am having the zig zags again- stuff just looks like it's zigzagging. Warped even. I felt really high and dizzy in the muddle of the night at my friend's last night too but I dunno why that was. Maybe lack of dinner?

[Moose72]

Oh yeah and I do get migraines!

[lonegael]

I zigzag too, but mostly when I am waking up or when I am off my Effexor.

Yeah, gravyyy, I've smelled a smell that did not exist. It was rotten chicken(!) (of all things!) It happened most recently a few months ago. That was the only time since I'd been diagnosed (BP II). It was the middle of the night and all of a sudden the thought of "olfactory hallucination" came to mind, and I can tell you I freaked out a bit, worrying it might be a psychotic indication. One time? No. It suddenly came rushing back that this has happened quite a few times (same smell). Boy, did I rush to the computer to try to disuade myself from worry. Nothing I read helped clarify one way or the other. I was freaking for the same reason as you. I felt clearly in touch with reality, so wth was this?! Upon thinking some more, I realized that each time it had happened, it was upon waking (usually in the middle of the night). I have had a considerable number of hypnopompic hallucinations (common, not psychotic, but *very* real!) and consoled myself that it was probably the same sort of thing (I don't know for sure, but it seems reasonable...)
(Interesting about the headaches, northern... I have migraines, but the smell thing has never been a precursor, though visual disturbances have, ranging from auras around lights to intense, strobe-like flashing at the edge of vision.)

[northern]

With regards to migraine it is a common thing to smell things that are not there. If I smell 'Bush Fires' yep! it's a migraine that I can at least handle or though I might of had no other symtoms.

But if I smell 'Ether' (which I last went under at age 5) I am down for the count for days.

The 'Bush Fire' smell I have had upon waking and of course living in the country I race outside to double check. Once I realise it's nothing local, I know I need to get some OJ juice or try to go back to sleep ASAP. As for the other nothing really helps but a dark room doing nothing.

Vision pre cursor I get sometimes just a squizzel line, but when I get the middle crap I know it will be bad. Think of a retangle cut from righthand corner bottom to lefthand corner top, slightly move pieces apart and in the centre all I can see is nothing but a white misty mush.

At my worst with regards to vision. I actually lost all colour out of my vision other than brown and could only see out of one eye. Very scary!

[BNLsMOM]

I have been smelling rotten fish all week in one part of my living room. While it is possible that the dog stashed something, I have yet to find it, and no one else can smell it.

[cybermember]

Usually that's key for me when no one else can smell what I smell. The last olfactory hallucination I had was when I smelled dog urine in the house for days on end. Mind you, my housemate owns four dogs, but they are definitely housebroken. So I finally asked him if he smelled urine and even asked him to get down on the floor to smell the carpeted runner. His reply was he didn't smell anything. That's when I realized it was a hallucination as I've known myself to have other sensory hallucinations. Not long after my pdoc found out I took myself off my antipsychotic a year and a half earlier that he put me back on it.

[BNLsMOM]

One night recently I smelled fire when I was trying to go to sleep. I assumed it was a neighbor's fireplace. Every house in my neighborhood has one. Maybe that was a hallucination too. All the windows were closed and it was a pretty strong smell. Ack! I'll never trust my nose again!

[Phoenix1985]

Sometimes I smell smoke, especially around electrical stuff like my TV or computer. And it's only me that smells it.