[Secretum]

We talk about hearing and seeing things all the time, but have any of you smelled anything? It has only happened to me a few times. One day, I smelled french fries everywhere I went, another time I smelled something burning (and promptly checked and unplugged all of my electronics, only to have the scent persist. Thankfully, nothing was actually on fire). Now, I keep smelling really smelly feet, on and off. One moment, it's overwhelming, the next I can't smell it at all. I've checked the obvious and sniffed my feet...that's not it, lol.

Anyway, I hope that this stops soon, because it's a really nasty scent! I took some extra zyprexa a few minutes ago for anxiety and mood swings, so maybe it will help with this too? Or maybe it's the zyprexa that is causing the hallucination! Nothing is straight forward in the world of mental health.

[Moose72]

Yes. I've smelled burned toast outside where there wouldn't be any.

I've read that odd smells occur in bipolar illness, but I don't believe you'd call that
hallucinations; I guess it could be related to some signals getting crossed. Don't know about the meds, except that Zyprexa will cause bad dreams I've been told.

[greylove]

When I smelled rubber for the first time I thought it was the soles of my sandals. I soon figured out it wasn't. The sandals were in the closet but the rubber smell was present every time I sat in my oversized chair.

[manicminer]

I found that for me smell is extremly connected to memory. I'll smell something and instantly it will bring up some distant memory. Or I'll be doing something unrelated, the thought comes to mind, and the smell reappears although the thing the first produced the scent is not present.

For example, after a day of hunting and having to gut deer, and go somewhere else having washed, smell another source of methane, and immediately I smell deer guts.

Or the fact I constantly smell what I believe to be the milking parlor of a dairy farm while working underground in the coal mine.

Weird stuff

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by manicminer

I found that for me smell is extremly connected to memory. I'll smell something and instantly it will bring up some distant memory. Or I'll be doing something unrelated, the thought comes to mind, and the smell reappears although the thing the first produced the scent is not present.

Weird stuff

I totally agree.

[unaluna]

Man, I smell cigarette butts a lot. Not on purpose. Drives me crazy.

[Trippin2.0]

I smell rotting flesh on occasion, yes carcass! Its bloody gross and even gets a gag reaction out of me. And no its not memory, Idk how I know I'm smelling rotting flesh but I'm sure thats what it is...

[Speed3]

I have once in awhile. I'll ask my husband do you smell that ? He doesn't .
I can't remember what the smell was.

It was very strange.

From what I know of antidepressants, they cannot cause you to spontaneously smell an odor. They can, however, dehydrate you, cause a metallic taste in your mouth, and increase sweating among other physical symptoms.

I would have to agree that your spontaneous episode of smelling that odor was most likely a memory triggered. Happens to me a lot and I don't have Bipolar Disorder.

For instance, I was walking down a stairwell of a building I'd never been to before and suddenly smelled cigar smoke. At first I was freaked out but then I remembered that my dad used to smoke cigars a lot in my childhood home, and he often smoked them while he walked around the house, even up and down the staircase in our house. For some reason, that day on the stairwell, it triggered that childhood memory of my dad and his cigar smoke and I have no idea why. After all, it was just a stairwell in a building I'd never been to before that had no association with my family or my dad.

[faerie_moon_x]

Originally Posted by Secretum

We talk about hearing and seeing things all the time, but have any of you smelled anything? It has only happened to me a few times. One day, I smelled french fries everywhere I went, another time I smelled something burning (and promptly checked and unplugged all of my electronics, only to have the scent persist. Thankfully, nothing was actually on fire). Now, I keep smelling really smelly feet, on and off. One moment, it's overwhelming, the next I can't smell it at all. I've checked the obvious and sniffed my feet...that's not it, lol.

Anyway, I hope that this stops soon, because it's a really nasty scent! I took some extra zyprexa a few minutes ago for anxiety and mood swings, so maybe it will help with this too? Or maybe it's the zyprexa that is causing the hallucination! Nothing is straight forward in the world of mental health.

I constantly smell bacon in my office. I'm not near a vent or kitchen. One wall is an elevator shaft, one is a closet, another a big empty classroom, and the fourth wall is an office full of health concious ladies.... No bacon here....

[Silent Void]

One here for olfactory hallucinations. I usually smell flowers.

Yes, they are in fact hallucinations when there is no source possible for the given smell. The strong scent/memory experience is a totally different thing, universal and "normal".

Personally, I'd not overthink occasional incidents or when they are a variety of smells. From what I've read, it seems that they tend to be consistent in the type of scent one experiences (eg. rotten flesh, burning rubber etc.) Olfactory hallucinations can occur with BP, but there are many other potential causes, some mental, some physical.

I do have olfactory hallucinations, and have had for years (17 years in fact). There is no consistency for when or where they will happen. Trippin', I totally feel ya, as mine are the smell of rotten chicken. It's disgusting. Fortunately, they only happen periodically.

[bluemountains]

When I had my triplets, I pretty much lost my sense of smell. I don't know what the cause was-crazy hormones, or the fact that I fainted one day and hit my head pretty hard. The only blessing is that I could handle the diaper days pretty easily.
Even though my sense of smell isn't great, I still have a memory of smells and will occasionally "smell" these. For example, when I was pregnant with my first child, I absolutely hated the smell of a local grocery store. I can still remember that smell and get a disgusted feeling from it.
I guess I won't get too many olfactory hallucinations, but it is weird that I can smell certain events through memories.
Bluemountains

[krisakira]

This is really weird because I am having what I think is a smell hallucination tonight because I smell rotten fruit everywhere. I threw away some trash thi king it was that, but I can't find or get rid of it. Every room in the house smells like it. It's disgusting. So I got on PC thinking maybe I will post about it, and this is the first thread I see. What a coincidence. Any idea how to get rid of thi awful smell???

[Secretum]

It turns out that the smelly feet scent wasn't a hallucination-there was an actual cause for it! I had an old cup of coffee with milk that had been sitting in my room for a week (I know, gross!). That was the source of the stink.

Yes ...

And I enjoy puzzling them out.