Smells bother me. no one understands!

Does anyone know what it is like to have a strong sense of smell???
Everything smells bad!


The worst is older women with perfume and cheap make up on. It got worse as I got older. I can't go near perfumes at stores. And then I made to be a nutcase because I can't stand it.

My parents have some kind of light that you plug in and it is filled with some sort of perfumy stuff. with all the doors closed I can still smell it. so I removed it from their bedroom. I put it in 4 trash bags all tied together and I can still smell it. I got yelled at and told I am thrown out again!! I have to watch everything I do around them. I told them I am allergic to it (no other way to put it) and they shook their heads and said i am thrown out and treat me like I am a pshychiatric patient. So I said how would you like to smell bleach all day right in your face, because that is what it is like for me!

My parents only think about themselves and don't care about others unless it is someone that they like.

Smells also make me feel violent. Can anyone relate? I also work with the public and can't stand to be around older women. It is completely disgusting to me!!!

Maybe you wanted to move out of your parents place?

I have a semi-strong sense of smell. For me, tho, there are several specific smells that bother me. And them some that make me feel good.

On the list of bad are a certain men's cologne, patchouli, and cleaning chemicals. On the list of good are beaches and lakes, fresh rain, fresh cut grass, moth balls (weird, I know), lavender oil and mild eucalyptus oil.

Last week, I went to an NA meeting I had never gone to, and one of the men, when I walked in, noticed that I was breathing a little heavy. I was reacting, mostly, to the smell of the place. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it was a smell I was trying to identify, and I couldn't place it right away. The meeting is in a community hall of a church and my best description was it smelled "like a church"... this man asked what a church "smelled like", and I couldn't really describe it... other than musty, with a tinge of little old lady perfume. It was weird. The smell made me feel odd but not panicky...

I totally get the smell thing tho... people seem to get insulted when I walk away from them because I can't stand their cologne or whatnot. I'm tell them it's nothing to do with them, it's just the smell itself, but people just don't undrrstand.

I can relate to the perfume thing.

if their's 1 thing that annoys me, it's people putting on 2 much perfume, then standing right by you giving you a headache
I also relate to cleaning products.. I can't stand in a room where they have been used

for me though, mainly, it's smells that link to memories that bother me and sometimes upset me, or make me react in a diffrent way

lol about the church thing too. that made me smile

Ya, the certain men's cologne is related to a certain person. The beaches and lakes are good memories, and the moth balls (lol) is my grandmother's house.

I don't like the smell of perfume so I can relate. I find it gives me a awful headache, Brings on my migraine.

There is some smell that older ladies have on now. It is fairly recent. I think it is a certain product many women are wearing and I can't stand it!!!!!
I don't mind vinegar and cleaning chemicals don't really bother me (except bleach).

Its the perfume, fragranced deodorant, fragranced makeup and even shower gels. (there are only a few shower gels at bath and body that I like and they are old school so I have to order them online!- all the new ones- yuck!!!)

Smoke by itself is okay but if it is mixed with perfume yuck!! THE ABSOLUTE WORST IS ANYTHING AXE!!! PLEASE PEOPLE DO NOT WEAR THAT! YUCK!!! not to be prejudice but I can't be around Indian people and even some African American because of the perfume they wear. I have been told it is their skin,,,,nooooo it is not! I have smelled perfume right from India (knew some Indian people) and it is the absolute worst!!

But yeah older women just kill me!!!! I want to gag!

I work with someone who is very allergic to perfumes or most anything scented. None of us in the office wear perfume to work because of it.

Lol I'm like you… my sense of smell is way too strong! It can really make my head hurt.
I'm sorry you have the same problem.

Generally I am okay with most smells. I can't walk down the detergent and cleansers aisle at the grocery store though and I avoid those smelly bath stores at the mall.

For me though there are several smells that I can't handle that are overpoweringly strong to me and trigger strong emotional responses. These smells bring back a sense of dread: bacon and eggs, vapour rub, and the combination of diesel and dirty oil.

On the other hand there are smells that trigger warm cozy memories: the salty air of a warf, the pine fresh scent of a forest, and the smell of line dried laundry.

I've just recently joined. I was on many years ago. Anyhow, I have had to smell disorder for a lot of years....I was walking through a grocery store around Halloween time. Just ten feet away I smelled the strong smell of the cinnamon and within walking down one aisle away I got an instant migraine. Strong perfumes, men's cologne, gasoline fumes, smoke from fires. Any smell I usually get a migraine. I try to cover my nose, try doing this in a church as you are greeting people. Not a good thing. I do use a cologne called Charlie the original kind. I have used it for 20 + years and I do not smell it and it doesn't bother me. why? don't know. But while driving in the car I have to have air conditioner on so no outside air along with smells come into car. It's terrible...I used to smoke...I stopped...it got to the point I would get a migraine every time I smoked a cigarette. The pain was unbearable so I quit cold turkey after 30 years of smoking. I haven't looked back. I can't be around anyone who smokes. Even some candles or I should say most candles. I can't go into a store selling candles, anything with smells that even permeates into the area around the store like in a mall. It is a real...too real, but it's been a while since my last migraine. Worth it to control my environment without the smells. Pain is a good incentive to stop doing that what is giving you pain.
I hope your family understands. Have you tried to show them articles on google, psych central, any other means that explain the problem. Tell your doctor have him explain to your family. My family is very considerate they know the problem it causes me. Good luck.

No, my family will never be considerate! they are rigid nutcases