Hello Anne

Read on with what Mick has to offer, a great cronological of events
that he has shared with us and his recovery. Also read past
messages to learn of others experiences. Myself, I have finally made
the commitment to travel to Washington D. C. and be evaluated by Dr.
Henkin. My appointments are for the 26th and 29th of this month and
will report on my sucesses and failures. Time will tell. Good Luck!!

HarryO

--- In
dysosmia@yahoogroups.com, "annegian" <annegian@...> wrote:
>
> So I'm not crazy. It's good to know.
>
> My story. About a year ago, I had a terrible cold including such a
stuffed up head I
> couldn't breathe. After about 5 days of being unable to pull any
air through my nose, I
> went through 5-7 days of having absolutely no sense of smell or
taste - nada - zip. As the
> senses came back, I noticed two things: Coffee smelled funny (and
slight difference in
> taste) and my sugar-free, caffeine-free diet Coke tasted mildly of
mold. I more or less
> lived with it and never really questioned it.
>
> About 8-10 weeks ago, my symptoms started to compound. It started
one day in the work
> cafeteria. I noticed a very unpleasant odor - never smelled it
before - a chemically smell
> with a slight undertone of ammonia. Then I noticed all my t-shirts
smelled funny. Then I
> noticed the dishwasher had the same odd aroma. Again I didn't
really think much about it.
> I've always had a keen sense of smell which my husband does not
have. I asked him and
> he didn't smell anything. Then I noticed that my bath wash smelled
funny (a different,
> sweet but unpleasant smell). Then I noticed that my hand wash had
that odd cloying smell.
>
> I started to complain more about it to my husband - asking him to
smell things for me.
> But still didn't put it all together.
>
> Then this week I had the "Oh &#*# - something is very wrong here".
Stopped at Starbucks,
> my husband bought a donut and I took one bite and the taste of that
bad smell just filled
> my mouth - I had to spit it out. A donut for crimeny sakes!! Then I
tried the tiniest crumb.
> Same thing. Now I know something is very wrong. I
googled "olfactory halluncinations"
> and here I am. Last night, at a Mexican restaurant, I found out
that cilantro tastes like
> glazed donut!! Wow - what a new world this is ;-)
>
> Spoke to my brother (an MD but not ENT specialist) last night and
he suggested that a
> virus could have damaged my nerve. The increase in abnormal smells
and tastes might
> suggest the nerves are trying to regenerate. But either way, I'm
calling my doctor today.
>
> What scares me is whether this may be permanent. It's like a time
bomb. What will I put in
> my mouth next that will taste so horrible I'll be spitting it
out... in a restaurant. Out last
> night, as I passed various restaurants in an outdoor shopping mall,
the smell was
> overwhelming. I felt like an idiot having to cover my nose with my
hands. Ordered my
> dinner and ended up eating rice - everything else has "essence of
cilantro" in it. Cilantro -
> one of my most favorite foods. No more Mexican for me.
>
> All my clothes stink. Most of my soaps and shampoos either stink or
don't smell the way
> they did. I'm a person who uses smell as one of my primary purchase
drivers. I buy things
> that smell nice. Now I only smell this horrible stench. I have
those lovely reed diffusers in
> almost every room. I now realize they've "turned" on me.
>
> Anyway, glad to find I'm not crazy, but if this is permanent, I'm
not sure I'll be able to
> survive it. Not sure if I'd rather have lost my sense of smell -
but as my world closes down,
> it's very depressing.
>
> Joining this group to get advice and look for similarities in
cases - and hopefully to read
> about stories of recovery. I have to have something to hold on to.
>
> Cheers,
> anne
>