sense of smell

[magicdice]

my sense of smell has improved considerably recently. when i say improved, i mean that it's become more sensitive, which isn't necessarily a good thing since i now want to leave the room every time someone peels a banana, and i have to remove my mum's pot pourri from the living room if she's not there & i am (she'd kill me if she knew) also i'm more aware of other people's scents and even if i'm at a party i can often tell if one of my close friends has just walked in, without me even seeing them.

any ideas why this may be?

[dimmy]

are you pregnant?! ;o)

[ICEMANSAV]

or given up smoking?

[magicdice]

it's highly unlikely... i hope not!

no, this has been happening over the last few months & i might even be smoking slightly more now than i was before!

[Gevs1966]

you might have been bitten by a genteically engineered insect and are starting to gain its powers.....

[Lillabet]

While I like the genetically modified insect idea it is as likely that you may have simply developed a hypersensitive sense of smell. This happens to some people.

Sometimes it seems to be in response to other factors  - such as someone going blind developing a much more acute sense of hearing than they had previously

Other times it is for no particular reason. Hypersensitivity is usually a term you�ll hear in relation to allergies and it is a state of reactivity that is far greater than what the antigen (the agent of reaction) should cause. So in a sense it is an allergic type reaction. In the same way that people can develop allergies at any point so they can develop hypersensitivities.

[gazzawazza]

Hey Magicdice, I thought you were giving up smoking???

On the subject of the question I too have a very keen sense of smell often smelling things way before others do, but in my case I have always had this as long as I can remember.  It can be both a blessing and a curse, there are many smells I absolutely love but of course there are many I hate as well.

[pretorious]

"genetically modified insect" - good one

well, i have the same effects. i can figure out what perfume someone was wearing when i come in the lift, i figure if there is an LPG leak before any one can...and i feel very strange on how people buy bad smelling perfume/deodorants for hefty amount that smell like absolute rotten egg...and gets criticized if i tell them that it smells like rotten egg.

[magicdice]

gazzawazza i was but then my boyf's dad OD'd & got kicked out by his mum so they're now moving permanently to ireland in case dad gets drunk & tries to harm either of them again, & all the subsequent anguish was a bit too much to take, so i've set the deadline back to this coming monday. fingers crossed there are no more extreme crises then!

[Dom Tuk]

My cousin fell off his motorbike and banged his head and was concussed. In hospital for 2 days for observation. No damage but came out with the symptoms you describe. Also hated the taste of some foods that he liked previous to the accident. have you had any head injury lately however slight.

[purplefish]

do you suffer from migraines? my mum suffers from them and just before she gets one her sense of smell improves a lot, she can smell things really strongly that i can't even smell.

[gazzawazza]

Ok magicdice I'll let you off just this once but no more excuses from now on ok!!!?  Good luck for Monday and beyond!