I smell things that aren’t there.

[Gilead]

Always have. Doesn’t bother me most of the time although the soap powder smell by my bed is particularly overwhelming this evening. I know it’s fairly rare but was idly wondering if anyone here has it too?

OutOntheTilez, that’s funny. I wonder if it is a common thing.

@YellowJellyfish please tell your friend. You might seem mad and cause a bit of worry but imagine the suffering that would be lessened if your friend does have cancer and you’ve picked it up really early. They have trained dogs to detect the smell of cancer on breath so it’s not mad. There’s also a lady who can smell Parkinson’s, they did a test on her and she got every single person right except a healthy control who she said had Parkinson’s. A few years later he rang the researcher to say he had been diagnosed

Wow. I get the cigarette smoke one too, thought I was just odd. I do get migraines though.

Yes always get very strong cigarette smoke smell and no one else can ever smell it

Funnily enough I was sat in the living room yesterday and I could smell a very strong perfumes scent, so strong I could feel it in my throat and almost taste it.

Drove myself mental with it. Then DP told me he had changed the cartridge in the air freshener but had turned it directly towards my chair so it was puffing into my face all night 🙃

I can smell when people I know are unwell. I know when DS2 has tonsillitis or an ear infection coming as his scent changes, and I knew when my close friend was diagnosed with cancer that there was something wrong as she'd smelled different for months. It's not something I've ever admitted to irl, though, because I'd probably get laughed at. Never been wrong, though.

. . . I have caught a strong whiff of cigarette smoke when inside my house and been sure someone must have passed an open window with a cigarette too but have been sitting right beside the window and can see there has been nobody passing.

I was once bombing along the M40 doing about 70 . Middle of the day, light traffic so I was quite a way behind the next car in front. Lovely warm day and I had all windows closed and the aircon on.

For a brief moment I caught the most distinct whiff of cigarette smoke in the car. It didn't last long, but was clear as day. The only explanation I could think of was a driver ahead was having a cigarette with his window open and I had driven through it.

Mind you, I once worked in an office and if we had the windows open in summer we' catch a whiff of the smokers all gathered over 100 metres away.

And even though we are a couple of miles from the nearest farm, we know when they've been muck spreading.

Oh, and I've just remembered, living in Harrow we'd occasionally catch a whiff of brewing - presumably from the Fullers brewery in Chiswick.

For those saying I should tell my friend. Well actually it was a weekend break with 6 of us, but one def smelled of "cancer".

Although don't know which one. I'm nervous now because I kind of put it out my head. You're mad Yellow let it go!

But I know my sense of smell is amazing. I used to be able to tell when women were menstruating too. So you're right I need to do something.

I shall go round each of the women's house and have coffee. See what I can smell. I think I know who it is too, her mum died young of breast cancer.

Oh god I'm not a woo woo person and I'm coming across as nuts!

I mean how do you say to a mate, hey thanks for the coffee but your breathe smells of cancer!! FFS!!!

She is a very good mate, a bestie so she'd know I wasn't saying it lightly but it would scare the fucking daylights out her! Or she'd think I'd gone nuts.

Oh blimey I don't know.

@YellowJellyfish - I also have a strong sense of smell as does my eldest. A few years ago my dad came to stay - he smelt wrong to me but my eldest (who was only 4 at the time) kept going on and on about it and how he smelt not right. 2 months later he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Obviously it could have been coincidence but he really did have that smell of - I can’t even describe it - but that something was really wrong.

Porpentina - I'm the same: olfactory hallucinations but not much sense of smell otherwise. I wonder if that's usual, or whether there's no connection?

I am weird with smells...and a migraine sufferer!

My dad once collapsed in a heap laughing his head off, as I asked if anyone else could smell gas? My parents had downsized and moved into a newbuild bungalow and all my mother had done was wander about claiming she could smell gas too.
It was a remote Dorset village with no gas for about 20 miles! So that was peculiar. It mostly wore off, but we'd both get odd wafts of it occasionally.

Smells drove me crazy when I was pregnant too...I sat down in a dramatic heap weeping as dh had offered to take me out to one of our favourite lunch places and I knew I couldn't go as I KNEW it would smell funny. We did go back with the baby, and it DID smell funny....never been back.

They say animals can smell illness so maybe there is something in being to do that for some people. We had a dog years ago who always you when somebody was pregnant.

@LaurieShafferIsAllBitterNow dead decomposing mice smell very like gas, as I discovered when I called out gas emergency to a suspected leak. They thought it was gas too, and went round with their sniffer thing. No gas detected, but we found a dead rotting mouse underneath a kitchen cupboard. They said it was not the first time they had had a call like mine.
I used to suffer from migraine a lot, and I knew one was on the way because I could smell burning rubber.

I get this as part of migraine.

Yes I’m like this but have never spoke to anyone about it Incase they think I’m mad!

I can tell when my children or OH is coming down with a cold because I can smell it.

I used to work with children and could guess who’s item of clothing I’d picked up from the smell without even looking at the name label!

As a child I also used to sniff every single plate, cutlery and mug I would use and I couldn’t use them if they had a smell at what I can only describe as raw egg

I often think of relatives who I deeply miss who passed away years ago and I can still smell their house. Also the smell of the hotel we stayed at years ago on holiday. It’s so strange.

@Southmouth I get that with cutlery and glasses too!

@DGRossetti I have smelled smoke while driving too, probably from a car ahead. It is strange when it fills your car and your windows are all up but I suppose smells do infiltrate. I am also near some farms and the smells that get in the car when they are using manure can be awful!

I definitely notice a certain smell when people have a cold. For a while, I kept noticing a particular smell coming from my mum and we put it down to a reoccurring tooth abscess she had been getting. However she was later diagnosed with cancer which has now been successfully treated and is totally gone. I haven’t noticed any smell since she completed treatment.

As well as being very sensitive to certain unpleasant smells, I also really enjoy and even regularly crave others (my username means the feeling and general smell you experience in an old book shop). I love smelling chlorine, a really clean bleachy bathroom, new cars/carpets, books and other printed stuff, new vinyl pencil cases and crayons and quite a few other things. I think a lot of the smells I like are actually not that good for you due to being caused by things like off gassing plastics and glues but I can’t get enough 😂

I get this the smelling smoke! 2 weeks at a time on and off - I have terrible health anxiety and convinced myself I have a brain tumor or ms - I also have a couple other symptoms but my doc says all anxiety, I even have booked a private neuro app Friday because I'm so scared!

I smell smoke or burning a lot. Sometimes petrol, burning rubber, burning plastic. Nobody else can smell these things.

@Mumma1984, I hope you get the reassurance you need.

The last couple of days I’ve had toast, tea, cigarettes and aftershave! I’m stressed though!

There’s a small but significant percentage of the population whose natural smell is repulsive to me and it’s been like that since I was in high school. It’s hard to explain, it’s a distinct musty sour smell that doesn’t change from person to person. I think it has something to do with reproduction & gene compatibility, not that you can explain that to colleagues and people on the tube!

I can also smell when my husband is getting ill.

I don't know if I smell things when they aren't actually there or if my sense of smell is just extra strong all the time. Always has been. Was unbearable in pregnancy. Such an over sensory experience I was frequently sick.

I can often identify ingredients of things just by smelling a dish from afar eg walk in to someone's house and I know what they have made but also what exact things are in it, it is weird.

OP you really should check if you are a super taster because if you are it is big, big money you'll really be in demand for food companies who employ people to ensure consistency in their products. I have never been through the testing for it but did consider applying a few years back.

I’ve a nose like a bloodhound

I also get migraines - interesting link I’ve never heard before!

Every now and then I can smell cigarette smoke around the house, but absolutely no way that it is tobacco. I mostly ignore it, but wonder if it is a mental health thing? I'll have to make note of my mood etc next time.

I can often smell smoke or a burny type smell that no-one else can. This happens every few weeks and doesnt seem to be related to periods. Although i have noticed its usually sunny when this happens! Strange that a lot of us can smell fire/burning.

I can also smell peoples sneezes, theyre horrible!

I can smell sneezes too. DP and his Dad have sneezes that smell very musky but NOT in a good way. Its stomach churning