Phantom smells of petrol or fish which nobody else can smell

[NeededANameChangeAnyway]

It's like I get a smell 'up my nose' and then just smell it for ages. This smell is like petrol and it's catching at the back of my throat. Noone else can smell it.

No petrol spills anywhere, private yard where we park the cars, no petrol tank leaks, I've not been to the petrol station today. Aaargh!

Why can I smell things which aren't there???

The other thing I smell off and on is fish. The dog has a bottom problem and occasionally leaves little fishy bloops on the carpet. Often I smell the smell but no bloops and noone can smell it then either.

Am I a super smeller or mad.....?

Is this a new thing or something you have always had?

I’ve had phantom smells ever since I got Covid in 2021. Similar to what you’re describing. I’ve had all sorts of investigations and nothing has been found.

It can go away and then comes back if I catch a virus.

Could you have a sinus infection?

It's something I'd see your GP about, OP. Just to rule out anything a bit more serious than phantom smells.

I've got a hypersensitive sense of smell and it drives me mad.

Ive had it for decades. Im prone to sinus problems though and it got worse after some sort of virus I got around 10 years ago or so.

Mines normally toast, cat wee, cigarettes or just general horrible.

An electrical fault is well known for smelling like fish. Ask any sparks.

Have you ever had Covid OP? It can mess with your sense of smell long after it's gone.

I get this when my sinuses are a bit congested. My smells are burning and bread baking. Weirdly I find the bread one worse than the burning because it is so sickly sweet.

Just had an electrician in recently and fuse board all fine. Good point though!

I can't really think when it started tbh. I am incubating a cold at the moment and am sniffing a bit so maybe that's a factor.

I've had COVID (haven't we all!?) so maybe that's it.

It's so annoying!! Not sure which is worse @likelysuspect , cat wee or fish......

I get the cat wee one and I'm prone to bad sinuses.
Drives me mad!
I even had the box tree outside our front door cut down as I was convinced it was that but no, there it was again 🙄

Have you ever thought it might be them and not you? I only say this as an old neighbour and good friend of ours recently complained of an overwhelming smell of gas to her husband. He said there was no smell and to sit down and watch the TV. Less then an hour later the house exploded due to a gas leak. They both are ok but living in a caravan whilst insurance is sorted (we do not have room unfortunately due to an aging cat). The reason I am telling you this is because the husbands nose was blocked.

Recently had a flu-like virus, and at the tail end had the most vile smell constantly up my nose. I think it was my sinuses, so bought a nasal rinse to help with unblocking things. It seems to have helped, and things are almost back to normal.

It's called phantosmia and I've had it for years, usually related to having had/about to have some sort of cold or sinus infection. Sometimes it's petrol, sometimes it's something a bit like air freshener - I forget about it when it goes, but it's really annoying and can go on for weeks.

It might be worth getting checked out to make sure this isn't anything sinister, but if you have no other symptoms it's most likely connected to your cold. I've just learned to live with it.

How old are you OP? Anywhere near peri menopause? Apparently hugely common. My GP said she hears this regularly. My DH says I should work at the airport as a sniffer dog.

I could smell fish in my house for weeks. Nobody else noticed it. I suddenly remembered about the electrics thing. I went around the house with a ladder, smelling things. Dh thought I was bonkers! Sure enough - one ceiling light fitting proved to be the source of the smell. We removed it and found the wiring had kind of melted inside. Could have been a fire risk!

I've also had other unpleasant phantom smells recently, but I'm pretty sure it's hormonal. It goes in cycles and can be a perimenopause symptom apparently.

Mine is car exhaust/fuel. I live near both a motorway and an airport and there are times of the day where it does legitimately smell out there, but I usually smell it late at night when the air is relatively sweet.
I can’t remember if it started before or after covid but I was lucky and never noticed any other smell or taste related covid symptoms when I actually had it.
I went outside and sniffed a couple of times and the smell wasn’t stronger outside so I ignore it now.

@ I get it, but it’s almost a burning smell. I went to see an ENT specialist privately. He put a camera down through my nose and said it’s all good! So I don’t know.

I had it after Covid. It was like a burning wood smell with a slight hint of citrus. I woke up in the middle of the night once with the smell so strong, I went round the house checking every lead and socket! Only went back to bed once I’d satisfied myself that all 3 smoke detectors were working and would no doubt wake me up in the event there really was smoke! It took about 4 or 5 months but it gradually got better.

This can happen after respiratory viruses, especially Covid but other viruses too sometimes. It can also happen if you’ve got a mild chronic sinus infection.

I get it, but it’s usually cigarette smoke I can smell.

Olfactory hallucinations. I get them too. In my case it’s usually smoking, but other things too. I’ve given up worrying tbh.

have you done a pregnancy test?

I had the fish one too. DH couldn't smell it and I was starting to worry. Eventually I realized that I only ever smelled it if one particular (very old) lamp was on. We replaced the lamp, and I haven't smelt it since (apart from when I'm actually cooking fish).

I can't speak for the petrol one, but I did used to smell shoe polish on and off in my old house, for the whole time we lived there. Again, I was the only person who could smell it!

I have this too, on and off, and mine is the petrol smell. It’s horrible isn’t it? I first had it last year. It came on very suddenly and it took a day or two for me to accept that no one else could smell it and it was phantosmia. To start with I was terrified that I had a brain tumour or something, but I now think it’s menopause-related and also triggered by stress. I never got it checked out. I know I should have, but I had to have extensive investigations last year with the doctor for something else and I simply couldn’t face another round of tests and investigations that is so hard to accommodate with work. Mea culpa!

I've had this on and off for years. After an MRI (I had other things going on at the time too!) and it recurring my GP has put it down to intense stress.
Sometimes I can smell body odours like BO, smelly feet or sweaty people, other times it's burning or cheese. It's infuriating but I have noticed it does coincide with when I'm extremely stressed.

It's probably a peri symptom (I'm 45) plus stress (always stressed!) and a virus. It comes and goes and will last for weeks then goes away and I forget it.

We did actually have a tiny hole in the petrol tank at the very top a few months back, I filled the car to the brim then smelled petrol for days but thought it was just my nose. Had DH and DS in the car and they were amazed I hadn't mentioned it ..... I, in turn, was amazed it was a real smell!

OP, as you know, phantom smells can very rarely be a sign of something sinister, so always best to take it to the GP if it's a new thing, but if you've had this a long time I think it's probably just your Thing.

I'm something of a super-smeller and very sensitive to smelling things that are barely-there to the rest of my family. I also get smells 'stuck up my nose' - articularly when I've got a cold or have just had one (most of the time then).Smells that linger particularly long for me include cigarette smoke, weed , oily cooking, smoke of any sort, damp ... (though maybe I just live in a smoky, damp house without an extractor fan!)