Shit… this is bad isn’t it?

[AJT43]

A few months ago I smelt burning on and off for a few days; I was about to see the GP about it and it just stopped.
Fast forward I’ve had it a few times since but it passed quickly.
The last 3 or so days I’ve been smelling burning and foul smells on and off. Then this morning I woke up with a terrible headache at the back of my head.
I plan on calling the GP first thing on Monday morning but I am honestly so scared. Google tells me the bleakest thing. I’m 31 years old with 2 small children and I’m just terrified.

Could be loads of reasons but get it checked out by GP/hospital.

I kept smelling gas in one room of my house. No one could smell anything.

Came to have work done on the house and they had to lift the floor in the room I could smell gas.

They found a gas leak from a tiny puncture in the pipe

If you can smell burning then it could be just that

Stop googling symptoms - increasing your stress levels by doing that is absolutely counterproductive to your health and of zero benefit.

Do you or your family have a history of migraines?

From what you say this could also possibly be post viral.

Book an appointment with your GP and go from there.

Just because you know someone who had a brain tumour, that does mean they are not very rare. It means that you happen to have met one of the few people who had one.

I heard an ENT telling a story about a guy had the horrible smells thing - he had every kind of test to discover that a cockroach had crawled up his nose in his sleep and lodged itself in his sinus cavity. There are lots of possibilities and hopefully your problem is neither neurological or entomological.

I often 'smell' smoke, when there is none; it's called Phantosmia - look it up! It's smelling smells that aren't there, and it includes foul smells, and smoke.

I’ve had the exact same thing about 2 weeks ago - turned out to be sinuses being inflamed (probably made worse by spring allergies).

Thank you everyone for such kind and caring comments.
I plan on seeing the GP tomorrow.
I have a slight headache this morning, last night when I took my sertraline I realised I didn’t take it the night before so wondering if that’s why I had such an intense headache yesterday.

Have you ever sought a diagnosis of any kind? X

No family history of migraines.
I have had a few random periods of time where I’ve suffered with them around the time of my period or when I was pregnant but never ‘randomly’, always been before my period, which I finished about a week ago x

My partner and I both had this after Covid. Mine is only just going away now, after 4 months!

My g.p. wasn't at all concerned - some people get it, some don't. There were no underlying symptoms. It's just there ... sometimes, not often.

The idea is that you think of the horse first. Doesn’t exclude zebras once the horses have been dealt with.

Doh!

OP i posted above. I did see my GP about the smoke smell. She said it was probably my sinuses. I was also wildly peri menopausal at the time and wondered if it was hormonal too.

After a year or so it stopped happening. It was never constant, usually a few days at a time.

I really think you should calm down. In the last few years I've had three biopsies from lumps and bodily tissue and never once have I been nearly as worried as you sound.

Go out for a walk and take a deep breath.

Thank you.
I honestly am more worried about this than the time I had to have 10 biopsies taken from a single procedure.
I think that it simply doesn’t help that my dear friend had symptoms that were brushed off and ended up dropping dead at home, less than a week after doctors referred her for a scan for ‘peace of mind’. Obviously that makes me hugely biased and adds a huge layer of emotional based worry.

I have had a brain tumour and surgery. The first thing any doctor says on diagnosis, is don't Google! And as you have an appointment tomorrow, please step away from the searching.

Nothing is going to happen tomorrow, you'll probably be referred for an MRI and nothing will happen until that is read by a Neurosurgeon.

There are hundreds of different types, in different locations some benign, some not.

Go out, do something do anything to occupy your mind

That says sinus infection or tonsil stones to me.

I would say sinus infection too. Weird burning rubber smell mixed with something "off." I had a bad one after the flu at christmas and I kept thinking I'd set fire to things at work (chef.) Of course it was the period between christmas and new year, so could get a docs appointment until the middle of January, but i did sinus rinses 🤮 and used a saline spray to try to keep everything flowing out.

I guess you don’t know much about statistics if you think you can conclude anything about how rare brain tumours are from the fact that you know someone who had one 🙄 Please don’t post your alarmist opinion as fact when you don’t know anything about the subject or understand it , @Dontsayyouloveme.

TBH it isn’t really relevant to OP how rare or common brain tumours are. Are far more pertinent question is how common is it that phantosmia is caused by a brain tumour? The answer is very rare.

@AJT43 it’s always best to seek medical advice so it’s good that you are going to your GP. However, you already have a recent diagnosis that causes bad tastes in the mouth and, sometimes, smells in nose - tonsil stones. Having tonsillitis can mean you are more likely to develop tonsil stones and tonsil stones can cause tonsillitis. It’s likely you had both.. Tonsillitis is just a word for inflamed tonsils, it can be caused by many different viruses and bacteria. Those same viruses and bacteria can also cause phantosmia or actual smells in your nose 🤢. The most common causes of phantosmia are sinusitis and upper respiratory infections, which are caused by many of the same bacteria and viruses as tonsillitis. I hope that helps put your mind at rest until you see the GP.

If you google, there are a range of things from minor to serious. I know it’s hard but try not to jump straight to catastrophic. Get in with your GP asap. It can be allergies, sinusitis, various viruses and colds. Don’t rush straight to tumor yet OP. Good luck, hope it’s minor.

I’ve been outside most of the day and have a very drippy nose, hoping it is actually my siniuses or hay fever. I am still planning on seeing the doctor tomorrow x

I haven’t had much burning smell today, my daughter came in from playing outside and I could smell a burny warm smell on her head, i got a strong perfume whiff just sat at home but no intense burning today

OP, my mum died of cancer 3 years ago. I have been to the doctors 4 times since absolutely positive I have cancer each time. I am terrified of anyone in my family being unwell. I absolutely understand how triggering for your own health it can be when something happens like this (and yet, I have stupidly DR Googled way too many times). See your GP on Monday and rule everything out, and then maybe find someone to talk to about possible health anxiety. It’s ok to worry, and I’m sending you hugs, because it’s so debilitating. Do let us know what your doc says x

I got this about 8 years ago. I went to the doctors but there was no issue. It eventually went away but then it came back. After about 4 years of it coming and going, the doctor noticed it was always around pollen time! Mine is caused by hay fever but sometimes the smell is so bad it makes my eyes water!