What is this weirdy smell that is following me around?

[Flightty]

It's not me, I promise

Every time I have been pregnant, I get a certain smell I can feel in my nose, it's nothing around me, happens everywhere and anywhere, and is really strange.

It's not massively unpleasant. I started getting it yesterday at 5 weeks and a bit. I don't feel sick yet (though I did a couple of weeks ago, briefly) and it seems pretty random.

Does anyone else have this? I've tried googling strange smell during pregnancy but all the answers that come up are about YOU smelling weird, not something else

Does anyone know what causes it?

I always get a massively heightened sense of smell in pregnancy. You might be detecting something that you can't smell usually, no?

yes i also get an increased sense of smell when pg in my last pg i couldn't have air freshners in the house!! i now smell something horrible at home on a regular basis its grim but does pass.......eventually! :)

I remember the sitting room rug drove me mad and had to be consigned to the garage.

Then my DH started to smell metallic- I nagged recommended him repeatedly to go to the doc to get checked out he smelled so weird. As soon as the baby was born, he was fine again.

Well it's odd, but it's exactly the same smell and we have moved house since then, it was 5 years ago last time! I don't even use the same washing powder...I've no idea what it even smells like, iyswim. It's like a warm sort of smell, as if my nose were producing it itself; it doesn't seem to be coming from anywhere else.

Oh well
Am relishing the pre-sickness stage so will just put up with it!

Euuuuurgh. That smell. It's a horrible, horrible smell. Even fresh air smells of it. Everywhere and everything smells the same. It'll pass. Perhaps clutch big bunches of flowers to your nose like they did in times of the plague?!

Ah, yes, a hanky with a few drops of lavender or neroli oil (or any other oil you can stand and like) worked for me.

Tap water smelled horrible to me for some months- I actually could barely have a bath without feeling nauseous. DH (bless him) went to Lush and got some bath products so the water wouldn't smell of bilge, but they stank so badly I had to consign them to the other end of the house! When I was pregnant with DS, I could smell the sour milk spilled on the carpet in the office kitchen about 20 metres away down the corridor,

I cannot stand the smell of coffee and cigarettes. My dh is a bit coffee drinker, which is not good for my nose.

This isn't going to be a pleasant description, but a few weeks back (I'm now 19 weeks) I felt like I could smell my own snot. Is that what you mean? I've had something similar when I've had a cold, fleetingly, but this was all the time.

Hmmm, not quite Alice - though I know what you mean. Urg.

Good idea with the essential oil - my friend suggested perfume ON your nose, I will do that in a minute.

I also understand the tap water thing. I couldn't go near the stuff last time, not to drink anyway...terrible!

Anyway I went to sleep after posting and am still half asleep now. Maybe I will get the tired thing instead of the sick thing this time!? yay! unlikely

probably both

I am finding some smells so strong they actually make me sick. All smells seem to be so much stronger.

Things i love, like coffee and cigarettes are mouth watering (sorry, i know thats wrong. I quit as soon as I found out obviuosly but i cant help that i love the smell still) Things i hate like dog smells, people smells etc make me gag at best and sick at worst... tis a pain!

I absolutely hate this. For me it is the smell of urine, especially nappies, so looking after DS is a bit of a challenge and work is tough (hospital).

I normally have almost no sense of smell so this really freaks me out. The tube is a nightmare. All that stale smoke and chewing gum gag gag

I had a heightened sense of smell for a few weeks a while back. Made me realise how much of London stinks of piss !

I had a smell like garlic in my nose from about 5 weeks. I could smell it everywhere I went. I think it might have been me ...... and I hadn't even eaten the damn stuff. Luckily it disappeared at about 10 weeks. The same thing happened with my first pregnancy too.

Hello flightty, congratulations! Could it be the smell of the inside of your nose/mucus/dust trapped etc? or possibly the smell of your breath? (not implying halitosis btw!!)

I could smell damp everywhere, especially the smell of the damp paper or something under the bath, I could smell it all over the house and as soon as I walked into the house.

I could also smell toast being made in the house over the road

Is it like a 'hot' smell? Like the heat part of a radiant heater just switched on?

Hmm...it#s not like a radiator, no - I know that smell. It's not really garlicky either, but it's very very familiar from the last time - maybe it is just the inside of my own nose!

Not like breath, though. It's kind of...yes a bit like damp. Something like that, but not so horrifyingly unpleasant - just a bit weird.

It's full on today, I've been sniffing my wrists and putting a bit of perfume on the end of my nose which helps briefly!

The thing is it isn't nausea, but I associate it heavily with nausea because of last time, and I'm not entirely sure how I will deal with it for the next 2 months or so! If I hold my nose it goes away.

I think I need a swimming nose clip.
It seems worse when I get up or bend over suddenly so that makes me think it's blood pressure related - my BP is normally very low in pregnancy, though.

The mystery continues! I just have to try and stop it making me want to throw up, because my stomach is doing pretty Ok so far, I'm eating like a horse, only a bit of nausea first thing esp if I have had something fizzy the night before.

Thankyou for the replies and suggestions. I am going to order preggy pops too and see if that helps!

As you likely know, the lining of your nose, along with all other mucus membranes becomes highly vacularised-supplied with blood- during pregnancy. This is why positional changes can intensify it.

This can affect your sense of smell quite significantly. If it becomes a problem, a tiny dab of Vicks under the nose can help (pathology trick). Or use something else-vanilla perhaps?

Ah, that makes a lot of sense. Thankyou I will try and get hold of some vicks and see if that stays put longer than the perfume!

Only dab a tiny bit on as too heavy an application or too repeated can make skin a little sore.