Superhuman sense of smell 8 weeks pregnant

[GeorginaE89]

Looking for a bit of advice really, since becoming pregnant I have had the most sensitive nose to any smell and most things make me retch and sometimes throw up. At home this is manageable but at work (carer) it’s embarrassing and I feel can come across rude because no one knows I am pregnant. The smell of my own kitchen and hall way make me gag, the smell of aftershave and deodorant, most foods, thinking about food makes me want to vomit! Then add on the smells at work doing personal care and it’s absolute torture. Recently a lady had a stomach bug and it took me almost 90 minutes to clean it up alls whilst swallowing back my own sick over and over . Does anyone have ANY tips to help cover up smells or trick my brain into not needing to vomit with every passing smell?!

Thanks In advance

No tips but I can totally empathise! I am 23 weeks and still vomiting at many, many smells, including sometimes the bathroom at work which is embarrassing if someone is in there!

I hope it gets better for us both xx

Still at 23 weeks?! Oh gosh I can’t cope that long! I hope it fades out soon for you because this is absolute torture haha

Ughhhhh I can totally relate. For me, it was the smell of the subway, the grocery store, any toilet (dirty or freshly cleaned), any time anyone had been for a walk and smelled REMOTELY sweaty, and my colleague’s breath (I actually threw up twice while he was speaking to me. Massively embarrassing for us both).

Things that SORT OF helped were: never having a completely empty stomach (I grazed on salty crackers and sour green apples all day), keeping windows open whenever possible wherever I was, and dabbing lavender oil under my nose. This was pre-COVID… now I would be tempted to use masks to my advantage and absolutely drench them in lemon juice or lavender or peppermint extract!

Ultimately the only thing that really helped me was medication (with my second pregnancy - I wish I had with my first!). Also: time. First trimester is hideous but the nausea does settle down for most people eventually.

Hang in there and congratulations on your pregnancy!

Something like Vicks under the nose to drown out the other smells?

It’s normal in early pregnancy and it’s so awful to deal with! I’ve had it with all 3. Couldn’t even stand the smell of my own body with number 3… I constantly thought I smelt of sweat even soon after a shower. My dh said I didn’t smell at all. The smell of humans in general was just awful. In my second pregnancy I couldn’t bear the smell of soap / washing power / anything perfumed. Repulsed me!

For me it lessened after maybe about 14/15 weeks and passed pretty much completely when my nausea stopped at 20 weeks. Honestly in your situation I would confide in your manager at work and explain how difficult you are finding certain tasks and ask for some adjustments to be made to cater for the fact you are pregnant - this is totally fair enough! You’ll just end up vomiting on the job otherwise and realistically you’re physically unable to do certain things right now, it’s not a choice to feel this way.

I dealt with it by being signed off until 13 weeks! Couldn’t function.

My sense of smell is always like that! I think the real problem for you is that it's linked to nausea, which should start to improve by the end of the 1st trimester unless you're very unlucky.

Omg I was the same in my first tri. Smells that were usually just unpleasant were absolutely vile to me. I came very close to throwing up taking the bin out 🤣 . After the first tri it went back to normal tho.

I'm 11 weeks and signed off work as I'm retching / being sick every day and just can't function. My sense of smell is very good at the best of times, but now it's reached superhero levels. I suck boiled sweets when I have to go to the local shop or to hospital for appointments as the taste distracts me from noticing smells etc. I hate gum myself, but could you surreptitiously chew behind your mask?