MY ANOSMATIC LIFE

making sense out a scentless life

My Anosmatic Life in GIF-mode

Lacking a sense of smell brings so many thoughts to mind.What better funny way to show my past and current thoughts than through GIFs. I love GIFs and they are so convenient to express your feelings. This is how I really feel/have felt at times.

Smell checks are everything. Of course mine are usually random. I’ll take a pit check, shoe check, just please tell if I smell check. I may not know but need to know. Thank goodness for my designated noses that let me know I’m good. When I’m not near them, I just go by faith and have a nice day. So far good!

giphy

Yes, I feel like I’m in danger at times – especially when alone. It’s all in my head but for many understandable reasons. My guard is never down when I’m alone, especially when cooking or if I heard something in an apartment or house. I investigate everything. That 2013 gas leak messed me up but it woke me up to keep me on my toes for safety reasons.

giphy1

Unless you have experienced a loss of smell for an extended time, you have no idea. It totally does suck to me, just don’t ever tell me that. If you think otherwise, let’s definitely have a conversation. I miss smelling.

giphy I really felt this way for years because having anosmia is such an isolated experience. Sometimes, it feels like no one gets you. Now that I found an anosmia community, I feel less alone and doomed. Cue in “let go and let God.”

Living with anosmia is a roller coaster. You can go up and down. Sometimes there’s fear, depression, anxiety, irritability, loneliness, and twists and turn, especially when I get my sense of smell back with the help of steroids. I could go on. But it can definitely be overwhelming.

March 30, 2021

6 responses to “My Anosmatic Life in GIF-mode”

Dorothy Lee

Aug 6, 2021 6:36 AM

I started over 5 years ago with smelling things that didn’t exist near to me. I was out gardening about 4/5pm & smelt a chemical/ onion/leek type smell. My husband who was near to me smelt nothing & said oh it must be someone burning something or a factory (about 10 miles away) letting out waste. This situation continued for many weeks. Always between 4/6pm and on many occasions when I was many miles from the Midlands of the UK where we live.. it happened many times in Scotland while away there. Also in a car travelling on the M6 coming away from Birmingham with all the windows closed on a autumn day!!

I waited to see if the strange smells would go away for many weeks. However, as it continued and always at the same time every evening between 4/6pm. I decided to consult my GP. He said I had a sinus problem. I was very dubious as I had only experienced sinusitis once & I knew how painful it can be..my face just above my cheek bones ached painfully on that occasion & I have not had it since to this day! .However, I used the nasal spray my GP subscribed. It made me feel very unwell. I stopped using it. I had a suggestion from, of all people, my hairdresser. Her son suffered from sinus problems & found a sinus rinse (Neilmed) helped. I used it for months. It did help a bit after a while..but not totally. I asked my doctor to refer me to a specialist. He did. The Rhinologist told me he also ran Fifth Sense clinics & knew of the charity. I told him that I had kept the appointment as I wanted his advice. I also told him that the “evening strange smells ranging from leeks, onions, to metallic smells” had petered out and eventually stopped. The strange smells had just stopped altogether a week or so before coming to my appointment with him. He examined my nasal cavity by means of a lit probe. He said I did not have polyps & that I did have a malformed Septum in my left nostril. I told him my sense of smell had dimished now quite severely and was no longer the acute ability to smell anything that I had always had before. I used to be able to pass a plant in a garden & easily identify the plant by it’s scent as I am a keen gardener..roses..lavender..rosemary.. thyme etc. Now some 5 years later I can smell nothing at all. Not the roses or anything I’m cooking or anything else pleasant or otherwise.

I can sometimes JUST smell the lingering smell of last night’s cooking when walking down the stairs or a crushed lavender flower if cupped in my hand..but mostly nothing at all.

Has my phantosmia turned into Anosmia? I haven’t been able to visit my GP over the last 2 years because of Covid restrictions preventing any visits to the GP Surgery & any assistance needed is given by a Clinician over the phone! . I just continue to live with no sense of smell as I think it isn’t life threatening & I must be thankful that I am at 74 very well & healthy in all other ways. I have not had Covid (which I am aware can take away your sense of smell) & test negative every time I do a Lateral Flow Test every 4th day. I am double vaccinated as from February 2021.

I would welcome any suggestions from any of the members of 5th Sense or any medical practitioners who specialise in this area as I DO miss my ability to smell. Thank you

Dorothy Lee
East Midlands UK

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Arwanda Conner

Mar 30, 2021 1:48 PM

Love the emojis!!

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1. sharika86
  
  Mar 30, 2021 9:02 PM
  
  Thank you Mama Conner! 🙂
  
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2. Anonymous
  
  Mar 31, 2021 3:17 PM
  
  So proud of your ability to tell a story. One word “Captivating”
  
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monababy25

Mar 30, 2021 11:47 AM

Wow, thank you for sharing! Emojis definitely help convey emotions and the ones you have above seem to illustrate the vast emotions that you have because of your anosmia. It give me and others who don’t have a clue to your inner world a view of your experience. Thanks so much for sharing!

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1. sharika86
  
  Mar 30, 2021 8:59 PM
  
  You’re welcome! Yes, they help for sure. They explain what I don’t usually say IRL and more in my head. Thanks for reading!
  
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