About

Welcome to My Anosmatic Life!

Anosmatic (an–oz-mat-ik): lacking a sense of smell

Hello and welcome! My name is Sharika and I lived without a sense of smell and barely taste for 17 years. The medical term is Anosmia (an–oz-me-uh). I wasn’t born without my sense of smell, just “acquired anosmia” when I lost it over 18 years ago and recently gained it back last year. I also live with chronic rhinitis and Samter’s triad.

Unfortunately, I don’t have an answer on how or why I lost my sense of smell and neither does my Ear, Nose, Throat doctor but I try explain possible causes here and here. My anosmatic life has led to many questions and unknown answers. After two nasal polypectomies, trying different medication, still ongoing yearly sinus infections, I recently gained my sense of smell and full taste back last March 2024 after I started self-administering Dupixent shots to shrink my nasal polyps.

My hope is that this blog raises more awareness about anosmia by sharing information and personal life experiences about how I’ve navigated a wonderful mostly scentless life. I also serve as an ambassador for UK Charity FifthSense now rebranded SmellTaste and was featured on The Smell Podcast (Apple, Spotify , YouTube).

Feel free to check out some FAQs here.

Thanks for reading!

Sharika