Are there any other anosmic (can't distinguish smells) people here

[Longgrain]

Hi...I'm relatively new to DU and this is my first time posting in the Lounge...I thought I share a little bit of myself to you'all...
Today, I was at work, passing by the bathrooms, when a co-worker asked me, "Isn't that terrible, don't you smell that."
The problem is, I've never been affected by, or been able to distinguish smells. I have something that I suppose could be called a sense of smell, just a general tingling in the nose, but it's the same tingling for any smell...in other words, not good or bad, just a smell.
Furthermore, my sense of taste is fine, and I'm guessing no different than anyone elses...
I simply told my co-worker I couldn't tell smells and walked on...
All my life it's been like this, trying to explain to people that I simply can't distinguish smells...on the plus side, I couldn't tell you what a really bad fart smelled like, or even know what a rotten fish smells like...
True story, I was an art student back in college, and in my sculpture class, I was soldering together a wire sculpture. Now, for a man, I have pretty long hair. I bent down toward the soldering iron and touched my hair to the hot metal...
Within moments, everyone else in the studio began to complain about the rotten smell "Like burning hair". I felt awful because, until that point in my life, I had no idea burning hair smelled so bad...
A friend of mine, who I tried to explain my predicament to, told me straight out, I was merely making things up "to add to my mystique". I was offended and asked her what would I possibly gain by pretending I could not distinguish smells...but she refused to believe me...
But recently I found out I was not alone and that my condition was real. Not only that, but there was actually a word for what I was. The word was "anosmic". I discovered this web site http://www.maxuk.net/nose.html
Are there any other DUers out there who can sympathize and/or relate?

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. My mother's sniffer doesn't work too well. It is pointless for me

to shove my home grown flowers under her nose and say "Aren't they yummy?"

Also I knew a gal in college and both she and her mother swore that they thought skunks smell like lemons. I am very curious what both those items must have smelled like to them. :)

At any rate, welcome to DU! :hi:

-----------------------------------
Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/

[Straight Shooter]

2. I detect odors fine, but my neighbor has no sense of smell

And it's sort of odd, because she is an excellent cook!

Thanks for the link, I'll send it to her.

And welcome to DU :hi:

[Vincardog]

3. I can. 20 years ago I woke up from a 30 day coma without the nose working

I can't smell natural gas or even gasoline

[mr_hat]

4. I can detect all 16 odors.

[xpunkisneatx]

5. I work with a nurse who has this

She was in a bad car accident and the cranial nerve that is associated with smell was severed. She still has the other effects of a bad smell..Watering eyes and such...but she cannot smell anything. She gets all the patients that poop alot :)

[Sanity Claws]

6. Zinc deficiency?

I understand that a zinc deficiency can affect your ability to smell.

[Longgrain]

12. I don't know...

But my mother has told me that I was born with an Iron deficancy...she and my aunt thought I was going to die but I pulled through...

I'm good at that...:)

[Sanity Claws]

17. Mineral deficiencies

Are you still iron deficient? If you are iron deficient or anemic, you may have a zinc and other deficiencies. Somehow your diet is inadequate or you are unable to absorb nutrients well. You may want to check it out.

[sleepyhead]

7. Yes, me

All my life I have been unable to smell the things that others can. Everyone else in the room can be gagging, with tears in their eyes from some noxious odor, and I can just barely tell that there's a bit of a tang to the air. I can taste OK, but I've never been one of those people that can taste a dish and name all the different spices that were used. My husband has to be in charge of smelling any questionable food in the fridge to see if it's spoiled - otherwise I would have poisoned both of us long ago!

[Sporadicus]

8. I Empathise With You

A couple of years ago, I had a cold; I don't recall that the cold was terrible or of long duration, but I had absolutely no sense of smell afterward. Days turned into weeks and months as I wondered if I would ever regain that sense. My sense of taste was affected as well, and I began to eat more in compensation - to gratify my desire for taste. I had to make a conscious effort to avoid overeating. To my relief I began to regain my sense of smell over a year later. I'll never take it for granted again!

[Carl Brennan]

9. Something smells fishy about this

story. But hey, you wouldn't understand anyway. :bounce:

I once asked a doctor what the term for you malady was and he didn't know. Now I do.

[goddess40]

10. I can only smell nasty things

Cigarette smoke, gas, bleach, mold - on whiff and it's headache city. When I can smell something that I usually can't, it's a signal that a bad headache is on its way. It started around the time I turned 18 and it's been more then 20 years so I don't expect it to change soon.
Interesting about the zinc component - that might be a clue as I'm allergic to metal and that started when I was 18 too.

[MisterP]

11. I have an excellent sense of smell (which just sneezed)

fish in water after a day of 80- and 90-degree weather and school restrooms are things you sure won't be missing.
Greetings from DU!

[Longgrain]

13. Wow...

Thanks for all the post so far...

If i may elaborate further, I understand that things do smell. For example, if you put a jar of turpentine or a lit cigarette right under my nose, I'd know there was something there, and that it smelled, but I just couldn't tell you what it was with out using my other senses (I.E. seeing the turpentine jar; feeling the smoke drift across my face).

What bothers me the most is trying to explain it to other people...

I try to explain, that it's like being colorblind. A colorblind person can still see shapes and tone, but but only distinguish a few colors...

No one ever questions colorblindness, why not anosmia?

[ironflange]

14. My grandfather had no sense of smell whatsoever

He came from the Ukraine in about 1918 to homestead in central Alberta. One day in the woods, he came across a cute kitty cat, black with a white stripe. He wanted to pet it, but it wasn't friendly.

No one would come near him for days and days.

He used to love to tell that story.

[Longgrain]

15. On edit....

And to give my virgin Lounge post one last kick up...

I should point out, this has been with me all my life.
I've heard of people loosing their sense of smell from either accident or illness, but I swear to God (who ever She is) that I've never 'known' a smell.

[Longgrain]

16. One last kick....

One last :kick: before bed so all you West Coasters and early morning risers may have a chance to see this...

Wake up and smell the coffee--IF YOU CAN!!!


Longgrain

[American Tragedy]

18. That is so cool

So, you've never been able to distinguish odors? That is really interesting. I would say that it's not much of a loss, except that I may have not recognized certain emergency situations in the past if I had not smelled smoke, chemicals, and gas in the air. I'm not trying to scare you, it just occurs to me that most of us take that ability for granted.

Actually, your sense of taste is almost certainly affected in some way, even if only subtly, since scent perception can fundamentally alter how some things tastes. I don't know if that is on a sensory or merely psychological level.

[Longgrain]

19. One more kick...

To keep this thread alive then I'll let die into the bellows of DU hell...
To clarify things, I taste things perfectly...I understand sweet, salty, sour, bitter...whatever...

One of the reactions I get in trying to explain to people that I can't detect smells is commonly "Then your sense of taste must be faulty as well"... I insist I have a normal sense of taste..

I just so happen to have an addiction to really spicy foods...

On edit: I do have an strong attrction/adverion to the TEXTURE of foods...Liking grainy foods over sticky foods...some mushy food like mushrooms I LOOOOVE but I can't stand Marshmallow fluff...the sight of it makes me gag...

go figure...

[Polly_Sorbate_60]

20. one of my best friends can't smell

We were roomies in college and she'd always ask me to smell her milk to see if it had gone bad, or to smell shirts to see if they stunk in case she wanted to wear them again. :D