Constant smoke smell in nasal passages.

[PN904]

I am a non-smoker. We are a non-smoking family. I am not around smokers at all. Why do I have the constant smell of smoke in my nose. It used to be just an occasional thing, but lately it seems to be all the time. I am concerned that this is a symptom of something I don't know about. The smell is strong. I used to notice it about a half hour after taking my Allegra-D 12 hr. tablets, but now I smell it much more often. Am I going crazy or is there something to this I'm not aware of. Has anyone else experienced this? Please help?

[Moomer]

I've been subjected to this for a while now and it's driving me crazy. I'm getting a referral to a Neuro doc to do some testing to see what's going on. As you can see buy the comments a lot of these people haven't experienced this not so pleasant problem!!!!

[holloway1066]

I think you're on to something. I just recently experienced this smell of smoke. I thought it was my home, till I traveled and stayed in different hotel rooms and had the same problem in each place.

I've just recently stopped chemotherapy and I'm actively rebuilding my immune system. It was in the beginning of this detox process that I had the smell of smoke. It has mostly gone away, though there are intermittent occurrences every now and again, which I assume come from a toxin overload of some sort.

Interestingly my sinuses are also active during these times as well. I've never had problems with acid reflux, but I would suspect that too is related to toxins.

[acid_relief]

As unlikely as it sounds, I had a sensitivity to the activated carbon (charcoal) in the water filter in our fridge that caused me to have a constant smoke smell, heartburn, stomach cramps and pain, acid reflux, and chronic loose stools. It isn't really intuitive because activated carbon filters have such long, wide usage for filtering water and activated charcoal is used to treat stomach problems.

Obviously, not everyone with these symptoms has a sensitivity to the charcoal in water filters, but it is definitely worth investigating any potential sources of exposure to activated carbon/charcoal through your water: fridge filter, pitcher style Brita filter, or even purchased bottled water that has been charcoal filtered. It's an easy thing to check. I wish I had thought to check it out years ago. Could have so easily saved myself time, money, and years of discomfort.

The carbon filtered water from our fridge was the only water I drank and I drank it all the time. My symptoms went on for 2+ years, starting when we got a new fridge with a built-in water filter and dispenser. I didn't connect the filter with my symptoms though. We always changed our filter as recommended.

I went back to drinking tap water after reading about fridge water filters potentially harboring bacteria and fungus. Within 12 hours of stopping drinking the water that had run through, and often sat for hours or even overnight in, the carbon filter, all of my symptoms were gone. And they've stayed gone for more than a week. It was like someone flipped an "off" switch.

In the last 2+ years I had a lot of different types of tests, took a variety of medications, and tried every form of antacid, ppi, etc on the market. None of them helped and, for the most part, it just got worse over time.

Drinking unfiltered tap water was the first and only thing that ever really worked. I would even call it a "cure" at this point. It is such a relief to have those problems stop. It was pretty debilitating and I had pretty much resigned myself to having some weird occult gastric cancer that would eventually be identified. As I said, this has been a massive relief.

I hope this helps someone else.

[Carojones]

For the second time in about a year, I have begun to smell smoke 24/7 everywhere I go.  I am not a smoker, am never around smokers, but I smell smoke in my house, all three of our vehicles, in stores, even in my ENT's office when I saw him to try and determine why I smell smoke.  He said he had never had a case like mine before and had no idea what to do; he gave me antibiotics for a couple of weeks and all that did was give me the worse yeast infection I've ever had.  I finally stopped smelling smoke but about 3-4 days ago, it started again, strong.  My husband, and grandson, cannot smell it.  It worries me because if my house should catch on fire, I'm not sure I could catch the smell since that is all I do smell.  I have a very sensitive smell and can smell anything/everything where my husband can't pick up any odors.  I don't know what to do.

[Lottie1965]

Did anything help?
My ENT told me I may have this smell forever. He said a viral infection damaged my sinus nerves.

[rmsmi]

It's been over 2 months and I'd like to report no return of the phantom smoke smell. All I have done is stop using or ingesting butter to only a minimum amount. I generally stay away from cookies and never apply butter to bread or other foods.