Everything smells and tastes like chemicals!

[Ninster]

I am a woman in my early 40s, and I have been suffering from a rare disease/infection, which is hard to describe. One year ago I lost my sense of smell and taste after a bad cold or flu.I can smell and taste things, but everything smells and taste like chemicals. I have ... [More] tried several doctors and dentits, but none of them can help me find a cure or any medicine which helps. If any one has the same symptoms or any information, please be kind and contact me ! Thanks!


This discussion is related to Everything tastes and smells chemical like.

[davelloyd1]

I don't see how anyone can help this problem. I have never read anyone getting any better from people with similar situations. I seriously and I mean seriously doubt anyone has had this severe of a similar problem before this. It is definitely not a phantom smell, but an actual smell. Its like I entered a dimension where all is filth and that includes me. My sweat is absolutely disgusting. Everything is sweet and sickly tasting. If you offered me a million dollars to eat a box of crackers I'd tell you to keep your money. I force myself to eat cheese because the sickly smell and taste is slightly masked with cheese and I was a vegan when this happened. I can't even eat a lemon slice because it tastes like something I never ever could have imagined. This is serious beyond anything believable. Yes I am breaking down and falling apart. Yes I have very little hope at all and I am preparing to run away if I can just get to the Grand Canyon or somewhere remote. I can't hitchhike because it is too smelly with all the fumes driving by. They don't even smell like exhaust but like my own sick sweat. I know this is not phantom and I smell something legitimate because animals have actually behaved differently around me especially when they smell me they freak out sometimes, its terrifying and I hesitate to mention that because it is very hard to explain or believe. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it. It always happens when I am alone with them so no one else can corroborate this. Anyway, this is beyond alarming it is death. Its like I died and am still here. Prayer is the only recourse I can think of. I keep looking at pretty pictures of things on Facebook like nature and waterfalls but that distraction only lasts while I am on a computer. Just pray to whatever god you have that you never get close to going through this nightmare...  

Peace...  

[davelloyd1]

I remember when pot used to smell like pot from a distance when people would smoke it on the beach as a kid.. That smell was beautiful..
Smelled like it was good for you.
I remember when campfires used to smell amazing from a distance and they were really different smelling on the beach than they were at campgrounds. Especially the next morning when the dew got to the ashes. It was a beautiful smell...
The smell of rose oil was immaculate and the smell of my sweat was musky and good and strong.
I remember the smell of the salt water breeze across the land in the evening while watching the sunset and trying to see the green flash.
I remember the smell of trees and orchards and grapes and apples and peaches and plums.  I remember the taste of a beautiful girls cheek and I remember the sparkle of a red tide at night with glowing fish dancing beneath the waves...
I remember hearing the laugh of dolphins under water and surfing with them too.
I remember the smell of lipstick and shampoo and the aroma of a well cooked meal and a fresh pie. I remember the taste of beer and the sweet flavor of a fresh picked orange off of a close tree. I remember the smell of a pool in the summertime and the feeling of it in my nostrils after playing.
The smell of fresh seaweed in your hair and the aroma of lifelove.
Part of me clings to a small amount of hope and wishes that it will all come back and I will smell and love again...
Most of me feels dead and dying and lost and losing. I only smell filth now. There is not one single thing that smells exceptionable to this now. All is filthy and gross. All is sweet like chemicals and sewage and rancid onions and plastic. Nothing smells good anymore and all is terror.
I have my memories still but that is all...
the rest is darkness and putrid poison.
I am sorry I am so weak and confused. Very sorry indeed...

[davelloyd1]

Best way to describe it is a film on everything.. LIke A coating of plastic dark oily blackness..

[Gaylepr]

I've been having similar problems for the past two years. Have you found a cause yet? My doctor keeps saying anxiety but I know it's not anxiety. I have asthma attacks and my nose and eyes and tongue burn as well. I have dry eyes and dry nasal passages. No mucus for two years. Just curious if you found a diagnosis. Thanks.

[davelloyd1]

No one seems to reply to my messages wondering if they are or did get better.
I honestly feel like I am in absolute terror. The smell of everything is incredibly terrible. I don't know what to do. I haven't eaten in days and I cant even stand the way I smell. I see no hope and have no desire to live like this. No one here seems to be getting cured and I honestly dont believe some of these stories. I'm sorry but I feel like someone fed me a poisoned onion or something. Its getting very critical. I couldn't walk down the road because the smell and taste in my mouth was crippling. I spend all day and night laying down and dreaming of health. I don't know what to do, there seems to be no help and no love...

[lisainMD]

davelloyd1, please go to your doctor or the ER and discuss this with someone TODAY!  Do not wait, you are not getting better and your desperation is alarming.  This is not normal and it is no way to live.  you need to get help and don't stop until you have answers or are feeling better.

[davelloyd1]

[T]hey say that Midas, after hunting, asked his captive Silenus somewhat urgently, what was the most desirable thing among humankind. At first he could offer no response, and was obstinately silent. At length, when Midas would not stop plaguing him, he erupted with these words, though very unwillingly: ‘you, seed of an evil genius and precarious offspring of hard fortune, whose life is but for a day, why do you compel me to tell you those things of which it is better you should remain ignorant? For he lives with the least worry who knows not his misfortune; but for humans, the best for them is not to be born at all, not to partake of nature’s excellence; not to be is best, for both sexes. This should our choice, if choice we have; and the next to this is, when we are born, to die as soon as we can.’"

[tishjordin]

I had a big paragraph written like everyone else explaining my experience but when I hit post I had to sign up then it lost everything!!! Ugh anyway, short version... I'm 37, female and just started having these problems a few days ago... I was wondering if everyone this is happening to is female? I wonder if that's and kind of factor??? Hormones maybe??? Also is anyone else having problems getting cooled off? I'm going to take my temp later and let you know how it goes and also keep up with this and share any information as well as obtain it... Thank you

[katiannepedley]

7 days ago, I started having symptoms of a fever - body aches, migraines, and chills. After taking motrin for about 3 days, my symptoms got better, but now it has turned into less severe headaches, stuffy nose and really bad cough that caused a sore throat and chest pains. I woke up this morning and immediately smelled something disgusting. I couldn't fathom exactly what I was smelling, but when I went downstairs, my uncle had made blueberry pancakes and bacon- yum! right? WRONG. It had a very pungent chemical smell and I barely ate it. The whole time I was downstairs I was miserable. The whole rest of the day has been horrible and I have not eaten/drank anything except water. This smell follows me around and even when I went to the grocery store this afternoon, I couldn't bare being in there with all the raw fish and hot chicken being made in the back of the store. I decided to buy a carbonated fruity drink with antioxidants to try to flush my system and I nearly vomited when I tried drinking it. The overwhelming scent and taste of chemicals makes me want to gag.

[davelloyd1]

Its gotten worse now. The air seems so hot and thick with chemicals and my mouth feels like rubber and my hands feel like they are releasing something. They feel kind of chalky and weird. I cant seem to leave the house now. All is saturated with chemicals and rubber and death. I pray no one experiences anything like this.. It is absolute hell...

[Ineedasuggestionhere]

I'm 42, same thing. Last year I got the bad flu that was going around work, completely lost taste and smell. When they finally came back, my sense of smell was not as good as it used to be and now anything with artificial flavorings added tastes like chemicals. I also get random phantom smoke smells - nothing's burning, no one's smoking, but it smells like cigarette smoke and dirty socks. I've found that the more natural a food is the less likely it is to taste like chemicals. For example, I can't stand flavored chips anymore (Doritos, Sour Cream Cheddar Lays, BBQ chips, etc...) but I can eat the plain ones and they taste fine. I can't stand bottled BBQ sauce anymore but, if I make my own it tastes fine. I've recently tried Jo's all natural PB cups for a treat and they taste great! In essence, the fewer ingredients, the better it tastes. I have not been able to find any information about a treatment or cure that works for this other than a few references to people having it last 4 - 6 years and then it just goes away. Here's hoping....

[davelloyd1]

4-6 years.. I wont make it that long.