Saturday, July 07, 2007

Who NOSE?

I have a disorder of my chemical senses.....the book says:
the system may misread and or distort an odor, a taste, or a flavor. Or a person may detect a foul taste from a substance that is normally pleasant tasting.
Well, that's what's happening...long story short, I have Phantosmia. Asnomia is the loss of taste and smell and I had that for a month. Phantosmia is when you smell and taste distorts and you smell and taste incredibly foul things. I can't stand coffee, chocolate, my baby's soap, milk, and just about anything that's not sour or just sweet (like a snow cone). I smell coffee, perfume, cleaning chemicals and rubbing alcohol as a putrid, acidic stench that makes me gag. Milk tastes sour (but worse) and I bit into an ice cream cone and spit it on my desk....it tasted like I was eating rotten meat.

This could be from an infection that has affected my olfactory nerves (i suspect that's what my problem is). But it could also be a brain tumor, a sinus polyp, gingivitis, diabetes or the results of a head injury.

I think this has been coming on for a long time...it's why I'm worried it could be a slow growing tumor. I used to love the smell of buttered popcorn (more than the taste) but for the last few years I couldn't stand the smell...it was like smelly old deli meat. And other smells have changed over the course of 2 or 3 years....things that I used to like were different but I thought it was just getting older. But now it has kicked in to high gear. You cannot imagine what it's like to have so many nasty smells everywhere you go. Even smells I liked just a few months ago are horrible or changed......like my sweet baby's bath wash...it smelled like old trash tonight when I gave her a bath....I cried.
As far as coffee goes, you can't believe how many people drink it, sell it or make it.
BLeeeeeeecccccccck

I will get a CT scan next week...... but in the meantime could everyone in the midwest stop drinking coffee? It would really help a lot...

5 comments:

Doughnut said...

I promise not to drink coffee in your presence. Does anything smell or taste normal to you right now? Ley us know how ur c-scan comes out too - please! I don't want to think that anything major is wrong with you like a brain tumor!!

Unknown said...

Oh, P, it must be awful. Praying for you.

Take heart, I've worked with several people who have experienced it as a result of things other than brain tumor. Remember too, even in the case of a brain tumor, plenty are NOT malignant and "easily" resolved with surgery. I have a friend who just went through this and, while no picnic, was no where near as bad as she thought.

All this just to say...thinking of you and praying for you that this is something easily resolvable. (((((HUG)))))

GDS said...

Yikes - keep us posted - we'll be praying.
An uncle of mine totally lost his sense of taste and smell over a period of time. It did turn out to be a growth of some sort, not in the brain and not malignant. Fairly easy to treat as these things go. He's otherwise healthy now. Hopefully you're outcome will be similar!

Happy said...

Oh wow! I'll be sending you good vibes.

Annie said...

I think that adoptees who say they needed validation don't mean they need their existence to be validated, rather they need their feelings validated. Even if you never felt a sadness about losing your birth mother, I know people do. I've read this not only from adult adoptees but from adoptive parents who say their small children will express this. I think those children are much better served by a parent just acknowledging that sadness and being there with them than saying, "No, you don't. You can't remember her so you can't miss her."