Hyperosmia: My MS Makes Smells Smell … a Lot

Hyperosmia refers to an abnormally heightened sense of smell or abnormal sensitivity to odors. On the website PatientsLikeMe, where some 500,000 people have shared their personal experiences of living with a chronic condition, only about 120 of them report hyperosmia. Many of those reporting it have multiple sclerosis (MS), while others have ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease) or migraine. Leave it to me to be in such a small minority. Far more people with MS report anosmia — a lack of or reduction in the sense of smell — and research seems to lend credence to these reports. Artificial Scents Can Be Overwhelming For me, it’s like my sniffer is on overdrive. Particularly when it comes to artificial or “refined” scents, I am overwhelmed to the point of not being able to function. Laundry detergents (I can smell it off someone’s washing on the line three houses down and across the lane), soaps, “air fresheners,” and the like have been known to induce migraine and general malaise. Natural Odors Are Also Strong Natural smells, like flowers in the garden (or any of the neighbors’ gardens), cooking smells (from down the road), or the scent of the sea from miles away are strong, indeed, but don’t have the same adverse effect as those fake or overly enhanced odors do. But still, I can smell something from another room as if it’s on the desk in front of me. I experience the smell of cut lumber from the construction site down the bore...
Source: Life with MS - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: multiple sclerosis awareness Everyday Health MS symptoms trevis gleason Source Type: blogs