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[zarathustra]

Is anyone else constantly smelling cigarette smoke where there is none?  This has been perplexing me the past couple of days, and I finally googled it.  Dr. Weil calls is phantosmia and other sites call it olfactory hallucination.

I'm assuming mine is from one of my chronic sinus infections.  Weird stuff!

[ms_turtle]

Auditory hallucinations are common so it's not implausible that olfactory hallucinations can also occur. With me, the auditory hallucinations were likely side effects of medications I was taking at the time.

[msparticularity]

I had olfactory hallucinations as a precursor to migraines--smells of rotting things, rather than the more usual visual phenomena. This is not a thing of the past, thanks to menopause. <interthreduality>

[high_energy_photons]

Do check the air circulation vents for your building.  I thought I was hallucinating, until I realized the air intakes for the building I worked in were right where all the smokers hung out.  Right beneath the "no smoking, air intakes" sign.

[zarathustra]

Do check the air circulation vents for your building.  I thought I was hallucinating, until I realized the air intakes for the building I worked in were right where all the smokers hung out.  Right beneath the "no smoking, air intakes" sign.

I'm in my house, and there are no smokers around, and no one has smoked in the house since the walls went up.

It's better today, so far.  My nostrils don't feel hot and fuzzy, either.  It was getting pretty annoying.

[prytania3]

Do check the air circulation vents for your building.  I thought I was hallucinating, until I realized the air intakes for the building I worked in were right where all the smokers hung out.  Right beneath the "no smoking, air intakes" sign.

I'm in my house, and there are no smokers around, and no one has smoked in the house since the walls went up.

It's better today, so far.  My nostrils don't feel hot and fuzzy, either.  It was getting pretty annoying.

You don't have a ghost , do you? My mother's old house had a ghost and sometimes we smelled pipe tobacco--cherry. Later we learned that the former (RIP) resident had smoked cherry pipe tobacco.

[zarathustra]

Do check the air circulation vents for your building.  I thought I was hallucinating, until I realized the air intakes for the building I worked in were right where all the smokers hung out.  Right beneath the "no smoking, air intakes" sign.

I'm in my house, and there are no smokers around, and no one has smoked in the house since the walls went up.

It's better today, so far.  My nostrils don't feel hot and fuzzy, either.  It was getting pretty annoying.

You don't have a ghost , do you? My mother's old house had a ghost and sometimes we smelled pipe tobacco--cherry. Later we learned that the former (RIP) resident had smoked cherry pipe tobacco.

As a big Ghost Hunters and Paranormal State fan, I had thought of that! But sadly, I'm the first owner of this house and I don't have any other signs of a haunting.  :(

[frogfactory]

I don't want to scare you unnecessarily, but olfactory hallucinations can presage temporal lobe epilepsy.  Burning rubber is a common one.  You might want to talk to your doctor and see if s/he thinks it's worth getting checked out.

[zarathustra]

I don't want to scare you unnecessarily, but olfactory hallucinations can presage temporal lobe epilepsy.  Burning rubber is a common one.  You might want to talk to your doctor and see if s/he thinks it's worth getting checked out.

My mom would always smell burning rubber and stuff, but she never developed any epilepsy. 

I have a doctor's appointment soon, and I'll mention it to him. But it is better today.  Thanks!

[dyst_uk]

+1 to frogfactory (speaking as one who dismissed other signs of this for years, better to get checked out).

[marfa]

I went through a bad stretch of chronic sinus infections and at some point my sense of smell got totally whacked.  Everything (from soap to coffee, food to gasoline) had the same kind of petro-chemical smell.  Docs could  not see anything wrong.  Finally, it just got better.  The chronic infections went away (personally, I think using a neti pot made the difference), and eventually smells became normal.

Not necessarily helpful for you, but maybe hopeful--it might go away on its own. 

Boy, was it nice to smell coffee again.

[zarathustra]

I could smell the coffee great this morning (Dunkin Donuts Hazlenut, yesssss) but I got the cigarette smell back in my nose again this evening. 

[punchnpie]

Is anyone else constantly smelling cigarette smoke where there is none? 

I smell this as well; no smokers here.

So, I know this sounds silly, but right after my husband died, I went to a couple of 'psychics.' Hey, grief will make you do a lot of dumb things... Anyway, one of them mentioned smelling things that reminded you of the loved one, such as smelling the perfume your mother always wore. 

Well, for me, it's cigarette smoke. My husband smoked and it was always a bone of contention between us. Now when I smell it, especially if I'm at home alone where I know there's been no cigarette smoke, I just say 'hi' and keep going. Whether it's being silly or not, I find it kind of comforting and don't worry about it.

[zarathustra]

Is anyone else constantly smelling cigarette smoke where there is none? 

I smell this as well; no smokers here.

So, I know this sounds silly, but right after my husband died, I went to a couple of 'psychics.' Hey, grief will make you do a lot of dumb things... Anyway, one of them mentioned smelling things that reminded you of the loved one, such as smelling the perfume your mother always wore. 

Well, for me, it's cigarette smoke. My husband smoked and it was always a bone of contention between us. Now when I smell it, especially if I'm at home alone where I know there's been no cigarette smoke, I just say 'hi' and keep going. Whether it's being silly or not, I find it kind of comforting and don't worry about it.

Doesn't sound silly to me at all, actually.

I mentioned this to my doctor and he said he had no idea what to tell me...which is fine, because I really think it's related to a sinus infection rather than a brain injury in my case. 

It hasn't reappeared since I started taking OTC allergy medicine. 

[doxan]

Funny, ghosts were my first thought! Our house supposedly still has several folks around (while some have thankfully moved on). When we first moved in I would frequently smell coffee brewing, right near where the old cook-stove used to be. It still happens, but not as often.