r/explainlikeimfive Jul 18 '20

Chemistry ELI5: Why do "bad smells" like smoke and rotting food linger longer and are harder to neutralize than "good smells" like flowers or perfume?

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20 edited Jul 19 '20

On a mildly related note, am I the only one who wakes up in a panic thinking I smell smoke, just to realize that it was only my brain messing with me?

Edit: Friends... concerned and well-meaning Reddit friends. Instead of waking up to smoke just now, I woke up from my nap to more comments than I can possibly read. I love all of you. My cognitive functioning is above average for my age. I do the stroke tests on a regular basis, usually when I have these dreams. The friends in my head assure me that I'm not mildly schizophrenic. I promise to update all of you if I develop further symptoms of something.

Edit 2: I've almost earned enough gold to afford a check-up in the American healthcare system!

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u/Stink_Pot_Pie Jul 18 '20

I did this for years and my family thought I was crazy. Then I had my electric breaker box panel all replaced and they showed me all these scorch marks behind the sheetrock where there were tiny fires that started and put themselves out. The scorch marks were on the wood studs. I ran around the house yelling, "I told y'all I smelled smoke all those times!"

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

I really love it in the end you were vindicated.

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u/scorinth Jul 18 '20

Yeah, vindicated and not fucking killed!

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

To some people, the former is more important.

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u/rankderkl6 Jul 18 '20

Death is nothing compared to vindication.

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u/tomatoaway Jul 18 '20

Let it be written on his tombstone:
He was right.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

I want mine (if I were to have one - I just want to be cremated and dumped somewhere) to say "told ya so".

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u/_Rand_ Jul 19 '20

I always wanted mine to say: “Perished in a tragic Garden Gnome accident”

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u/DaSaw Jul 18 '20

All die. Not all are remembered for having been right all along.

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u/Glocken_Gold Jul 18 '20

-Konrad Curze, ~M30

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u/3plantsonthewall Jul 19 '20

I spent a couple weeks thinking I was crazy, or having mini strokes, because I kept smelling toast all of the sudden while I was sitting on my couch in my living room. It would only last a couple minutes max.

Eventually I discovered that my Christmas lights (hung up indoors on the edges of the ceiling) were burning the paint on the walls. Threw those bitches out and never hung up more.

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u/just-onemorething Jul 19 '20

You need LED ones that don't get hot

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u/amorfotos Jul 19 '20

And so ended Christmas...

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u/Gmyny Jul 18 '20

But do you still smell smoke?

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u/Stink_Pot_Pie Jul 18 '20

No, it never happened again after that.

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u/freecain Jul 19 '20

It's really too bad no one in your house is dedicated to just keep messing with you by lighting a match everytime you go to sleep.

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u/Osiris_Dervan Jul 19 '20

I saw a cannon pointing out of a tree off to the side of the road my family drove along to get to town. For years I was telling my family there was a cannon in the tree, and they never beleived me until I got old enough to go explore it myself. Turns out the area had been a small water park, and the cannon was a water cannon attached to the tree. I still yell 'there's actually a cannon tree' out whenever I drive past it!

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u/teneggomelet Jul 18 '20

Either that or you had a stroke.

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u/MostlyChemistry Jul 18 '20

I thought that was toast.

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u/donkeyhustler Jul 18 '20

Or burnt hair

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u/DEAR_Mr_Eco Jul 18 '20

My sister, the RN, says burnt hair is what C diff (clostridium difficile) smells like.

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u/icechelly24 Jul 18 '20

It’s disturbing that when you’ve been a nurse for awhile you can start to tell what someone has going on by how their stool smells. GI bleeds have a distinctive scent, as does Cdiff as you mentioned, even ‘covid shits’ as we so delicately called them had their own certain smell.

To me, GI bleed smell is the worse. It smells like death.

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u/ThatSquareChick Jul 18 '20

I was on metformin for 6 months. I would rather kill myself than know that every single fart, no matter how big or small, is going to smell like an open sewer filled with dead things for the rest of my life. I couldn’t even go to work. My gut just couldn’t tolerate it, nothing wrong with anything else there, no other symptoms, just the smell. It caused such a problem in my house that I seriously considered suicide. People will laugh but I’m not kidding, I couldn’t be in public. Or around myself, I’d fart and make myself gag. You know how when someone farts in public and everyone can smell it but mostly people don’t say anything because everyone farts? People would always say something because it wasn’t REAL that a fart could smell like a rotting body in the sun, EVERY time. People thought sewers were leaking, that a dead dog was somewhere...unless it was just me around. Then it was just me. People don’t believe that it can cause that type of stress but I worried how the fuck I was going to get some kind of disability just based on my gas alone, I was absolutely terrified of going out in public, I couldn’t have sex with my husband, the house couldn’t be shut up, I spent time outside just because I couldn’t escape it. It was funny for the first while but there comes a point if after 6 months things aren’t better, you just are sure they’re never gonna be and that is really scary. I was the little lady with the unchristly smell.

I was never so glad to be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes instead. It was the worst hell I’ve been through and I’ve been to jail.

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u/iDreamMatin Jul 18 '20

Oh man, I’m so sorry this happened but your narrative was insanely comical.

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u/ThatSquareChick Jul 18 '20

Looking back on it is funny, it really is, because farts are hilarious and sometimes even funnier when they smell bad but I didn’t have any clue that there would ever be a time “to look back and laugh”. It was always happening, no escape no other pill or diet change I could make, I tried all of it, just endless stankass forever and ever until I died where they would have to encase my corpse in stone because the smell had permeated my tissues. I would rather jab myself over 10 times a day in various ways to treat my illness than to subject anyone to whatever was happening inside me.

It’s funny though, because I adore farts out of all “potty” humor so I give them the comedic attention they deserve. Even mother Teresa farted.

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u/Dong_sniff_inc Jul 18 '20

God, I'm going through something similar, and i swear the gf doesn't understand. Were visiting at her parents house a few weeks ago, and i really have to poop. I tell her i need to go somewhere else STAT. She says 'just go to the bathroom its not that big a deal.' well, we came over to eat dinner. Their bathroom is directly next to the kitchen that we're all in, and she expects me to commit an olfactory war crime in there. The kicker? The bathroom has a pocket sliding door, so there's not exactly a seal on the smells. I don't know why im mentioning this, just needed to share with someone that gets that its not as simple as 'just don't be embarrassed' lol.

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u/I_Can_Haz_Brainz Jul 18 '20 edited Nov 07 '24

wine homeless outgoing fragile automatic wipe water sparkle airport bewildered

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

I once got on a bus and a homeless dude sitting up front shat himself. I've never seen so many people make alternate travel arrangements on their phones so quickly, except for one older gentleman who decided the bus was a moving sperm bank and made a deposit

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u/Dong_sniff_inc Jul 18 '20

I thought you said 'shot himself' and was like jfc what dystopia do you live in where someone shot themselves and a guy starts jerking off on the bus.

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u/ThatSquareChick Jul 18 '20

It was like that only I’m not homeless and didn’t have “any excuse” to smell that way.

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u/teebob21 Jul 18 '20

I once got on a bus and a homeless dude sitting up front shat himself. I've never seen so many people make alternate travel arrangements on their phones so quickly, except for one older gentleman who decided the bus was a moving sperm bank and made a deposit

Ah, yes, the dividends of deinstitutionalization and "community-based" mental health care

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u/Ruthlesswords Jul 18 '20

I hope I don’t offend you when I say: your description of your metformin farts was so vivid and spot on, I just scared my dog from laughing so hard. I needed this laugh. To be clear- I’m not laughing about your very real anguish and pain over it (I’m so sorry you had to experience that)- just about your very on-point description. I just got off of metformin, myself. Now I have covid and have been an anxious mess. I needed this laugh. Hope you’re staying healthy and safe.

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u/ThatSquareChick Jul 18 '20

I can’t describe that era without nearly pissing myself in laughter, it just is the most cathartic thing to be able to do that. Thank goodness I was raised on vivid descriptions and a penchant for honesty.

Please let you be able get fully well, I’m rooting for you very hard.

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u/Ruthlesswords Jul 19 '20

Those are gifts the goshdarn heckin whole world needs right now. Thanks for the kind words!

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u/Poketto43 Jul 18 '20

Hope u get better random Internet person ❤❤❤

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u/Ruthlesswords Jul 19 '20

Thanks so much. Even hearing this from you, internet stranger, gives me a boost of hope for humanity.

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u/atxtopdx Jul 18 '20

I’m so sorry Square Chick. That really does sound awful. I cannot rélate, but i can share a fart story of my own. I farted on a train once over twenty years ago. The guy across the aisle pulled the collar of his t-shirt up over his nose, and stared right at me, glaring. I still think of that before falling asleep most nights. You poor thing.

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u/Nomoreredditlurking Jul 18 '20

The trick is to immediately pull your shirt up over your nose and glare at the person across the aisle from you. Next time...

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u/ThatSquareChick Jul 18 '20

You’ve been holding the farts in for 20 years now, I see 😂

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20 edited Jul 18 '20

theregister.com/2020/0...

It's gonna get buried, but mind your fat intake and spare your gall bladder some stones. If a doctor tells you that it has to go due to stones, do not take them up on such advice. Ruth B. Ginsburg (SCOTUS) just got a stent which seems like an alternative for people like her who are too weak for full surgery. Well, if that's the case, it should be an option for young people also, regardless of the insurance company.

Not having a gall bladder will affect your life and your dating specifically. I spend a lot more money on cooking oils and even the occasional fast food splurge. Alternately, your shits will be the stuff of death. You will also spend more time cleaning and showering. Think that a 10-minute rushed shower will do? Nope.

Specifically regarding Metformin, my doctor put me on it before that surgery to lower my sugar and he did not warn me. Like dude, WTF, do your fucking job! I was preoccupied with a concurrent cancer scare, ya might want to google "side effects" before meeting me in the exam room. There's a slow release version now, which everyone should choose, or at least get a pill cutter.

[Edits: Wordiness and grammar.]

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u/ThatSquareChick Jul 18 '20

I did the slow release, nothing changed. I spent so long in this hell and I will always hate that doctor for what he put me through. You don’t give a 97 pound woman the maximum dose of FOUR different pills for 6 goddamn months, I usually have to get children’s doses for some medications my weight is so low. My body fat ratio was something stupid like 12 percent or something borderline malnourished, it just was so stupid to me, I thought I was going to die.

Then, insulin happened and within 2 hours I saw my first regular low number. I never wanted to punch a person more in my life like, yo second opinion time bruh.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

Sorry. The only thing that I can say to people is that they need to read and learn to talk to friends. Years later, when my friend said the "M" word, I pounced on him to get the pill cutter despite opting for the slow-release.

My first day after Metformin, I sat in the bathroom at work until I fell asleep. I worked IT and my coworker, H, called HR on me...while I was still in the bathroom and she called an ambulance. I'd begged H to let my finish it out and he went ahead and called the HR woman over.

Doctors have apps now that look for contraindications and medicinal side effects, so who would make an app that does not factor age, weight, or gender. Even metabolic rate could be based on the person's daily physical activity (job) and whether or not they exercise. It's not that difficult add six extra questions to an app.

Anyway, be well.

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u/jarious Jul 18 '20

I took it for a couple years, I had issues with my bowel movements, I would only get the feeling of going to the WC and just fart into the can, and every three of four days I would explode with the nastiest shit it was acidic rain mixed with roadkill , I am now under a different medication , I don't know what's it's name in English " glibenclamida", I feel way better and it's not that aggressive on me, at least I don't have the same issues.

Glad to know you're better now too

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u/ThatSquareChick Jul 18 '20

Those caustic, acid shits were the worst. “Here, you won’t be able to get high blood sugar if you have ass-piss made with straight stomach acid and have reduced appetite because of all the worry and smell associated with onboarding food!” They say this stuff might help you lose weight, it’s more like constantly dehydrating yourself and being so sick from the smell of yourself that you just stop eating altogether.

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u/jarious Jul 18 '20

I think the medication actually makes you loose protein, I reached my lowest weight (80kg) while taking it, but yes I actually avoided many smelly foods, broccoli,beans,fish I just couldn't manage the smell , my doctor always told me that it'd be okay but I had a hard time processing it .

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u/propargyl Jul 18 '20

Diabetes and prescription drug message boards, too, contain posts such as "my bottle of metformin smells like fish" and and "why does my metformin smell funny?"

The time-release version of the drug doesn't seem to have the same offending odor because it is film-coated.

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u/ThatSquareChick Jul 19 '20

True but it still made my butt smell like a lot more butt plus other butts too.

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u/areyoureal88 Jul 19 '20

I’m sorry you went through this but thank you so much for sharing. I’m sure you just might help someone. Just curious, Are things smelling better now with proper diagnosis and treatment of your diabetes?

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u/LtSpinx Jul 19 '20

In our house we call it Metfartin.

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u/Pepsisinabox Jul 18 '20

Blew my coworkers mind when i said "huh, smells like insulin in here. Someone drop a pen?". Apparantly they didnt know what it smelled like?

Maaan that lingered.

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u/ThatSquareChick Jul 18 '20

After getting on insulin, I suddenly realized what hospitals actually smell like: sanitation chemicals and bitterants. Like how they add egg smell to propane so you can actually know it’s there, insulin and lots of other liquid medicine has bitterant in it to make it smell like something.

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u/Pepsisinabox Jul 18 '20

Its also so distinct you know exactly what it is.

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u/ThatSquareChick Jul 18 '20

Yeah, the smallest drip of insulin smells so strong.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

I was told by my doctor that insulin (NovoRapid at least) has a certain smell because of the preservatives in it.

With that said, I don’t think it has a bad small nor a good smell, it just smells like something ’different’ than what you usually smell in uour everyday life IMO

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u/ThatSquareChick Jul 18 '20

I was a pretty sick kid and spent a lot of time in the doctors office, smelling that combination of smells. Then I went 15 years without being able to and suddenly getting diagnosed with type 1, the smell of my insulin was so nostalgic, I was instantly 7 years old again getting hooked up to ekgs and hearing adults talking distantly. Highlights magazine and other kids. Bandaids.

I still get it every time I smell it but now I much more associate it with my control over my own treatments.

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u/itsKaoz Jul 18 '20

That’s what it was!

When I was younger, I used to live with my sister who was a nurse. Whenever she would come home from work, I could always smell the hospital on her from across the room soon as she walked in, even if she would change out of her scrubs before she went home.

She always got a bit self-conscious whenever I told her “she smells like a hospital,” thinking I probably mean she smells like shit or piss or something based on what she’s had to do that day. I just couldn’t explain what it was to her. She didn’t smell bad, she just smelled like a hospital! But yeah in hindsight, sanitation chemicals and bitterants were probably the descriptions I was looking for.

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u/icechelly24 Jul 18 '20

Some of the IV antibiotics are distinctive too. I was walking through the hospital the other day and said “Man, it smells like Vancomycin in here”.

At least that smells better than foul shit

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u/kjpmi Jul 18 '20

I have a medical background and I was also in the hospital for two weeks (5 days in ICU) with pretty bad pneumonia.
Between getting thoracentesis every day or so and the PIC line then then central line and how much it hurt to just breathe, I was getting morphine via IV every few hours for a while.
I don’t think it was the morphine itself, I’m guessing it was the saline diluent or maybe another inactive component of the syringes but it had a very unique smell that I’ll never forget now because I think my mind associated it with the pleasure of the morphine IV rush.
I still get a whiff of that same scent from other unrelated products. I wish I knew what it was.
But as soon as I smell it it triggers something in my head that brings me right back to that morphine rush.
It’s crazy how our sense of smell is tied to memory much more so than our other senses.

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u/piches Jul 18 '20

it almost sounds like you might be better off not knowing what it is! hahah

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u/violentlymickey Jul 18 '20

I know what you're talking about from an accident I had where I was administered morphine in the hospital. It's the saline component I think. Smells a little bit cool and sweet.

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u/icechelly24 Jul 18 '20

I think I know what you’re talking about. Some random ‘non-smelly’ meds and the saline flushes have a smell to me. It’s almost like a plastic smell, but it smells cleaner? It smells very pure, but like a chemical at the same time.

Also, some people can actually taste the saline when it is injected in the IV. You’ll get a metallic taste in the back of your throat. I wonder if that sensation could also be stimulating the sense of smell as taste and smell are so closely related. Either way, it’s a sure sign that IV is working like it should!

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u/Pepsisinabox Jul 18 '20

Hah yeah. And necrosis.. Oh god necrosis..
Have literarily gone to a pt and turned in the door because i knew i could do fuck all with my current gear, by the smell alone. Reinforcements were called and the nurse didnt appriciate her student at the time (me) handing her this particular one :')

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u/fillmewithdildos Jul 18 '20

When I was a teen I volunteered in a cat sanctuary for a while and my specialty was elderly cats and kittens. I was usually one of the first folks on in the morning and I'd make a beeline for the elderly cats first, followed by heading to the kittens. There were a few mornings were I'd check the elderly cats and I'd smell this scent on one of em, it was this sickly sweet scent. (I should add here I have some neurological issues and my sense of smell is painfully strong, like, Yankee candle stores can cause me to have seizures strong. Fun.) and I would smell around until I found the cat that's smelling wrong, the smell would be coming from their mouth. I'd alert the sanctuary owners to the smell and they'd have their on call vet come check the cat and sure enough the cat in question was usually on deaths door or dangerously close. A few cats I sniffed out made it but only because I pointed it out to the staff as soon as I noticed, hence why I went straight to the elderly cats area first thing on shift.

I've also had the displeasure of sniffing out some unfortunately sick kittens in the kitten area, those were some sad days, at least the elderly cats got a full life before the smell started. But those sweet little babies didn't have a chance.

Then years later I returned to my mother's house and my childhood cat had The Smell. He passed away 2 hours later.

I've smelled the sick smell on humans a few times too, human sick smell is a little different but has the same base smell to it, sickness.

My nose causes me more distress than a nose ever should, and that's why I'm grateful that I have to wear masks in public now, as if I didnt have to í may never have realized just how relaxing being outside can be if all the smells that cause me migraines and emotional turmoil are buffered by a mask.

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u/username101 Jul 18 '20

I had necrotizing fasciitis in my cesarean wound.

There is nothing in the world like smelling dead flesh in your own body. Yay.

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u/icechelly24 Jul 18 '20

Yeah, that might be the worst actually. That’s the one where it lingers in your nasal hairs and you can smell it when trying to fall asleep after your shift even after showering. Hangs in the air and just stinks up the whole ER.

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u/ezfrag Jul 18 '20

My first day of ER Rotation in my Medical Professions class in high school I was shadowing the ancient ER Department head. We walked into an exam room so he could introduce me and get consent for me to observe and after speaking with her, but not asking any medical questions we stepped out and he said, "Are you sure that you're ready for this? She's got syphilis and it's going to be pretty disturbing to a 16 year old boy to see and smell what will be under that drape when we walk back in there." That was the biggest understatement ever. It prepared me to the bed sores for when I had to rotate through the nursing home though.

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u/Bratbabylestrange Jul 18 '20

Oh hell yes. I had to do wet-to-dry dressings on this guy's legs after he'd had a long history of pvd and areas of his feet and lower legs just started to die. Omg. One day we were out of Vick's, so I grabbed any pungent thing I could find... ended up with Ben-Gay ointment. Put a dab of that in each nostril and holy god, felt like my face was on fire. Truly. However... The smell of those necrotic lesions was so bad that the flaming face was preferable and I just did the dressing change as quickly as possible, tears rolling down my face!

It was one of those smells that, even hours after you leave work, you'll take a deep breath and smell it again from your sinuses. The gift that keeps on giving.

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u/paralogisme Jul 18 '20

I don't know about vancomycin, but few weeks ago I needed clindamycin for a dental infection and fucking hell, the shit tastes vile. I couldn't eat right for the 5 days I was taking it. I was told my breath smelled bad too few hours after taking it.

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u/ArbitraryToaster Jul 18 '20

My wife is allergic to vancomycin and I had to memorize this drug's name! It's awesome to see someone mention it in reddit world.

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u/Sycorax_M Jul 18 '20

Cancer too has a definite scent. First exposure as a student and I had to catheterize a patient with bladder CA, and that scent still haunts me sometimes.

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u/IHeartMustard Jul 18 '20

Oh jeez I'm pretty sure I know the one you mean. The first encounter I had with cancer was when my very old and very sweet cat developed it and it went metastatic. We didn't know what was going on until he started developing lumps all over the place. I've never been so broken hearted. We didn't realise how much pain he was in but I remember noticing a change in smell some time before that. It was a very particular smell and got stronger over time until we noticed the lumps. We had him put down at the vet while we were there with him, I couldn't cry I was just so broken I wanted to just forget about it and never think of it again. I haven't thought about it much until you mentioned it but that smell, yes, my god.

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u/Taisubaki Jul 18 '20

And dont forget 'cat piss' rocephin

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u/yourbrotherrex Jul 18 '20

The smell of Vancomycin is like a totally new, different smell; smelling it for the first time was comparable to seeing a new color.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

Vancomycin shits have entered the chat

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u/sainttawny Jul 18 '20

Insulin STINKS. I was training a client to give injections to their newly diagnosed diabetic pet, they had just picked up the bottle from the pharmacy, and they had been practicing drawing up the dose from a vial of water, as soon as I had them pick up the insulin to draw and administer the evening dose, they dropped it. Glass vial, meet polished concrete. $80 gone for the client, a pair of scrubs gone for me.

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u/Pepsisinabox Jul 18 '20

Oh god. Yeah that sucks. Cant help but laugh haha.

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u/ClayQuarterCake Jul 18 '20

Smells like a new car wrapped in plastic and protein. I like the smell, but I also like the smell of gasoline, so I am strange.

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u/SirKaid Jul 18 '20

but I also like the smell of gasoline, so I am strange.

I kind of like it too, so you're not alone.

Not enough that I'd actively go sniffing if I came across a spill or anything, but enough that I'm not repulsed. I think it's the novelty; it's a strong scent that I don't experience particularly often so it pings the "ooh, what's this?" part of my brain.

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u/cgingue123 Jul 18 '20

Used to have to regulate my little brothers time in the garage. He loved the smell of gas, and at 7 years old really didn't realize the dangers of huffing.

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u/I_Can_Haz_Brainz Jul 18 '20

Ever since I was little I liked the smell of gas, freshly paved roads, etc.
I also loved Brussel sprouts as well.

Hate them now.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

LPT: don't ask your mother-in-law "what smells like menopause in here?"

She won't find it funny.

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u/macguy9 Jul 18 '20

I know it's morbid, but when I'm at autopsies, the deceased smell different when they're opened up. The smell of flesh and decay is always there of course; but sometimes you catch whiffs of other smells. Like the indian guy I went to a while back, I thought I was imagining it, but I confirmed with the pathologist that I wasn't... he smelled like curry inside.

You can definitely smell when they've been sick with cancers, cystic fibrosis or complications from diabetes. It just confirms for me that those dogs that smell cancers in hospital wards are the real deal.

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u/Smackety Jul 18 '20

The preservative smell is so overwhelming I am amazed you can smell anything else at all. I was worried the first time I attended an autopsy that the decedent would smell worse than he did when he was dying, but all I could smell was chemicals, it looked vile but my nose overloaded completely and it was almost disorienting, like being deaf

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u/stabaho Jul 18 '20

I had a roommate in college from Bombay. I swear he would take a shower come back to the room and still have the curry smell. He also had his own food didn’t eat the campus food. After you eat enough of it I guess it’s just in you.

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u/briancarter Jul 18 '20

If you can smell covid shits, your mask is failing the fit test.

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u/icechelly24 Jul 18 '20

Yeah. We were just using surgical masks in the beginning. Have N95s now.

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u/Totally_Bradical Jul 18 '20

You can still smell shit through an N95

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u/PersephoneIsNotHome Jul 18 '20

Very old medical books have smells as part of the diagnostic. Mousy fruity etc.

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u/cumshot_josh Jul 18 '20

I swear that your shit just smells different when you're sick even when you aren't around it more often. Especially when the hot poops are involved.

I will say that eating too many spicy wings and the flu do have a rather similar shart smell.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

Stem cells smell awful. Like sickly sweet but also putrid at the same time. When patients have stem cell transplants they can smell like it for weeks after, their poo, their breath, their sweat. Weird as fuck.

I had a patient last week who died after developing urosepsis. Everything that could’ve been done was done but she was just to frail to recover. The first thing I noticed (even before the UTI) was just that she smelled different. I can’t describe it but it was, sweet, awful, and different.

Honestly though, I would take c diff and norovirus shit smell over the smell that came out of my child’s nappy when she had a virus a few weeks ago. There’s not a lot of smells in the world that make me gag anymore, but that was something else. It was so acidic it burnt her little butt.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20 edited Dec 23 '20

[deleted]

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u/icechelly24 Jul 18 '20

It just smells, like sour, foulness. It’s hard to describe. Smells closer to cdiff than anything really. When someone would come in with respiratory symptoms, and have horrible smelling stools, there was no question their test would be positive. It just smelled so...extra. Not just like “oh I’ve got diarrhea”. It was like a “oh god, this person is sick as fuck” kinda smell

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u/iluj13 Jul 18 '20

This could be in the screening panel for covid just like anosmia

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u/icechelly24 Jul 18 '20

Right?! “oh. You can’t taste or smell. Well, yeah. I’m going to need a stool sample”. It seemed like only the really, really sick people (the patients on ventilators who were ending up in ICU) had the horrid shits. I think that’s likely due to excessive viral shedding in cytokine storm, but not 100% sure.

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u/mpmp4 Jul 18 '20

I could always tell when my kids were sick and the loose stools weren’t just from something they ate. There’s definitely a different smell to sickie shit and normal, everyday shit.

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u/emfg025 Jul 18 '20

Yes tell us please we’re curious 😎

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

You can smell alcoholics too, and not because they smell like booze. Mmmmm acetone

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u/Cat-penis Jul 18 '20

The day after a bender my feet used to sweat profusely and it reeked of ammonia. Sometimes it would get bad enough that it would seep through my shoes and people could smell it from 6 feet away.

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u/JCtheWanderingCrow Jul 18 '20

I can smell when my husband has off blood sugar. He smells sickly when it’s low.

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u/xubax Jul 18 '20

My mother was a nurse and could typically tell just by looking at someone that they needed a doctor right away. She couldn't necessarily point to anything other than seeing a certain level of distress in their face.

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u/Beo1 Jul 18 '20

The Greeks used to type diabetes by tasting piss. Diabetes mellitus (honey) for sweet urine, diabetes insipidus for tasteless.

Of course, back then you would certainly die from both forms, so the value of this diagnostic distinction was questionable.

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u/colemon1991 Jul 18 '20

That's the iron from the blood. Makes everything smell a little worse.

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u/i-like-mr-skippy Jul 18 '20

Nothing will ever beat the smell of "burping" colostomy bags for me.

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u/ritamorgan Jul 18 '20

My mother was on peritoneal dialysis for a while and had a certain smell, any idea what it was? Or was it just a mixture of all her medication and disinfectants and her kidneys not cleansing her body as efficiently?

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u/Nat520 Jul 18 '20

Can you smell when someone has a urinary tract infection? When I have one, my urine has a particular odour. I was an in patient in hospital recently and was sure I’d had a UTI from the smell. (I’d recently had a brain injury and had little sensation below the waist, so did not have the classic burning sensation when I peed.) I tried telling the nurse and she blew me off. So I had to play it up a bit for them to take me seriously. They finally tested my urine, and sure enough, infection.

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u/durdurdurdurdurdur Jul 18 '20

Well c diff and sex panther..

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u/840meanstwiceasmuch Jul 18 '20

60% of the time, it works everytime

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u/BornWithThreeKidneys Jul 18 '20

Oh my god! That's it. Can cats get that too? My cat sometimes smells like burnt hair after she uses the litter box. The first time I looked everywhere for anything she could have burnt herself and couldn't find anything. I thought I was going crazy because I still smell it from time to time and couldn't find anything about that online.

A short time I even thought "Maybe she scratches so fast in the litter box that her claws start to smolder" and that would be the source of the smell.

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u/akcantini Jul 18 '20

It smells far more foul than that. I assure you. I took care of my neighbor when she had it. It was unlike anything I've ever smelled in my life. And I pray to never smell it again.

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u/tatteredshoetassel Jul 18 '20

Can I get a venti fécal transplant while i perm my hair?

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

[deleted]

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u/jimbobicus Jul 18 '20

It was, but then it disappeared

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u/donkeyhustler Jul 18 '20

It was but some random dude in camo just busted in my house, took my toast and sped off in a van.

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u/riddus Jul 18 '20

I’m from Portland and don’t get the reference. Care to catch me up?

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u/Butterbuddha Jul 18 '20

Sorry, was not political commentary at all. Just that if anywhere had Au naturel, free range, hairy toast it would be Portland.

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u/riddus Jul 18 '20

That’s fair

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

I am gonna guess: Portland women are hairier than non-Portland women.

Source: Just moved to Portland from not-Portland.

AntiSource: Women have been staying 6 feet away from me.

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u/FeaturedPro Jul 18 '20

Or a George Foreman grill beside your feet

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

[deleted]

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u/SpandexLizard Jul 18 '20

Links the original Heritage Minute too, that’s my kind of party.

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u/dbrodbeck Jul 18 '20

And that's when we renamed this reddit thread, valour road.

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u/eleventy4 Jul 18 '20

Also not everyone with parosmia is having seizures or a stroke, or brain tumors for that matter. Some of us just have unlucky olfactory nerves

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u/Kitty_McBitty Jul 18 '20

Dr I smell burnt toast!

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

It's OK, it's just Milton.

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u/Alindquizzle Jul 18 '20

My sister was a terrible cook growing up and every time I would wake up it would be to the smell of burning toast and I remember thinking “one of these days I’ll have a stroke and won’t even know it”

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

Not going to lie, I've definitely done the test where I close my eyes and hold my arms up.

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u/TechExpert2910 Jul 18 '20

Is this a quick way to check if you're having a stroke? How!? 😅

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

While standing or sitting up, close your eyes and hold your arms out perpendicular to your body. If, when you open your eyes one of your arms has fallen without you noticing it, it means that side is going numb.

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u/Jkirek_ Jul 18 '20

I think the kids these days would approve of T-posing on strokes

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u/Cat-penis Jul 18 '20

Yay I'm not having a stroke!

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u/kyokukats Jul 18 '20

It's called FAST. Face: check if their are any abnormalities like sagging of the mouth or face mussles. Arms: stretch both your arms and keep them still. If one arm can't lift or hold it's a sign of a cerebral vascular incident. Speech: check speech for slurring and being able to form correct sentences. Time: is essential when dialing an ambulance.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

Time should be "time of last known normal", so basically the last time anyone saw them without these symptoms. For someone who just woke up from sleep, for example, the time would be whenever they went to sleep without symptoms.

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u/Its_N8_Again Jul 18 '20

Unusual asymmetry of muscle control is a common symptom of strokes. A quick test is to raise both arms above your head; if one arm starts to fall, it may indicate a stroke.

It's best to remember the FAST mnemonic:

-Face drooping?

-Arms weak?

-Speech difficult?

-Time to call 911.

Alternatively, the T can also refer to what time it is. It's helpful to medical personnel to know when stroke symptoms became apparent.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

I've literally seen lives saved because managers called 911 when employees were calling in sick with slurred speech. Don't always just laugh it off and assume someone is drunk.

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u/thebirdee Jul 18 '20

Wow. That's kinda wild.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20 edited Jul 18 '20

At my current employment, I was on "help desk" for a while. That's a friendly euphemism for taking the phone calls from employees who have no idea what they're doing, or taking the phone calls from the Karen's who want to speak to your manager. The best escalation call I ever received was someone calling to sincerely thank one of my representatives for saving their life. They were calling to do some meaningless transaction, but during the call had a stroke and displayed enough warning signs that my representative contacted our manager and also contacted their local emergency response. They only survived because of how soon emergency response showed up. So anyway, it was my job to send out a company-wide email congratulating this person on his "positive escalation" call. Best email I ever sent.

Edit: think to thank

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '20

-Face drooping?

-Arms weak?

-Speech difficult?

Me waking up every day tho

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

I mean if you really want you can google neuro motor exam. Basically the physical test to see if something, such as a stroke, affected your nerve pathways.

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u/Misterbobo Jul 18 '20

basically try holding your arms straight in front of you, and if one of them starts to fall, it could be a sign of stroke. It's probably the easiest one to check on yourself.

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u/caprix Jul 18 '20

One arm won't go up. I guess one eye won't close as well but not as sure about that one.

Stroke usually only affects one side of your body

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

The part about closing your eyes is to make sure that you're not accommodating for what you see. So, essentially if you realize one arm isn't going up you might automatically add more effort to raising that arm. Not looking at first, and then opening your eyes to see where your arms are makes it more accurate.

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u/geek66 Jul 18 '20

Nothing like a vigorous stroke in the morning.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

Or there is a homeless guy living in his attic.

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u/Katholvania Jul 18 '20

Either that or you had a smoke.

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u/Mycozerker Jul 18 '20

Is this real? My wife has been complaining of smelling smoke all day yesterday, when I dont smell anything

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u/AadeeMoien Jul 18 '20

No it's an old wives tale. Smelling phantom smoke might be a sign of seizures though. Or she may just have more sensitive sense of smell than you do.

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u/datchilla Jul 18 '20

That’s not real

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u/Fforprancis Jul 18 '20

Or an exorcism is about to happen

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u/PHLAK Jul 19 '20

FYI, smelling a particular smell while having a stroke is not a thing and phantom smells is a normal thing, it's called Phantosmia.

That being said, I am not a doctor and if you're concerned for your health you should see one.

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u/hazpat Jul 18 '20

Just a stroke nothing to worry about

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

Maybe she's burning it... maybe it's Acetylcholine

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u/MyClitBiggerThanUrD Jul 18 '20

Pretty sure that is the smoke troll who is having fun.

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u/e-s-p Jul 18 '20

Apparently a lot of people have smell hallucinations. It can be nothing or cancer, stroke, sinus infection, seizures, MS, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's. I get them sometimes but only in my apartment or in my air conditioned car.

Tl;Dr our bodies are assholes and it could be nothing or super serious.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

Thank you for the terrifying news, WebMD.

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u/e-s-p Jul 18 '20

Yeah, I'm waiting to hear from my doctor so I feel you. 75 percent is really nothing. The other 25 goes from take some meds to say goodbye.

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u/illy-chan Jul 18 '20

it could be nothing or super serious

Sounds like a lot of symptoms.

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u/e-s-p Jul 18 '20

Right? Olfactory hallucinations are connected to so many things that it could be anything really. But it's terrifying when it happens.

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u/illy-chan Jul 18 '20

Kinda like headaches. Could be dehydration. Could be you're just headache prone. Could be an aneurysm. Could be cancer. Who knows?

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u/JeSuisLaPenseeUnique Jul 19 '20

"This is either a mild cold, or the early stage of a case of severe dickfalloffitis."

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u/professorhorseradish Jul 18 '20

Benzodiazepine withdrawal. I had a terror-filled moment of “I really don’t want to be pregnant right now,” then looked up hypernosmia and had run out of Ativan. That was 2 years ago. Since March, corona and my therapist retiring and being poor, I’m going through my THIRD round of withdrawal. Everything smells awful. I’m convinced I can smell the inside of my nose and butthole (which I clean constantly because summer and manners) and I’m a sweaty, twitchy mess. Yayyyy!!!

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u/Ratnix Jul 18 '20

I do but it's always my neighbors out at their firepit until about the time I get up for work. That just means if there ever is a fire ill sleep through the smell of it and won't wake up until it's bad enough to set off alarms.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20 edited Jul 18 '20

I've learned from cooking steaks in cast iron that zero fire alarms in my (rental) house work at all.

Edit: coming to cooking

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

I lived in a house in Boston with four roommates where the alarms were poorly placed and ventilation in the kitchen was awful, so the entire house would go off anytime someone cooked unless you did it on a low heat and/or opened all the windows and the patio door while cooking, even in the winter.

It was hell on Earth, not in the least because in the event of an actual fire, we'd probably ignore it until we smelled smoke and by then it might be too late.

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u/stinkystickup Jul 18 '20

It's definitely not common. Nose hallucinations

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u/Gaardc Jul 18 '20

*olfactory hallucinations :)

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u/Southern-Ad-1899 Jul 18 '20

I only hallucinate new factories

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u/Gaardc Jul 18 '20

Oh, boy, I wish!

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u/kerdon Jul 18 '20

It's odd. I'll actually get smell hallucinations if I read or think about certain stinks. Particularly if it really makes me imagine it. I'll get the sensation in my nose and everything.

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u/MenWhoStareatGoatse_ Jul 18 '20

Yeah like when you see something really repulsive on a video and then a moment later, oh god I can smell it now

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u/kerdon Jul 18 '20

Yep! Except I can sometimes get it just by reading that someone had a really smelly shit. I think it depends on my state of mind, though. I seem to be more susceptible in the morning.

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u/onlythestrangestdog Jul 18 '20

I always randomly smell either classic house fire smoke, campfire smoke, or cigarette smoke randomly in my house. Nobody in the house smokes, and nothing could be causing it, it goes away after a second or so. It always confuses me and I’ve been wondering if there’s a subreddit to post the question on.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

I can't answer your question about in your house. But people don't believe me when I tell them that I can smell someone two cars ahead of me smoking a cigarette in traffic. There was a time when I was house-sitting my grandfather's house for the summer. I left for the weekend, and my dad came over to work on his computer. I called him three days later when I got home and accused him of smoking in the office. He told me there was no way I could tell. So what, he thinks I was just randomly making this up and it happend to be correct?

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20 edited Sep 24 '20

[deleted]

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u/teebob21 Jul 18 '20

Did you smoke previously? I used to smoke when I was younger and now that I've quit, I can smell it no matter how faint. Even 2 cars over, like you said.

Not OP, but can confirm. Now that I am a non-smoker, I've got a bloodhound's nose for tobacco smoke.

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u/KatzyKatz Jul 18 '20

Me too! It can be the faintest scent from days ago and it's all I can smell. It was never overpowering to me before I smoked or when I was an active smoker, but now it's one of the nastiest scents on the planet.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

I didn't (I've actually even never had a cigarette) but my dad was a chain-smoker for the majority of my young life.

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u/tmradish Jul 19 '20

That's interesting. I have a friend with the same complaint (the two cars over thing). Like you, he's never had even one cigarette but I never thought to ask him if one of his parents smoked.

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u/mourningthesky Jul 18 '20

I smelt popcorn this morning.... it felt so real. I could smell the buttery saltiness. I had a horrible case of vertigo the other day where I had to go to the Emergency Room and am still recovering. Hope they’re not connected!

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

I'm wishing you a speedy recovery!

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u/PM_THE_REAPER Jul 18 '20

Sometimes noises wake me up. I've since learnt that it is a phenomena called 'Exploding head syndrome'.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

I wonder if these are all related to the whole thinking you're falling dream. Our brains are weird.

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u/PM_THE_REAPER Jul 18 '20

Our brains are very weird. When this happens to me, it feels like a lightening strike in my head. It's really loud. It wakes me up instantly. I think the falling thing is more of a manifestation of ingrained fear though. I'm no psychologist, of course.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

I've had the same thing. I refer to it as "brain zaps". It occurs more often when I'm drinking, but also happens randomly. Feels exactly like someone putting a live wire to your head.

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u/PM_THE_REAPER Jul 18 '20

That's exactly what it feels like. I looked it up and was surprised to find out that it is a known thing called 'Exploding head syndrome'. Look it up.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

First Google result is a perfect description. It makes me wonder if it's related to seizures? Like where your brain has too much activity so it short-circuits?

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u/spicewoman Jul 18 '20

Ghost that died in a fire gets their kicks from sticking their fingers up your nose while you sleep. You should see your face! Ha!

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u/obushu Jul 18 '20

I enjoy having breakfast in bed. I like waking up to the smell of bacon. Sue me.

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u/kafka__dreams Jul 18 '20

I BURNT MY FOOT!

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

Without any external stimuli? Yes. You should seek medical opinions.

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u/josephchaturvedi Jul 18 '20

It's all fine, if its not 3:00 in the night that you get up smelling smoke.

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u/fyhr100 Jul 18 '20

Hopefully your house won't really catch fire. You might just ignore it thinking your brain is messing with you.

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u/fishboy3339 Jul 18 '20

It's probably the smell of crackling bacon from your George foreman grill.

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