I Smell Cigarettes All the Time And I Don't Smoke.

Hi, I can't say how glad I am to have found this.

I saw my doctor about 3 weeks ago and I told him about my "smelling smoke" problem. I have been experiencing smelling cigarette smoke for over 2 months. It happens several times a day for about 30-60 minutes and then it goes away.

My doctor mentioned that it could be a precursor to a migrane or a seizure. I don't have any health problems, I don't smoke, I am fairly active, I don't take any medications, am not depressed and I don't have sinus problems, so when I heard this I was pretty concerned. He said that since the smell was not constant we were not going to worry about it.

I was glad when all of a sudden it was gone, nothing, nada. For about 3 days I was free of the smelling smoke problem BUT now it's back and for the last 48 hours it has come back and worse than ever. I now smell it 24 hours a day. It's driving me crazy.

I have made another appointment with my doctor. I will let you all know.

Long story short.. I've got the same problem, but I think I figured out what is causing it. At least a general area. I think it is related to an overactive thyroid and whatever it produces. I used to experience the smelling of cigarettes with burning eyes and burning nose, even a cough, but it would go away. A couple of years later, I found out my thyroid quit working. Then after some testing by the doc, sometimes it would work, sometimes not. Finally it just quit altogether, so my doc put me on armour thyroid. When I first started using it, i started to get the smoke problems (lack of better words), but it would be a couple of days later, so I never tied the two together. Not until the last month. I'd been off of it because I didn't get my prescript refilled... after starting it again.. i got the smoke sensation, but then it went away.. Then just two days ago, i decided to increase my dosage from 60mg to 90mg, and sure enough.. the smoke problems are back.. bad though.. my eyes burn just like someone is blowing smoke in my eyes.. and my nose burns, and i get a cough.. like i'm doing the smoking.. .it's horrible.

So.. since armour thyroid is supposed to be close to natural, it could be the same for someone that has an overactive thyroid.

Anyway.. decided I'd come back to these posts and give some input.. i'd read them about 3 or 4 months ago, finding it amazing that someone else experienced this.. and that contrary to what my wife thinks.. i'm not insane.

Anyway.. i'd love to discuss it..

God bless.

- Zambodi

I also suffer from constantly smelling cigarette smoke which drives me mad at times. In addition to this I suffer from tinnitus constantly. I am due to see a ENT specialist in August and have been interested to see that my smelling smoke problem isn't me going mad but will be interested to see if it has anything to do with my tinnitus. Funnily enough the smoke problem is especially bad when I get signs of a cold etc.
Anyone else have tinnitus in addition to the smoke smells?

Hi Everyone,

Just like everyone else in here. I thought I was going crazy for smelling smoke. It started when I was at work on Tuesday and it ended on Thursday. I even smelled it at home. My wife and I don't smoke. I asked her do you smell cigarettes? She said no of course. I started to google it and I found this wonderful site. It made me feel there are others out there just like me and that I wasn't alone and going crazy. So anyways. I few months ago I had a cold and noticed it then. I got a prescription and the cold went away. It would occur here and there but it wouldn't bother me. I thought since the warm months were coming in. I thought it could of been allergies. My question to everyone is. I don't know how to put this a clean way. When you smell this smoke. Do you have a build up light green snot or clogged nose of dried up green boogies? I am blowing my nose every morning to clear my passage ways. And they are always light green. I am fine for the rest of the day. I never had allergies before but I am getting older. I think I am getting an allergy from the trees and plants. I havn't seen the doctor for this yet but I will soon. If anyone has any info. Let me know. Thanks.

Hi Everyone,

Just like everyone else in here. I thought I was going crazy for smelling smoke. It started when I was at work on Tuesday and it ended on Thursday. I even smelled it at home. My wife and I don't smoke. I asked her do you smell cigarettes? She said no of course. I started to google it and I found this wonderful site. It made me feel there are others out there just like me and that I wasn't alone and going crazy. So anyways. I few months ago I had a cold and noticed it then. I got a prescription and the cold went away. It would occur here and there but it wouldn't bother me. I thought since the warm months were coming in. I thought it could of been allergies. My question to everyone is. I don't know how to put this a clean way. When you smell this smoke. Do you have a build up light green snot or clogged nose of dried up green boogies? I am blowing my nose every morning to clear my passage ways. And they are always light green. I am fine for the rest of the day. I never had allergies before but I am getting older. I think I am getting an allergy from the trees and plants. I havn't seen the doctor for this yet but I will soon. If anyone has any info. Let me know. Thanks.

Hi again,
In response to hev53, I also have ringing in the ears and had the ABR hearing test today. I had an MRI on Saturday. I will be going to my regular DR on Monday to see about the thyroid issue that was mentioned by another on this blog. I am covering all the bases here! I will let you all know!

Hi all,
Well, I had the MRI and everything came out normal. I also had the hearing test and that too came out fine. The ENT was useless, he gave me stupid responses to my complaints. He said I might be smelling smoke because I can now smell more things since the sinus surgery (?). Since my surgery I can smell things more clearly, but that doesn't mean I can smell them when they aren't around! He wanted me to wash my nose out twice a day. I tried to tell him that it isn't actaully from a smell at that time. He didn't listen.

But guess what? I stopped smelling smoke 3 days ago! I think having all the tests is what cured me (ha-ha).

You all might think I'm off the wall here, but I think my burning smell might have been from the surgery. I think it might have been a repressed sense from when I was under. That's the best reason I can come up with.

It sure is nice not to smell it now. (I had better enjoy it, who knows when it might come back!) Hope you all get a solution soon.

am glad to hear some of you are doing better. Although I have not had anymore of the 24 hour episodes I still smell smoke a couple of times a day.

I saw my doctor again and he said I could try some antibiotics and if it didn't go away after that we would try something else. I am not sure I should start with the antibiotics when so many of you have not had any sucess after taking them.

Had this smoke type smell for 6days now.I have read most of the replies and can only relate to a few.The only thing that has changed in my house is that I got a new LCD TV a few weeks ago.The smell I get is like when the set gets warm.
It would be interesting to hear how many more people can relate to this.

John

Well I can't tell you all How relieved I was to find this site. For me the smoke smell started 2 weeks ago and is getting stronger and stronger. To me it smells like burning green wood. When the smell is at it's strongest my voice gets raspy, my eyes burn, I can taste it in my mouth. The evenings are when it is the strongest.
I am a 53 year old female ..I suffer from Grave's Disease which is a thyroid condition, have had tinnitis for about 7 months. I had a slight stroke 6 years ago and was diagnosed with rhuematoid arthritis which has now gone into remission. I haven't had a recent cold or anything that has changed in my life.. It just appeared one day.
Earlier today I was golfing and mentioned it to the women I was golfing with and I blew into their faces to see if they could smell it as it was very strong at that time. 2 of the 3 women said yes they could smell it on my breath.
My Doctor has referred me to an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist to see if they can find a cause. Thank you for sharing your stories and I will post any new info I discover.

HI all. I've been worrying that my experience could signal some sort of brain tumour. I've been smelling a smoky (rather greasy and chemical/electric) for the past month or so. Sometimes I thought this was due to bad traffic fumes on calm days, and others I thought we might have a slow electrical fire in the house. But the thing goes with me wherever I go and nobody else smells it. So anyway, finding out that you all get very similar symptoms makes me feel less freaky; I guess I'll try to take some sinus clearing medication and if that doesn't help have a word with my GP. Many thanks for all your insights.

I just started this phenomenom this week. I just got back from vacation and thought that something in our A/C was burning in the house, but my husband didn't smell it. It has continued for the last 3 days, and I still thought it was something in our home until I went to work yesterday and smelled it in the car and then at work...so I knew it was something within me. I am so glad that I am not alone with this, because it is really annoying. I, too, have severe mold allergies, dogs, trees, leaves, etc., and have constant problems with my sinuses, so I'm wondering if this might be a link since so many people report allergy and/or sinus problems. Appreciate the parosmia and phantosmia info and will ck this out. My only worry is that I have read somewhere about people who experience a smell of burning is related to brain disorders such as tumors, but after reading everyone's comments, I think we all have something that most MD's are not aware of yet. Question: "How many of you also suffer from migraines?" Just wondering if that might be a link. I also have hypothroidism, and wonder if that might be a link, too. Good luck everybody!

hello friends..i too have been experiencing this dreadful smoke smell...everywhere, outside, in my car, in the house, at the store; it sucks. Today i went to the ENT and he had a lady with the exact same thing about a week ago he said sometimes its allergies, there is no known cause, it just happens! anyway so he prescribed Predinsone 10mg for like a week (as he did this other lady and her smell is pretty much gone!) He also ordered me a sinus scan to see what's going on with my sinuses. I will post a week from today to see if this horrid smell has subsided or I will be taking a trip to the radiologist. Hope this helps!

I think you should get more options from different doctors depending on where you live,

Check with a neurologist it could be something wrong with from your nose to your brain how they perceive smell wiring if that makes sense? Also are you sick ?like bronchitis. Steroids --- thats what Prednisone is. You could go to an allergist

Hi there.
thanks for the further information you're all posting, which is really interesting and gives lots of ideas. Just wanted to tell you that last week I started taking a daily decongestant tablet and gradually the smoke smell appears to be disappearing, although I still get intermittent 'revisits' of the sensation. It's a lot less strong each time, as well. All good stuff... might it work for everyone else?
ere's another thought: I'm wondering whether different conditions can have similar (but not identical) effects? My smoky smell is more like electric fires/burnt hair/greasy, whereas many of you are reporting a cigarette smell. Also my eyes don't burn and/or stream and I have never had a history of hypothyroidism or anything like that. What does everyone think?
Cheers for now. Dani

I have had this smoke smell in my nose off and on for about 2 weeks. Has anybody figured anything out about it. Everyone that has written in this blog has described my symptoms. Mine started like this- I was dizzy for 2 weeks (all day long) and the smell came about at the same time. So far the doctor has discovered that I have high blood pressure and my blood test showed my thyroid count was too high. I am now on blood pressure medicine and thyroid medicine. I still have the smell off and on during the day (every day). Does anybody have ANY ideas??

I just wrote on this forum a minute ago and then went back and read some more comments. I have noticed that several of us have mentioned "thyroid".
Any comments from anyone else that noticed this connection?

I just wrote on this forum a minute ago and then went back and read some more comments. I have noticed that several of us have mentioned "thyroid".
Any comments from anyone else that noticed this connection?

rabbit hash-noticed we both wrote about migraines and thyroid
I have had migraines for years, just found the thyroid problem this week
How about you?
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