LOL? Is that a somewhat manic LoL?

i seem to have become smitten with this cigarette burning smell without a visible sign of a cancer stick anywhere...
it is really annoying...only experience it indoors...and is more noticeable around 11am and again about 3pm...would this correspond to a delay after breakfast and then lunch?...
i have recently been on antibiotics for chest infection but had to stop early as they were affecting my stomach....
have had sinus infections in past and experience numerous headaches with the odd migraine from time to time..
is there any conclusive diagnosis of what causes this and why the smell of cigarette smoke..why not rotting fruit or damp clothing?
i notice a number of users here have mentioned they were in various stages of treatment ..very few it seems have come back with progress reports or conclusions....
would be nice to have some firm answers.......
anybody?

sniff sniff!!!

I noticed a stale cigarette smoke smell about 3 months ago. No one else notices it. It is with me wherever I go. Alot of the same situations apply to me (sinus infections, sinus washes, migraines, etc.). What a blessing if someone could help.

Another member of the "Smelling Smoke" group joins you. I can't believe this. I just began to experience this 'round the clock. It seems to be go away outdoors, but any indoor space feels like I am sitting at an old musty bar surrounded by smokers.

I've previously experienced this smell on a few separate occasions, but nothing overwhelming. I noticed, but no one else did. Today, was horrible! No one smelled it, but I've had itchy dry eyes and a scratchy throat all day. I used sinus spray and relieved it for like 5 minutes. I am going tomorrow to buy the neti pot. I pray that helps.

Unbelievable we all smell this stuff. I don't smoke, nor does anyone around me. I smell cigarettes at home, at work, in the store, on the bus I take to/from work...all over. It started in November 07. The only think I can think of that I was doing then that I hadn't done before was use Zycam gel swabs, which I applied to the inner portions of my nostrils when we had a cold bug going through our house. My symptoms are about the same as everyone else's. I'm 44 and in good health. One thing I seem to think is interesting: those little nasal strips one can use to help breathe better, they might help. I emulate what they do with my fingers and make the nasal passage a little larger and the smell is gone.

I'm not going to even waste time going to a doctor with this. My guess is that it is some type of fungus or bacterial infection that is way up there in the nose and seems to take advantage when some type of medication destroys the good/bad microbiological fauna of that area. It's almost like some organism that is opportunistic may take advantage. I'm thinking it might not be vulnerable to typical antibiotics since they don't seem to be helping anyone. Also, since they aren't being seen by doctors up there, they're probably also very well hidden or well camoflauged in the tissues. Several people said the Neti pots help -- maybe that's the assault that these little buggers need. THat's just my best guess. I'm going to try one of these little pots and see what happens. I will get back to you all!!

I am having the same thing & did what you all did and that is look up "smelling smoke." I have never heard of this, but it started about a month or so ago. It is driving me crazy too. I was using a Netti Pot (where you put saline through your nose for sinus cleansing), but I have done that before without this happening so I have no clue. I have not seen the doctor because I thought it would go away, but it has not. I am allergic to cigarette smoke & sometimes it makes me sneeze just because I smell it so strongly as if someone around me is smoking.

I am going to my acupuncturist today & going to ask her about it. Maybe she can help. If so, I will let you know. Please let me know if you guys hear anything else or find the cause of it. Surely this isn't going to last forever!!!

Later...Debbie

About a month or so ago, I started smelling cigarette smoke where there shouldn't be any cigarette smoke and where nobody else smells it. At first, I thought I was smelling residual smoke from some article of clothing around me. None of my family or friends smoke, and I work at a public elementary school, but I would smell faint odor of cigarettes quite often at home, at school, in my car. I knew something wasn't quite right. Today when I was in my office at school, I smelled it most of the day, so I thought I'd google and see what came up, not really expecting much. At first I read something about brain or olfactory tumors, but then I came upon this forum. Seems like sinus problems are the common denominator...and I definitely have had a number of sinus infections in the past several years, and about 15 years ago, I had a very serious infection...sickest I've been in my life.
I'm going to check into fungus possibilities. I had an ear fungus decades ago, that was almost never diagnosed because it was a bit unusual. I now seem to be developing a yeast infection...maybe my body, including my nose, is being overrun by fungus? I'm 47 years old, and I don't ever use prescription drugs.

I have had this post nasal drip inner ear problem for a few years, it would settle when I stopped drinking milk, and come back after icecream latte's or milk... I put up with it until now.

I started to smell burnt smoke. my neigbours don't smoke, no one smokes in my home, it comes near the end of the day for me.

I drank this 'Green Drink', a highly concentrated powder of green food, blue alge, and other good for u stuff, and it went away for a few days, I drank milk and later that night the burnt smell came back accompanied by inner ear infection, also too much sugar doesn't help either, I noticed improvement in my eustation tube when I stopped cookies/brownies, sweet food, it is difficult because I enjoy eating the food, but now with the burnt smell I am scared, and the green drink really helped.. I just now have to stay away from milk and sugar foods and I am back to normal.

I notice these postings are from a while back. I have been on every website possible. I had a bad bout with bronchitis the second week of February and since then, I cannot taste or smell anything! I am frustrated and annoyed and a little scared. I have had some people tell me it will return but I have not talked with anyone that has had this happen to them. I can distinguish sweet, salty, and spicy, but that's it. Cigarette smoke smells like hair is burning and coffee..........eeww, smells almost fishy.
Someone please help me - my doctor said if it doesn't return, I could go on heavy doses of steroids but this is out of the question. I am done with medication for a while.
Will it come back??? This is the 4th week!

I will be so glad when SOMEONE finally diagnoses what this damned smell is......if its not cigarettes, its something burned. Have had this on and off for several years. No one else smells it and when I tell someone they think I'm nuts.......I AM!

I found the solution to smelling smoke constantly. A few months ago I visited a casino where there was lots of smoking. I smelled this smoke constantly for about 2 months, almost drove me crazy. Then I saw on Oprah Winfrey about using a neti pot for nasal health. I tried it and haven't smelled smoke since. You can acquire a pot at the health food store. I was amazed at how simple the solution was to curing this annoying smell. Try it, you'll be thrilled.

i am just like the rest in regards to the symptom of smelling smoke. i have read all responses. this is my history.

i never experienced this until 2005. i was in a horrible accident in april of 05. i was a passenger in a car sitting at a stand still waiting for oncoming traffic to make a left turn and a truck plowed into the back of the car at 80mph. i suffered many many injuries but the worst was a spinal cord injury.

a spinal cord injury causes a neurological disorder as your brain signals travel down your spinal cord telling you to move a foot or finger for example.

i was in the hospital five months with a trach on a vent etc...

not until i was released did i start experiencing this. in addition, when i cry or yawn and my eyes water, my eyes burn horribly as others on this site seem to experience.

it has to be neurologial. the brain is an amazing this.

I have been smelling smoke for about a month and can't ignore it any more. I didn't really think I would find anything on the internet and am surprised to find this forum on my first exploration.

I am 50 and used to smoke (years ago). Have no known allergies but had a heart attack in 2002 and take meds due to that. Since the heart attack I exercise regularly and eat well balanced meals. I am slightly overweight and don’t have depression, etc.

The only regular medicines I take are due to the heart attack and they are as follows: 325mg Aspirin (AM), 12.5mg Metoprolol (AM), Multivitamin (AM), 75mg Plavix (PM), 20mg Simvastatin (PM) and 12.5mg Metoprolol (PM).

Two meds were changed from brand name to generic recently:
1. Blood pressure medicine was changed from Toprol-XL once a day to Metoprolol twice a day.
2. Statin medicine was changed from Lipitor to Simvastatin.

I guess I need to call the doctor and get a nose scope for polyp and a CT scan for tumors.

I'm 22 years old and just started smelling smoke about 3 days ago. At first, I blamed it on my father who lives in the apartment upstairs, but after several trips to the mall, target, and being other nonsmoking zones, I don't believe it is actual smoke I'm smelling. Nobody else can smell it.

A few years ago, my mother lost her sense of smell completely. She's 49. No doctors can tell her what's wrong, so I'm discouraged and not at all motivated to ask my doctor.

About a week before I started smelling smoke, I had a constant headache for a few days. Sinus medication was the only thing that helped it. I NEVER get headaches. Luckily, the headache is gone, but this smoke smell is horrible.

I am so relieved to see that I am not the only person who has this problem!! I am 30 years old. I have my issues but I'm in relatively decent health.

I first had the constant cigarette smell when I was a kid in third grade. I was on my way from the bathroom back to class and I went by the janitor's room where they were all sitting around smoking. The smell lingered with me for days afterwards! It was bad enough that I still remember it 22 years later!! After that, I have gotten that smell stuck in my nose on and off over the years. I never noticed it between the ages of 15 and 27 at which time I myself was a smoker. Now, ever since I quit, I have become very sensitive to cigarette smoke and if I am exposed to it for any length of time, it's like the smell gets stuck in my nose for days. Odd thing is that I don't really notice when I'm inhaling. It's only when I'm exhaling. It's so bizarre.

Anyways, this past weekend I was in Pennsylvania visiting a friend (who is a smoker) and we went out to a bar on Saturday night. It was so disgusting! Everyone was smoking and I only stayed about an hour and a half because I just couldn't stand it. I would have insisted on leaving sooner but I didn't want to be rude. The smell has been stuck in my nose ever since!!

I have to say, I have had other smells get stuck in my nose on and off for my entire life. When I was really little (like 6 or 7) I got the smell of pork fried rice stuck in my nose after eating chinese food and still can't eat it to this day!! And in 5th grade, I got a duck tape smell stuck in my nose for weeks after hanging up posters for one of my teachers.

The difference this time with the cigarette smell is that it is making my eyes burn and I have a raging headache. That's never happened before but it is making me miserable. I do feel better knowing that I'm not alone, though!!

I have been going to an acupuncturist & spoke with my allergist. He had me use the neti pot, 2 sprays of Afrin & 2 sprays of Flonase twice a day - I am to do this for 5 days. I am not completely over the smoke smell, but it is less & less & today I have not seemed to have it at all. I do not know if it is the acupuncture or if it is the treatment from the allergist or a combination of both, but I am feeling better & things smell a lot better!! You might try this to see if it helps you.

Good luck - I will update you if things change.

I was sitting here at my computer thinking how do I google smelling smoke all the time?? and I found this forum!!!!!!!
I haven't had the sinus problems that most others seem to have had.
However mine seemed to have started with a very severe cough that lasted for 3 months and after 60 days of steroids I seem to have gotten rid of, it them turned into losing my voice (I havent had a normal voice for 9 weeks now) in amongst all this I kept getting the smell of smoke (to me it smells like something electrical is burning) as I do smoke (minimal) I know that it not a cig smell.
I am off to a ENT in the very near future due to my lack of voice, so I will make a point of asking about the smell and the headaches that accompany it.
I will post back here if I get any news on what it maybe or what may cause it.
Cheers Riley James

I have hed this issue for just under a year. I do not smoke, but my husband does. He does not smoke in the home or the car though. I smell it everywhere. In the car, at work, in the open fields...pretty much everywhere I go. I had an episode about 8 months ago for several weeks, and now I am having it again. It is so bad now, that I get the lightheaded feeling associated with the smell. I too have had sinus problems and bronchitis. Perhaps that is where this whols thing lies. I plan to make an appointment to see a docor soon, but it seems like there is nothing to convince them there is a problem. Last time I mentioned it, the doc told me NOTHING. He said it was associated with anxiety???
Anyway...sorry to hear so many people are suffering, but hopefully in numbers we can get something done about it.

A couple of weeks ago I started smelling cigarette smoke also. It's so strange. My doctor has requested a sinus x-ray. I don't smoke nor do I go anywhere where there is smoke. It's stiffling and I spray Febreeze everywhere. How long does it last and will it come back if it goes away?

I'm 26 years old and have a bad history of sinus problems. Over the past three months i have periodically been receiving a weird smell but not like cigarette's it is like a smell of nothing it comes and goes every other day for 30 mins to anywhere to 2hours and then i regain smell. I just hate it, it makes me feel like I'm going crazy and something serious might really be wrong but I have no insurance so if anyone hears anything keep me updated thanks.