Hi again ..I still haven't seen an ENT but my family Doctor prescribed an inhaler (salbutamol) and a pulmicort turbohaler with a steroid (Budesonide) I was on it for two weeks and it really seemed to help ....I quit taking it a few days ago as I don't like to stay on steroids for too long and the smoke smell is getting strong again. Have an appointment with ENT next month....... will post any news.

I like all you have been experiencing the same symptoms. I had surgery about 1 year ago on my nose. i thought that was the problem. Anyways i kept goggling everything I can think of "Smoke in the nose" Nose has burning smell" Nose smell like cigarettes' etc. I don't smoke so knew that couldn't be the problem. I hate medicine and try to use everything natural. This helped and almost eliminates every symptom (Headache, Eyes burning and Smell)

Here you go:

First go to Rite-Aid (I live in California) What every drug store you have.
Go pick up this thing called NeilMed - "*Sinus Rinse*" Do a search on google to make sure you get the right one. It cost about $10.00 Buy the extra packets you might need them. Use this for Exactly One week. 2 times a day. in the morning when you wake and after dinner.

Last step. Go to Walmart and pick up some (Equate) Saline Nasal Spray - $2.39 or whatever brand you prefer. i chose the cheapest. Use it to moisturize your nose lining. I use it like 6 to 7 times daily. It works wonders.


That's it. enjoy and God bless

Happy Smelling Again!

I also smell smoke. My girlfriend thinks i'm weird cause she cant smell it. I have a cold that has lasted about 7 weeks now. I have been diagnosed with a sinus infection as well. In the beginning, my doctor said I have a common cold, and gave me cough syrup with codeine. Two weeks later another doctor said I have a sinus infection and gave me antibiotics for ten days....it did not work! Another week after that , my doctor said " let's stick with the nose " and prescribed me a generic version of flo nase, or flo max - a steroidal nose spray....I don't think it works! Anyway, I googled stuffy nose and smelling smoke, and I found this interesting forum. I guess my next step will be to request to see a ENT specialist, and also was recommended to ask for a CT SCAN.

At random, I have been smelling cigarette smoke as well as other odors; burning plastic, musty, and an odor that I have been unable to identify but it is acrid..very sharp and chemical. Also, there is at times a very horrible 'aftertaste' which persists for days.
This has been going on for a little over 3 years now. My doc blames it on 'diabetic neuropathy', which makes these odors and tastes hallucinatory.

IMO, IF THESE THINGS WERE HALLUCINATIONS, THEY WOULD NOT GO AWAY WHEN THERE IS A BREEZE BLOWING!
But my doc does not take that into account.

My phantom odors disappear when I open the car windows or go outside.
An indication, I think, that these things are real.

Man oh man I thought I was going insane. The smoke smell has me ready to shove vicks in both nostrils. I am going to try some of the remedies i've seen here and let you know if they work. I have had this smelling of cigarette smoke problem on again off again for years but never looked it up before but I am so glad I did. Good luck to all the smoke smellers out there.

I have been smelling smoke for about two months. I am a migraine sufferer and had a routine appointment with my neurologist and told her about the problem. She had never heard tell of such a thing! She was actually excited about researching a new "problem". I was sent for an EEG and an MRI. Have not heard back on either test. I am assuming they were normal. My next appointment is in January. Will keep you all posted on what happens next,

Like all of you - it is a nasty thing to put up with!

Well, I have been through all I have read; sinus surgery, polyps, ct scan, steroids, mri, brain tumor diagnosis (thank God it wasn't a brain tumor), multiple sclerosis (thank God it wasn't multiple sclerosis), sarcoidosis (this is still in the air), however, I haven't finished all 10 pages of the forum, but I wanted to put my comment in the forum. Let's keep seeking!!! We will find!

I BASICALLY HAVE THE SAME EXACT SYMPTOMS AS YOU. THANK GOD SOMEONE ELSE HAS THEM I'VE BEEN TO 2 ENT AND CAN'T FIND NOTHING I DO THE NETI RINSE AND SOMEDAYS ITS FINE BUT AFTER A COUPLE OF DAYS OH MY GOD I WANNA KILL MYSELF FROM THE SMELL. ALSO I HAVE THE TASTE IN MY MOUTH THAT WHEN I DRINK WATER IT TASTES LIKE POISON TO ME. I HAD CT OF SINUSE'S NO INFECTION I DO HAVE HYPER THYROID PROB AND AM ON MEDS MY LEVELS ARE NORMAL NOW I TAKE ADIVAN FOR ANXIETY WHEN NEEDED ( WHEN THE SMELL COMES) AND ALSO I AM A 49 YR OLD WOMAN IN PERIMENOPAUSE. I WORK OUT EAT HEALTHY HAVEN'T SMOKED SINCE FEB 08 SO WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH ME ITS NOT IN MY HEAD I DON'T GET SEIZURES NOR MIGRANES SO WHAT IS THIS? IT HAS TO BE SOMETHING IF THERE ARE MORE THAN 1 PERSON GETTING IT? ANYTHING NEW WITH YOU? ANYONE OUT THERE WITH ANY INFO? PLEASE HELP

Today I tried to find a site that spoke of this pnenomenon-smelling cigarette smoke when no one around you is smoking. I don't take deep breaths because of it. It comes at work and home, where there is no smoking taking place. I am wondering, since I am a coffee drinker if this might have something to do with it. Old coffee grinds smell that same way to me so I am going to pursue the possibility that my drinking of coffee throughout the day precipitates this thing. I have been a coffee drinker all my life and this a recent occurance, but maybe something in the way they process coffee now causes this...Will let you know my findings

I, too, have this burning/smoke/tar smell. When I'm working, it's worse. I am a nurse and cannot say anything to the doctors or nurses....they'll automatically think I'm crazy. I have friends I speak to about this insane problem. I also tell my Dr.......he just looks nicely at me. You know......that, "Un hunh....un hunh..." followed by, "I don't know. Maybe allergies or infection." I don't blame anyone. I just find it odd that all of you are complaining EXACTLY of the same symptoms I have. I will take this to my doctor.....and again, probably be rejected and given "something to calm me". UN-BE-LIEVABLE!!! I don't even get emotional anymore. I just seem to burn candles more.....or lift my shirt over my nose when watching TV or something. Like now....it's making me sick - smelling it. Sometimes my eyes burn so bad (like after crying) and my nose burns,too - like after crying or a bad cold. Sometimes I just WANT to cry. It's foolish and ignorant. I HATE IT. I really wish there were answers. I can't believe no-one has heard of this --- yet WE ARE ALL HERE SUFFERING. Good luck to everyone on this site!!!

I've never smoked and I'm not around any smoke, however, I have been smelling smoke for the last 2 weeks and no one else around me does. This also happened to me about about 8 months or so ago and it went away. I believe what is causing this problem is my recent use of nasal spray for allergy/sinus problems and/or the recent use of our central heat in the house. I figure this smoke smell symptom will resolve when one or both of these items are discontinued in the near future.

Well, I am surprised to find this forum! I am pregnant (4 months) and began to think it was just that. I have had severe sinus disease for 10 years now (4 surgeries, etc...) and a recent culture came back positive for bacteria. They are waiting to treat me b/c I am pregnant. But oh boy for 4 days now I smell smoke all day long everywhere I go! It is quite odd. It's nice to know there are others who have the same thing. Anyone know if it is the infection that causes the smell or something else?

Smoke smell.....like a burning cigarette filter...comes from the gases released from your joints....this sounds crazy I know...but I have arthritis in my back...when I adjust my back, spine or joints....the cracking sound is gases being released...I believe this may be one reason to some. I also notice Ibuprofen intensifies this symptom, perhaps 600mg is a bit high a dose for me! Very odd and irritating thing to have.

I was wondering if any of you have pets and if so do you administer over the counter flea and tick medicines to your pets at home. I recently started smelling smoke as if someone is smoking a cigarettes. If so, please respond back to this message and I will go into more details. Thank You.

I was wondering if any of you have pets and if so do you administer over the counter flea and tick medicines to your pets at home. I recently started smelling smoke as if someone is smoking a cigarettes. If so, please respond back to this message and I will go into more details. Thank You.

Oh dear - told my mum about me experiencing a burning smell in my nose - she said she thought it related to something so we googled it. This forum is amazing - I thought I was going mad for a bit but not now - been ill for weeks, and to be honest on and off for a long while without knowing what is wrong - things like ct scans etc not available for problems like this in uk. Have been doing my own research while waiting for blood tests from my gp and at the moment am convinced the smell is to do with sinuses as been having headaches, fatigue and dizziness, and then more recently this horrible smell - it reminds me of a time when i was frying garlic and burnt it, the smell lingered for ages and now this smell reminds me of that and is making me nauseous. It seems no-one on here has come up with a water tight solution yet but I hope they do.

It really is getting to be very tiring, smelling this cigarette smell all the time, when no one is smoking and there is no smoke around...............I have to sleep with the sheets around my nose area so that I can smell only the sheets and not the smoke smell..............I don't smell it all the time, but I would say I smell it 80% of the time.................it is so pervasive, and no one else smells it but me.............and it does wear you out after awhile.............it has been going on for about 5 months...........help! I do not know where to go from here, though I may go to an ENT.............

i got up last week in the middle of the night smelling something nasty. i start looking around the house to find out where the odor is coming from. it took me hours to find out that i'm smelling my own breath. for two weeks now i'm going crazy with this odor that's hard to discribe. i just came back from the doctors office. he gave me some antibiotic for stomach bacteria. hope it works. if i dont go crazy between now and then i'll let you know the resaults.

I was wondering if anyone lives near areas where forest fires have been acuring and do you think the cemicals they put out could cause this. I have the same problem, and this summer we had two fires that burned for about two mouthes. We smelled it off and on depending which way the wind blow, sometimes the smoke smell came in the house even with the air on or off,and I had this problem every sence this summer.

Just wondering if most of us grew up in a house of smokers. I myself never smoked but my Dad smoked in the house forever. For me it feels like a layer of tar is on my lungs and sinuses and what ever coats it regularly, rubs off every once in a while and then that lovely scent comes through. At least that what if feels likefor me. Just wondering if there is a common thread between us all. Thanks.