Well, after a day of horrible anxiety because I'm claustrophobic, I went for the MRI on my brain at 5.15pm. I got through it with the help of two lovely receptionists!! One held my hand and the other watched my baby!

The technician isn't allowed to tell you any results but the lovely receptionist told me there was 'nothing'!! I can't tell you how relived I am after reading a few posts here about brain issues. I still have an appointment with a neurologist next week so we'll see what he says. Maybe he'll suggest an EEG because I know some people mention un-known seizures? Who knows? I also have an appointment with an ENT specialist and an allergist.

My gut feeling at the moment is that this is an allergy matter. AS I mentioned earlier I laid a TON of mulch the day this started. I looked up 'mulch and allergies' and there's a big connection because of possible mould and spores that lie in mulch......

I'm still smelling cigarette smoke really strongly and it's been almost a week now. I have a mild headache but that's probably due stress worrying about the MRI. I do however also have a bit of earache in my left ear which may suggest an ear problem which hopefully the ENT guy would detect......Maybe it's all sinus related.

I'm absolutely determined to get to the bottom of this. I'm 38 years old and have never experienced anything like this before. I have good health insurance so I'm going to ask for ALL the tests and I'll let you know what I find....

I'll keep you posted....

Hi everyone
I started smelling smoke last fall. It happens all the time work, church, gym, home, car..everywhere! It started only a week at a time but now it seems to be ongoing. After the first two months, I decided to see the Dr. I was referred to both ENT and Neurologist. Saw both and apparently I'm perfectly healthy. I had an MRI and EEG and all came back fine. All i have to show for one month of testing is a list of medical bills and no diagnosis.
My husband is a nurse and all he tells me when i say i smell smoke again is "you're probably getting sick." Then, miraculously, i don't get sick, to which he says "oh your body is so healthy its fighting off the infection even before you show symptoms"...Wow i should be so lucky to have such a healthy body, but wait..I still smell smoke.
I have tried to live with it, but sometimes i just feel like I'm going crazy, especially when i ask others if they smell it too and they look at me like I am crazy.
Like others mine does seem to increase with stress, and since my husband and i own a business the stress has increased greatly the past 6 months. I am 28, healthy, don't smoke and i haven't had sinus issues since i stopped teaching 4 years ago.
I don't know what else to do. The doctors don't seem to know either. If anyone has any other recommendations let me know.

This may sound strange and I am not sure if this applies to you. But sometimes smelling things that aren't there can be a sign of schizophrenia. With both of you smelling cigarette smoke I am not sure that it would apply, but is another question you could maybe ask your doctor.

Hi again.

Just been to an ENT specialist and a neurologist.

I have a mild inflammation on my sinuses. I checked out 100% with the neurologist.

It was recommended I use a saline rinse twice a day. Take a zinc supplement. He also suggested a steroid nasal spray and maybe anti-biotics but because I'm nursing I'm not able to take these.

I still have an appointment with an allergist and then I'm at a loss.

The second last post, ashgar30 seems to be in exactly the same situation as I am.

The neurologist thinks this will resolve itself soon enough, but because of all the posts I've read here I have my doubts!!

I'm going to the UK for 5 weeks in 2 weeks time. If I still smell smoke I'll be interested to see if it goes away when I'm in the UK. If it does, and it returns when I come home, I'll maybe assume it's something in my house causing an irritation.....

Also, I suppose this COULD be a stress related thing. I have a 5 and a half month old baby, I have no help and I'm pretty tired....

If I can't get to the bottom of this I'll try acupuncture, Chinese medicine, hypnotism, ANYTHING to get rid of the smell. It's awful and I do NOT want to think I have to live like this permanently.

Okay, again I thought I was the only one having this odd symptom. Did the search and found this thread. I am not on any meds, over the counter nor prescribed. I do not have sinus problems and am healthy with the exception of a lower back pain that has me starting yoga. But I've been doing the yoga now for 6 months, thats the only difference in my life, I've only been noticing the cigarette smell for a few weeks now. It's not every minute of every day. I don't smoke and never did, no one in my family smokes and I smell it also at work where there is no smoking in a 9 story building. I smell it on and off everywhere I am. Would love to figure out why. Now to think of it after reading all the other posts, I think my sense of smell otherwise has declinded somewhat, not totally but noticably. Maybe in my head now but I think my sense of taste might be off a little too. I walk (try to) do about three miles a day so am not just sitting around after work. Don't know what to do next, figure a doctor will just waste my time and insurance money on test after test in the process of elimation. I'd rather keep reading and gathering infomation before I do that.

I have had this on and off for months. The only time it went away was in I was stuffed up from a head cold, but as soon I used decongestants, it flared right back up worse than ever.

My doctors found nothing wrong with me and suggested I try to find the trigger to the problem.

I did discover that when I smell something burned (burned toast, charred anything on the grill, a fire in the fireplace etc) It would worsen.

If I wear a mask while I work and if I use nasal spray or ointment to moisten my nasal passages it eases the smell but not for long.

I finally read here and elsewhere about using a netipot with 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt in warm water to wash out my sinuses. I've never had sinus trouble or allergies so I had no thought that it would work, but it did!!! I have used it each day for the past few days and the smell is gone!!! Just like that from the first time I tried it. I've also noted that I am breathing better at night and not waking up with a dry throat from breathing through my mouth while sleeping.

I highly recommend trying it. If anything, it's not going to hurt to try.

TG! I thought I was the only one! I am surprised to see very similar situations. I thought I was being a little over sensitive bcs my Mom smokes but she does it outside the home and my Husband as well. Recently I've been smelling the cigarette smell quite often. I did notice that the inside of my nose was very dry so I washed my face and let some water go up my nose. I did feel a little relief but it keeps coming back. At times I almost feel that I can't take a deep breath and panic a little. I've never told my Dr. bcs I thought he would just say stay away from the smokers but its more than that. Hopefully we can find out what this is. Thanks for all the previous post they were very helpful.

I had this same thing, and searched the internet wondering why in the world I was smelling cigarettes for no reason! I found (for me) it was related to a new coffee I started drinking. I bought an espresso roast and that afternoon is when I noticed the cigarette smell... it continued for a week, then we ran out of the coffee and the smell went away. Who knew? So if the smell arrived soon after switching to a stronger coffee selection... try a new coffee.

Hey everybody,

It surely was a surprise to find this site after a quick search on the topic. My problem started last week and has been mostly constant, there have been a few times when I sensed the problem might be gone, but alas, it's back. My theory is that it has something to do with coffee. I frequent a little shop that roasts coffee every day. This morning I was cigarette smoke free until I went to the coffee shop. The smell has been with me the rest of the day. Over the weekend the shop is closed so it is going to be interesting to see if the cigarette smoke smell goes away. As they say, I'll keep you posted.

Couple of thoughts. It is "smoke" but cleaning muushrooms today, I sniffed the underside of the caps and it is very similar but without the sharp edge of my odor. A couple of months ago I developed a condition called seborrhea - can have irritated skin that is greasy, scaly skin. ... Selsun Blue with sulfur as shampoo (I also had developed heavy dandruff) got rid of it and on my face and chest too. I was told that seborreah is caused by something half-way between fungus/mold and yeast. I was cured of that problem.
Then I began thinking that I smelt smoke,,,all the time. It would wake me up at night and I would scout around the house for fear of a slow smoldering fire.
From reading this site I am beginning to think I might be some kind of fungal (mushroom) infestation in my sinuses. My eyes burn periodically, my nose is runny and always stuffed up.
Medication: Motrin for a bad disk, thyroid medicine.

This is amazing. I have never even looked this up anywhere, and I just saw the first post while looking for something else.

About 10 years ago, I started taking a medication every day, and not long after, I began to smell -- smoke, dry metal (as in a machine shop), dust, a barn hay dust, dry (it is so dry a smell I want to say I am smelling dryness) -- any and all of those wrapped into one odor.

I asked my doctor about it as a side effect from the medication and he said it was not known to be such. Nevertheless, I switched medications and it went away. I resumed the first one, and it returned, but less often. I continue to take the medication that seemed not to induce the smell, but even so, every now and then, it returns. Thisls me it is not due to medication, and was probably a coincidence.

I have called it an olfactory hallucination, and I think it's more or less accurate. In other words, not resulting from anything external -- like a real environmental odor, and not because of a physical ailment somewhere else in my body. In fact, by calling it an hallucination, I am theorizing it as a neurological phenomenon.

I had not considered having it "checked" -- how would that be done, anyway? But reading all these other accounts makes me think it is, while not common, certainly not my singular experience. And, some posts here indicate that not everyone's experience is the same. I know no one else can smell what I smell no matter how close they are to my nose.

I do have some neurological quirks and I wonder if this has anything to do with them, or whether the neurological system, having a vulnerability, might easily be disposed to another.

A mystery. And, I am glad it is not as frequent and intense as it used to be. It was a constant distraction, was very unpleasant.

I am glad I am not alone. I just thought it was in my house, but then smelled the same smoke smell in my car, then knew it was inside my nose. I can't stand the smell so will go to my doctor and start ruling out things. I will also try the various things I have read on here. I even had a family member smell my fingers which, to me, smell like cigaretts. Nobody in my family smokes and I don't have visitors that smoke. The only different things I have taken lately are Sam-E and Vitamin B complex which were recommended by one of my doctors due to feeling slugish and tired all the time with no energy. Let you know if anything works

Hello all,
Happy to say that for 2 days I haven't smelled cigarettes. Just walked by a woman smoking (as opposed to a smoking woman) and all was as it should be, smelled the cigarette, but it was gone as fast as I was. As I mentioned in my last post, I have a feeling my symptoms are from hanging out in a coffee shop where they roast their own beans. I was last there on Friday, smelled cigarettes on Saturday, but not Sunday or today. I will be going back to the coffee shop tomorrow and see what happens. Wish me luck!

Very weird, people. I too have been smelling something that apparently isn't there. In my case, I smell what I can only describe as a gasoline-type smell. And I also get the stinging eyes that begin to water.
Hmm, hope all is well with us!!!
Dan

I'm glad to know I'm not alone. My smelling of cigarette smoke began a couple of weeks ago. Two things that I can pinpoint from that time: I had a horrible week of allergies, and I began taking Wellbutrin. I've taken the Wellbutrin before with no side effect, so I tend to think it's the allergies that set it off. It's not all the time, and it's not heavy...but it is often enough to notice, and not just in my home or at work. I don't worry enough about it to go to the doctor, but do think it's odd. Thank you for all of your postings.

I too was smelling smoke for about a week and it was driving me INSANE!!! I was thinking "What kind of freak am I?" Then I came across this forum and it put my mind at ease knowing that there are so many people out there with the same problem. I had a bad cough which lasted for about three weeks and then last week I started to smell smoke, particularly in the evenings. After reding through some posts here and on other websites this is what I did. I boiled the kettle and filled a mug with boiling water. I then inhaled the steam for about ten minutes. I found my nose to start running which I then realised had been "dry" for a while. This seemed to have unblocked something and the smell (so far) has not returned. Maybe it is worth giving this a go?

I have been smelling smoke for about two days now, and I am losing my mind. I can't imagine smelling for as long as some of these others have been smelling it. I am also driving my husband nuts. I just read on a web site that this disorder can be hormone related. I am about to turn 46 years old, and have been perimenapausal faor about a year and a half. This might have something to do with it. The only exposure I have had to smoke was on Friday July 3, when I walked into a gas station where about ten old men were all lit up. I was in there for less than five minutes and had to leave, as I am terribly allergic to smoke. I don't know if this is related, but I didn't smell the smoke until after that episode. I put some perfume at the base of my nostrils last night trying to alleviate the odor, but without success. I lit a candle, but the only thing that seems to help right now is if I go outside for a few minutes, and then come back in the house. Things smell normal for about five minutes, but then my nose starts burning and I smell the smoke again. It is constant. It doesn't come and go, and it is absolutely driving me nuts! I think I'll try the tee tree oil, then cal my doctor is that doesn't work.
I'm glad to read your stories. I thought I was losing my mind.
Dee

I, like everyone else, is relieved to see that I am not alone! The smell has abated and I'm not sure why. Thank you for easing my mind that I am not alone. If the cigarette smell returns in full force, I will try the various suggestions given! Thanks.

My smokey burning smell comes for a few months then goes but always comes back. My doctor said he had no idea what it was but suggested as I was on Paxil/Seroxat that might be messing with my brain. I have also suffered a mini stroke some years ago and, a few months later, had a virus destroy my left side vestibular function. Not sure if any of these is the reason for "the smell" but I have it now and it's exactly as described in this Forum. I'm not aware that I have any sinus problem BTW.

Great to know I'm not mad !! )

I can't believe I found this blog. I am a 41-year for the most part healthy female. I do not smoke and I am not overweight. I've also had a funny smell stuck in my nose from time to time. Sometimes it smells like smoke from a fireplace and sometimes it smells like ciggarettes. I've asked my husband and friends on many occassions wheather or not they smell it and they don't. I am a chronic allergy sufferer. I've also had a very dull tooth ache for about a year. I went to the dentist yesterday and had an xray taken. The xray shows something brewing in a tooth nerve that is located extremely close to my sinus cavity. I am not a doctor, but I am betting I have some kind of an infection. I am going to go see and ear, eye, throat specialist soon. I also suffer from very bad tmj which I have not addressed. I will post again once I get some answers.