Another one who smells smoke- sometimes it's like an ashtray is being held under my nose. I have never smoked in my life, but I've been around some smokers. I do not hang out at bars (my doctor asked me this!) and my allergies typically exhibit themselves in the form of hives. I do not think I have sinus problem...

This all began about five years ago. I am a Mother of two, by the way. Anyway, I started thinking I was going crazy, as did my co-workers and friends because I kept asking everyone, "Do you smell smoke?" So I finally went to my doctor and I begged him to do an MRI because I read on the net how phantom smells could be sign of a brain tumor. The MRI came back OK, so I ruled that out, thank goodness.

The thing is, I can go months without smelling it, then suddenly, I start to smell it again and it's a CONSTANT thing for days, weeks or even months! It is very annoying and bothersome. Sometimes, it has been so bad, that it's almost like I can not get a breath of fresh air.. it's scary! It will go away as quickly as it appeared.

I do get under a lot of stress, and have wondered if this is somehow connected. I just don't know. I am smelling it now as I type- and yes, I'm happy to have found this thread, as there is at least some comfort in knowing that I'm not the only one.

OMG I cant belive I am not the only one I thought I was going crazy I guess this is something that normal people have. I smell it all the time and I cant stand it. I notice that it has gone and come back so what do we do any body out there with answers....

I also smell smoke quite often, and I do right now. A chance google for 'I smell smoke when there isn't any' and here I am.
It's great to know I'm not alone but I would love to get an answer, I'd never really considered it could be a proper medical issue, but perhaps worth mentioning to my doctor next time I see him...

I have the same problem, but it started when some people that smoke moved to my office building. Although it is prohibited to smoke indoors, I started smelling it and complained to my lanlord. He said he had found some of the tenants smoking in their offices.

But the sensation of smell doesn't end there, I sometimes have it at other places. It's like it's "imprinted" in my nostrils.

Has anybody tried buying an AIR PURIFIER? Do you think it will help?

WOW I took just thought I would google and found this site. I just recently started smelling the stale smoke. I have miagraines and don't currently have one but my head has been hurting slightly since I began to smell the smokey smell in the last few weeks. I took think the smell is more electrical at times. Even went through my house recently sniffing in every room just to make sure. My seems most concentrated in the den with the return vent for the air conditioner. My eyes burn too.
I take Lipitor and vitamins.
Misery loves company so I am glad to see I haven't lost it -- was beginning to wonder if I was crazy.

To All who have responded. I also have recently developed the same condition of smelling cigarette smoke and burning itching eyes with slight throat discomfort. I have NO idea what could have changed in my daily life to bring this condition on. Doesn't matter where I go it is there and seems to be stronger at times with no changes in the surroundings. I just don't get it at all. Hard to believe so many responded and NONE have even a inkling of what causes this or how to relieve the symptoms Please write me should you find anything of interest.

I have been smelling cigarette smoke smell, too, for over a year. I can smell it when somebody in the car in front of me is smoking even though I have the windows rolled up. However, I've been smelling it in my new home, too.

What is it????

I have never had bronchitis. Usually there is a smoker around when I smell the smoke except now I can't find anyone smoking. But I still get the stinging eyes and sometimes cough which makes me think I am not imagining it and there is some chemical in the air.

We all need to get to the bottom of this.

I take Crestor and vitamins.

I tried using three Vornado air purifiers that were specifically designed to remove cigarette smoke and I STILL smelled the smoke. I used more purifiers than necessary for the room space.

We need to figure out what this is because our doctors aren't able to do it.

i am too suffering from this weird smell, with migraines following it, my ears pop too and feeling tired b4 the days out. i work huge amount of hours on a pc trauling through data and doing complex queries i thought i was damaging myself by that but reading everyones views i think its obviously something else.

has anyone suffered with their wisdoms> im 30 and only have 2 through and 2 2 come, slowly. but with having probelms with them and i think they are affecting my ears and giving me a headache, but then comes the smell and migraines. is it all interlinked?

omg! i too smell smoke! i have for years! i am a nurse and work midnights. all night long i travel up and down the halls trying to find the source.occasionally i will discover someone smoking in the bathroom!!! but usually my fellow nurses think i am crazy because there is no odor to them and no one is smoking in their room. it drives me crazy at home because i know no one smoking there! i smoked before but quit 7 yrs ago. i just thought the smell was "stuck" in my sinuses! but after that length of time it should have be gone!!!!

The smoke smell is intermittent for me and most times I can find somebody in the car in front of me smoking a cigarette but at home, I can't find the neighbor who smokes. I can smell scents in the air about 5 minutes before the odor has intensified enough for the other people to smell them. By that time, I'm nearly gagging it's so strong. 95% of the time I can confirm and find the source of the smoke odor.

I don't use fabric softener sheets and haven't for over 9 years. I have used Febreze fabric on the living room furniture and the air deodorizer in the air.

I have a desktop and a laptop computer that sometimes gives off an odor but it isn't the smokey cigarette odor I smell.

I take:

Nexium
Claritin
Nasocort nasal spray


I haven't had a sinus infection since 1996.

I am sensitive to yeast and allergic to penicillin.

I am under a lot of stress.


I suggest we find the common denominator.

We are ALL using computers.

I suggest keeping a log of:

when the smoke smell occurs
what you're doing at the time
is it in both nostrils or just one?
are you alone? Do others smell anything?
is it in certain rooms, places, times of day
frequency of smell, duration of smell

Record this information and then look for patterns.

Try different treatments one at a time for at least a week each and record if there is any improvement.


Good luck! I've started the log and will be getting a neti pot to flush out the sinuses. I've got 4 Vornado air purifiers running starting tonight. No change yet after an hour of operation. Argh!!!

I too suffer from the aformentioned problems. I am a 30 year old female who takes Nexium, Labatol, and Vitamins (Specifically Vit. D, B6, Folic Acid and Omega 3's). I suffer from frequent headaches as well, and have always had a very sensitive smeller.

I hope someone finds a link.

ive had this smell on and off for around 4years, each time lasting a good few weeks. im 22, i take no meds whatsoever and i dont smoke. although i seem to have pinpointed this musky/smokey smell to inhaling a certain type of cigarette smoke, as i have it right now and can remember it starting almost immediately after some old wench blew out some ciggy smoke as i was walking past

I'll join the club, about 2 weeks ago, at 6:35pm, at work, I smelled burning trash, inside my smoke free building. If I'm breathing fast, (exercising) everything is normal. If I'm at rest and barely breathing, I smell the smell of burning trash. I've been out of the city/county been through torrential downpours, etc. And nothing changes it. I too am about 40lbs overweight, have treated high B/P, etc. Other than this smell thing, I haven't been sick in 3 years. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I can't tell you what a relief it is to know I'm not the only one like this. FYI, I have been dealing with this for a few years now. It's not a constant in my life, it seems to come and go, but it's especially bad right now...I can smell it like I'm in a bar. I don't smoke and none of our friends smoke. I have been to my Dr. about this and she was bumfuddled as well...her response was, you must be smelling the smoke off of the guy in the next room who has been smoking. Fine, but how does that explain me smelling it at home? We live in the country...far from other people.

I have a theory about this though. I do suffer from allergies...and have many sinus infections. So I put this question to the rest of you. Have any of you noticed that when you aren't feeling well...it gets worse? The last week or so I've been stuffed up, whether its due to a cold I've caught or seasonal allergies I'm not sure. I'm wondering though...if I'm smelling the infection I have in my own sinus cavities.

FWIW...I didn't have this issue before I had my son, but have had it ever since.

I've been doing some internet research because I'm worried about my mother. She's 53 and has been smelling smoke for the past 3 weeks! She says it never goes away and sometimes its so strong she wants to vomit. I'm glad to read she's not the only one with this problem. No offense. I'm just worried as any daughter would be.

I don't know if anyone else has looked into this but I found what is called Phantosmia. There are several olfactory dysfunctions. There are two (phantosmia and parosmia) that fall under the Dysosmia category. Phantosmia is a hallucination, smelling something that isn't there. It can be caused by many factors. Look on the MayoClinic website or google it for more information. I hope this helps anyone who hasn't already discovered this information.

so awesome im not insane....i too have been smelling smoke but it also has a little bit of a gas smell as well....its been driving me insane for 3 yrs now...my husband thinks im insane....

I don't smell smoke, I smell exhaust, like I am driving behind a city bus, or an 18-wheeler.

I live with a smoker (my mom), have for years, but smoke has just never bothered me. I also have 2 cats; I have ALWAYS had cats - my eyes are allergic to them, and to dogs, but I don't care. I like cats.

This problem started a week or so ago, at work. I thought the dust in my work office monitor (CRT) was probably the culprit. My co-worker couldn't smell anything. On the drive home, could still smell whatever it was full-strength, thought I would roll down the window for some fresh air. Wrong - the air outside the car was THICK with the same odor. That's when it dawned on me what it smelled like.

I work in the city, but on the 14th floor, so it's not like the smell was wafting up to my office. And, I live in the country - no buses, not enough 18-wheelers to make my living room reek like the middle of the highway during evening traffic.

My home computer is a laptop, but I will smell the same odor in my living room, as strong as in my home office.

Trying to lay down, on back or sides, simply causes my nose to clog up, so I can only get some rest in the recliner in the living room.

Gleaning the tidbits from what I have read above, here are my 'commonalities' with everyone so far:

1. Started right after a sinus infection, was given:
Ciprofloxacin HCl, 500 mg, and
Benzonatate, 100 mg (generic for Tessalon Perles) - problems with both meds, horrendous sleepiness, had to stop both

2. A little over 2 wks ago, had finished 2 dose-paks for some major heel pain;
Methylprednisolone, 4mg

3. Am on daily HBP meds:
Diltiazem-CD, 180mg, 2x
Hydrochlorothiazide, 25mg

4. Am overweight

5. Female, also had my period this week

6. Allergic to penicillin

7. A week ago, in the church kitchen, I could smell gas, clear as a bell.

8. Smell comes and goes, but can stay for hours, and can get so intense it makes me nauseous. Unfortunately, anytime I can smell it, I also get the same lovely flavor in my mouth.

9. Take daily for chronic rhinitis ("nose stays clogged due to allergies")
Fluticasone Prop 5.0mcg (generic for Flonase)

10. Feel WIPED OUT by mid-afternoon

11. I am under TONS of stress (my mother lives with me, and I am looking for another job - I just can't take my boss anymore)

Not seen anyone mention yet:
I also take daily, to control asthma:
Pulmicort Flexhaler, 180 mcg

I will try turning off my laptop tonight, but we had some strong weather earlier this week, and did not notice turning off the computers did anything to help.

Of course, my mother's response is to put Mentholatum just under my nose. I HATE the smell of that junk, but this may be the one circumstance where I hate THAT smell far less than what I AM smelling.

Just did an experiment: walked outside (it's 11:30 pm here, about 25 miles NE of Dallas, TX). Do NOT smell it outside. Of course, it is still warm, very humid from all the rain, so the air is quite heavy. Maybe the moisture in the air does something to the lining of the nasal passages.

The first day this started, I specifically remember thinking the lining of my nasal passages felt stripped - not painful in the least, but as if they had been wiped thoroughly clean. Now they feel overly dry. The doc had said I needed to get a saline nasal spray, so I guess dryness has something to do with this. However, even if I am now more 'sensitive' to some smells, I have been smelling some things that just are not there. After all, if it is just a matter of being more sensitive, why wouldn't the smoke in the house be driving me up the wall? My mom was home all day - smoking the whole time - until late afternoon, and the problem didn't even start today until a couple hours AFTER she had left to go play cards at a friend's.

Between those with dire warnings re brain tumors, and good ol' webmd.com listing only Epilepsy (!!) as a reason for unidentified odors in the nose, I'm done with looking up reasons on the 'net. (Mark Twain: Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.) But I do think I want the doc to check for something growing in my nasal passages, as that is making the most sense so far.

I am just praying it doesn't last as long as some on here have had the problem; I was actually hoping it was just a bad reaction to a med.

I smell a scent as well, it's not really smoke though. It's more like a damp, musty couch. Something molding and diseased. From my understanding it is actually an infection. I start smelling it two days before I get bronchitis, every single time. This has happened since I was very young. I'll smell the smell, then the headaches will start, and within a day I have been diagnosed with bronchitis. I believe it is a byproduct of the bacteria reproducing in your lungs. Hope this helps guys.