I figured out my smoke smell, getting worse

[[Be...]]

It's reflux fumes burning my sinuses.  I noticed the smell is only if my diet goes crappy, and a more paleo diet it goes away.  It used to just be the smell but now I get congestion, sore throat, acid mouth, phlegm, etc along with it.  It always starts with mild reflux symptoms and then culminates in the ashtray smell.  Last night I was basically choking on acid and the smell was overwhelming.  I had soup with roasted tomatoes a tomato paste in it last night and that did it.  Last time it happened was after spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and canned artichokes. So I guess no more tomato for me

 

Do you think This will eventually go away?  I never had reflux of any kind my entire life until withdrawal.

[[me...]]

Hi,  there is a very odd benzo symptom called hyperosmia, which sounds like what you're experiencing.  Not only are odors exagerated, phantom odors can occur, and this happened to me during acute withdrawal.  I smelled a strong odor of oranges where there were none.  Also other things, including soap, etc.  It can be anything, really.  This is from Wikipedia:

 

Hyperosmia is an increased olfactory acuity (heightened sense of smell), usually caused by a lower threshold for odor. This perceptual disorder arises when there is an abnormally increased signal at any point between the olfactory receptors and the olfactory cortex. The causes of hyperosmia may be genetic, environmental or the result of benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome.

[[Mi...]]

Hi,  there is a very odd benzo symptom called hyperosmia, which sounds like what you're experiencing.  Not only are odors exagerated, phantom odors can occur, and this happened to me during acute withdrawal.  I smelled a strong odor of oranges where there were none.  Also other things, including soap, etc.  It can be anything, really.  This is from Wikipedia:

 

Hyperosmia is an increased olfactory acuity (heightened sense of smell), usually caused by a lower threshold for odor. This perceptual disorder arises when there is an abnormally increased signal at any point between the olfactory receptors and the olfactory cortex. The causes of hyperosmia may be genetic, environmental or the result of benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome.

 

Exactly this. And this will go away eventually so don't worry. I had the same experience, I smelled perfume even though there was no perfume anywhere within a 10 mile radius.

[[Da...]]

I have this. I'm not really bothered by it, but it's often confusing and annoying. Some of mine have been:

 

Mixed herbs

Lavender

Cat poo (yuck!, made me search the house thinking my cat had crapped inside!)

Chlorine (may or may not have been me as we live close to a swimming pool and sometimes you can catch a whiff of chlorine if you're outside and the wind is blowing the right way)

Cigarette smoke (nobody smokes in our house)

Cannabis

Sweaty socks

Chemical, almost 'metallic' smell. I had this on the Benzos too

Wet dog

Lemon balm

 

Probably many more lol, don't worry, this is very normal in WD and will go away as suddenly as it arrived. 

[[Kr...]]

I had the 'smoke' smell,  both on this WD, and strangely, on chemo drugs years ago.  I'm guessing it's some kind of Nervous System trick..... our eyes, taste, and thought patterns are all a little askew;  it makes sense that our smell is as well.

 

It's so damn natural for us to try to fix the cause of anything that seems abnormal to us.  On this journey, I've now learnt to try to discern which symptoms may be 'life threatening' and which are ones I can just put aside and hope they don't come back. (i.e. my Blood Pressure has gone very very low at times, so I've increased my salt and water intakes).    As long as other symptoms come and go, I try to ignore them when they're not happening, and distract myself from them when they are xxx 

[[Na...]]

Hi,  there is a very odd benzo symptom called hyperosmia, which sounds like what you're experiencing.  Not only are odors exagerated, phantom odors can occur, and this happened to me during acute withdrawal.  I smelled a strong odor of oranges where there were none.  Also other things, including soap, etc.  It can be anything, really.  This is from Wikipedia:

 

Hyperosmia is an increased olfactory acuity (heightened sense of smell), usually caused by a lower threshold for odor. This perceptual disorder arises when there is an abnormally increased signal at any point between the olfactory receptors and the olfactory cortex. The causes of hyperosmia may be genetic, environmental or the result of benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome.

 

I had this.  Phantom smoke smells and a few other odd odors.  I was the only one that could smell them.  I tried to connect these phantom odors to things going on with me or the environment around me.  In each case I'd convince myself that I had found the origin of the odor only to have each theory proven wrong in time.

 

It was a side effect of the medication.  I am 100% convinced of that now. 

 

 

 

[[St...]]

I had this too for about 10 months after I cold turkey. 10 months later I quit drinking and then it cleared up. Proof that beer is the same as a benzo. Don't drink. In fact the smoke was my first symptom before I ct. I kept smelling smoke and knew something wasn't right. Then I ct and all hell went loose. So now I'm at 16 month ct and 6 since I quit drinking and I feel my healing really moving along now.

[[je...]]

Glad you figured this out.  I had the smell of goose down when there was nothing of the sort!  It went away after a month.  As for your acid reflux, I think it's part of the nervous system still trying to get things right.  You are on the right track to watch your diet for awhile.  Give it a few months and then try introducing one of the "offender" foods.  If you didn't have acid reflux before I would guess this symptom would go away too.  Good luck!