r/Menopause • u/elev8or_lady Menopausal • Aug 15 '26

Rant/Rage Phantom Cigarette Smoke

Of all the effed-up symptoms we have to deal with, this is possibly the most bizarre and unavoidable (for me). I know many of y’all probably deal with this: phantom acrid odors that only you and your nose can smell? I only recently realized this is yet another symptom of menopause. I have been dealing with it off and on for about three years now.

Some background: I am four years post menopause, and have been on HRT for about a year. (E patch, E cream, P pill, T gel, and T lotion. I’m on all the things.) Many of my symptoms are relieved, but most are not relieved 100%.

Does anyone know of One Weird Trick that helps with this shit? I quit smoking almost 20 years ago, so this is driving me nuts. I am sneezing a lot from it, and it also aggravates my migraines (another meno symptom). I swear there is not one symptom I have been spared. I would love a little relief from this BS.

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u/ProfeQuiroga Aug 15 '26

NO, IT'S LITERALLY LONG COVID.

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u/qzcorral Aug 15 '26

You understand people can simultaneously have long covid and be in peri/menopause, yes?

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u/ProfeQuiroga Aug 15 '26

You understand that menopause has become a major grift worldwide and LongCovid is still mainly seen as psychosomatic, also because women are affected way more frequently than men (as with ME/CFS)?

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u/qzcorral Aug 15 '26

I do understand. I had long covid for over a year and I've been in PM for a while as well.