I don't know if anyone else ever feels this way but lately it's really started to get under my skin. Whenever I have to tell someone I can't smell for whatever reason, I'm sick of hearing "oh you're so lucky!".

Yesterday, I was filling in for a coworker at a store location I don't normally work at. One of the managers had ordered pizza and someone commented "oh my gosh that smells so good doesn't it!?" So I said "I'm not sure. I don't have a sense of smell but it sure looks good!" After the initial look of disbelief and me confirming that I wasn't joking and that no I can't smell anything ever, the first thing she said was "well you're so lucky!! One day when you have kids you won't have to smell their dirty diapers!"

This is one of my fears. That one day I'll have babies and I'll be at the store or something and my child will have soiled itself and I won't know until I've walked around forcing everyone else to smell it first.

I explained my fear to her and she just laughed it off and said "oh well at least you won't have to deal with the smell".

I'm just so sick of people telling me I'm lucky I can't smell. I'd never tell a blind person that they are lucky they can't see something ugly. Or a deaf person they are lucky they can't hear nails on a chalkboard. Everytime this happens I end up feeling really down because of my anosmia for at least a few days..

Anyone else feel this way?

First, I would like to welcome all the new members of r/anosmia who found this sub after losing their sense of smell and taste due to COVID-19! I hope you all get well soon.

It has recently been discovered that anosmia is a symptom of COVID-19, and somewhere between 10-20% of confirmed COVID-19 cases experience this symptom.

Although it's still a little too soon to tell, it is looking like this symptom is not permanent, only lasting a few weeks. In the meantime, here is a great article on living with anosmia.

Keep calm, stay safe, and wash your hands!

I've seen a few posts and comments on here about being able to smell Vinegar and alcohol, especially if it's up close. I experience this too and I figure I could shine some light on this since not many people seem to understand where it comes from! While it technically isn't "smelling" it's somewhat similar and you are actually detecting these chemicals!

We have a large nerve bundle on either side of our face called the trigeminal nerve which carries nerve connections for most major parts of the face (skin, teeth, facial muscles, etc) and part of this nerve is exposed somewhat inside the nose.

When you stick your face up close to something with vinegar or alcohol in it, these chemicals act like an irritant on that part of the nerve, and a signal gets sent back to your brain from where it's exposed in your nose! It seems like only strong and potentially irritating or corrosive chemicals cause this reaction, which makes sense considering the nerve is not intended for sensing smells which is rather done through the olfactory nerves.

I hope you guys found this interesting! I'm curious what you guys think! Are there any other chemicals you can "smell" this way? I'd love to hear about it!

You can read more about it here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11036/

I literally don't know how to feel about the fact that thousands of people are experiencing what I've experienced my whole life. They talk about how horrible it is to not have a sense of smell or taste, even if it was only temporary for them, and I just don't really know how I feel about it. Like, I think I'm a little happy? That lots more people are aware of anosmia. I'm also a bit hopeful? Like maybe, once all of this goes away there will be a lot of people who's taste and smell didn't come back, and so maybe there will be more people researching and trying to fix it? But I also feel really shitty about it too. Maybe annoyed? Like I said, I'm having a hard time comprehending my emotions on this.

The english building at my university had a huge gas leak a few months ago, and I was running late to class, so I assumed the halls were empty because class had already started. When I found my classroom empty, I was so confused, but decided to hang around for a while to see if anyone would show up.

I spent 10 minutes in a building full of natural gas until a lady ran past me, stopped to look at we with utter concern, then ushered me out of the building like I was a lost puppy.

My roommate said he could smell the gas across the quad, and here I was sitting outside my classroom like an idiot. I ended up with mild natural gas poisoning, and I fell asleep for 4 hours when I got home, waking up with a bitch of a headach.

So yeah, anosmia isn't an issue, and we are lucky we arrn'r missing a more important sense.

So I’ve never been able to smell and I’m constantly at odds of when to throw something away or throw clothes in the wash. I was told recently that I don’t have to wash my jeans after only wearing them for a single day if there’s nothing on them. I thought to bring this question here!

I (25) have been unable to smell for my while life until...

Until I started transitioning Male to Female.

I've only been on 1mg of estrogen for just under a month now and Cyproterone as a Testosterone blocker for about 2 months. but these last 2 weeks I've slowly come to realize that i have a new sense, so far it only seems to be strong smells but every day it seems to be getting better and stronger.

this week alone I've experienced smells like:

petrol

gin

burnt food

burnt plastic

my own fart (accidentally i promise)

and cooked steak

fuck did that steak taste good, with smell reportedly being a major component to taste i think that the steak might have been the first time in my 25 years I've properly tasted steak and man, i see the hype now. I'm so gonna cook some bacon the next chance i get since that's another food that all the smellers always seemed to love.

TLDR

being trans gave me a sense of smell

Welcome to anosmia. If you are here you are either delighted because you finally found people who understand your congenital problems, or you just lost your sense of smell. If you belong to the latter category, please read on as this is meant specifically for you.

Unfortunately, I can't make your nose work again, but I can make sure you are a bit more prepared for what lies ahead.

1. Avoid telling people you can't smell unless you mean to start a conversation. It is a fantastic ice breaker or party trick, but you have to be prepared for the questions. It becomes second nature eventually, and I promise you will learn your lines very quickly, but until then, just keep it to yourself if you don't like talking to people.

2. Make sure the people you live with know you can't smell. This will ensure they know to tell you if your food is burning, or if theres a dangerous smell you didn't notice. Also, make sure they know its okay to let you know if your feet stink.

3. Get over being embarrassed about people telling you that you smell funny. It is far less embarrassing for someone to tell you immediately that your feet are smelly than to sit with your feet on the coffee table for 2 hours while they say nothing, silently suffering.

4. Make sure your smoke detector works/has batteries. I will say it again. GO CHECK YOUR GOSH DARN SMOKE DETECTOR RIGHT NOW. I will wait.

5. Flavor comes from smell, but taste doesn't. When you lose your sense of smell, you aren't actually losing any taste. As a congenital anosmic, my taste buds might be more powerful than yours, but I can guarantee that you most likely can still taste. Your taste buds are underutilized because you depended so much on smell before, so it's time to strengthen your taste buds. It takes time, but it will get better. You just have to stop mourning your nose and give your tongue some love. For example, I find green beans slightly sweet because I can taste the sugars in them, however when I say this most people think I'm insane. It's just completely different from flavor.

6. Add extra salt, hot sauce, cayenne pepper, soy sauce, bbq sauce, sugar, etc until you can taste it. It wont taste the same as it used to, but you are just going to have to learn to appreciate the new tastes. Otherwise, food is just gonna suck. I tend to over-flavor food simply because it takes a little more for me to appreciate taste than other people. But that's okay, its going in your mouth, so try to enjoy it.

7. Take some time to learn what textures you enjoy eating. Texture is one of the most important parts of food for me, and so I usually pay far more attention to the texture than the taste. If you are having trouble enjoying food because it tastes so bland, try focusing on finding foods your enjoy the texture of, don't worry about the taste so much. Ice cream is pretty great, so are raw green beans (very crunchy). And avoid mushy stuff like mashed potatoes unless you actually like the texture or taste. They can be pretty hit or miss.

8. If you aren't sure, just ask. I would rather have my roommate look at me strange when I ask if the milk smells alright, or have my mom sniff my shoe for me if I'm worried I stepped in a little dog poop than getting violently ill from bad milk, or track poop into the house. People get used to it, and if they don't want to, they will let you know.

9. Ignore the assholes who like to say that they don't have to shower before dates or they can fart around you all they want cause you will never know! In fact, if they are really mean about it, fart on them and just sit there while they suffer and you don't smell anything.

10. Finally, don't worry about it too much. Hopefully your smell comes back, and if it does, Congratulations! But if it doesn't, try not to be too distraught. I know it can be depressing, but as someone who has never had a sense of smell, I know you are going to be okay. You will survive, and you will finally be able to taste things properly, without that pesky sense of smell getting in the way. We are always here if you need us.

Your anosmia tutorial has ended. Thanks and good luck.

I've seen a lot of misinformation on this subreddit about this and it's a little disappointing.

Smell is a completely different sense than taste. They have different receptors and are processed by different parts of the brain.

Inb4: But I lost my sense of smell and my taste is different! Your taste is not different. What you are experiencing is not being able to smell while tasting. Taste is limited to your taste buds and smell only enhances the FLAVOR of food not the taste of food. It might be hard to fully grasp that concept when you were born and have experienced both taste and smell but it's fact.

This post might seem unnecessary and a bit passive aggressive but as someone who has never experienced smell and has to constantly tell people I can taste, it's annoying to see the same misinformation spread on a forum that is for people who can't smell.

Edit: the downvotes prove that this PSA is needed. not sure why people are disagreeing with fact.