I've lost my sense of smell!

[Seraphine]

Hi all -

I know this might be a reach, but I'm desperate to find out more about what's happened.

About 6 weeks ago, I noticed my sense of smell decreasing, and now I barely have any. I can't smell good things or bad things (I can't smell the catbox when I change it, so that's saying something!) I can't smell monomer. It's affecting my sense of taste as well.

I do have asthma, and take medication (inhalers) for that. This loss of sense seemed to happen around a particularly bad asthma time, however it's also been suggested to me that it might be something I'm working with.

I use precautions with my chemicals, and as I'm part time (and partly mobile), I'm not locked up in a room for 8 hours a day in a room full of monomer smell. I've been doing nails for 5 years and this is a first for me.

Has any other tech here experienced anything similar, or heard of anything like this? I'll be speaking to the doctor next week, but wanted to do a bit more research.

* I'm posting this thread here as I wanted to hear from nail techs, but I understand if mods want to move it. I found this article stating that nail techs are more likely to experience a loss of sense of smell, and just wanted to see if anyone here knew anything about it. Thanks!

 

[lisa.sharrock]

My mum lost her sense of taste and smell about 15 years or so ago.

She wasn't in the beauty business so can't really compare it to that but what happened was that she was in an accident 25 years before she lost her sense of smell/taste and when it started to go, the specialist said that her nerve endings had been damaged through the accident, thing is it's difficult to tell in my mum's case as it happened so long afterwards - coincidently enough it was also about the time when she started suffering with asthma.

My mum is funny though because even though she can't smell or taste anything, she still won't try new foods just in case she doesn't like it!! Erm, hello mother - you can't taste it!!!

 

[Envy]

Well as a smoker and tech I can say I do have a reduced sense of smell. But I still can't stand the cat litter...

Smell is mostly decodedby the brain. This is why monomer becomes less noticeable - after a while your brain realizes it does not need to raise the 'alarm' so it reduces the amount of smell information you decode for that particular odour... Ie you notice it less even though it's still there ...

Doctor is a good next port of call ...

 

[Beansy]

Sorry to hear what's happened.
I can only imagine that it's a very strange and disorientating experience. We never realise how much we rely on something until its gone.
Just a thought but, my friend is an acupuncturist and I know that he has been treating two cases of loss of smell recently. He's had success with one but not the other (as yet). Depending on how you get on with your GP this might be something else to consider.

 

[neddyteddy]

did you have a virus of some sort, this can make you loose your sense of smell, either temporarily or permanently ...happened to my BF last year and it's still not back!! I hope your's finds it's way home soon!

 

[cabby]

I think you should go to the doctor straight away in case it has anything to do with you partuity gland (lol) sorry my spelling is very bad. But it is unusual for thinhg to just happen so I would want to know why. On saying that I wish I couldnt smell my kittens litter box it stinks xxxxx

 

[Seraphine]

Thanks for chiming in, everyone - it has been a worry, but I've been more concerned about a recent asthma flareup so I've been trying not to think about it. I just didn't think it was worth bugging the doctor for it on it's own (I'll mention it at my appointment next week for something else)

I was thinking at first that it was a side effect of the asthma inhalers, but I can't find any real proof to back that up. I did have a weird cold in Dec/Jan that took forever to get rid of - that may have been the start of it... it just happened so gradually that I didn't notice it at first. NeddyTeddy - what kind of virus did your BF have? A few weeks ago I made a point of trying to find things I could still smell, and the list was short. Now it's miniscule.

I've never smoked, so it's not that. But a good deduction though

I haven't done acrylic nails in a while (3 months?) as I've been doing mostly gel. So I went to open my monomer bottle yesterday, just to see if I could smell it. Nope, not a whiff. So it's probably not from prolonged exposure.

Acupunture... definately something to consider if the doctor doesn't have anything useful to try. Thanks Sassee!

Thing is, I'm getting paranoid! I'm realising how reliant we are on smell - I can't smell a pot burning on the stove, or food in the fridge that's gone bad, or various child messes (I'm trying to potty train my 2 year old... that's been fun!) I don't re-wear clothes as I can't smell if anything is still clean, and I'm just constantly cleaning my house to make sure things aren't smelly "just in case". And I'm going on holiday next week, and would like to actually be able to taste things!

Thanks for chiming in, and if anyone has any ideas, no matter how obscure, I'd love to hear them. I just wasn't sure if this was a "nail tech thing" or not!

Dawn x

 

[Rinn]

i think certain deficiencies like the mineral zinc can affect your sense of smell as can a bacterial infection . the doc is the only way to go with this one, good luck,

 

[Ellebelle]

My Dad lost his sense of smell after a virus. It did come back but was gone for a while, I think about 6 months.

Just wanted to send some virtual hugs as it can't be very nice. I'm sure it will sort itself out but in the meantime a trip to GP may be worth doing.

Hope you Asthma calms down too

E xx