I've never been able to smell, or if I could at one point, I have no recollection of it. And no, there was no head injury or traumatic incident. I just can't smell. Until about a year ago, I almost never told people that I had anosmia. I just thought there was something fundamentally wrong with me. And also, I figured it was an isolated case (oh, the egomania!). Turns out, lots of people have it! I should start a club or something.
There are good things and bad things about it, of course.
The good:
- I can't smell stinky diapers.
- I can't smell stinky people.
- I can't smell cigarette smoke.
- I can't smell stinky diapers. When Riley was a newborn, I always forgot to check for messy diapers. If he was upset, I'd feed him or rock him or try to get him to sleep, but since I had recently changed his diaper, it never occurred to me that that might be the problem. My poor husband would come home, take a whiff of the apartment, make a good-gravy-what-died-in-here face, and gently explain that Riley had probably been sitting in his own filth for at least forty-five minutes. Not my finest mothering moments. So now I do the squish test. And I'm right probably 95% of the time.
- I can't smell stinky people. Subsequently, if I stink, I don't have any idea. And if the lotion I'm wearing smells like cow dung, I don't have any idea. Bad breath? No idea. (Unless it's death breath, when it's so bad I can taste it. Neat visual, huh?)
- I can't smell cigarette smoke. So it should go without saying that I can't smell regular smoke either. If someday, my husband is out of town or something, and I wake up in the middle of the night and the house is on fire, it better be on fire in my bedroom or I won't have a clue and we'll be dead. Dead, dead, dead.
It's always funny to hear people's reactions. Some people are devastated for me. Some people wave things under my nose just to make sure I'm not a big fat liar. Some people are shocked and wonder how something like that could happen. And everyone wants to know if I can still taste things.
Yes. And no. Contrary to popular opinion, the sensory receptors for smell and taste are completely separate receptors. But a person's sense of smell can greatly enhance their sense of taste. If you handed me a glass of Koolaid, I could tell your that it was sweet, but I probably wouldn't be able to tell your what flavor it was. I have a fantastic pumpkin bread recipe that people ask for all the time. I love it because it's so moist, but other people love it because of the combination of spices. Hmm... maybe I'm not at all a picky eater because of being anosmic. On the other hand, I sometimes waste food that may still be edible. I will always through something out the day after the expiration date because I can't tell if it has gone bad. It drove one of my college roommates crazy.
Anyway, there you have it. My name is Becky and I'm anosmic.
(If you'd like to read some more about it, you can go here or here.)
22 comments:
I hate death breath. It's the worst when you know your breath is horrible but you have no chance to brush. And forget about gum. You can't cover up death breath.
I have created a special test for you.
Scratch this link and see if you can smell it
:-)
This is so interesting! I've never even heard of this.
It's like being blind. Sort of.
But man, can this lady cook up a storm. Mmmmm.....
And Beck, I always liked that about you because if we happened to be a bit gassy there was never any awkward avoidance of a bad smell. Heh. Heh.
My brother has this problem, too. It still amazes me sometimes, how there can be something smelling dead in the room and it doesn't faze him.
Wow! I thought the pros of this sounded great, but then I read the cons! However look at the talents you've acquired because of it. Being right on the squish test 95% of the time? Priceless!
I had a roommate in college who couldnt' smell. She would make jokes "oh, you stink!" and then get all embarrassed and clarify that it was a joke and she couldn't remember if she'd explained that she couldn't smell...it was pretty funny.
Living with her taught me some more of the downsides though...she always stuck to unscented deodorant because she couldn't' tell what it smelled like and didn't want something overpowering. She was always nervous about her own BO too (she never had it, but she worried). One time while babysitting her toddler niece she pulverized some chicken nuggets in the microwave...as in, they were not just blackened, they were disintegrated. I don't recall quite how it happened, except of course that she couldn't smell the smoke pouring out the the kitchen and had no idea until it was too late.
I learned to be her sniffer for her...I remember one day we were looking at candles, and I was trying to explain what various ones smelled like...I remember describing them in terms of pretty much every other sense. I don't know how well I did, but she sure appreciated it.
In her opinion her sense of taste was affected--her favorite foods were ones that had textural differences. For example, we would put water chestnuts or slivered almonds in a chicken/veggie casserole because it added crunch, and she noticed texture more than the delicate taste differences between the ingredients.
I'm not sure ANYONE can distinguish between Kool-aid flavors actually...
a friend of mine growing up had this - but he'd lost his sense of smell later in life and complained all the time about the reduction in the taste of his food... of course, his wife didn't complain :)
So interesting. I'd never really thought about the good being the same as the bad. Yes, it would be good to know if there's poo in your kiddos diaper so you can change it. And it would also be good to know if your house is on fire. Hopefully loud alarms about clue you in :)
oh, and as for Dave's link... you don't need a sense of smell to tell that stinks!
Thanks for explaining. I was afraid to ask. (And I certainly was NOT going to risk waving something under your nose to test your truthfulness--sheez! For rude!)
I have never heard of this! I think not being able to tell if I smelled okay or the breath that would be the worst.
My dad can't smell either...he had a head injury when I was an infant. (motorcycle V car; car won, he was on motorcycle) He can also smell stuff if it's VERY strong. Sometimes he'd feed us these casseroles...but that was a long time ago. He is a very careful, good cook now.
Oh Becky! I'm so sorry! I'm devastated for you!
If I stuck a piece of rotting meat under your nose would you be able to smell it?
I'm shocked! How do these kinds of abnormalities occur!?!
And then I was going to ask if you could still taste things, but you answered that one in your post and I didn't want anyone to think I was dumb.
Thanks for elaborating on this. You're the only one I've ever known with it (who told me about it, anyway) and I've been wondering what it's like since the last time you mentioned it. (not like every day sitting around and wondering or anything weird like that, just in a general sort of way)
Fascinating.
I think in general I fall under the "devestated for you" category - and yet if I had to choose a sense to get rid of, it would be smell.
(Pssst. Women don't buy perfume for THEMSELVES, silly - they buy it for their husbands. What you're really doing is saving your hubby from buying cologne.)
holy crap, is THAT what it's called?
My mom has lowly lost her sense of smell, it was gone by the time she turned forty.
I am slowly loosing mine as well :P oh well, of all the senses to loose THIS one is the one I would choose!
It's funny to me because it makes perfect sense... (hahah, sense, punny!) People are deaf and blind, so why in the world WOULDN'T someone not be able to smell??
I don't think you're weird at all. :)
Okay, I guess it's not a bad disorder to have if you're going to be a freak.
Wait, did I sway that aloud?
Um, I mean "say."
I think that would be a mixed bag. I can sure see the good and bad. I fell for you though.
Wow! What a conundrum for you!!
Cant smell a devastating fart, but cant smell my wife's ravioli, either!!
Im so intrigued by you!!
;-)
Jay
PS - love your blog!!
I've never heard of this!
How old were you when you/parents realized you couldn't smell anything?
My friend has this -- she doesn't know when her babies diapers are messy -- bitter sweet I guess.
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