Another unusual thing that happened in trying to manage the pain from my dental work this summer is that I started smelling smoke that no one else can smell. This condition is called phantosmia. It can be a symptom of tumor or seizures, which Dr. Neurology says I do not have. He thinks it is just more brain cooties.
My latest theory is that at times my medication makes me extra sensitive to the thiols (also called mercaptans) in the environment. Thiols are sort of like alcohols (OH), except the oxygen in replaced with sulfur (SH). The sulfur is attached to hydrogen (H). Thiols are added to natural gas to make it smell bad so leaks can be detected.
My reasons for this theory are:
- Some medications similar to what I take are thought to enhance the sense of smell
- The smoke smell started after beginning a medication
- The smell can be interrupted by breathing through a mask or tissue or cloth
- The smell comes and goes
- The smell seems to happen when the furnace...
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Tags:
medication, mercaptans, phantosmia, smell, smoke, thiols
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