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Causes of phantom smells

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Hi can anyone advise me on something recently Ive been smelling cigerette smoke inside my house, I dont smoke and no one has been in that smokes. I have high blood pressure and recently sinus problems (started 18 months ago) Ive been to my GP twice as Ive been having headaches, a feeling of pressure behind the eyes , dizziness and slight blurred vision and this smelling smoke thing but he just puts it down to my blood pressure and said I was hillucinating. What I was wondering is if anyone has had this phantom smell thing as I looked it up on the internet and it can be linked to epilepsy, stroke, sinusitus or brain tumours and migraine. Ive asked to be referred to hospital but he just gave me a steroid nose spray and said it wasnt necessary. Can I demand a referral letter as Im getting really worried now its been going on for nearly 3 weeks now Ive made an appointment to have my eyes rechecked I last had them done in April. I used to be under the hospital for my blood pressure but was transferred back to my GP when it was stable thats over 2 years ago should I ring the consultants secretary and try to get her to have a word with the consultant, any advice would be appreiciated about the referral letter and the phantom smell. Thanks

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Do you live in a terraced house?

 

We have a similar problem and as it turns out it was coming down our chimney which is shared at the top with our neighbour. She smokes very very heavily and when the wind was in the right direction it was pulling the odor up her part of the chimney then back into ours. It was horrible. we only figured it out after speaking to the people who lived here before us who had the same problem, it stopped when they got the chimney blocked off, we have done the same and dont have a problem anymore.

 

We thought we were going mad too, one of us could smell it and then the other couldnt. it was not nice at all.

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I suppose first of all, although I am sure it is vary annoying, 3 weeks isn't that long time to have been suffering with this. You may find that the condition goes away by itself. And that is probably what your GP is hoping. The steroid nasal spray may well help and I would have thought that the GP's diagnosis is the most likely answer. If it doesn't work go back and see your GP in a couple of weeks.

 

I don't think that you can demand a referral. But you may find that if you make enough of a nuisance of yourself you may eventually get one. That said, this would probably be a fairly specialist area with few doctors knowing much about it. I would have thought that this would be in the arena of a neurologist but I imagine that the treatments are somewhat limited in any case.

 

You won't get far with the consultants secretary. If you aren't a patient under their care, they wouldn't be able to refer you anywhere.

 

Hope you feel better soon and try not to worry.

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Thanks for your replys yes I do live in a terraced house and had never really thought of smells coming down the chimney or perhaps Ive got a chain smoking ghost. I dont go to my GPs often I try to treat myself at home and not be one of those people who are at their doctors twice a week every week but now I feel bogged down by lots of different symptoms which I think confused the doctor abit, hes a bit of a drip he just looks at you smiles, and stares then says what do you think it could be!!" I will see how I get on and if I dont feel better towards the end of this week I will go back and see another GP because for 11 years Ive had it drilled in me "If you feel dizzy, have headaches, blurred vision come straight down to have a blood pressure check because you are more prone to strokes" and now Ive got these symptoms all Im perscribed is a nasal spray? Thanks again I will come back on if I get a answer to my smoke smell problem which is my biggest worry because it can point to epilepsy or brain tumours.

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I would try and eliminate all physical sources of the smell before you even begin to start worrying about it being something else. I'm very sensitive to the smell of cigarette smoke and can even smell someone smoking three floors down and 20 yards away from our flats - even further away if the wind is in the right direction. Could it be a neighbour smoking in their garden, or as previously mentioned, coming down the chimney from fireplaces/vents next door?

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Thanks for your reply as I said before I live in a terraced house my next door neighbours on the side where the chimney is are non smokers and are very health conscious so I am almost certain its not from that side, but the other side of me is an empty property thats being done up I suppose it is possible that workmen or the landlord could have been in doing work and smoking its something I never thought of so thank you.

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Thanks for your reply as I said before I live in a terraced house my next door neighbours on the side where the chimney is are non smokers and are very health conscious so I am almost certain its not from that side, but the other side of me is an empty property thats being done up I suppose it is possible that workmen or the landlord could have been in doing work and smoking its something I never thought of so thank you.

 

There's every chance - particularly as it's likely that at this time of the year windows are open. It's surprising how far it travels :)

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I frequently smell smells that noone else can smell - most often it's pork cooking, but sometimes it can be a mouldy smell, and occasionally cut grass... No idea that these smells could be anything other than my mind (and sense of smell) playing tricks on me! I have never worried about them, and have had them all my life without ever having a stroke or fits! It sounds as though the smells you are experiencing are more than likely to be coming from outside your house, via floorboards, windows or even a chimney or air vents shared with a neighbour - That is, if others can also smell these smells - If not, it's just your mind playing tricks... Have you ever heard someone call your name in a empty street? The mind is a weird and wonderful thing!

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Hi can anyone advise me on something recently Ive been smelling cigerette smoke inside my house, I dont smoke and no one has been in that smokes. I have high blood pressure and recently sinus problems (started 18 months ago) Ive been to my GP twice as Ive been having headaches, a feeling of pressure behind the eyes , dizziness and slight blurred vision and this smelling smoke thing but he just puts it down to my blood pressure and said I was hillucinating. What I was wondering is if anyone has had this phantom smell thing as I looked it up on the internet and it can be linked to epilepsy, stroke, sinusitus or brain tumours and migraine. Ive asked to be referred to hospital but he just gave me a steroid nose spray and said it wasnt necessary. Can I demand a referral letter as Im getting really worried now its been going on for nearly 3 weeks now Ive made an appointment to have my eyes rechecked I last had them done in April. I used to be under the hospital for my blood pressure but was transferred back to my GP when it was stable thats over 2 years ago should I ring the consultants secretary and try to get her to have a word with the consultant, any advice would be appreiciated about the referral letter and the phantom smell. Thanks

 

Hopefully you are still around on the forum, I started to smell cigarette smoke 2 days ago, its been doing my head in because I hate cigarette smoke with a passion, I've looked all over for the source of the smell but after a google discovered that it is a common symptoms for some medical conditions, just wondered how you got on, did you seek medical help? did it go away on its own?

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Hi can anyone advise me on something recently Ive been smelling cigerette smoke inside my house, I dont smoke and no one has been in that smokes. I have high blood pressure and recently sinus problems (started 18 months ago) Ive been to my GP twice as Ive been having headaches, a feeling of pressure behind the eyes , dizziness and slight blurred vision and this smelling smoke thing but he just puts it down to my blood pressure and said I was hillucinating. What I was wondering is if anyone has had this phantom smell thing as I looked it up on the internet and it can be linked to epilepsy, stroke, sinusitus or brain tumours and migraine. Ive asked to be referred to hospital but he just gave me a steroid nose spray and said it wasnt necessary. Can I demand a referral letter as Im getting really worried now its been going on for nearly 3 weeks now Ive made an appointment to have my eyes rechecked I last had them done in April. I used to be under the hospital for my blood pressure but was transferred back to my GP when it was stable thats over 2 years ago should I ring the consultants secretary and try to get her to have a word with the consultant, any advice would be appreiciated about the referral letter and the phantom smell. Thanks

 

 

It could a "ghost" of a previous person that lived in the house that may have been a heavy smoker. I'm being serious, I'm open minded to this stuff.

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