Anosmia: The smell of silence
When visiting an art gallery, I prefer to wander alone rather than in company. To be left to think, for as long as it takes, in front of any image that draws me in. Talking about the visit is best left to the cafe at the end over coffee and cake. Wine, however, I prefer to drink in company. You can discuss it to a degree, but part of the experience is impossible to express in words, which makes the sharing of it more intensely personal. There is communion even in secular sipping. This is why losing your sense of smell is such an alienating experience, especially for wine lovers.
I caught a cold a few weeks ago. It started on Friday 13th to be precise; sometimes fate has all the subtlety of a trombone. Like most people, I’ve lost my sense of smell before when ill, for a few hours or even a day. But after the fifth day of no smell, I started to feel a bit concerned, which led me to break the first commandment of being ill: thou shalt not look up thine symptoms on the internet. It turns out many cases of anosmia (the loss of the sense of smell) start with something as simple as a cold. Sometimes the effects are permanent. And anosmia, it turns out, is just one of a whole dysfunctional family of smell disorders.
There are multiple causes and anyone can be affected. Upper respiratory tract infections, nasal or sinus diseases, head injury… it can also be a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and brain tumours. It might even suggest an increased likelihood of death within five years. The death thing was a bit of a worry, but the thought of never being able to smell a glass of wine again was terrifying. Not just because I would miss the sheer pleasure it brings, but most of my social contact, I realised, takes place around wine. Without it, the world would be a lonely place. Job, income, hobby; all gone in a sneeze. By the sixth day without smell, the world felt strangely flat and obvious, at the same time both strip-lit and numbed. No wonder nearly half of those with long-term smell and taste disorders suffer from depression.
Anosmia is a dreadful affliction but there are related conditions that are even crueller. Fragrance writer and beauty blogger Louise Woollan knows this better than most. She contracted anosmia after catching a cold a year ago, just three months after being nominated for an award for her fragrance writing. “The irony isn’t lost on me,” she acknowledges.
The three months of anosmia she suffered were followed firstly by phantosmia (perceiving unpleasant smells that don’t exist), then parosmia (some sense of smell, but real smells are distorted into unpleasant ones) and the worst of all – occasional cacosmia. That’s right, she says; “everything smelled like shit”. Wine usually tastes “flinty, muddy, like feet… But I can still drink gin, for which I’m very grateful. Mulling wine is good too. Mulled Champagne is interesting.” Coffee, chocolate and cigarette smoke are particularly unbearable however. Some smells have made her physically sick.
There has been little professional research into parosmia, and the condition is hard to treat. The best option is a saline sinus rinse to alleviate the symptoms, but there is no cure. Doctors have been broadly unhelpful; one even told her there wasn’t much she could do except look forward to the day she’ll be able to laugh about it. “The major problem is that people don’t think it’s serious, but they don’t realise how crippling it is.” Alongside her beauty blog, she also writes a blog about her parosmia experiences. It can be dangerous; she can’t tell if food has gone off, or smell when things are burning.
The olfactory nerve is unique in that it’s the only part of the nervous system that’s open to air – and in that it’s constantly regenerating. That she can smell at least some aromas, no matter how unpleasant, is a good sign as it means that her olfactory nerve might be repairing itself. Crucially she has recently identified a few aromas that she can detect undistorted, particularly iris and violet. She is developing these into a perfume to raise funds for Fifth Sense, the charity for people affected by smell and taste disorders. But she admits it’s unlikely her sense of smell will ever return in its entirety. “It’s surreal. Nothing is familiar any more. My husband doesn’t smell the way he used to. I don’t smell the way I used to.”
To any individual, disorders of smell and taste can be distressing and debilitating, but to those devoted to food, wine or fragrance it can be devastating. After seven days, my sense of smell returned; I woke up and literally smelt the coffee, to an almost deranged outburst of relief. Woollan has 500 bottles of perfume at home, all sitting unused for now. But hopefully they will gradually regain their fascination.
Most wine lovers also have a collection of bottles that are waiting for the right moment to be opened. Each one represents potential delight waiting to be realised, an evening’s entertainment, a message in a bottle. Often what we really mean by ‘the right moment’ is ‘the right person to drink them with’. And it is this connection and shared joy that we would really lose if we lost our sense of smell. It’s a gift that feels all the more precious when you realise how easily this can happen, and all the more precarious that’s there’s little you can do to keep it safe.
Image credit: creative commons photo by Graham Hellewell.
First published on timatkin.com.
My recovery from anosmai was unexpected and from using a completely unrelated medication.
Lost my sense of smell and taste using Zicam cold spray many years ago. Of course the company denies that this is possible although the FDA in 2009 LOUDLY told the public to stop using Zicam Cold Remedy (with zinc).
My 2 senses were gone almost completely for 8 or 9 years. I don’t remember because I thought it was gone forever. I could smell coffee beans, cinnamon and I say Tequila but probably not and not really taste any of these. Everything else was like nothing. Natural gas, car exhaust, cut grass, rotten food or cookies baking in the oven were undetectable. It was like being blind lacking two senses. Nose blind is no joke to those with anosmia.
In 2010 I started taking something for sleep deprivation. I’d fallen asleep at the wheel 30 some years earlier and almost died in the accident. Didn’t care to do that again. Within a day or 2 of taking the medication my smell and taste were back. There was no doubt that this medication had done this.
The medication…, Ritalin. There are a couple of stories online of people using Ritalin for sleep deprivation and this is why I requested it. If you can get your doctor to write you a prescription, it’s totally worth a try. The med is cheap and has a very safe history of use for most. What have you got to lose?
I even had a National Health Institute doctor interested in 2010, head of clinical studies no less. He wanted to speak with the ENT surgeon at U.T. San Antonio that I’d gotten interested in doing a clinical study. He flaked out and never called the NHI doctor. Dumbass.
Just recently got the idea rejected from a doctor heading a newer group supposedly working on a solution to anosmia. She just figured it must have been a coincidence. NOT! After 8+ years of no smell or taste and it comes back at the same time I use a central nervous system stimulant? Duh! It doesn’t take a Lassie to figure this one out. Sometimes professional can be so stupid. Too smart for their own good and yours.
One more thing. My doctor left to another state and no one else would prescribe it. I thought I’d go back to senseless again. Somehow the meds got my system to reconnect some of my senses over the 2 years I got to use it. I have retained approximately 80 to 85% of my original sense of smell and taste. WAY better than none.
Since the medical community won’t help you, I’ll just try to get the word out by myself. So, try it if you have hope. If it does work, awesome! If it doesn’t, it can’t hurt and it was worth a try. I hope you can find a doctor willing to work with you.
Good luck.
Hi Larry. Really interesting to hear about your experiences with anosmia, and especially what helped fix the problem. You’re right about it being no joke. Fortunately my sense of smell and taste came back after just seven days, but it was enough to scare me. My livelihood depends on it after all. But it’s great to have your input here in case other sufferers come across this post. M
Evening. I am an anosmic of 4 years. For one week smell returned ..then sadly back to anosmia. Very impossible to get ritalin in Australia as it is illegal. Is there a similar legal effective drug. I am very keen to try anything as only those effected know the frustration of this nemesis. Love to hear any helpful news.
Thanking you
Hi Lorraine – sorry to hear that you’ve been hit by this. Particularly cruel for it to return just for a week. I was lucky enough for it only to last several weeks, and I didn’t try any therapies in that time. Might be worth checking out the Fifth Sense website though.
Sincerely wishing you a swift recovery,
Matt