Sensitive to smells

[RawVee]

I'm on day 14 of 100% raw. In the past few days I've noticed that I've become really sensitive to chemical smells--they almost overwhelm me. I ditched all chemical cleaners in my house last year for natural ones, thankfully. Has anyone else noticed a heightened sensitivity to chemical odors?

[LovingLife]

No, but I'm really sensitive to cheese smells now -- it all smells so strong and sort of like vomit :eek: :) (which helps with the pizza cravings :D )

[juliebove]

Yes, but I've been that way for a long time. I can only use certain brands of cleaners and they are scented with things like cucumber, patchouli, flowers, etc. Use that kind of laundry soap too.

[juliebove]

No, but I'm really sensitive to cheese smells now -- it all smells so strong and sort of like vomit :eek: :) (which helps with the pizza cravings :D )

Oh boy can I relate! Daughter and I went to the local grocery store where they were having some sort of promotion that involved big wheels of parmesan everywhere. We were gagging our way through the store. Both of us are allergic to dairy. Don't think I would have noticed that before but since stopping the dairy it sure was off putting.

[Livingsunfoods]

Absolutely. I'm especially sensitive to perfumes and colognes.

[KatK]

I can't stand for my husband to burn candles anymore...and I used to love them. The smell just drives me nuts. :eek:

[aenea]

oi I"m already very sensitive to smell I hope that doesn't get worse heh

[klomasius]

About the same time as you on 100% I got the smell sensitivity. Around half way through the first 30 day challenge I noticed my sense of smell was much better, but this wasn't a good thing.

People seemed to be extra smelly, I could smell the meat on them. Even veggies seemed to smell lots.

This concided with me seeming to smell less, I didn't have underarm odor, and my skin didn't smell as much (not that it was bad, I just noticed a general decrease in odor).

Chemical smells have been horrid to me for some time now, but they just became unbearable. My mum came to stay with us for a couple of days and she uses hairspray and I couldn't go into the bathroom for about half an hour afterward.

I think as you smell less and begin to get used to that, other people and chemicals smell more in relative terms.

[Sharon in Colorado]

Certain food smells bother me, for instance when someone heats up a pan that is usually used for eggs, and the egg smell comes into the air, it grosses me out.

Also in my taekwondo class, one of the kids' moms uses Downey fabric softener and the smell really bothers me.

[Lunar*Fey]

Definately! My sense of smell is sooo sensitive. My family gets so mad at me but it really makes me sick...
They eat very very SADly and I really get sick to my stomach from the scents...

[TNVicki]

Me too! The cooked food smells have been bothering me for several days. Today I noticed the chemical smells. I also noticed a couple of my students (I teach high school) had a smell about them like old mildewy tennis shoes. Both of them were athletes. I mentioned it to another teacher who had been standing nearby, but she hadn't noticed anything. I hadn't made the connection with noticing "people" odor with going raw.

The cleaning staff used some citrus smelling cleaning solution this afternoon. It was overpowering! I got the most horrible headache from it.

Tonight, after taking a nap to help get rid of my headache, my husband came into our room. I could tell he'd been eating chicken livers (yuck, even before I went raw!). I had to ask him to wash his hands because I couldn't stand the smell. Luckily, he's very supportive of my raw lifestyle, even though he chooses not to follow it himself.

I'm hoping this smell sensitivity gets better (less intense) soon!

[Pierre]

Sometimes I've gone into the bathroom at work and the smell of the "air freshener" drove me out. Other times I smell one of the other guys. It's not pretty, but it doesn't drive me out like the artificial stuff.

Since I was a kid, I could not go through the perfume section of a department store (which, for reasons that make no sense to me, is at the entrance) without holding my nose. The perfume section of a health food store - that's another story!

[lissomllama]

My sense of smell has become all around heightened since becoming raw but even before, I always disliked chemical odors. I can't be around chemicals and sprays or anything like that. Only natural frgrances with nothing added, thank you very much.

The stink of meat, cheese/dairy and cooked food disgusts me as well. But since my kitties are carnivores and eat raw meat and hubby chooses to eat meat. I'm around it every day. It takes some restraint and lots of mouth-breathing to get through it. hehe ;) :p :D

[blaqberry]

I can definitely relate to the "people" odors...freaked me out a bit the first time I reeeally noticed them. I mean, yeah, people do "smell"...though, before I didn't realize just how much, kinda puts ya off. They can be overwhelming at times, some of the odors... Just passing by someone, the second that someone stands close to you, someone having moved from a particlar spot that you just crossed...their odor lingers. ...weird :\ [not bad weird...but *blink* what's going on? this is new weird].

And the smelly things that have always bothered me in general are now a million times worse. It will be interesting to see if my tolerance level increases as my sense of smell becomes more sensitive/sharper.

[KatK]

Ugh...perfume! I used to live downwind of a sorority when I was going to college. It was so gross!

[Nenyath]

No doubt! Walking trhough the stores nowadays can turn into a bit of competion about how long to hold my breath! Perfumes too can be quite strong for me.. On the bright side then I am really able to enjoy the smell of morning in the forest now!

Fly forever free..

[Ariannah]

I am sensitive to chemical fragrances. Luckily it's just mildly and not like other people I know who need an ambulance for exposure.

We use everything unscented in our home. The rest of the world it seems, has lost their nasal powers as they spray a cloud of perfume in their hair and then think they "need more" since they can't "smell it enough"...

Going on a transit bus sometimes is like going into a lab :D

[Pierre]

A few days ago, in the evening, I heard a splash. As I had no water running, I ran to the kitchen and found that the neighbor's wash water was overflowing full stream into my utility room. (I don't have a washing machine; I use the connection for a water filter.) I ran out and first told her, then ran to the apartment office and told someone there, who sent a plumber the next morning. Then I got a towel and wiped up the water. Then I took the towel to the bathroom and tried to get the smell out with baking soda, then vinegar. It's still in there. How do I get it out, and why do people wash clothes with that stuff?

[Apasaraw]

My sense of smell is very much heightened...I'm thrilled! :)

[2inlovewithraw]

My wife had to have a veggie Subway because she still craves bread. I refused to go in there with her because the smell of bread was making me gag. When she got in the truck with her subway, the smell was overpowering to the point that I had flashbacks of the Navy bootcamp gas chamber. I was gagging so bad and I rolled down her window, then the wind blew across from her side and I had to roll it back up! Then I remembered the technique they tought us which is to take shallow breaths and hold your breath. It worked!

2 weeks before, I could eat Subway without a second thought and loved the smell of their bread!

Mr.2

[Ariannah]

We've (our family has) never had a subway sub because we couldn't get over the smell of the restaurant.

[misslinda]

Certain food smells bother me, for instance when someone heats up a pan that is usually used for eggs, and the egg smell comes into the air, it grosses me out.

Also in my taekwondo class, one of the kids' moms uses Downey fabric softener and the smell really bothers me.


LOL!!!! me too, people's detergent get to me and the smell of rubber/plastic gets to me at stores.

:)

[Ariannah]

OH yeah, when I am out walking, I can smell the pungent, sickly sweet chemical smell coming out of people's houses when they're using their dryers.... ugh.

[RowanC]

As the Canary in the Coalmine I can tell you that this sensitivity is a GOOD thing! IT is a return to normalcy. Those things your body is telling you are bad... ARE BAD! They will harm you!!!

When you smell something you literally ingest it. The molecules go INTO your nose and INTO your bloodstream in certain cases, making you ill.

If something is making you feel ill, or giving you a headache, GET IT OUT OF YOUR HOUSE! It is toxic for you.

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. You are becoming aware.. this is wonderful!
A pain in the kazoo, yes in the beginning... but WONDERFUL!

[RawVee]

I'm glad to see that this is normal...and sad to see how many chemicals are used everywhere we go in life! I've been using Mrs. Meyers products for quite a while now and love them. I use her lavender clothing soap and I love the way it leaves a scent of (natural) lavender on my sheets. I'm so sensitive now that I can taste the difference between organic and non-organic, and n.o. tastes AWFUL.

[eatyourbroccoli]

oh yea..most definitely. moth balls are particularly something i cannot tolerate now. i used to like how they smelled..now they smell like terrible, awful, chemical death to me. cant even be in the same room as them.

my hearing is more sensitive now, too. just this morning my step-dads blackberry alarm went off at 6 am and woke me up. it was downstairs, on the completely opposite side of the house! nobody else was woken up by the three beeps every minute except me. i had to crawl out of my warm bed and go shut it off :p

[RowanC]

I'm glad I'm not the only one with supersonic hearing! I swear I can hear a fly breathe!

I have to wear earplugs at night because the lady upstairs wakes me up walking.

I should be thankful.. .now if my eyesight will improve.. YAY!

[misslinda]

oh yea..most definitely. moth balls are particularly something i cannot tolerate now. i used to like how they smelled..now they smell like terrible, awful, chemical death to me. cant even be in the same room as them.




:p yur so funny! what are those made out of btw?

I was shopping for a jewelry cabinet and as soon as I opened the door, the smell of the chemicals practically knocked me down. :rolleyes:

[eatyourbroccoli]

:p yur so funny! what are those made out of btw?

I was shopping for a jewelry cabinet and as soon as I opened the door, the smell of the chemicals practically knocked me down. :rolleyes:
theyre made of biological warfare chemicals, thats what. :p

[RawVee]

I'm glad I'm not the only one with supersonic hearing! I swear I can hear a fly breathe!

I have to wear earplugs at night because the lady upstairs wakes me up walking.

I should be thankful.. .now if my eyesight will improve.. YAY!


LOL Rowan! I've always had dog hearing, but since going raw, have noticed that I'm really oversensitive to loud, abrasive noise (like sirens). Also, bright artificial light has been really bugging me, too. Cleaning out! :)

[Ariannah]

Today I noticed how the smell of peanuts is intolerable to me. My family snacked on them (I didn't). But I could not wait for them to finish their peanuts and put the dishes and the bag of peanuts away.

[RowanC]

Actually the REAL ones are made of camphor, which is a resin I think. It's used in magic to get rid of spiritual pests, and now we all know why! roflol!

[Pierre]

Or how about cedar balls? (I think they're Eastern Redcedar, which is actually a juniper - at least around here) Camphor is a close relative of cinnamon.