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Menopause & Smelling Cigarette Smoke

Posted , 17 users are following.

debra16694
debra16694

Ok, here’s a new one...I am 61 and post menopausal.  For a few weeks I have been smelling cigarette smoke, but no one in my household smokes.  At first, I thought it was the new neighbors next door, but nobody there smokes either.  I use Symbicort & Flonase for my “menopause asthma” and thought that the smoke smell could be a side effect of those drugs.  I remember when I was pregnant I had an irrational sense of smell, I could smell things nobody else could.  I am wondering if this smelling of cigarette smoke is yet another side effect of hormone imbalance.  Just throwing it out there - I looked online and there can be some sinister causes like epilepsy, brain tumors etc.  but I am not going to let my anxiety run wild with this - just thought I would ask - 

3 likes, 17 replies

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  • tmpearce
    tmpearce debra16694

    Posted

    Hi Debra,

    I get this too!  I am positive it’s menopause related.  I’m 57 and about a year ago I started with this symptom.  I’ve had it happen several times over the past year. It lasts about a week and then will go away for a month or two and then come back.  No matter where I am I can smell cigarette smoke and no one else can.  It does seem to be a bit worse when I’m indoors and that may have something to do with dry air from heating or air conditioning.  Don’t google!!  All you will get is bad news...it’s this or that and it’s all bad. I did that and was convinced I had a brain tumor.  I know that I don’t because I had sinus surgery 10 months ago and had ct scan of head and sinuses and all was well. 

    I have read on this site posts from many women who also suffer from this.  Please don’t worry....I believe it’s all part of this horrible menopause roller coaster.

    Hope this helps.🙂

    • debra16694
      debra16694 tmpearce

      Posted

      Hi tmpearce - thank you for your reassuring words - I vaguely remember reading on some menopause site (maybe not this one) that some woman do experience this rather strange symptom.  This whole menopause journey is now becoming comical...I think I have truly experienced all 66 menopause symptoms & then some!  Trying to find the humor & wonder what I am supposed to learn from this journey, but all I can say is, whoever abducted my body & life...I want it back! Pronto! Hah!

    • caroline85123
      caroline85123 tmpearce

      Posted

      Hi, I am 54 and am perimenopausal, I have been smelling smoke too and other phantom smells that are not there. Some smells like perfume are distorted too and alot of smells seems to be heightened. I googled and freaked thinking I had brain tumour or something sinister. I had headaches too. I even went to A and E and they did a Head and sinus CT scan. All was ok no tumour. I have really bad anxiety which has worsened alot during perimenopause. I am even now worried about having had a CT scan incase that now gives me brain cancer. Oh my days, I am struggling with this health anxiety and want these symptoms to just go away. Will it get better. Booked to see an ENT specialist now, hope they can help.

  • kim35797
    kim35797 debra16694

    Posted

    hi debra i just looked this up it says could be your sinuses blocked maybe go to doctors to see if this is the case but was very interesting reading this while on the menopause we seem to experience lots of different things .hope you start feeling better soon 
    • debra16694
      debra16694 kim35797

      Posted

      Hi Kim - Yes, I thought it might be related to my allergy/asthma RX, but things appear OK in that department, but if it gets worse, will check it out - I can’t help but think it’s hormone related, geez! I have had every other bloody symptom!!! I think the lesson here is, you have to have a great sense of humor to navigate thru menopause HELL - 
  • cynthia00141
    cynthia00141 debra16694

    Edited

    I belong to a menopause Facebook page, and there are a lot of us women who have smelled smoke.  Me included.  It definitely is hormonal.  So you are not alone!
    • debra16694
      debra16694 cynthia00141

      Posted

      Thank you Cynthia! I so needed to hear that! Appreciate you responding - What a weird friggin symptom, ya think? 
    • cynthia00141
      cynthia00141 debra16694

      Posted

      It definitely is a strange one!  I had grandparents who passed away years ago that were heavy smokers, and I thought maybe they had come to visit me!
    • debra16694
      debra16694 cynthia00141

      Posted

      Hah! That’s so funny you say that because both my parents were smokers & I grew up around second hand smoke  & thought,  Oh boy! my taste of smell has finally reverted to my childhood!  I also thought that my parents had gifted me with their presence - 

  • louellen39047
    louellen39047 debra16694

    Posted

    Well that explains a lot for a doctor who thought she smelled cigarette smoke on me and refused to treat me.  She must have been in menopause (she was of the age).  I was incensed, hurt, enraged at her actions of spinning on her heels and walking out, leaving me to sit there, wondering what happened and no doctor to help me.  Same thing happened with a pharmacist who was just supposed to give me medication prescribed by an urgent care doc.  Both women were of menopausal ages.  Hmmm....wonder why that happens and why not smell lilacs (I smell those) or perfume?  Interesting to say the least but, a head-scratcher. 

    As my grandmother used to always say though..."this too shall pass".  Hang in there!  And, whatever you do...do NOT google anything because there's a lot of crap on the net.  No one knows who is putting out realistic information.  I've made that mistake and ended up diagnosis myself with all sorts of diseases to have family doctors laughing me out of the office for it.  (Of course...none of it was true....I know that now LOL). 

  • keyauk
    keyauk debra16694

    Posted

    ive been getting this cigarette smell for a few months now , sometimes its really strong so i googled it n now i think ive either got a brain tumour or im having a stroke , im 55 and ive not had a peroid for around 4 year so im guessing menopause is here but ive aready had hot flushes n night sweats before periods stopped , im now scared n confused , any help would be so great right now

    Jodie

  • debra16694
    debra16694

    Posted

    hi there - i had to chuckle a bit at your post...i remember when i experienced it for the first time & googled it & of course went to that "bad place" -Around the same time i started smelling cigarette smoke i also had episodes of shortness of breath (scared the living day lights out of me) - At the time, i went to my allergy Dr thinking i was having severe allergic reactions & she basically told me she sees this in "middle aged woman" when i pressed her if it was a menopause symptom she wouldnt definitively say, only that it seems to occur with hormonal shifts. i dont know if you were ever pregnant, but for me, during pregnancy my "sense of smell was heightened & i think the same happens during menopause - it also happened to me about 4 years post menopause - it did not last for too long, but i firmly believe is one of those menopause symptoms nobody talks about - stay calm, this too shall pass -

  • julie31962
    julie31962 debra16694

    Edited

    Same thing with me . Started when I was 45-46 yrs old and lost my taste & smell at around the same time too I smelled cigarette smoke so strong sometimes my eyes would actually water . Thought I was losing my mind . At 50 yrs old I was diagnosed with COPD and my taste & smell came back around 53-54 yrs old . I am 58 yrs old now and again I am starting to smell cigarette smoke also a burning wire smell . I've seen doctors and read everything I can on & offline . Wish I had an answer but I do not . I will say that you are not alone ! Many women experience this ! Any help out there ? Best of luck to you all !

  • vivian72668
    vivian72668 debra16694

    Edited

    Hey Deb...

    It's ironic you have posted this question about cigarette smoke, it is a VERY TIMELY one, might I say.. Anyhoo, just this morning, I could have sworn something was burning in my humble abode; the smell was very persistent and potent. That said, I even had the nerve to ask my 21 y.o. son if he too... smelled something burning in our house? He responded, NO!! with the look of WTH is wrong with her? Sooo.. I quickly left him alone, and went into another room to figure out what was going on! Suffice it to say, roughly an hour or two later, the smell dissipated!

    Ladies, I know exactly what's going on here, drum roll puhleeze: The culprits are those PESKY out of whack hormones!! They wreak havoc on us women! The symptoms are relentless! That said, I know for a fact, what I experienced was the fluctuating of my hormones, they are imbalanced!!

    Feel better, Deb and ALL of you ladies, on this thread! We are going to get through this!

  • deidre43510
    deidre43510 debra16694

    Posted

    omg yay i thought something bad was was wrong i smell smoke to everywhere i go new to all this

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