Strong smells followed by severe nausea and vomiting

Posted , 7 users are following.

I will make an appointment with a doctor but don't know how long it will take, so in the meantime I want to gather information if anyone has any inkling of what's going on.

My symptoms started about a year and a half ago when I went to lunch with some friends to an ethnic food place. I hadn't eaten anything at all that day, but when I smelled the food I started to get extremely nauseous and had to leave. I laid in bed for a while at my apartment, then ran to the bathroom and vomited bile and water all over the floor. I felt so much better and even hungry immediately afterwards! I wrote it off as food poisoning or a weird virus and moved on.

3-6 months later it happens again, but with pizza. I was hungry so I picked some up with my boyfriend, but the minute I got home with it the smell was absolutely sickening to me. I had to lock myself in another room away from the pizza because the smell was unbearable to be around and I would do anything to get away. I felt extremely nauseous for about 2 hours before I vomited everywhere, and then was completely fine, and eventually I ate the pizza.

This kind of thing has happened to me about ten times total now, in four different locations, with smells both good and bad ranging from pizza, chicken, indian food, and even my own excrement sad It is almost always before I eat a meal. It started out about once every 3-6 months and now happens about every 1-2 months. It happens at any time of the day and with variable levels of stress. The only other medication I take is birth control, but I have been on that for far longer than a year and a half.

About 6 months ago I started to experience various abdominal pains, though not in the same time frames as the nausea and vomiting. Once every few weeks I will have 1-3 very short but painful episodes over the span of a day or two. Most often when this happens it is a sharp pain on my middle upper abdomen that only lasts for a few minutes, but I curl up and am unable to do anything. Sometimes it will move to other areas, like slightly to the right, or even once to my back. Earlier today, I even had a sharp referred pain to my left shoulder!

I suspect that my pancreas or gallbladder may be involved because of some of the symptoms, but I've never heard of someone with symptoms exactly like these. Feeling better immediately after puking and puking before meals, not after both stand out to me as odd, and the unbearable smells are worrisome to me. Are the smells possibly integrated with some kind of neurological disorder? What do you guys think of all this? Thanks!

0 likes, 14 replies

14 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi poor you. I have Gastroparesis and a sliding hiatus hernia look them up, the hernia when it spasams i get pain in my chest, back, shoulders i even get it in my neck and throat. The Gastroparesis is the stomach wont empty i get severe nausea and whe i burp it smells like sulphar i feel better after i vomit. I now take Domperadine they work but i have to stick to a low fat diet but everyone is different, there are so many things i can't eat but i'm  just happy i can eat something, i have also had lost weight. Hopefully this might help, let me know what the doctor says hopfully it isn't any of these take care of yourself if you have a long wait for your doctor try peppermint oil tablets.
    • Posted

      Thank you for sharing! After I researched it it didn't quite sound like what I have, but I'll be sure to look into it more. I often vomit before meals when my stomach is already mostly empty, and I don't think I have any of the risk factors for developing it. It also happens very seldomly. Does your gastroparesis happen after most meals, or does it happen seldomly as well? Thank you, I'll keep this thread updated as I find out more from the doc!
  • Posted

    Hi omnomnom

    I get a nauseus feeling with various smells. This is due to my sinuses. I suffer with rhinitus which causes me to feel nausea with strong smells such as spicey foods, also air freshners, deodorant sprays, strong scented sprays. Its got better bcos doc has given me nose spray for it.

    Do you have a sinus problem? Go to doc and get it checked..hope this helps..best wishes..

    • Posted

      Thank you for sharing! This is one of the only things I've been able to find about smells making me sick, besides websites telling me I've been pregnant for the last year and a half, lol! I do have some pretty nasty seasonal allergies, so long term sinus problems aren't out of the question. The only thing that doesn't really fit with this is the random pains I get at completely different times than when I'm nauseous and vomiting. Perhaps I have more than one condition though?

      With smells, does the same thing set you off all the time, or just randomly / sometimes? Like, are spicy food smells always an issue for you? For example, I've eaten pizza plenty of times in the last year and a half, and only one time has the smell made me sick. It is always a different smell that sets me off and I'm always fine with that smell in the future. Thanks!

    • Posted

      Hi omnomnom

      Your problem could very well be due to allergic reaction to smells. For me the smells sometimes kick off a headache and then I get nauseus. I know this is my problem. I do suffer with allergies all year round. Regarding the pain you experience I think it is a separate issue. Perhaps your doc could arrange for you to have a CT scan or Ultrasound scan to get a clear pic of your gastro-intestinal area......best wishes for a speedy diagnosis......

  • Posted

    Have you looked up abdominal migraine or cyclic vomiting syndrome?
    • Posted

      Thanks for suggesting this. Having just looked it up, I think this may be a possibility. It's really unfortunate that they don't know what causes it!
    • Posted

      Yeah this really sucks. Perhaps you could start doing a diary to track what you are doing in the days and hours prior to it - I'm not sure of your gender, but for females there can be a hormonal component such as always happening around menstruation or ovulation. It could be that something triggers it off and by careful examination/elimination you could identify that.

      If you consult your doctor you might want to see a GI and a neurologist.

    • Posted

      The disabling pain in the abdomen does sound like gall bladder symptom, which can spread quite a bit into side, back,  and the gall bladder is connected with bile, liver. l dont know if it can cause nausea vomiting, but its possible. It could be at certain times your sense of smell or reaction to it goes into overdrive, but l also get allergic rhinitus and do have keen sense of smell, which is a drag most of the time, far too many unpleasant smells, which others can tolerate but lve to walk away from it. Sounds like you do need a scan of your abdomen, good luck
    • Posted

      I am a female, and I might take your advice on the diary. Thankfully, I was able to get a referral to a GI specialist and hope to get in soon!
    • Posted

      It could definitely be some combination of the things you described. I'll at least be getting bloodwork done, and maybe a scan too. Thanks!
  • Posted

    I hate to tell you this,

    But that sounds alot like Intestinal Worm Parasites...

    They will make you Empty your

    Stomach contents completly to get ready to feast on Clean Safe Fresh Food, this is so they get the best nutrients to steal from you.

    How do they know???

    Here's how.

    They live in your Gut the intestinal track and directly "patch/coonnect" into YOUR nervous system and connect into the "gut to Smell path way" and the little nasty bast..rds are alerted at the Presnce of availible food that is in your imediate vicenitue,

    Then they Send a "electrical signal" to your brain telling your body IT IS GOING TO THROW UP no matter how much you resist, telling your gut&brain

    No, please no.

    "....Mam we have Executive orders to Empty out the gastral chamber Directly from the Commander & Chief Himself (or Her😇wink, "

    ..... Barrrrrffffffffffffff,

    [repeat several times]

    These Parasites know what there

    doing. They are hackers to your brain and gut, tricking your body

    to things, when to eat, puke, deficate (so they can release their Eggs safely at the correct time so that they pass into the exiting stool, and have a Greater chance of infecting another Human being.

    Note: Eggs are about the size of Seseme Seeds, and some Egg types Even have the same shape of a dill pickle seed.

    {VöTE~FœR: Captain Janeway for our Next U.S. President }

  • Posted

    I have the same thing as u but i have been throwing way to much.On Saturday, December 9th, i started to smell really weird smells out of no where and it was making me throw up and i have really really bad headaches and pains in my whole entire body the doctors just kept telling me and my dad i just have the flu but i know its more than just the flu cause ive been really really sick like this for for 4 months and i would sleep for sometimes a day and the smell of any food started to make me throw up like crazy... make me throw up non stop.

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