ooh, ooh that smell

[billydkid]

Ok, I think very first post was about this, but it was worded really stupidly and I got skewered for it. One time, many, many years ago I went through this brief period (about a half hour) where my sense of smell increased dramatically. It was like having a new sense altogether. It was sort of like this: a woman would open a pack of Big Red from forty feet away and I could smell it. And I could also sense the direction from which smells were coming. It was very strange and I'm sure it sounds very incredible, but that's what happened. Has anyone else ever had an experience like this?

[Soapy Sam]

No, but I vaguely recall reading about an experiment which had this effect on someone for a matter of weeks. Not sure if I imagined it.

[shecky]

No, but may we skewer you again. Just for old time sake?

[Zep]

What's "Big Red"?

[EvilBiker]

No, but I vaguely recall reading about an experiment which had this effect on someone for a matter of weeks. Not sure if I imagined it.

Thinking of this?
After taking a mixture of mind-altering drugs one night, Stephen D., a 22-year-old medical student, dreamed that he had become a dog and was surrounded by extraordinarily rich, meaningful smells. The dream seemed to continue after he woke up—his world was suddenly filled with pungent odors.
Walking into the hospital clinic that morning, "I sniffed like a dog. And in that sniff I recognized, before seeing them, the twenty patients who were there," he later told neurologist Oliver Sacks.

"Each had his own smell-face," he said, "far more vivid and evocative than any sight-face." He also recognized local streets and shops by their smell. Some smells gave him pleasure and others disgusted him, but all were so compelling that he could hardly think about anything else.

The strange symptoms disappeared after a few weeks. Stephen D. was greatly relieved to be normal again, but he felt "a tremendous loss, too," Sacks reported in his book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales. Years later, as a successful physician, Stephen D. still remembered "that smell-world—so vivid, so real! It was like a visit to another world, a world of pure perception, rich, alive, self-sufficient, and full...I see now what we give up in being civilized and human."

[MortFurd]

What's "Big Red"?
Cinnamon flavored chewing gum. Dark pink gum, bright red package. Good stuff. Would you like a stick?

(Rummages in jacket pocket.) Here ya' go.

[Starthinker]

You know, sometimes my ears pop and suddenly I can hear things I never thought I could. I can hear people typing several rooms away, I can hear birds chirping, the far-off sound of sirens, and such. Then, by the end of the day I'm back to normal.

Maybe there's a long-lost smell receptical somewhere that is just blocked in normal humans (boogers?) and once it while it gets unblocked. I've read several articles on phermone testing over the years and some of it was very interesting. That may be a place to begin your search.

[kmortis]

You know, sometimes my ears pop and suddenly I can hear things I never thought I could. I can hear people typing several rooms away, I can hear birds chirping, the far-off sound of sirens, and such. Then, by the end of the day I'm back to normal.

Maybe there's a long-lost smell receptical somewhere that is just blocked in normal humans (boogers?) and once it while it gets unblocked. I've read several articles on phermone testing over the years and some of it was very interesting. That may be a place to begin your search.

Naa, ya just need your third nostril opened. Here's the folks that can do it for you. (http://www.subgenius.com/)

[casebro]

You know, sometimes my ears pop and suddenly I can hear things I never thought I could. I can hear people typing several rooms away, I can hear birds chirping, the far-off sound of sirens, and such. Then, by the end of the day I'm back to normal.


Starthinker, maybe you need to get the wax buildup cleaned out of your ears? There are OTC kits. You might be amazed at how much crap can build up, it looked like diarhea in the sink first time I cleaned mine.

[RemieV]

In people with loss of smell: http://www.tasteandsmell.com/may02.htm

In people with autism: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/17100/96543

does your urine stink? http://allergyadvisor.com/Educational/April03.htm

migraines? drugs? http://personal.ecu.edu/wuenschk/hyperosmia.htm

pregnant? psychosomatic? histrionic personality? http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec06/ch097/ch097a.html

[Godmode]

I experience this all the time actually. Usually it happens when I'm not doing anything, which is unusual for me. Most likely it just "seems" like my sense of smell is getting better, when in reality, I'm just able to focus on it more because of the lack of other distractions.
Having said that, it DOES remind one of the ear popping experience... that's a good analogy.

[Starthinker]

Starthinker, maybe you need to get the wax buildup cleaned out of your ears? There are OTC kits. You might be amazed at how much crap can build up, it looked like diarhea in the sink first time I cleaned mine.

Candling? Naw, it's just fluid behind my eardrums.