About Parosmia
Parosmia
That awful smell & taste that's always around.
It can cause nausea, vomiting, headaches
and it impacts every part of life.
Understanding Parosmia
Parosmia is a distorted sense of smell disorder
that impacts a person's entire life
There hasn't been much professional help available.
It has always been around but not very well known
until 2020 when the COVID-19 virus made it more prevalent.
Parosmia is a very strange and confusing condition
Almost everything has the distorted bad smell
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food - raw food, cooked food and food cooking in any way
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water - drinking water, boiling water, water in the shower...
- soap - cleaning products (laundry detergent, dish soap...), personal care products (shampoo, deodorant...) even "fragrance free" products can smell offensive
-
"hot" & "cold" have an odor
-
the outside air & the ground smell "bad"
Parosmia is always changing
Something might smell and/or taste bad one week
and then it could be normal the next week
and then it changes again...
Sometimes the foul odors are compared to:
-
something burning
-
something rotten/spoiled
-
garbage, sulfur, sewage, chemicals, smoke...
It has even been described as smelling like "decaying, dead bodies"
Currently, there is no known medical cure for parosmia
It could take months or years to recover. Sometimes a full recovery may not occur.
The wrong odors just become more tolerable over time -
"the new normal".
Health Concerns
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A balanced diet is difficult to maintain and can lead to other health issues.
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Weight loss and dehydration can occur when the distorted smells of parosmia cause nausea and vomiting.
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Parosmia can cause weight gain because sugar and carbohydrates are some of the only tolerable foods.
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Some chronic diseases that could arise are hypertension, hypothyroidism, obesity and diabetes.
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Long term health problems resulting from smell dysfunction can include nutrition deficiencies and mental health issues.
Parosmia is socially isolating and depressing
A Few Definitions
Smell Disorders:
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Anosmia is a complete loss of the sense of smell.
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Parosmia is a distorted sense of smell.
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Hyposmia is a reduced sense of smell.
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Hyperosmia is a heightened sense of smell.
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Phantosmia is smelling an odor that isn't actually present. (A phantom smell)
Taste Disorders:
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Ageusia is a complete loss of the sense of taste.
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Dysgeusia/parageusia is a distorted sense of taste.
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Hypogeusia is a reduced sense of taste.
Taste vs Flavor:
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Basic taste refers to sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami.
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Chemesthesis involves the sensations of burning, cooling, tingling, irritating... (Example: spicy or minty)
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Flavor is a combination of smell, taste and chemesthesis along with texture, color and temperature.
When you have anosmia, you lose the "smell" part of flavor and you can only detect basic tastes and chemesthesis. (Example: Apples are sweet, crunchy and juicy with no apple flavor.)
When you have parosmia, the "smell" part of flavor is present but WRONG. These odors are totally new, often indescribable and usually disgusting.
(Example: My Ivory bar soap smells like lemon. That's not a bad smell, but my brain knows it's not the correct smell.)
Some Possible Causes
of Anosmia & Parosmia
Anosmia can be a symptom from some of the following conditions:
-
Respiratory and/or sinus infections
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Viruses (common cold, COVID-19 variants...)
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Allergies
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
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Growths (brain tumors, nasal polyps...)
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Surgery to remove growths
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Some cancers and/or their treatments
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Neurological conditions (Parkinson's disease...)
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Smoking
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Chemical & pollution exposure
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Congenital conditions (born with it)
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Genetics (inherited)
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Idiopathic (unknown cause)
Parosmia is a side effect that may develop as the individual is recovering from anosmia. Occurring approximately four months after smell loss, it may take months to years to fully recover.
Sometimes a full recovery may never happen.
Safety Concerns
When you have a smell disorder, you can't smell potential danger.
Smoke and Fire
More specifically,
something burning
before it catches fire.
Example: Can't smell
toast or popcorn
burning
Natural Gas Leaks
Spoiled & Rotting
Food
The Parosmia Awareness Day Founder's Biography:
Linda Frantisak has had personal experience living with smell and taste disorders from a common cold virus since early in 2019 (before the Covid pandemic started). She suffers from parosmia, a distorted sense of smell, along with dysgeusia and parageusia, which are forms of a distorted sense of taste. Linda has also experienced anosmia, a total loss of the sense of smell, hyposmia, a reduced sense of smell and hypogeusia, a reduced sense of taste. She has lived with these conditions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and she still suffers with them today.
Because of her experience with parosmia, Linda has become an advocate for individuals affected by this condition and she is committed to promoting awareness. In 2020, she designed and launched the www.Parosmia-Awareness.com website to provide information, support, resources and awareness for parosmia and other smell and taste disorders. On June 27, 2022, she founded the First Parosmia Awareness Day. Although everyone's experience may be slightly different, June 27 was chosen for Parosmia Awareness Day because it is four months after Anosmia Awareness Day, February 27, which is the approximate amount of time it takes for parosmia to develop in someone who is recovering from anosmia.
Linda has been a research participant for University Hospital's Observational Long Covid Recover Research Study in Cleveland Ohio since 2023. She is currently a research partner member for the Patient Partner Cohort with STANA, The Smell and Taste Association of North America. In the past (2021-2024), she volunteered for Fifth Sense (recently re-branded to SmellTaste), the UK-based charity for people affected by smell and taste disorders, as a “Lived Experience Expert” co-host for their #LetsTalkSmellAndTaste Parosmia Support Group online events.