Weird sleep issue with odors

August 20, 2019 4:14 PM

Asking for a friend who doesn't have an account here: So a weird thing happened to me today. I was fast asleep only to suddenly wake and bolt up. I felt weird like I'm gunna puke. But the weird thing was a had this smell that was like stuck in my nose. I've never smelled anything like it.

Asking for a friend who doesn't have an account here:

So a weird thing happened to me today. Early this morning I was fast asleep only to suddenly wake and bolt up. I felt weird like I'm gunna puke. But the weird thing was a had this smell that was like stuck in my nose. I've never smelled anything like it. The sensation was the weird part. It felt like it was coming from my nose. Like i couldn't go anywhere to get away from it. But it went away after a while and i didnt think about it much. But then it happened again about 5 hours later at a different house in a different town. What could this be?

posted by nixxon to Health & Fitness (11 answers total)

I've had nausea and "bad smell in the nose" with sinus inflammation. Doctor called the nose-odor "phantom smell."
posted by wryly at 4:20 PM on August 20, 2019 [2 favorites]

Hmm. There are smell, olfactory, hallucinations or phantom smells. Migraine sufferers can experience them. Sudden onset of them can be indicators of some afflictions such as brain tumors, inflamed sinuses and even Parkinson's or other nervous system issues. Might want to have them checked out. That it is accompanied by nausea is also a bit concerning as that, too, can go with brain tumors and the like.
posted by bz at 4:21 PM on August 20, 2019 [1 favorite]

A term to look for: phantosmia.
posted by gudrun at 4:25 PM on August 20, 2019 [1 favorite]

Also (at least as I've been told by people who've had them), olfactory hallucinations can be a sign of a TIA / "mini-stroke".

Apparently the suddenly becoming bolt-awake - "like I'd smacked my head on the headboard, but without the pain or the memory of doing it", as someone once described it to me - is fairly common too.
posted by Pinback at 4:30 PM on August 20, 2019 [1 favorite]

Any chance (from illness, food poisoning, or acid reflux) that a small amount of vomit or stomach acid was the cause? It can go into the nasal passages, especially while lying down, and smells accordingly.
posted by notquitemaryann at 5:48 PM on August 20, 2019 [1 favorite]

A recurrent weird taste/smell can also caused by tonsilloliths, so your friend might want to have a good look in the back of their throat with a light and mirror (if they still have tonsils).
posted by inexorably_forward at 6:06 PM on August 20, 2019 [2 favorites]

If I were your friend I’d get an appointment with a neurologist.
posted by ocherdraco at 7:00 PM on August 20, 2019 [1 favorite]

Does your friend get migraines? I had this issue at one point with my migraines at one point—waking suddenly with phantom smells, no headache—and weirdly, so did my doctor. Two of my friends who get migraines also have the phantom smell thing as a pre-migraine symptom sometimes. By all means get checked out though.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 8:19 PM on August 20, 2019

I get this from a weird sinus infection I occasionally get, except the smell is akin to diesel exhaust. It goes away with my usual sinus infection treatment: irrigation and Mucinex.
posted by quince at 9:05 PM on August 20, 2019

Seconding tonsilloths. I coughed one up when i had a bad cold once and it smelled....retched.
posted by museum of fire ants at 6:43 AM on August 21, 2019

Another thought: I had horrible taste/smells crop up right before my GERD and silent reflux was diagnosed, when it was at its worst. In fact it was diagnosed because I went to the doc thinking I had a sinus problem (smell/taste was similarly gross). Have you had a sore throat lately? A cough? You may or may not have stomach pain or heartburn; reflux can be silent of other symptoms.

The fact that you had this when you woke up from sleep and it was accompanied by nausea also made me think it might be this; reflux is worse when you are lying down and can cause nausea. You mentioned it happened again a few hours later—could it have been in reaction to an acidic meal or drink (citrus or tomatoes, for example)? Or any of the following foods/drinks:

-chocolate
-mint
-alcohol
-chewing gum
-caffeinated drinks (even decaf)
-carbonated drinks
-fatty foods, deep fried foods

Might be worth mentioning this idea to the doc as well when you get checked out.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:14 AM on August 21, 2019 [1 favorite]