IamA teenager who went his whole life without knowing he was not able to smell, ask me anything!

I’ve read that smell is a major component in how we taste. With that in mind, I’m curious. What are some of your favorite flavors?

Reddit is being weird, I thought I replied to this a bit ago. Here is the copy paste of the reply:

That’s an awesome question! I’ve always been a bad eater, and I mostly associate foods with textures. Sushi without cucumbers, Five Guys double burgers ketchup only, and steak are all some of my casual favorites. Lots of potato-based foods are also favorites.

Also a meatball marinara with southwest sauce from Subway is something I forgot to mention in the original reply.

what are some things that you don't like to eat?

I’ve always disliked bacon. Everyone has a strange affliction with it, but the crunchiness has always never been worth the taste.

You can make soft bacon, it's delicious. Where it starts to get crunchy at the ends, take it off

I’ve tried good soft bacon, but still never been as enticed. I’d gladly take soft bacon over crunchy any day, however.

Bake it slowly on a cookie sheet in the oven, easier to get perfect and the slices don't curl up on you.

I’ll try that! Sounds good in concept, at least 😂

That’s an awesome question! I’ve always been a bad eater, and I mostly associate foods with textures. Sushi without cucumbers, Five Guys double burgers ketchup only, and steak are all some of my casual favorites. Lots of potato-based foods are also favorites.

what did you think when other people mentioned a particular smell? did you just never know what they were talking about but pretended to do? i imagine that there would be quite a lot of situations where you should have noticed that you aren't able to smell..

I always was a slight bit confused but went along with it. Such as ‘bad’ smells being bad, I just always heard they were bad and had a correlation. As a kid it probably came from insults or other things being along the lines of ‘you stink’, and having that be a similar thing for bad. I’m surprised it took this long to be honest. I didn’t have many friends during middle to the beginning of upper school, and I guess as soon as I started expanding my friend group and talking to people more, the chances of me figuring out skyrocketed from where it once was.

This is exactly my question. I don't not believe OP, but it's so difficult to believe that it didn't come up in general conversation. What did you think the words "smell" or "scent" meant?

Sorry for the late response - I have damaged nerves in my nose, so I always thought smelling for everyone was the thing I thought smelling was for me, being a slight tingling sensation in my sinuses and the back of my nose. Smell and scent meant that to me for the longest time.

Hey I'm a congenital anosmic too! I only was diagnosed 2 years ago. I'm 18M

I’m glad to find someone with a similar experience! Also 18M, just diagnosed maybe 5-6 months ago.

Have you ever smelled anything? I think I have in the past but very few things

Can’t remember. I might have when I was very very small, but in the most recent ten or so years, no.

I'm about the same. I think I know what oranges smell like but that might be 10 years of slight taste. I'm trying to train a psuedo sense of smell by detecting air pressure and temperature changes. It's not great, obviously, but I have been able to predict where a gas station is before

That’s super cool! I haven’t heard of that before. That might be something awesome to look into!

Also anosmic, mid-30s, male. I think I tasted skunk-smell once -- when I was 19 or 20, my friend's dog got sprayed in his parents' back yard while I was hanging out over there home from college. The scent was so pungent it legit tweaked my tastebuds. Not a pleasant experience.

Doesn’t sound pleasant at all😂 I’ve had people always say when they describe a smell that it ‘smells how it tastes’, and am always confused. Does that happen with you?

How’d you figure out you couldn’t smell?

Normal conversation with my girlfriend. She was talking over the phone how the inside of different people’s houses have different smells, and I said that was the weirdest thing ever and didn’t make sense. One thing led to another, and the next week I’m in the ENT office being diagnosed with anosmia.

Can you give more detail on "one thing led to another"?

Sure! After conversations about smell and attempting to distinguish various ‘smelly’ kitchen items, we scheduled an appointment for the ENT. After tests, scans, and conversations there, I was diagnosed with anosmia. It was pretty funny having my girlfriend on the phone telling me to smell various hot sauces or fruits and asking me about what was happening haha

People had to have mentioned smell before. What was different now?

Banter with my girlfriend. I didn’t have many friends from middle to the start of upper school, so the increased interaction from my friend group expanding led to more conversations. Probably a statistics thing, I don’t have a good answer for this :/

And you know why you didn't have many friends from middle school and beyond? Because that's when people start to smell their worst.

I was super paranoid for a month about that after I found out! But I always have been good with hygiene and stuff like that. I wasn’t one of those ‘axe body spray instead of showering’ types in middle school 😂

Have you ever seen the movie Walk Hard and if so what is your opinion on it?

Never, I’ll add it to the watch list

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Thanks! I’ll make sure to watch it soon! I’m on a ‘movies I’ve never watched but should have’ binge right now

First of all congrats for being the “if you smelt it, you dealt it” champion. So have you ever smelled a fart? Also, I was wondering if you could smell other really pungent smells like: cigarette smoke, weed, campfire, rotting roadkill, grill smells (burgers/hotdogs), etc. What can you smell, if anything?

Well yes, but actually no.

Damaged nerves in my nose mean that I can tell when something is smelly, but not really at all, but can’t distinguish. Smelling very pungent things (or so I’m told) results in a sort of tingling, pins and needles feeling in the back of my nose / sinuses.

That’s really interesting, thanks for responding. Are you able to tell if you smell good or bad? Being that you’re 18 (saw in other comments) and you were recently diagnosed, were you told that you needed to shower, or put on deodorant? Or were you always just a really clean person- that’s how I am, personally, but I know some people who don’t care or just can’t tell that they smell bad

Always been a clean person. Never really have been directly told that I smell bad or need to shower except after hockey games, where I’ve been conditioned to know that sweat smells bad. I was super duper paranoid for a month after being diagnosed of smelling bad and caked on deodorant and showered a little too much😂

Have you noticed any enhanced abilities of your other senses, like how blind people often have enhanced hearing?

Funny you mention, I have slight hearing loss due to being in a band for a long time and having a job in sound for concerts, I wear glasses due to bad vision, and my taste is distorted due to smelling, or lack there of. Maybe I have super touch! I don’t know 😂

ENT resident here. This may be due to a different nerve being stimulated in your nose. The nerve for the sense of smell is cranial nerve 1, the olfactory nerve. The trigeminal nerve, cranial nerve 5, also runs inside your nose and can be irritated by things like ammonia/smelling salts, etc.

Just curious, but at the ENT clinic did you take a smelling test? I’ve administered the UPSIT a few times when seeing someone with anosmia.

Thanks for your expertise! Haven’t had a direct smell ‘test’, but I have had some exams to see if anything is wrong internally. I’ll ask about that the next time I’m there, I don’t know specifics too well, sorry 😂

You never knew farts smelt?

Never! As a kid I always heard phrases such as ‘you stink’, and I just associated bad smells with things like that.

Have you considered a lucrative career in either the mortuary or waste treatment sectors?

Hopefully going into astrophysics, actually 😂

So you're the guy that thinks his shit doesn't stink?

I’m glad I’ve never been ‘that guy’ haha

When people talked about smell before this realization, what was your thought process? I’m a bit puzzled how you didn’t know something was up.

My sense of smell is gone, but the receptors that pick up smell aren’t all gone. I’ve always thought smelling for everyone else was the same for me, being a tingling sensation (hard to describe, that’s the best way I can put it) in the back of my sinuses. It never has been directly talked about with me before, and I guess I never developed the mental connection or thought that I might be different.

What does it feel like taking medicine or something you dont like, since people tell you to usually not smell if you hate what your taking which helps it go down easier?

Good question Usually foods or other things I don’t like are texture-based. But if something tastes bad, then it probably just tastes bad and I deal with it.

Some say onions apples and pears all taste the same, its the smell thats different, i wonder if thats actually true also you might not like coffee since the draw of coffee is the smell..

On a related note, what is probably your favorite thing to eat?

I hate coffee, actually! I’ve never bitten into a raw onion before, might have to try that😂

I said some of my favorite foods in another response, but they include: Cucumber-less Sushi, ketchup only double cheeseburger from Five Guys, steak, ramen noodles, pho, spaghetti, etc.

I also have a strong aversion to bacon too, which people find weird.

What about the times in school science class when you learned about the senses - smell, sight, taste, touch ... and... what am I forgetting? Are there only 4?

Edit - hearing. Sound. Duh.

With some damaged nerves in my nose, I always thought a slight tingling in the back of my nose and sinuses was smell for everyone. I always was confused about why people made such a big deal about it 😂

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That’s what I keep telling myself haha

If anyone wants to read the post now that it was removed, go here. OP, do you have any idea why it was removed?

I didn’t remove them myself! There were some Reddit issues at the start of the post and some may have gotten sucked into that vacuum.

If you’re one of those people who’s comment got removed on accident, comment again!

Huh. I thought it was deleted. Thanks for the reply.

No problem!

Can you taste? (Serious question, as I believe smell and taste are crucially linked)

Well yes, but actually no.

I don’t know since I’ve never had a frame of reference. I’ve listed some favorite and not favorite foods in other replies. Here’s a zinger you may want to try: Meatball marinara with southwest sauce from Subway

Thanks, will give it a shot.

It is very difficult, near impossible, to eat with a complete loss of taste. Everything is nauseating.

I guess I’m very happy to have some taste then! Haha

You've said you really like "Five Guys" but have you ever eaten at "Mooyah"?

Never! I’ll make sure to try it soon!

Are you ever asked to do something someone would find gross from the smell such as take out the garbage or help them dig up a body or are you the 1 person out of 10 that doesn’t prefer glade air freshener to other generic air fresheners?

Interesting question😂 Ever since I’ve been diagnosed my family and friends have been targeting me a little with that kinda stuff 😂 Never used spray air fresheners in my room or anything. Maybe that’s a good YouTube video idea - ‘Guy who can’t smell reviews air fresheners!’

Have you ever liked or disliked certain foods that other people seem to dislike or like?

I have a strong aversion to bacon of all things. The texture always has been not nice, and the crunchy always destroyed the nice taste. On the other end, spicy food hasn’t bothered me as much as other people. But that might not be related to my smell, however.

enjoy your lettuce tomato sandwich

BLT << LT

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I answered this in another question, but the receptors in my nose are damaged from something, so I can still have a tingling sensation in the back of my sinuses instead. That is what I thought smelling was for everyone, when it isn’t. People describing smells the same way people describe food (such as ‘sweet’ or something) always confused me.

How has your condition affected the funniness of farts?

Fart sound jokes > fart smell jokes

Do you have Kallmann syndrome?

Not sure! That’s a good question to ask my ENT.

Do you feel the heat sensation when eating tasty hot food ? When you "smell" mint do you feel different than other things, could you tell the difference with the eyes closed ? Do you like chewing gum ? Why/why not ?

I do, but that’s different I think with capsaicin and taste. I like mint chewing gum cause I can feel and taste how my breath is.

Do you feel like you're "missing out"? You don't seem to care, but do you?

To be honest, no one ever talks about good smells all too much. I’m kind of glad I can’t smell what a horrid fart or moldy milk smell like.

An old roommate of mine had a less severe version of this, and he was always dangerously skinny because food held so little appeal for him. Is this ever an issue for you?

A little. I’ve always been picky with food, and I’ve never had a good diet. My rotation of food is quite small, probably due to this in hindsight. But I still enjoy food to some extent!

Same situation - no smell. Glad you are bringing this to light.

Do you notice that some clouds of air have texture? For example you just walk into a room and it's the air has a different weight?

It’s in my opinion an issue that needs to be more prevalent. I wish people had talked about it to me more.

I don’t really understand, but I kind of do and can agree. Maybe different sinus pressures in rooms? Not too sure

:) Those 'clouds' are smells. I feel those clouds on my skin rather than through my head. If you focus on the texture, you can start to tell them apart and then manually associate them with what other people smell.

35 years for me to figure that out.

Woah. That’s weird. I’ll try to notice that more, thank you for your advice!

How do you deal with your personal hygiene? Ever had issues with others having to tell you that you smell bad?

For a month after being diagnosed, I was super paranoid about hygiene even though I’ve always been a clean person. I’ve never had issues with other people telling me I smell bad, actually. I’ve always used deodorant and shower frequently

Wasn’t it strange to use deodorant (when you cannot smell yourself or the deo)? Did you understand taking a mint after eating a dish with a lot garlic?

It felt strange, but I did it anyways because that was what I was told to do. I can taste bad breath if it gets bad enough, so I understand the garlic.

You seem pretty ok with the diagnosis by the looks of these replies, when you first heard about it what was your initial reaction?

I was more shocked and confused. After coming to terms with it over the course of a couple months, I’m happy still. I don’t see it as a setback or a disability at all, as i can go nearly my whole life to this point without figuring out😂 Being generally optimistic helps, along with talking with people who have similar stories also helps.

Is it possible that you're just unaware of smell?

(just like most people unaware of thermal, gravity, magnetic, airflow and such kind of senses)

I’m confused, sorry😂 Like how sharks can sense electromagnetism with their nose but we can’t? It might be that way. I have damaged sensors/nerves in my nose that make smelling near impossible.

What I'm asking is whether the physical damage is confirmed by those doctors. Or maybe they just asked you some questions or something.

Damage verified by doctors. Can’t remember the exact name of the exam, but it was similar to a CT scan.

First questions, then that led to scans. I’m going to be in for an MRI in a month or so.