Heightened sense of smell and taste: indicator of stress?

[ursidae]

Due to my rhinitis my sense of smell can fluctuate due to obstruction, but lately, when my rhinitis is not active, my sense of smell and taste has become abnormally sharp. It can often be overwhelming. My sense of hearing is normal, but I find myself overwhelmed by noise too. Could this be similar to the sensory overload experienced by those who suffer autism?

 

[Peatful]

Probably so- to answer your title question.

I would think serotonin also plays a key role.

Personal antidote: when my blood sugar would fall (and i was already compromised and depleted) i was susceptible to this phenomenon.
Very stressful on the adrenals as well.

 

[ursidae]

I've been doing a lot of swimming recently and I seem to be able to taste?/smell when the sea water is mixed with the in-flowing river because the sediment has some kind of smell. This disgusts me so I've been forced to switch to a beach that's 3 km away where the river sediment is too dilute to sense. I also seem to be picking up the smell of peoples sunscreens from too large a distance, if anyone lights a cigarette i can smell that too no matter if they're many metres away. It looks that the heightened sense is at its worst when Im swimming and I suspect it's because I not only smell the water, but also taste a tiny bit of it.

I've even started to pick up a fishy odour in the water too even though i don't see any fish near, dead or alive. Most of these have an offensive chemical odour that makes me want to leave or move until i can't sense it. There's also a horrible lingering in the amusement parks around the inflatable rides. Yesterday I was at the beach and suddenly this extremely strong chemical smell hit me but I looked around and no one seemed to be phased and I couldn't find anything that could possibly be the source. It was so strong that it hurt. I think it was coming from the sea. At this point Im wondering if I was experiencing gustatory/olfactory hallucinations?

Chemical odours and tastes seem to haunt me everywhere. I can't find a source of drinking water anymore that doesn't have something off putting in it. Been picking up moldy/stale odour/taste from so many of the foods and drinks Ive gotten my hands on. I've had to give up on white rice because it smells like the green type of mucus you get when having sinusitis. I've read that people who are disgusted with the smell and taste for cilantro have a polymorphism that prevents the metabolism of the aldehydes that impart this odour? Could the increased sensitivity to all kinds of smells be due to a weakened liver, a warning of sorts to the body that its ability to handle them is impaired?

Intuitively, this feels like its something characteristic of the survival/fight or flight mode

 

[ursidae]

Im finding some reports online that this is associated with CFS

 

[Peatful]

Adrenals or liver.

Regardless, it’s a sign your body is under stress.

 

[laleto12]

i hope not

 

[Basonh]

Im finding some reports online that this is associated with CFS

I've been doing a lot of swimming recently and I seem to be able to taste?/smell when the sea water is mixed with the in-flowing river because the sediment has some kind of smell. This disgusts me so I've been forced to switch to a beach that's 3 km away where the river sediment is too dilute to sense. I also seem to be picking up the smell of peoples sunscreens from too large a distance, if anyone lights a cigarette i can smell that too no matter if they're many metres away. It looks that the heightened sense is at its worst when Im swimming and I suspect it's because I not only smell the water, but also taste a tiny bit of it.

I've even started to pick up a fishy odour in the water too even though i don't see any fish near, dead or alive. Most of these have an offensive chemical odour that makes me want to leave or move until i can't sense it. There's also a horrible lingering in the amusement parks around the inflatable rides. Yesterday I was at the beach and suddenly this extremely strong chemical smell hit me but I looked around and no one seemed to be phased and I couldn't find anything that could possibly be the source. It was so strong that it hurt. I think it was coming from the sea. At this point Im wondering if I was experiencing gustatory/olfactory hallucinations?

Chemical odours and tastes seem to haunt me everywhere. I can't find a source of drinking water anymore that doesn't have something off putting in it. Been picking up moldy/stale odour/taste from so many of the foods and drinks Ive gotten my hands on. I've had to give up on white rice because it smells like the green type of mucus you get when having sinusitis. I've read that people who are disgusted with the smell and taste for cilantro have a polymorphism that prevents the metabolism of the aldehydes that impart this odour? Could the increased sensitivity to all kinds of smells be due to a weakened liver, a warning of sorts to the body that its ability to handle them is impaired?

Intuitively, this feels like its something characteristic of the survival/fight or flight mode

Do you by any chance supplement “dhea” or “androsterone” ?

 

[ursidae]

Do you by any chance supplement “dhea” or “androsterone” ?

no
last time I tested my DHEA-S level it was high for a woman

 

[Comstock]

I've been over sensitive to synthetic smells and burnt material for some time now. Sometimes I wonder if it is an increase in ability. Maybe I'm actually better off avoiding all the things that smell bad.