Severe smell of chemicals and fragrance that isn’t there

I have a friend who was exposed to mold in AC system. Today, any fragrance (perfume, fragrant soaps, etc.), dampness, mold, can be toxic to her without medicine and regimen described by a non-traditional Doctor in Texas.

I have been experiencing very heavy smoke smells plus all handsoaps smell very chemical to me it started again right before Thanksgiving.
I assume it has something to do with Long covid
because that was the first time this happened to me.
I have a few autoimmune Diseases

I used to love to wear patchouli and had favorite perfumes like Albert Nipon when I was in my early twenties (1970’s) but by the time I reached my late twenties, I started becoming sensitive. My first surprise was that the Yardley lavender soap that I had used for years now caused my hands to swell and ache. Now, if I even smell petrochemicals or fragrances, I get rashes. I am hypersensitive to chemical smells. Many “pleasant” fragrances, like in fabric or air fresheners, are chemical not natural. I don’t get a rash from smelling bread, rotting food or sweat. I can’t walk down the street without being subjected to other people’s chemical pollution. In frigid winter, I can smell what fragrances people are wearing inside their cars with the windows closed.
I honestly think that others are just not sensitive enough to the poisons in the air that we are all breathing. Is it autoimmune? I am not so sure. My adult children are also becoming now more sensitive. Many people in our town are becoming more sensitive and we live in a town with very little industrial pollution. Just like the hidden microplastics in our bodies, I think that there are micro pollutants in the air and some people have become more sensitive.
The other day I went to see a doctor and she immediately rubbed her hands with hand sanitizer - as is the safest practice today. The smell just about gagged me. She said that it was only alcohol but alcohol does not smell like flowers. She let me sit by an open window but too late. I got a facial rash later.

@booker
I am literally climbing the walls agonizing over this phantom smell I am experiencing, which makes me feel my olfactory senses are very off, I smell a chemically acidic, sickening perfumish smell.
I can barely taste my food.
I cannot smell anything for real.
The pleasures of this time of year are gone, and everything smells toxic. I feel like I am loosing my mind. It’s making me anxious and jittery. I pray my true sense of smell returns

@mayo99824
Thank-you for your honest and caring response. I have been exposed to many chemical smells, and products, for too many years.
I hear everything you are saying.

Now I feel this hypersensitivity to all things, any soap, any fragrance, and even gentle essential oils, are making me sick.
I know this is a phantom smell, because my fiancé smells nothing and I can’t taste food and I am nauseous 🤢 from this, it’s unrelenting. I hope my primary care has an answer for me.
It came on suddenly yesterday???
It’s awful.
My nerves are on end because of it.
I feel anxious and I have had 2 panic attacks from it.
I had to leave a Christmas Concert last night because I thought I might start to have laboured breathing. There has to be an answer. Dr Google is always scaring me over things. I pray there is an answer.

@momx5dea @calygirl84
I had parosmia about three months after my Covid infection back in November 2022. I smelled smoke all day long; a few times, I flew out of bed in the middle of the night because I smelled burning food.

It is a long Covid symptom, and anecdotally, I’ve heard it’s also a symptom of menopause.

My ENT told me at the time that the Covid virus must inflame/damage the olfactory nerve/tissues. With scent therapy and time, it did lessen significantly. Now, I’ll only smell smoke when I settle into bed at night, which is weird, but it’s so much better now.

I’m wishing you well in getting to the bottom of it!

@calygirl84 I’m so sorry this is happening to you! It must be so difficult. Have you spoken with your doctor? What do they say?