Sense of smell since not smoking

[ksdaddy]

Okay, I haven't smoked since July. I've quit before but Tammie was still alive then and continued to smoke so I was in a smoky house. I don't believe my sense of smell recovered during those 'quit' times. My new wife (Penny) quit smoking in January of 2013 and in addition, we've never smoked in the new house. I don't believe the previous owners did either, as there is no evidence of it and they're Jehovah's Witnesses and pretty sure they don't smoke.

 

So that was long winded, but the point is 'this time' my quit is different, in the sense that I'm not around smoke at all. Lately my sense of smell has been more sensitive than I thought possible. I know that's a "Well, DUH!" observation but it's almost scary.

 

A couple weeks ago I walked out the back door at work, leaving for the day, and I could smell a cigarette. It smelled strong and it was ALL I could smell. I looked across the parking lot, across the street, and across a yard, and I saw a girl outside the Family Dollar 350 or 400 feet away outside having a smoke break. Jeez, I thought, this is crazy.

 

My youngest daughter goes to visit my oldest daughter (who now lives in my old house with her smoker boyfriend). She comes home and I can smell it on her as soon as she walks in the door. I know it's not HER because she is vehemently anti-smoking after watching it kill her mother.

 

I don't particularly view this newfound heightened sense of smell to be all that positive. In addition to smelling smokers, I almost gag driving by Arby's with the windows rolled UP.

 

On Wednesday a co-worker and I took a short drive to look at a camp at a lake where some erosion was taking place and at the same time we went to a recycling center to drop off the shredded office paper and a shoe box full of old batteries. After she dropped off the batteries, she placed the empty shoe box back in the truck, on the floor at her feet. I almost choked. That box had contained old dead flashlight batteries and I could SMELL them. If any of you have ever driven electric forklift and therefore have been around the chargers for the big 36 and 48 volt batteries, you KNOW the smell I'm talking about. Even charging a car battery will give you a taste. But this was a SHOE BOX with D cells in it.....

 

This morning was the coupe de grace. I haven't picked up the Telecaster in a week or so. I sat down on the bed and picked it up, noodling some.

 

I could smell the strings.

 

I think it was my fingers wiping away what little oxidation had occured in a week. It was a strong metallic smell, if that makes sense. I could even taste it.

 

This is weird. I hope I get acclimated.

[capmaster]

Due to health problems, I was absolutely fasting for - accidentally - seventeen days in mid-2001. Water and minerals only, nothing else, no teas or other flavours.

 

Despite of eating nothing, I went with my colleagues to the canteen and was shopping for my family then, too. Incredible how my nose wanted to make me finding something to eat, hahaha! In the big stores all the smells were present at once, with differing intensities though.

 

I began to understand how pregnant women might feel, and sometimes I perhaps felt a bit like a dog. No, I didn't start barking then.

[Kaiser Bill]

ksdaddy... congratulations on stopping the cigarettes. I finally quit some 13 years ago after 55+ years of being a darn good smoker. Like you I can now smell other smokers from a distance. For almost eight years I couldn't stand the taste of milk. I had to resort to non-dairy creamer in my coffee. Then one day, like a fog that you drive out of, I was able to drink milk again. Your senses should calm down after a while. It does take some getting used to. So its not just you. Many ex-smokers have similar tales to tell. Remember, you have removed a toxin that had been masking many things for many years. Congratulations again...stick to your guns...its worth it in the end.

[Blueblooded]

Congratulations! This is normal progression as I experienced it too.

 

For me, I occasionally craved a cigarette for months (almost up to a year) after quitting. The turning point for me was when the smell of cigarette butts and dirty ashtrays made me gag. At that point i knew I'd never smoke another cigarette.

 

How does your favorite foods taste these days. I remember how much better things like steak tasted after quitting.

[Versatile]

'Grats on the abstinence...

 

A side issue which may ring a bell with some people...

 

Favourite smells whilst riding a motorcycle

 

New mown grass...cigar smell from the car in front...

 

V

 

[ksdaddy]

To be honest, I can't say that the food tastes any different. I know that's something one would expect but I really don't see much change. It all seems to be the smell thing.

 

I still crave them but it's all in my head. The nicotine is long gone out of my system, I just need to reprogram my brain. Your brain will LIE to you, telling you how great that smoke is. It's all lies.

[jannusguy2]

I marked 5 years clean last Sept. I, too, noticed a heightened sense of smell and taste. I can tell a smoker from a few feet away and cringe at the thought of once stinking that badly, myself. I try not to be a jackass about others that smoke as I know how hard it is to stop. I try to be encouraging. I found my self working in a country bar in Cape Coral a week back and EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the place had a cigarette in their face at one time or another from the time I arrived until the time I left. The band's tour manager and I did not smoke and we commented to each other we felt like we'd been dropped back in time. It was a long, seriously smelly, day. Hang in there Scott. You can do it.

[skilsaw]

Yeah, sense of smell does improve when you quit smoking.

Now you know why so many real men have a cigarette while they are having a dump.

Who wants a sense of smell at that moment?

[Marshall Paul]

Aw..not another reformed bloody smoker! (LOL)

[ksdaddy]

I quit in 1996 for almost 2 years, then went back. I quit again in 2007 for just over 2 years and went back. I'm hoping this is the last time.

 

I don't get preachy though. My favorite quote after a meal is "I could smoke a cigarette three feet long right about now...."

[Marshall Paul]

C'mon mate, quit. You can do it.

Me personally, I should be smoking a Habana wrapped in bacon rind!

[stein]

I had actually quit twice before, so I can relate.

 

I remember reaching "that point" when the sense of smell changed. In particular, what I remember is that cigs smells DIFFERENT and tasted different than what I experienced before.

 

What I mean by "different", was that I had grown up all my life before I ever smoked, and of corse I could smell cigs. But after smoking for years and quitting, it was different smell.

 

My theory, is that people who have smoked and quit smell cigs differently than those that haven't smoked. Weird. Good or bad, like it or don't, it was a different smell.

 

Some things that are supposed to smell bad smell good to some. Me, I LOVE the smell of that carbon-dioxide or whatever that comes from an older, good running V-8. Some like the smell of certain pot that smells like a skunk's butt.

 

Who here doesn't like the smell of nitro when they open a guitar case?

[Marshall Paul]

Who here doesn't like the smell of nitro when they open a guitar case?

Ah, now there's a smell to gladden and warm the cockles of a young man's heart! (read in an Irish accent of coarse).

[4Hayden]

Never smoked a day in my life , but every friend I had did. Still don't know how I never picked the habit up

[L8_4thesh0w]

Now you know why so many real men have a cigarette while they are having a dump.

Yeah, forget the after dinner indulgence; I want one the most when I'm on the can. Thanks for the validation. Its good to know my manhood is in no jeopardy.

 

I quit in 1996 for almost 2 years, then went back. I quit again in 2007 for just over 2 years and went back. I'm hoping this is the last time.

The number of times you've tried before doesn't count when this is the last. I'll be trying again very soon. Cessation resources like the American Lung Association can provide support and mechanisms for coping.

 

This is what helped me quit when I could not use gum nor patch. They might be useful for overcoming the offensive smells you may encounter.

Keep up the good work!

 

Σß