I've noticed that often my sense of smell is either "off", strange, or my home, along with the outside around my home smells putrid!
I can walk around my home, as I did just this morning, and everything smells horrible! I was thinking to myself and mumbling that I really needed to "clean" because my house plain STINKS like my dogs left a "puddle" in every room! Now I know that sounds funny, and it is kind of funny, BUT in all honesty, I can walk into a room, or walk outside on my front porch and feel like my entire world is smelly. I smell smoke often outside. Which at times there are those that are grilling, or it is the emissions from vehicles. At this time of the year, people also are beginning to burn their fireplaces also. So, the smell of smoke can be truly justifiable at times in those instances. Yet, I can walk out the door, and smell everything from something "dead" like a mouse, to a "moldy" smell, to the smell of what I consider "bug spray" and the list goes on.
I have also smelled many perfumes that absolutely smell like "Raid" when I just smell them out of the bottle. Yet, they may smell wonderful once they are on someone. Now, I have this crazy smelling as I said as if my entire home smells like "the dog pee". I am a bit paranoid because I have two full grown "puppies", dogs, yet they will always seem like puppy's to me. They are totally house broken, but as they have grown a little older they tend to decide to get mad when we go out and leave them. I at times come in to a puddle of pee on my hardwood floor, which does NOT make me a happy camper. They both have anxiety separation issues, always have. Even if one of us is at home with them, they get upset because we are not both here.
Anyway, I began to do a little bit of research to see if those of us with these various form of Autoimmune Illnesses have issues with their sense of smell. And by "gosh" I am correct! There is definitely many of us that do suffer from various type of "smell" disorders. We do either have a "lack" of the ability to smell (Sjogren's is certainly one that can cause that), or you have a phantom smell disorder where it is not there but we smell it.
I've also seen people say that there sense of smell is actually "more keen" with some of this AAI's. They can smell things that are much further off than other people.
When it comes to all of our senses, smell, taste, feel, vision, hearing… they can all be effected in one way or the other by the diseases, syndromes and illnesses. I have double vision that came up almost a year ago. I've been through 3 eye specialists. Two of them highly specialized, being "Neuro -Opthamologists". After months and months of tests, lab work, and a temporal artery biopsy, they NEVER did truly FIND THE REASON for my DOUBLE VISION!! Thus they blame it on the Lupus!
I developed "Tinnitus"… of which the ENT doctor said " you'll get used to it"… there is really nothing they can do for it… you learn to "drown out" the ringing, whirling, buzzing noises…
Of course then there is the "Vertigo" - that also is not just my mind thinking I am spinning and moving… I DO spin, move and gyrate, at times without the medication, Meclazine… now I just learned a very interesting fact! There is a newer medication that came out called "VertiCalm". I saw it was for "dizziness" motion sickness etc… so I was of course once again "My wondering and wandering mind wanted to know what it was?" I look it up and it is exactly what I take that does not require a script BUT you have to ask them for it at the pharmacy, Meclazine. I've been using it for a very long time… for the vertigo, dizziness, and movement disorder. I take two every morning of my life, and sometimes when I have a bout with it, I have to take a couple more during the day. Now here it is over the counter, out from the back of the counter, and I bet it's going to be MORE EXPENSIVE, than the one I buy from behind the counter. I get like 90 or 100 tablets for usually between 4 to 6 dollars. Since I happen to find this due to a coupon for it, I will bet it is much higher than that for a lot less tablets. It will be interesting to see next time I'm out what the difference is.
So, I've touched on hearing, smelling, and tasting somewhat; along with vision.
The sense of touch I am not so sure about. I don't know that our sense of touching is really effected by any of these illnesses. I have problems with extremely "tender" skin. Sun is a huge "no-no". It can bring on a flare, or certainly make your "wolves mask" much worse, or both. Predisone, along with the other corticosteroids also makes my skin very thin. I bruise extremely easy, or just a small "knock" again furniture when I vacuum leaves terrible bruises. Some of those take months to fade. I have some that are just a "permanent" part of me.
Just to add a bit of humor to this really terrible issue as times with the senses. As far as "touch or feel" I know I have this "urge" when I go anywhere to look at new clothes, that I have to "feel" the material of everything. I am sure as a whole women do that when they shop. But, texture in fabric is a big thing when I am shopping for clothing. I believe that is just one factor of being the "female" gender.
I would love to hear from all of you in regards to these 5 senses. How if you are effected with your particular illness(es)?
