Smelly

Lately I have had a bit of an insomnia spell where I can't fall asleep. One reason could be that the guys upstairs walk around like they're sumo wrestlers so I know exactly where they are in the house (they usually stay up until 1:30 AM or 2:00 AM and then wake up at 7:00 AM and stomp around). Therefore, last night I resorted to ear plugs which turned out to be more uncomfortable than it actually helped. The plugs would stick out of my ear, so whenever I turned, I would hear a *cracklecracklecrackle*. This, in turn would wake me up in which I would have an even harder time falling asleep. Plus, I like white noise, such as a fan, while I sleep and the ear plugs made it dead silent... apart from the crackling. So, I guess when you get tired and can't sleep, you are supposed to go work out..... so I have, but it didn't work. Then, the next night, I decided to just try to go to sleep and wake up early so that evening I would be so tired, I would fall asleep instantly. Next morning, I wake up completely alert at 6:30 AM. For anyone who knows me, it's impossible to get me up THAT early. So with another night waiting for me to get tired, I decided to do some research.

As many of you may know, each one of us sisters in the Daley family have some sort of abnormal medical problem. Except, I thought I was lucky because I never really got sick besides slight motion sickness and nervous diarrhea. However, the Daley family fate just hadn't quite caught up to me yet until my Junior year in high school. I can't really remember when or where it happened but all I know is that one day, I smelled something that wasn't really there. I wasn't quite sure what to expect about it because it would come and go and wouldn't really harm me. However, it was unpredictable and always smelt horrible. Well, I turned to my well trusted doctor, the Internet, and began to research. Although, how do you search for "stinky smell I smell but no one else does"? For a while, I came up empty and eventually, I began to embrace the smells.

So far, I had 3 distinct smells that would come and go in no particular order and in which I could not identify. I had never smelled anything like these smells before and believe me, I made sure it wasn't a bad fart or some BO; these were some legit mystery odors. I, of course, told my family about this weird phenomenon but what were they supposed to do about it? So I kept it mostly to myself until one day when I identified the first smell!

I was sitting in my living room reading a children's book about bushy tails, long tails, rough tails and so on. One tail in particular I came across was the skunks tail, and lucky me, it was a scratch-n-sniff. That particular artificial, natural gas-like smell was one of my mystery scents! I couldn't believe I had found it and now could identify it. My second identification came when I worked at Millhollow in Rexburg, ID. That night we had completely ran out of sliced onions and so I figured I might as well slice some. I cut so many freakin onions that the entire place stunk up! My eyes were watering and the smell was BURNED into my nose. That night, onions was the only thing I could smell. It made me so sick, that I called in the next day for work and my boss was pretty pissed. If it makes him feel any better, I randomly have to smell onions everywhere I go! As for the third scent, I really don't know what it is yet. It might be a mixture of both but all I know is that it is something I have never smelt before in my life.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, tonight I have found out the exact name for this condition... Phantosmia.

Phantosmia is an olfactory hallucination--specifically, the phenomenon of smelling odors that aren't really present.The most common odors are unpleasant smells such as rotting flesh, vomit, urine, feces, smoke, etc.

Thankfully, I think I have a mild case because I do not smell rotting flesh or feces and it only comes when I cry or when I am very stressed. However, who would have thought that phantosmia would have such high-risk causes such as :

upper respiratory infections, head injuries, nasal polyps, sinus infections, hormonal imbalances, dental problems, certain medications, exposure to some types of chemicals, brain tumors, and radiation treatments for head, neck cancers, temporal lobe seizures, depression and schizophrenia.

Sheesh! Well, lucky for me and the lack of insurance in the "health" area, I will just have to wait to check out my possible tumors or schizophrenia later. Wait...you've seen Tyler too, Right? I know I've at least smelt him!