Fifth Sense - The charity for people affected by smell and taste disorders
Fifth Sense was established in 2012 by Duncan Boak, who lost his sense of smell as the result of a head injury in 2005. Fifth Sense has grown rapidly since then and is the first charity in the UK that supports people affected by smell and taste disorders, providing a signpost to potential diagnosis and treatment, and playing a leading role in educating society on the huge role that the sense of smell plays in our lives.
For more information please visit our website at www.fifthsense.org.uk/
I have this. It’s a weird thing. I sort of feel I never get the “entire” picture 😢. I always wished I knew what my Dad smelled like. Smell is so powerful and uncontrollable and instinctive. So primal. I do have FOMO.
Vitamin A drops update: Please note, in this recording Mr Oke Okonkwo shares the advice he gives his patients about vitamin A drops and references the APOLLO trial. Professor Carl Philpott, our Director of Research and Medical Affairs has confirmed that, until the results of the APOLLO trial are out, patients should consult with a doctor before using vitamin A drops. Furthermore, the supplies of the right kind of vitamin A drops are non-existent globally at present. We will update this page on our website when the trial, which is now coming to an end, is complete and the results are out: www.fifthsense.org.uk/the-apollo-vitamin-a-trial/ Best wishes, The Fifth Sense Team.
We forgot to spotlight the speakers for this event, so apologies if this detracts from the presentation. We'll try to remember to do this for our future events for patients and professionals. The Fifth Sense Team.
4 yrs on from the pandemic and its very clear to the parosmia/dysgeuisia world that ENT know NOTHING about this condition. Common theme in the 40k+ facebook support group is don’t bother seeing an ENT.
Hi, Fifth Sense is now partnering with ENT UK to address this. Please be aware that this video was recorded in October 2020. Our Fifth Sense online education event for patients and professionals on smell and taste changes following a virus will take place on 24 June 2024. The event is now fully booked. A recording will be uploaded to this channel around a week after the event. The Fifth Sense Team.
Hi, sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis. You may find this page, and the associated links, on our website helpful: www.fifthsense.org.uk/samters-triad/ If you would like further support or information, please email me at info@fifthsense.org.uk and I'll be happy to help. Mags, Support and Information Officer.
Hi, you may find this page on our website helpful: www.fifthsense.org.uk/smell-taste-flavour/ If you would like further support or information around smell and taste, please email us at info@fifthsense.org.uk.
You are so welcome. Being part of a community who understand can be very helpful when it seems those around you don’t understand the impact on you physically and emotionally. If you haven't already signed up as a Fifth Sense member, you can sign up for free here: fifthsense.org.uk/join.
Phantosmia. Totally imaginary/mental here. Does not vary in intensity or choice-of-smell. Occurs whether one thinks about the phenomenon or not. Occurring every ten-twelve minutes, and lasting for about 5 seconds each time. Not Covid related. Nothing stressful taking place to trigger it. Another nail.... in the coffin of Life.
You know what i could smell 7 years ago and i know it would be sad to be blind all your life but when you still remember what your missing hits it hits hard
Do check out our support groups for people with Acquired Anosmia. Being part of a community who understands and can offer support is so important. If you haven't already signed up as a Fifth Sense member, You can sign up for free here: www.fifthsense.org.uk/join. If you would like further support or information, please email us at info@fifthsense.org.uk. Mags, Support and Information Officer.
I'm here to learn more about this topic for my assignment but, I always been a huge believer scents affect our daily life and can if used wisely it can help in many areas (motivation) in particular is the one I'm researching right now
We hope your research goes well. Do check out the resources on our website here: www.fifthsense.org.uk/psychology-and-smell/ Mags, Support and Information Officer.
Hi @ashokbabu4703. Parosmia tends to occur following a loss of the sense of smell, so any treatment for the cause of this may help. We have further information on our website here: www.fifthsense.org.uk/parosmia-and-phantosmia/ If you would like further support or information, please email me at info@fifthsense.org.uk. Mags, Support and Information Officer
Thank goodness I found you folks, I smell a strong sweet smell, coffee stinks, my urine smells so bad, pop corn smells like something burning, 8 months with this condition. Thank you for your videos.
Hi @mattpereira9341. Dr Munger was a guest speaker at our 2023 Fifth Sense National Conference in Sheffield, UK in November. Look out for the video of his presentation and those of our other guest speakers, including Dr Graham Wynne of Rhino Therapeutics, on this channel soon. The videos are currently being edited and we hope to upload them over the next few weeks. Fifth Sense team.
I don't smell at all. Since three week I'm doing what you say. I have four dark color jarr with aromatherapy oil. I'm smelling from the four smells only the Lemon very poor smell. But if I take green fresh lemon pressing by my nail I feel the smell of the lemon more than the oil The other three oil I try two times a day the aromatherapy oil I hope you can help!!!
Hi you can find out more about smell training here: www.fifthsense.org.uk/smell-training/ We would recommend that you speak to your doctor if you haven't got a diagnosis for your loss of smell. Fifth Sense team.
I've always had almost no smell but didn't think about it until some science class in high school where we smelled different chemicals and I had to put it right under my nose for a slight smell of it and everyone could be like 2 persons away and smell it. If stuff is burning I'm far more likely to hear it then smell anything. I still have a very good sense of taste from my dad and I consider myself able to pick up more flavors then the average person despite my smelling issues. So it doesn't seem to affect my taste as much. I do realize though that I don't get hunger as others though because I can't really smell food cooking most of the time.... Which is bad because once I ate some rotten food when I wasn't paying attention and didn't realize until I tasted it. I couldn't smell it at all but boy could I could I taste it. :( This is always tricky too when it comes to spoiled milk, I tend to just throw stuff out early because of that. There are a few rare occusions when I can smell really well (or at least well for me) but it's super rare. It wasn't until my very late 20's I had one memory of a smell I realized I could trigger. I did not realize people could imagine smells or associate them with anything before.
Hi @Ashley, many thanks for sharing your experiences and insight. If you would like further support and information about living with smell loss, please get in touch with me by email at info@fifthsense.org.uk. We're here to help! Best wishes, Mags, Support and Information Officer, Fifth Sense.
Thank you for posting this helpful video!🙏…3-4 yrs ago out of know where I developed a very strong smell of car exhaust all day long for up to a week…it continues to come back anywhere from a month to several months…smelling that exhaust smell all day long for 3-5 days is horrible…it’s as if I were standing directly behind a running vehicle!😫🤢
Hi, you are welcome to use the resources on our website www.fifthsense.org.uk and to join for free as a Fifth Sense member to receive information about our free Lets Talk Smell and Taste events which are also open to people outside the UK. There is an organisation in the USA called the Smell and Taste Association for North America (STANA) that may also be able to help. You can find them here: thestana.org/ I hope this helps, Mags, Fifth Sense.
I have cacosmia and I don't know what to do and it's been almost a year. I had Covid in Oct of 2022 and I was told that if it doesn't come back in a year to get an MRI by my ENT but that will cost me a lot of money. Is that even worth it?
I've watched a few videos on scent training, this video provided a lot more info than other sites. Thank you! What you stated makes a lot of sense and will surely make a different in my training and possibly success. thank you for taking the time to video and post on you tube.
I only smelled something once that wasn’t there. It was in 2015 the night my dad died. I was sobbing and unconsolable bc my dad has died and I wasn’t in the room when he had passed. I smelled a very strong pungent smell of pipe or cigar smell. I dad didn’t smoke. No one I knew smoked a pipe or cigars. A few years later after my uncle died my sister found a corn cob pipe in my uncle’s house. He belonged to my grandfather There was sill a scent in the pipe that smelled the exact same smell as I had the night my dad died. I never met my grandfather. He died when my dad was 4 years old. I know this can be pure coincidence Is it more common to have phantom smells during intense grief ?
I wanted to know how long or how did lost taste n smell ? I started some antidepressants n lost taste n smell can't enjoy anything only sweet things , so tell or share your others stories pls , just feeling lonely , I have 2 ear ringing all mri test normal bciz of that I started antidepressants n no taste m smell but don't know really bcoz of medicine bcoz rvrn before medicine I had low taste of smell
My brother has never had a sense of smell. I only realized that my sense of smell was different in my early 20s. I can't smell a lot of things very well, unfortunately one of these is gas, and other smells I get confused. As far as phantom smells, I don't have many, although I get the litter fresh from the box confused with dirty litter. UGH. Thanks for this and other smell disorder videos, I thought I was just a weirdo who imagined things. It doesn't really bother me except I try to rent only places with electric stoves.
I smell a gas exhaust mixture. But if I put my shirt over my nose the smell would leave, remove my shirt and smell would resume a little bit later. I also try a little Vicks vapor on my upper lip, seems to work.
As a teenager, I began to lose my sense of smell until it completely went away in my 30s. I will be 60 in a few months and am trying to find out how to get it back. I did have a traumatic childhood, and a recent psychiatrist told me that where your brain stores ptsd is so close to where your sense of smell is. If it is bad, it can and does cause loss of smell. Just trying to figure out how to get it back.
Hi Kelly, thank you for sharing your experiences. If you would like to talk to someone about your situation, you can email us directly at: info@fifthsense.org.uk (I thought I'd replied previously, but my comment seems to have disappeared- sorry).
Thank you so much Graham and Jim for a very interesting and informative session. I would be very interested in being a test subject, having contracted post-viral anosmia in March 2014 with no episodes of improvement. All the best for your future work !!
Hi Rosalind. I'm sorry to hear you have had no improvement from post-viral anosmia. Please contact us at info@fifthsense.org.uk so I can reply to you more fully. Thank you.
Can this cause ENS because I have lost most sensation of my nose and it has become extremely dry for over 6 months now and getting worse, I can’t sleep well at all and feel like I’m choking all day.
Hello, thanks for sharing. I have parosmia (recovered anosmia) since 2009. It’s been so long that I learned to live with it and adapted to my new tastes over time. Most of the foods I eat don’t bring much of a sensation but I built my own ways for cooking and making things “taste” nice to me. Interestingly, if I can’t imagine how a dish looks like I don’t seem to have much interest in it. It is tricky. However the long term impact of having parosmia has not been on my diet but on behavioral and emotional aspects of my life. Being alerted, worried and anxious. Difficulty focussing and relating to new people. Have you noticed anything similar on that side? thanks
Hi Petya, thanks for sharing your experience. Smell and taste disorders can impact on emotional wellbeing. If you email us at info@fifthsense.org.uk we will able to support you further.