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Menthol sensations everywhere

"Parosmia - Any disease or perversion of the sense of smell, especially the subjective perception of odors that do not exist.

Phantosmia ­ A smell that occurs in the nose without the presence of an external stimulation vapor."

Definitions from http://www.senseofsmell.org/feature/whitepaper/disorders.php

You might want to read this article:

http://chemse.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/27/7/611

I read it through and it's more layman friendly than most professional journal articles. If you read a section you don't understand, Google the words or ask here.

One thing this article suggests is that with Phantosmia, sometimes the pseudo-smell can be reduced or stopped by over-riding it with a different and stronger smell (like purposely smelling fresh onions to override a non-existent odor of a cleaning item, like bleach). And interestingly, if the pseudo-smell sems to come from ONE nostril over the other one, the nostril that 'smells' the persistent odor the most may actually have LOST some ability to register REAL odors. Weird huh? It's like one nostril doesn't register odors well really, but has somehow settled on one negatively perceived non-existant odor.

The article also suggests other diagnositics and treatment, like ruling out a sinus infection... and using saline nasal drops.

Ask your Dr if he's ruled out common causes of olfactory disorders, and what non-surgical treatments he'd suggest.

Lifes

I went to the website you suggested.

Let me make it clear, I am not smelling any odor of menthol, I am feeling the sensation that menthol type products give. My mouth feels and tastes like I have just brushed my teeth or like I am chewing wintergreen gum when there is absolutely nothing in my mouth. It effects how my food & drinks tastes. I think when I eat or drink something this is stimulating me to secrete something. I can wake up and be fine but when I have breakfast, it begins (and I purposely have not brushed my teeth). This is also coming out the palms of my hands, I touch my eyes and that menthol cooling sensation is felt in the eye.

In that article you suggested, it mention briefly a term "chemosensory", but I am not and have not been on any medications in over 1 year. I sought help on this board bcz I thought that my brain was doing this but is it possible that I'm on the wrong board and maybe this is being caused by something in my metabolism. Can you ask someone if what I have described has been heard of as a metabolic problem.

"Sensation" and "smell" may not be very much different descriptions in this case, although I understand you are speaking specifically about the 'cool sensation of menthol. The mouth, nose, ears, and eyes are all connected through the sinus cavities.... example: do a nasal irrigation and it comes out the mouth... do ear drops and they can be felt at the eye corners (lacrimal glands).

Here's a picture of the eye-nose connections: http://anatomy.iupui.edu/courses/histo_D502/D502f04/lecture.f04/Eyef04/tears.jpg (note: 2 line URL)

The sinsuses are (http://www.american-rhinologic.org/patientinfo.sinusnasalanatomy.phtml ) (2 line URL): "Maxillary (one sinus located in each cheek) Ethmoid (approximately 6-12 small sinuses per side, located between the eyes) Frontal (one sinus per side, located in the forehead) Sphenoid (one sinus per side, located behind the ethmoid sinuses, near the middle of the skull) Each of these pockets has an opening (note: ostium) that connects to the nose."

See image: http://www.sinusinfectionproblems.com/index_files/sinus_drainage.JPG

A forum for dry eyes discusses the "menthol sensation" affecting the eyes: http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/archive/index.php/t-2813.html IF my theory is correct that the sensation is likely all connected because the ears-nose-mouth-throat-sinsuses-and glands in the eyes connect, this forum also makes sense.

When you say "This is also coming out the palms of my hands, I touch my eyes and that menthol cooling sensation is felt in the eye." -- please consider that it is possibly not coming out the palms, but that the rubbing action on the eye is setting something off within the eye (most likely the lacrimal gland). And, consider this: WHAT is making you rub your eyes in the first place? Do they feel dry? irritated? If so, that would fit with a lacrimal gland-possible sinus related problem. This forum suggests some eye doctors understand that the "menthol sensation" may relate to dry eye-- and I'd visit an eye Dr as well as an Ear-Nose-Throat (ENT) dr. On this forum, poster wrote: "Rojzen24-Jan-2008, 16:36 - ... your reasoning about the RATIO of liquid (note: refers to tears) to oil, and its relationship to whether we have menthol sensation and comfort, overall, is EXACTLY what I've hypothesized for years. . .I've always told my eye docs that my BEST days were some of my driest. . .and that the windy/menthol sensation was worst when tears lingered on the lid margins or dripped from the eyes. . ."

So, I'd say it is NOT metabolism-related. It is likely some infection or other problem with the ears-nose-mouth-throat-sinus-eye connections and that's what I'd push your docs to explore, if I was the patient. Print this post so you can take the URLs /info to your Dr just in case you need help explaining your symptom.

Some people swear that using sinus irrigations with saline water (sea salt mixed into water) helps relieve sinus symptoms.

Since menthol has a sensory nerve receptor/affects sensory nerves to produce the "cool" sensation, I'd also ask a Dr to check the facial nerves. Redbear on this board might give better info on these nerves than I can give.

Forum users reported different diagnoses Drs have given to explain mouth menthol sensations... these diagnoses included: Burning Mouth Syndrome(BMS), post-herpetic neuralgia from herpes, Acid Reflux, undiagnosed diabetes. Here is the URL: http://forums.wrongdiagnosis.com/showthread.php?s=c749a685bda1f997edb6b266e4a64251&t=21824&page=2 (2 line URL ending in the number 2)

Lastly, no one here is a doctor. We are all peers, users of this Board. Some of us may have some kind of medical background (such as nurses), or many Board Users are laypersons with years of experience with a diagnosis, or many Board Users are very good at researching the Internet for professional journals or patient experiences with certain symptoms.

Hope this info helps.

Lifes