Your questions answered

Well, I didn't get that many questions, but I got a few. I am not sure if it is that you have no questions, or just are scared of asking them. But I will at least answer the few questions I got.

The first one is a question I like. I was asked: When did I found out that it was anosmia that I had. For me that is a great question, because the answer isn't that straight forward. It involves my past and it made me think of my childhood. When I was born, I was like everybody else(or so everybody thought), and I spent many years living a normal life. I am not saying I am living a not normal life now, but it has changed because of all the anosmia stuff. As I grew older, it caught my attention, that some things about scent and smell, seemed to deceive me. At first, I didn't think much about it. My brain couldn't understand that maybe I was unable to smell. I got thoughts that maybe I wasn't doing it right, maybe I had to learn a special technique. Maybe I just didn't pay enough attention or tried hard enough. But in the year 2004, the years I turned 10 years, it all changed. I was making candles from wax plates for christmas, and after working with it for a few hours with my mother, se said something, words I will never forget. She said: The wax smells really good, do you smell it? I was focusing on the work and just had a spontaneous response, so I answered "no, I can't smell it" without thinking. My mother stopped me and repeated the question. And I gave the same answer, even though I tried to smell the wax. That was the moment both my mother and I realized that I couldn't smell. So it took me 10 years to understand that. But the question was, when I found out that it was anosmia that I had. In 2004, I realized that I had no sense of smell, but I didn't know that I had anosmia. It took me another 6 years, to find out about anosmia. After understanding that I couldn't smell, my life changed in many ways. At first, I didn't tell anyone other than my parents. But it also made me depressed. I struggled a lot with the thought, and how this had impacted my life for so long, without me realizing it. But as the years went by, I started to tell my friends and family.

And last year, I was searching around on the internet, I came across the word anosmia. A word that opened a whole new world for me. I started to read page after page with information and I started to understand so much more of my life, and how I can live it best, with what I got. I found online communities and groups for anosmics. Even this blog has given me contact with a few anosmics.

So yeah, the short answer is, took me 10 years to understand that I couldn't smell. And last year I found out that my disorder was called anosmia.


Another question I have got is: how aware are you about smell in your daily life?

I try to be extremely aware on how I smell, and things I wear or use smell. Since I can't smell it myself, I give it my best shot not to smell. I hate the thought that I can walk a whole day, at school, work and in public, smelling like a public toilet, and not be aware of it. I try to be good with cologne and showers. I don't use the same clothes over and over again, without washing it. And all my friends and family help out with that. They know, that if I smell bad, they have to tell me. I don't get angry if someone comments on my smell, I am grateful for it. Because it helps me to get aware of the smell, so I can do something with it.

Every time I step outside the door, I wonder if I smell bad. I wonder if maybe I need a shower or more deodorant. Every day, every time. That is just how it is for me.

That is the questions I got. Not quite sure on what I was expecting, but I am glad I got some. And if you ever have a question, send me an mail, ask me on facebook, or face to face. I will always take time to answer questions. That is the whole reason for why I am writing. I want to raise awareness about anosmia.

Life is a challenge, but it is your job to do the best, with what you have got!

- Marius

Q and A

Figured I could take a little Q and A. I struggle to find subjects to write about, so I could use some help.

So! If there is anything you want to know, about me, about anosmia or my experiences, here is you chance.  I'll answer just about anything, except really personal stuff. But as I have written about before, please think over your question. So I don't get many "dumb" questions. I appreciate if you think it out and come up with a good question. I'll answer it either way, but I'll appreciate the effort. Whatever you want to know, ask me, and I'll try to answer the best I can. I will try to answer all the questions (if I get any) in the end of the week.

This is your shot!

- Marius

Food experiences!

I have tried to find interesting topics to write about, but it takes time. So that is why I haven't written in a while. But here it is! A new post.

This time, I wanted to write about experiences with food. When a "normal" person eat, they have a full experience of flavor. Me as an anosmic, I don't get the full deal. I get approximately 30% of it. The 70% that remain, is actually the smell and aroma of food, but your brain fools you. You may have noticed that when you have a really bad blocked nose, you can't taste anything. Actually you do! It's just that since you are used to the 100%, the 30% you are getting, is nothing in compare. That fact alone, raises a lot stupid questions for us with anosmia. Many people who remember these sort of experiences tell us, that we can't taste. To me, thats like telling a person with a broken arm, that it is amputated (bad example, but you get my point). First of all, I think we who have anosmia, can know if we can taste, better then the people who don't have anosmia. So just because you can't taste while having a blocked nose, doesn't that mean that we can't taste, just because we can't smell. At least for the ones like me, with CGA, we have never experienced anything more than those 30%. So for us, that is normal taste. Our taste buds are more sensitive over the subtile tastes in food. We can easier distinguish food from each other.

But in my case, that also means that I need more spicy food than my parents. Very often, when I finally enjoy a good, tasty meal, my mother is sitting next to me sweating. This is a dilemma I face often, and often loose. When I eat, the texture of the food is at least equally, if not even more, important than the taste. So I often eat food, that i barely can taste.

Another big problem for anosmics, are eating spoiled food. I can't even count the times I have eaten moldy bread or expired meat. It even happens that I drink old milk. Since we can't smell that the food is bad, it gets incredible easy for us to eat spoiled food. Most of us are aware of this, and try to prevent it, but we all make mistakes. No matter how hard we try, there will be days when we eat old food.

So, yeah. Enjoy you food! If you ever feel like your meal doesn't taste much, welcome to my world. Take popcorn as an example, I might as well eat the cardboard box. The taste is the same.

So don't tell us we can't taste, just because you can't taste something while having a blocked nose. We taste, just not in the same way like you!

- Marius