Olfactory (smell) Hallucinations, anyone else?

[tayo]

Alright so swim has done alot of psychedelics, mostly mushrooms, hasn't for a good 6 months but now swim seems to have little hallucinations of smelling things that clearly aren't there, at least 5 times a day. The smell triggers an association of the food or liquor or anything that the smell might be, now is it possible that the thought is somehow coming first and triggering the smell? ... and of course, can this be cause by psychedelic use? is this some rare form of HPPD (Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder)? anyone else?

[Nature Boy]

SWIM has experienced something similar in the days following an LSD trip. It was an unusual sense of smell, not normally there, unsure whether it was an enhancement of sense or a signal from the brain. It gradually lessened to the stage where it barely ever happened although it would happen the odd occasion for about six weeks or so afterwards. It seems unusual for it to last six months. Does it happen to SWIY very frequently? Perhaps it is now deeply-rooted into his psyche. Whether that's a good or a bad thing is unknown.

[tayo]

thanks for the input. yeah it happens daily to swim and isn't really interfering with swim's life so it's probably not a bad thing, should he be worried?..maybe only if it gets worse right?

[Nature Boy]

Indeed, only if it gets worse should SWIY worry. It will probably fade away eventually. SWIM hasn't used any conventional psychedelics in months now and hasn't noticed it returning.

[lulz]

That's interesting.

To set your mind at ease, olifactory hallucinations are not associated with any known psychiatric disorders. Visual and auditory hallucinations are the ones to worry about.

To take a shot in the dark about your situation, I think it is relevant that the area of the brain which processes memories is adjacent to the area that processes smells. This explains, for example, why Proust flashed back to his childhood after dipping a madeleine in his tea.

There are a number of possible explanations for why mushrooms might have rewritten neurological associations with certain smells. I really wouldn't worry about it.

[Micklemouse]

Originally Posted by lulz

That's interesting.

To set your mind at ease, olifactory hallucinations are not associated with any known psychiatric disorders. Visual and auditory hallucinations are the ones to worry about.

Unfortunately this is not true. Not to worry ya Tayo, but olfactory hallucinations are actually a strong component of some people's psychosis (as are tactile (touch) hallucinations) - not as common as auditory or visual hallucinations but they do exist & can cause a lot of distress. They can also be a factor in migraines & other neurological conditions, including synaesthesia.

Migrainous Olfactory Hallucinations

That said, various drugs have been reported to bring about olfactory hallucinations, including Indomethacin (a non-steroidal inflamatory) & levodopa, as well as psychedelics.

From " Parsing Reality : The Senses" by James Kent (/chapter 10 - Chapter 10: Psychedelic Information Theory)

In relation to psychedelic experience the effect on the sense of smell is either very small or regrettably under-reported. The reporting of olfactory hallucinations is not unheard of, but it is rare or typically a small side note in otherwise detailed reporting. I would find it hard to state one way or the other whether psychedelics had any influence on the sense of smell at all, other than the odd report of olfactory synesthesia, such as a smell producing a visual response, but very rarely is the reverse true, such as a sound or color producing an phantom smell or olfactory effect. Personally I have found the sense of smell under psychedelic influence to be generally unaffected, but my body's response to smell stimulus is more acute. For instance, a rose may smell no stronger under the influence of psychedelics than before, but the joy or memory response produced by the smell may be amplified ten-fold, meaning that there is probably no gating or amplification of olfactory input per se, but there is likely an excitation of olfactory sensory processing going on at some level up the sensory processing pipe

Do not worry about psychosis at this point unless there are other concerns - rather revel in your Robot's specialness! The chances are that strong associations, possibly at a subconscious level, have been made which carry over into "normal life".

There is also a strong link between use of psychedelics & synaesthesia

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...deg/synest.htm

Synesthesia: Hearing Colors, Tasting Shapes

Synesthesia

Synthesia on magic mushrooms anyone???

Reputation Comments on this post:

thanks. you're the man.

[tayo]

Thank you for clearing things up, and I did not know about L-Dopa. I'll get worried if swim gets headaches like below I suppose. But right now everything is wonderful and funny; fish, liquor, berries, Squirt soda, dog poop, cocaine, and other things are smelt completely at random throughout the day. Maybe he's actually smelling cocaine on someone nearby? haha.