Now that I’ve started to have Mast Cell Disorder events daily again, I’m taking Benadryl on a regular basis. These MCAD events have been worse than the series of events I had before my dose pack of Prednisone. This series of events includes hives and welts. This worsening of symptoms worries me. This morning at 4 AM, I was awakened to strong smells. The sweet, floral scent didn’t match any scent in my room.
I was afraid that I was just dreaming, so I sat up and bed and the smell was still strong. I removed my CPAP mask and got up. After I walked around the room for a few minutes, looking for the source of the smell, it faded away.
This wasn’t the first time I’ve had non-existent smells that were strong. Years ago, I would smell what I described as wires or electrical burning. I would be afraid that the house was on fire, and would search everywhere. There was never any fire. There have been other times when I smelled cotton candy. This would be such a strong scent, but I knew that there wasn’t any cotton candy in my house.
These events were so weird and the smells so overwhelming that they couldn’t be ignored. I’ve talked to doctors about these before. They weren’t sure what had caused them, but said that they could be related to migraines or seizures. I had a neurologist who believed that I was having seizure activity, but could never get proof. The two EEGs that I had were negative.
When you combine all of this with the DeJaVue events, these could be a signal of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. The smells that don’t exist can be called Phantosmia or Olfactory Hallucinations. They can be caused by severe sinus infections, brain tumors, epilepsy, or Parkinsons.
I don’t like reading this type of information, because I don’t want to have any of these things. I know that I haven’t had a sinus infection in about two years. And, the other diagnosis types are really bad. I don’t want any of those. But, my experiences are real and I can’t deny that they’ve happened. Thankfully, these don’t happen often.
Since I’ll be meeting with my new doctor on Monday, I’ll discuss this with him. Whatever is the cause of these events, I just want to make sure that I’m getting proper treatment. When you have so many medical conditions, the overall picture of my health is complicated. I hope that my new doctor can introduce me to some holistic treatments that could replace some of my drug treatments.
Although there are always problems that can’t be fixed, I must continue to be hopeful, pray, and fight for better days.
@2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman
Disclaimer: I’m not a medical expert. This post contains only my opinions, and is not meant to be taken as medical advice. If you have a health concern, please consult your personal physician.