My Sense of Smell and Migraine
Migraine illness is a bad relationship from which I cannot escape. The best I can do is figure out ways to live with this difficult, fickle creature that controls much of my life. Over the past several decades, I’ve learned a few things to help manage my disease:
Don’t eat too much. Don’t eat too little.
Don’t sleep too much. Don’t sleep too little.
Eat meals at specific times every day, no exceptions allowed.
Be careful of exposure to glaring or flashing lights.
Be aware of what Mother Nature is forecast to throw my way.
Stay away from triggering odors.
Not only is migraine picky about how I live my life, but it can also evolve over time and circumstances. Sensitivity to smell is one example of such an evolution for me. As society has become wiser about the harmfulness of cigarette smoking, more public spaces have shifted to prioritizing the importance of clean air. With lessened exposure to toxic smoke nowadays, I have become more sensitive to its secondhand poisons.
With more employers emphasizing inclusion for those with disabilities, we have more power to insist on lessening the use of fragrances in the workplace. Again, less exposure seems to increase my sensitivity to triggering smells. Or maybe it’s due to my hormonal changes throughout life. I’m not sure of the cause, but I do know the result. Even a small exposure to a strong perfume lingering in an elevator can be enough to trigger an episode. The rancid smell of secondhand smoke traveling into my nose is a major trigger for me. The wall of home fragrance products inside a family member’s door is an offensive assault on my senses.
Managing migraine triggers means making sacrifices others may interpret as me being antisocial. I steer clear of outdoor eating spaces and cannot attend outdoor concerts. A smoker walking by on a nearby sidewalk or smoking in a designated area can cause a problem for me. The latest restaurant craze is a wall of garage doors that can be opened to extend the dining space to the great outdoors. It doesn’t take long for a smoker to expose everyone to harmful secondhand smoke. The stinky, dangerous cloud rides on the breeze, flowing through the open doors, filling the restaurant with smoke.
Entering a home filled with the fragrance of scented oil products turns me into a mouth breather. I don’t want to be rude or insulting, but I don’t want to be in pain either. The worst part is when people respond to my dilemma with the comment, “You don’t like this fragrance? I think it smells nice.” It isn’t about preference. I mean it has zero percent to do with preference. I don’t love the smell of a skunk, but it doesn’t trigger a migraine for me. I don’t love the smell when I clean my cats’ litterbox, but it doesn’t trigger a migraine for me. This is not a choice.
I can avoid the use of triggering odors myself. The problem lies in managing exposure to odors generated by other people. There are only a few options available to me:
Isolate myself in my home.
Wear an N95 mask when I leave my house.
Encourage humanity to behave with courtesy and kindness towards others.
Always have abortive medicine with me.
Migraine and I will be in this relationship until the end. In the meantime, I don’t want to be a hermit and I’d like to be able to smile at people. This means I always have medicine with me to fight the triggers I cannot control.
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Originally published at WebMd.com on 4-5-23.
