# Are my sinuses fooling me into smelling poop? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 14, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-my-sinuses-fooling-me-into-smelling-poop/641038 "2012-11-14T23:06:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-my-sinuses-fooling-me-into-smelling-poop/641038/21 "2012-11-15T16:26:24Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I had something like this (although the smell I smelt was cheesy-unwashed-people) - went on forever. Doctor suggested I had a mild case of rhinitis and prescribed a steroid spray - problem went away almost immediately (in fact, probably too quickly to be attributable to the steroids - it might just have been the sprayed moisture). How quickly is “too quickly”? Steroids can kick in pretty rapidly. ---
**Author:** ![yohan\_go](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yohan_go/32/3620_2.png) [@yohan\_go](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yohan_go)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-my-sinuses-fooling-me-into-smelling-poop/641038/22 "2012-11-15T22:45:49Z")
Another IMHO TMI topic without a proper joke. Let me fix that. Olde simple lady visits her doctor: “Hey Doc, I really have problem with those phantom farts.” “Phantom farts?” "Yes, I fart, I know I fart, but I can’t hear or smell my farts. Let me demonstrate … " “Yes, yes, ok, ok, here is your prescription, just go, visit me again in a week for control.” in a week time … "Doc, you work miracles, I can hear my farts now … But still I can’t smell them … " " Ok, so ear drops worked? Cool. Now we can do something on your rhinitis …" ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-my-sinuses-fooling-me-into-smelling-poop/641038/23 "2012-11-15T23:01:40Z")
I asked a [similiar question](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=138586) years ago. Get a sinus infection ruled out by your doctor, then worry about something else. In my case, it was it was more just like really bad breath. Get thee to a doctor, just to make sure. Hope you feel better soon! ---
**Author:** ![sshumes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58f4c7/32.png) [@sshumes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sshumes)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-my-sinuses-fooling-me-into-smelling-poop/641038/24 "2015-02-15T18:49:34Z")
> [@papergirl](#): > > I have a friend who has tonsil stones and if anyone will shoot me straight about such things, it would be her. I did consider that but if I’ve ever had one, I sure didn’t know it–although I don’t know how you can tell, actually. I’ll ask her to check it out for me. > Meanwhile, I’ll hit up my sniffing friend today. It’s actually gotten better since yesterday, so I’m leaning toward infection or phantom smell. > No insurance, unfortunately, but if necessary I can go to the walk-in clinic. I’d just like to have something more symptomatic than “I smell poop.” I also do have that experience of smelling something for days afterwards, as if the smell lodges in my nose or something. I’ll see how things go today. > Thanks for the interesting advice and ideas. 🙂 Did you ever get a diagnosis for this condition? I’m experiencing the same thing, smelling feces and there’s no feces to be found, and would like to go to the doctor with a more clinical term that feces smell-itis - LOL ---
**Author:** ![sshumes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58f4c7/32.png) [@sshumes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sshumes)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-my-sinuses-fooling-me-into-smelling-poop/641038/25 "2015-02-15T18:52:18Z")
Did you ever get a diagnosis for this condition? I’m experiencing the same thing, smelling feces and there’s no feces to be found, and would like to go to the doctor with a more clinical term that feces smell-itis - LOL ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-my-sinuses-fooling-me-into-smelling-poop/641038/26 "2015-02-15T18:57:00Z")
I don’t think it’s weird to go to the doctor with that as a symptom. Doc can use your current medical history as a starting point, and start with most likely and least invasive, and work from there. For a while, I would have olfactory hallucinations during the migraine prodrome. It was bizarre – I smelled fresh-cut grass while on the 14th floor of an office building. In February. As others have said, rhinitis or sinusitis can cause scent perception problems. So can infections in the nose/throat/lungs. Even dry nasal/sinus area from the heat being on! ---
**Author:** ![tadair919](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/fbc32d/32.png) [@tadair919](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tadair919)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-my-sinuses-fooling-me-into-smelling-poop/641038/27 "2015-10-11T17:38:18Z")
At night and in the morning it is often subtle smells of cat poop. After I get up it typically goes away. I can smell and taste fine. I am the only one who smells it. I am going with the dry sinus and olfactory hallucination theories mentioned above. If I learn otherwise I will update. Not sure if this could be related. 10 years ago I once swallows a pill that got stuck in my throat. Even after it had long gone away I could still “feel” it in my throat for 2 whole months. Apparently there are people who suffer from this their entire lives. I suspect I am the type of person who is susceptible to their bodies tricking them with phantom symptoms. ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-my-sinuses-fooling-me-into-smelling-poop/641038/28 "2015-10-12T10:23:55Z")
I have the same experience - a subtle smell of feces whose origin cannot be pinpointed. Thankfully, much less frequently nowadays than before. I am inclined to think this is some kind of an olfactory hallucination, caused by some kind of abnormal neural firing. I would often get this odor within a half-hour of sitting down for meditation, so its maybe related to brain-wave change, like the hypnagogic auditory hallucinations at the transition from wakeful to sleep state. It’s probably harmless if you are _only_ experiencing this hallucination occasionally. My only crib is why feces, and not roses? ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-my-sinuses-fooling-me-into-smelling-poop/641038/29 "2015-10-12T18:03:26Z")
I’ve had this happen several times, only it was like a dank, musty smell, as if the apartment hadn’t been aired out in a very long time. Where I lived before, this kind of made sense. It was an 60-year-old building with very old carpet and slight humidity issues in the winter. Now I live in a much, much newer building and this has happened a couple of times. It’s the same “smell” but it doesn’t last long enough to justify making a special trip to the doctor. I’ll try to remember mentioning it the next time I have a physical. ---
**Author:** ![BaldDudePeekskill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@BaldDudePeekskill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaldDudePeekskill)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-my-sinuses-fooling-me-into-smelling-poop/641038/30 "2015-10-14T01:17:01Z")
I have the same issue…traced it to a very small blackhead in my nostril…not visible unless I’m looking for it. Once I express the blackhead, it smells funky and then the odor is gone. Pretty gross, yes, but it was the cause. It needs re squeezing every 3-6 months or so ---
**Author:** ![farmerfrances](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ac8455/32.png) [@farmerfrances](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/farmerfrances)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-my-sinuses-fooling-me-into-smelling-poop/641038/31 "2016-01-08T22:10:56Z")
> [@tadair919](#): > > At night and in the morning it is often subtle smells of cat poop. After I get up it typically goes away. I can smell and taste fine. I am the only one who smells it. > > I am going with the dry sinus and olfactory hallucination theories mentioned above. If I learn otherwise I will update. > > Not sure if this could be related. 10 years ago I once swallows a pill that got stuck in my throat. Even after it had long gone away I could still “feel” it in my throat for 2 whole months. Apparently there are people who suffer from this their entire lives. I suspect I am the type of person who is susceptible to their bodies tricking them with phantom symptoms. I have the same problem! Thought for sure the cat had pooped in the bedroom. Then I noticed the smell following me, and no one else could smell it. I was beginning to think I smelled like cat poop, but apparently I just think I am smelling it… ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-my-sinuses-fooling-me-into-smelling-poop/641038/32 "2016-01-08T22:29:19Z")
> [@BaldDudePeekskill](#): > > I have the same issue…traced it to a very small blackhead in my nostril…not visible unless I’m looking for it. Once I express the blackhead, it smells funky and then the odor is gone. Pretty gross, yes, but it was the cause. It needs re squeezing every 3-6 months or so How did you track such a thing down? Inside your nasal passage? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-my-sinuses-fooling-me-into-smelling-poop/641038.md?page=1)