olfactory migraines - from a newbie

I am desperate for help! I have migraines that are triggered by smells, and no one can seem to give me any help for them other than to avoid the triggers. Like I can predict that someone will have on perfume when I go to the grocery store, for example. I have "regular" migraines that are sometimes sensitive to the triptans, but the ones brought on by smells - nothing touches and they last 2 1/2 days, coming with nausea and disability. Please tell me someone somewhere is able to treat these things, because I can't find anything out there that indicates there is.

smells are just one of many triggers but i now have occipital nerve block injections that give me relief from being so hypersensitive to smells. they are worth a try for you. ggod luck.

I have no idea if this would help or not, but an aneshtesiologist I worked with once wanted to drop lidocane in to the back of my nose to numb the nerve ganglion there....I didn't do it that way. My Neuro just prescribed me a bottle of lidocane and a special syringe, and I dropped it in. It didn't seem to do much for me, but it ended up dripping into my sinuses and made me gag!! Might be worth discussing with your DR though.

the nerve blocks contain a local anaesthetic that numbs up the occipital verve that the olfactory nerve branches from.

This might sound stupid but you know those nose plugs that synchronised swimmers wear (...can smell go through your mouth?) ...because if not, I'd be whacking a set of those nose plugs on or stuffing my nostrils with cotton wool covered in vaseline every time I left the house!

I know it's primitive but maybe it would work. Just a mechanical barrier that you can do at home for free. An alternative might be cutting down ear plugs (the foam ones) and using that...? I have no shame so maybe you're too embarrassed to do that in public lol...I go out with one eye closed and wear sunglasses inside so my shame left a while back!

Of course none of these would work if smell just goes in through the mouth.

you you can smell thru your mouth. look u the nerve block injections they take all the hypersensitivity away and you can go round looking normal!!!

Living, you made me smile!
Such a simple, practical solution.Genius!

I hate the airport fuel smell it alwasy gives me migraine. This is worst part of travelling for me, one whiff of that fueal and I am gone. Now I know what to do.

Maybe with these things inside, my nose will look like a potato, but no one will recognise me under big hat, and huge sunglasses anyway.

Regretfully we already know that suffering with this condition we must forget about any personal dignity - this is a battle for survival.

Thanks for the feedback. I have had injections in my right neck, which helped my "regular" migraines (the ones not smell related), and in my left a month later (no as helpful). The first injection helped so much my duration, frequency and intensity all went down. I put a call in to my pain MD, who does the injections, to see if this is something he is interested in doing, and what he says. Like I said, nothing touches my olfactory migraines, except sometimes acupuncture.

Well, I did have an occipital nerve injection 3/25, then the migraine night before last. Disappointing. Guess if I hadn't had it I could have had more olfactory migraines before now. Thanks for your help.

why not fight one smell with another? put, for example, peppermint oil under your nose to fight against the migraine inducing smell. whether it be perfume or whatever. try and block it with a different smell. one that, obviously, does not trigger a migraine. gail

Hmm...
Fighting smells by adding another would just make things much worse for me.
I sometimes visit a household with a cigarette smoker, and since they know I cannot stand the smell and that it gives me migraine, before I come they use scented candles and air freshener to get rid of cigarette smell.

This makes it much, much worse for me, since scented candles alone also give me migraine, and I cannot stand any artificial smells for the same reason - like those bowls of pot-pouri etc, or elecrical plugs scents they are deadly for me.

It does not seem to matter if the smell is pleasant, or not - for example I adore some rather expensive perfumes and they smell divine, but I cannot use them any more since any smell, apart from few natural scents (like delicately scented roses for exmaple) gives me migraine. So, I would never risk fighting one smell with another. It is not worth getting another migraine.

The nose plug idea though sounds good to me. Must remember to buy some, and use the the next time I visit that smoking household with their scented candles.
They said: we got these specially for you becasue we know you cannot stand the smell of smoke.
I had no heart to tell them they made things much worse for me, so I hardly ever visit and meet my friend somewhere else.

I also get olfactory migraines. Every smell seems like it is intensified when I'm getting one, I swear I can smell something thats a mile away, and lets not even get started on going down the soap isle at the grocery store! Sometimes it works to pop a cough drop in my mouth, the menthol kind. Wish there was a cure for this. Other triggers for me are spray paint, cinnamon, some types of perfume, aftershave...things like that.