I can smell death and pregnancy... I can't stand to be around my elderly dad because the stench is so strong

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

A woman who has claimed that she can smell death and pregnancy on people has revealed how the unusual skill is both a blessing and a curse.
The 34-year-old woman, who will be referred to as the pseudonym Michelle throughout the story as she asked to keep her name hidden for privacy reasons, from Italy, said she has 'had a strong sense of smell' since as long as she could remember.
As a teenager, she said she'd sometimes pick up on scents that no one else did, but never thought much of it.
But as time went on it only got more intense - and now, she has claimed she can detect when someone is expecting or if they're close to the end of their life based on their smell.
During an exclusive chat with the Daily Mail, she explained that it started with her partner's elderly cat.
'[The cat] was 21 years old and still seemed to be enjoying a fairly healthy life for her age… she wasn't in terrible physical shape, yet I remember clearly the day I smelled it on her,' Michelle recalled.
'[It was] acrid, pungent, and it made me feel alarmed and anxious. I didn't tell my partner - I just didn't have the heart to. Two months later she died.'
Michelle lives with her 87-year-old father, who she described as 'active' and 'mostly lucid,' but she said she recently started smelling the same stench on him.
A woman who has claimed that she can smell death and pregnancy on people has revealed how the unusual skill is both a blessing and a curse (stock image)
As for what it smells like, she described the scent as an 'elderly person but much sharper.'
'It hits your nostrils like a punch, and it's hard to stay in the same room with someone who's close to death,' Michelle explained. 'It's not chemical or poor hygiene, it's something entirely different.'
She said she sometimes gets 'so overwhelmed' by the smell of her dad that she needs to sleep at friends' apartments.
'I wash my hands as if my sanity depended on it, and it probably does,' she added.
'When he touches my clothes (like a pat on my shoulder), I throw it in the washing machine the same day, even if it's just been cleaned.'
She also claimed that she can tell when someone is expecting, because they too have a strong smell.
'I can smell it even before there's a belly, in the early weeks. I've guessed right and, sometimes, ruined the surprise for colleagues or friends,' Michelle said.
She described the scent of pregnancy as 'intense and sweetish,' and while it's better than death, she said the smell is so 'intense' it often makes her nauseous.
She revealed that sometimes she'll be walking down a crowded city street and suddenly start gagging if she passes someone who is expecting.
'I can smell it even before there's a belly. I've sometimes ruined the surprise for colleagues or friends,' she said of her ability to detect when someone's expecting (stock image)
She also claimed to be able to use her nose to recognize her loved ones with her 'eyes closed,' as well as a whole array of other things.
'I can unfortunately smell when a man nearby is aroused (not necessarily by me, just in general), when people have had sex (disgusting, but I try to mind my own business), menstruation (sometimes even my own), colds and/or fevers, and many other things…' Michelle said.
Michelle claimed that she's mentioned her unusual skill to doctors but none of them have taken it very seriously.
She said its negatively impacted her life, and as someone who works in a grocery store, she often has to take breaks at work to get air due to the intense smells.
'At work, being in contact with the public, it's hell. Luckily I have a healthy work environment and they know I sometimes need to go out for air because I'm physically unwell,' she said.
In the end, while she noted some may be jealous of her 'super-sense of smell,' she said she looks at it as more of a curse than a blessing.
'I consider it more of a curse given how it tends to at least partially ruin my life,' she concluded. 'I'd gladly trade it for an 'ordinary' nose without a second thought.'
According to Very Well Health, there's a condition known as hyperosmia which involves having a 'heightened sense of smell.'
Michelle recently opened up about her talent on Reddit, and in the comment section, some people confessed that they too have a similar ability
'Some people are simply born with a stronger sense of smell (olfaction). The exact genes responsible for inherited hyperosmia are unknown,' the website states.
'Super smellers might even be able to detect medical conditions by scent alone. For instance, a 2019 study by the American Chemical Society showed that a super smeller could identify the 'musky' smell of Parkinson's disease from 64 sebum samples collected from people with and without the condition.'
Michelle recently opened up about her talent on Reddit, where the post went viral, raking in more than 7,000 likes and hundreds of comments.
In the comment section, some people confessed that they too have a similar ability, while others shared their experiences with friends or family members who seemed to be able to smell things about them.
'I was six weeks pregnant, hadn't told anyone at work and obviously wasn't showing,' one user wrote.
'My student comes up to me and whispers, "I just know you are pregnant, I can smell you."'
'My best friend can also smell pregnant women! So crazy,' added another.
'You're not alone. I smell everything so bloody strongly I want to cry just trying to walk through a subway tunnel downtown,' someone else shared.
'Some things are unmistakable smelling and a bit "louder" for me too - death, illness (diabetes, some cancers, anemia)... I've been able to smell pregnancy on myself before, and guessed it quickly on most others, but nothing I can identify I smelled for certain triggered that one.
'I stopped asking questions about the why's and the hows of it all, and started focusing on how to survive a commute without vomiting lol.'
'I can smell cancer and death. My grandmother died from cancer, and I never forgot the smell,' read a fourth comment.
'I've smelled cancer on other people's grandparents, a neighbor, my pet cat. I didn't realize it wasn't something that people couldn't regularly smell until recently.
'I can smell mild sickness before fever and symptoms set in. Like a stomach bug or flu, it's like the body is starting to sweat out what it can beforehand.'