What would make someone suddenly have an increase of sensitivity to smell?

Pregnancy?

Ok, I know this is going to sound strange, but here goes.

When I first became a father my sense of smell went nuts. It became super hyper sensitive. My theory is that there is some sort of hormonal change that happens to guys when they become fathers, and I suspect it is tied to survival instincts to aid in our primal role as provider/protector.

Some post-doc really needs to do a study.

Can’t speak for women, but my wife said she became sensitive to certain smells during pregnancy.

Quit smoking?

It is called Hyperosmia I had just the opposite and lost all sense of smell and taste for a year and a half….that truly sucked!

I would avoid riding a bus anytime soon if I were you!

Here is an interesting article on The vivid world of odors

My husband actually thought he was allergic to the baby (lol). Babies and baby things do have a distinct aroma—- and that’s before you get to the diaper.

See, it’s not that we are poopy wimps. We really do have a physical condition that makes us gag when confronted with the dreaded loaded diaper. (@Cruiser should count his blessings in that regard)

@YoBob You think women don’t gag sometimes too?

Is it possbile that you might be pregnant? Are you on your period? Or have you recently started any new medications or treatments that can affect your hormones?

Hormones—particularly estrogen—can affect your sense of smell.

@YoBob I read a study somewhere will have to find it found that men usually experience a spike in estrogen levels after their partners give birth. I would guess it’s an evolutionary survival thing too.

@Nimis – Interesting. What I found intriguing is that for me it was almost as if a switch was flipped at the moment my wife gave birth. It wasn’t something that evolved slowly over the course of the pregnancy, and it wasn’t just the smell thing. It seemed there was a whole new circuit that became active. Everyone who entered the room, even those I have known all my life were a “potential threat”, etc…

But getting back to the topic at hand, it’s hard to describe the level of that heightened sense of smell. I could literally smell animals in the woods (I kid the not), but it did seem to be somewhat selective. It took a couple of years to return to normal.

The whole experience made me feel somewhat like a gorilla who still retained his human cerebral cortex. It was rather unsettling.

@YoBob Lurve for the crazed gorilla daddy.

I’m not pregnant, I don’t smoke, and I’m not a father.
@Cruiser Thanks, I think you may be onto something.