AS and fragrance

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I am diagnosed with AS, and have another problem that I think is connected. My sense of smell is all warped, with many odors (especially fragrance, including natural sources such as flowers) being magnified all out of proportion. This has become so severe that the fragrance thing has developed into an allergy. So in addition to my natural AS aversion to being in groups of people, there is this other problem with being around others.
Do any of you have a similar problem?

Yes. I am very sensitive to smell. This can be a big problem for me, as I go to an art school and a lot of people here use oil paints and different solvents which are somewhat toxic. For most people, the solvents we use do not bother them, because they are much safer than stronger solvents (we use gamsol instead of turpentine, or example), and the smell of the oil paint doesn't bother them one bit. But I get high off of the fumes, and get sick from the smell. It makes my stomach upset and it makes me really really tired (to the point where I just went to sleep after having class every day.) I don't use oil paints anymore, thankfully.

I am also sensitive to household cleaners and sprays, they make me sneeze and my throat becomes soar and dry, and sometimes my nose becomes clogged, too. For awhile I was taking claritin D and Zyrtec D to help me with this problem. I had a septoplasty this summer which helped improve my airways in my nose, but I am still overly sensitive to these things and my nose gets clogged up quite often.

I agree. Chemicals can be very bad. One (unknown) chemical I encountered caused a really extreme reaction, I couldn't breathe at all, just coughed until my lungs were empty. Got into a "safe" area just in time.
Household cleaners contain fragrance, I think, and they are much worse than perfume. Also have a problem with bleach.
Do you think this problem is connected to AS? My doctors do, but nobody has researched a connection before.

I have problems with some smells- household cleaners really bother me (I make my own surface spray cos most smell so bad). Things that are scented with lemon (usually artificially) really make me feel ill- they turn my stomach and irritate my nose.

Certain perfumes also irritate my nose. When I'm sensitised to a smell it seems to be overpowering and takes ages for me to stop smelling it when I left the area.

Perfumes, colonges, chemicals, any strong odor bothers me. If I'm around them for any length of time, I tend to get a migrane.

Living at home is bad since my mom is into scented candles, and uses a drink warmer to keep them melted and giving off scent all day long since we have pets and dad doesn't want a fire.

When I was going back and forth from school on the weekends, the moment I would step in the house, I would be bombarded with scented candles odor, and almost as quick, I could feel my head and neck start to tense up, which for me is the start of a migrane.

yep.

I often smell things that aren't there, like the smell is stuck in my nose.

Perfumes to me all smell the same.

Some things I find it really hard to smell unless I sniff really hard and other times, the smells are really potent.

I used to like the smell of petrol- I don't anymore.

Smells tend to get into my mouth, so when I smell a rose, I taste something like soap.

It wasn't until 6-7 years ago that I found out that my sense of smell was warped - until then, I thought things smelled that way to everyone!
This left me very puzzled... why would anyone even WANT to smell like that??? And often, when I would point out to a friend the extreme fragrance someone else was wearing, they would remark "it doesn't smell that strong to me," or the even-worse "I don't smell anything." Why was everyone in the world lying to me?
The world makes a bit more sense to me these days.
By the way, large doses of gabapentin have helped a little.

Oh, yeah, I'm very sensitive to smell and taste.
Smells I love-
petrol
a match being lit
cigarette smoke
real vanilla
frankincense
eucalptus
japanese incense
baby powder
fresh flowers

Smells I hate-
most perfumes
fake vanilla
fake chocolate flavouring
fake lemon flavouring
shampoo and conditioner
detergent

i loathe chemical/artificial smells. just one whiff, and i can FEEL my excema crawling...

i love the smell of vetivert (ha!), woodsmoke, earth, roses, bread, coffee, frankincense, geranium, (spot the aromatherapist), the smell of babies, the smell of a lover, clean cotton sheets, ripe mangoes and apricots, snow and rain, nag champa incense, the sea, forests and woods... gosh - now i've got to stop as it's got me thinking.

and i always use smell as an indicator of people or places - if i don't like the smell, i don't want to be there.

I can be fairly sensitive to some smells. The worst is the smell on smokers, particularly when they have very recently finished engaging in the act. It makes me physically ill, especially when in tight quarters. Strong cologne/perfume can sometimes make me feel as if I cannot breathe. If it doesn't abate, or I can't get away from it, I then begin to feel sick from that as well.

I actually have a thing where I have little to no sense of smell and thus virtually no sense of taste either. However, I often think I'm smelling something and I get all excited, but then I realize what I'm smelling isn't there.

I can't stand floral scents, therefore I rarely wear perfume and try to avoid being near people who seem to think they need to bathe in their cologne. When I do wear perfume, it's a light vanilla scent.
No one in my family smokes, so that's never been an issue. The worst smell to me is my husband's breath after he drinks beer or whiskey (which he doesn't do often, thank God). Wine doesn't seem to have the same lingering effect, and even coffee breath is better than alcohol breath. But no matter how well he brushes his teeth after a whiskey and coke, it still makes me want to gag when he crawls in bed and tries to get amorous.

Well the smell of babies is just one of the best smells in the world- especially the sweet milky smell of new borns.

I don't like much incense but nag champa is wonderful- it does things to me that I can't mention on a family friendly forum

In general I don't like things that smell. My goal is usually an absence, any cologne or deoderant with strong smells irk me a bit. And it goes the other way too, I am a bit overly concerned with my own smells. I am always a bit too worried if I am leaving an offensive odor, even when I know I am not.

Sometimes I can look on the bright side of problems like this. Alcoholism runs in my family very strongly. I'm sure I would be an alcoholic, if it weren't for the fact that alcohol smells so bad to me that I can't drink it! Also can't stand coffee or tea; in fact tea is one of the worst smells I can encounter - can't even be in the same room as a cup of hot tea! Probably for the best. I just stick to my Crystal Light