Aromatherapy Patient Views

I know people that noticed a significant difference over time with this type of olfactory training practice. One used a handful of essential oils; the other used their spice cabinet. Not full recovery, but a big improvement. Consistency was key. Good luck, the original poster.

[quote="my friend, post: 511021, member: 10862"] I think I did mention I also suffer from anxiety too in the post you quoted. I'm awaiting treatment from services on the NHS here for that, they say you cannot have treatment for both depression and anxiety at the same time as it may be too much so they are going with anxiety to put me forward as my sleeping has been disturbed by that recently. [/quote]

Since you brought it up, I'll tell you my anxiety treatment. The integrated MD I see was concerned about long term use of benzodiazepines for chronic anxiety so she recommended lavender supplement. I did some research on it and found out that organic lavender essential oil is generally recognized as safe for food (GRAS). I discussed this with my doctor and would stir 1-2 drops in 8 oz of water and sip it until I felt calm. It was an excellent therapy and nonaddicting.

I wonder whether Aromatherapy & essential oils might be uplifting for you my friend. They are not anti-depressant per se, but I do know many that are mood uplifters. You might also like to try Bach Rescue Remedy. There's a Blog of mine on Bach Flower Remedies written early last year. Not my best effort in writing, but I was a "Blog Beginner" at the time. If you'd like to know more about Aromatherapy (as opposed to prescription drugs), send me a PM with your email address & I'll forward you some information as an attachment. The article I wrote on Aromatherapy is about 6 pages long & explains the therapy, some suggested essential oils & some methods of use. Cort started a thread after he had a very positive reaction from some samples I sent him. All he did was sniff the piece of paper I put 3-4 drops on, & mailed it to him (so, to read his reaction on the thread he started, will give you some idea of the effectiveness). Aromatherapy is very powerful on emotional problems (as well as physical problems such as sprains & burns etc). Another angle to look into is diet. I discovered every Saturday night (after I'd bought & eaten my favourite bread from the market that morning), I was feeling really "down" & negative. Sometimes I even felt destructive & aggressive. Grains, particularly white sliced bread, has a strong effect on my mood.

So not really so far however a lot of things have helped with managing symptoms which helps a lot in just daily life of being completely bedridden - less suffering. For example I have many things I do for nausea like peppermint, sniffing isopropyl alcohol wipes, acupressure wristbands and a lot more. Helps a lot. Also things for vertigo and heat and cold therapy for pains like abdomen and neck.

I’ve experienced vertigo on/off since illness onset, especially after communication with others. Placing a few drops of organic lavender essential oil inside (not ear canal) and outside my ears makes the vertigo go away!

I sincerely believe it's worth a shot, using bottles of essential oils (you have to know someone with a selection of oils) or spices or whatever you can access... my relative noticed solid improvements until she stopped doing the "training" regularly (every day is ideal whenever possible) and then her ability to smell and taste degraded again.

You seem, based on your post, like you just may be committed to the cause. You clearly appreciate the senses and sensory experiences you're missing.

This might work for some, while it might not work at all for others. Good luck.

Take good care. Long covid sucks. ❤️

I am very hypersensitive to smells so I use the essential oils to detract or confuse my brain. I also use them for pain. Peppermint oil is good for pain. It confuses the nerves.

Had that, antihistamines helped and essential oils I applied.

So glad to hear I’m not alone although I’m sorry to hear you have to deal with this.

I use CBD oil and frankincense oil. The CBD helps anxiety. The frankincense I have been using for seizures since I got CFS a long time ago. It seems to help other neurological issues too.

Are you open to suggestions on how to use essential oils strategically to support olfactory training (to help possibly restore your sense of smell) without increasing potentially harmful particulate matter in your indoor air?

I definitely have info on that, and know some people who've used essential oils to improve sense of smell after an infection and it's helped. This involves smelling a selection of scents every day and you can do it with EOs or even what you might have in your spice cabinet.

But diffusing it while you're sleeping means inhaling that stuff all night, and it turns out that inhaling largely unregulated, scented oils at length is probably not great for us. Particulate matter of any kind is actually not good for us to inhale, so I don't really burn candles (just for emergencies now) or diffuse oils since learning more about air quality. I hope that helps clarify.