A woman in Michigan reached out this week to Klukwan’s Dakota Strong, saying he may be suffering from a little-known smelling disorder for which she’s received some relief.
Kathy Kurland of Farmington Hills learned about Strong’s condition when a friend read about it in the March 12 Chilkat Valley News.
Strong’s condition – continually experiencing a rotten or putrid smell that makes most food unpalatable – sounds similar to one she suffered in December 2002 after her olfactory bulbs were damaged by Zicam, a homeopathic nasal spray once made with a high dosage of zinc.
Kurland was diagnosed with anosmia, a destroyed sense of smell. This week she forwarded a news story of her condition to Strong which includes an explanation of two related conditions she also suffered: “parosmia,” a distorted sense of smell, and “phantosmia,” a condition of smelling things that aren’t there.
Kurland said she experienced a strong chemical smell that made her gag or vomit on all but the most bland foods, like plain pasta and uncooked canned vegetables.
She was treated with steroids and underwent a battery of tests – including psychiatric ones – before getting some relief from Chicago neurologist Dr. Alan Hirsch, a specialist on olfactory dysfunction, who prescribed the anti-seizure drug Klonopin.
“I still hallucinate some smells and have regained some sense of taste. It’s made life manageable,” Kurland said.
For example, coffee still smells terrible to her, but the smell of fresh popcorn no longer makes her sick.
Kurland, who has read up on smelling disorders, said a chronic putrid smell – like the one Strong reported – is common with parosmia.
“This drives people crazy. One woman suffered from it for years and years and years,” Kurland said.
She encouraged Strong’s family to research Internet-based Yahoo! support groups and to contact Dr. Hirsch. “I know what it’s like to suffer from this. I’ve been there. It’s terrible.”
Deanna Strong, Dakota Strong’s mother, said this week she’s awaiting word from a Juneau doctor about a referral to a Seattle hospital.
She had hoped to take her son to the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, but doctors there refused to see him, saying they couldn’t do more than a Haines doctor. A local doctor said Dakota suffered from “cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome,” a nausea condition resulting from use of marijuana, she said.
But she said her son started using pot about four months after his condition started, to ease pain. Dakota currently takes a liquid antacid and Tramidol, a tablet-form pain reliever he crushes before ingesting. “He ends up vomiting them back up,” she said.
Dakota has Medicaid coverage and is covered by his father’s insurance, but Deanna is continuing to raise money, including for travel to treatment. She has raised $3,500 to date.