weird unpleasant experience

[Greg]

I'm going to put something weird out there for the board's expertise to review.

Wednesday evening I was going for a little drive. On my way home, I'm driving on a lovely twisty wooded back road (was taking the scenic route home) with the windows down when I encountered something... unpleasant.

I was affronted with a sudden, nasty ambient smell. A lot of it seemed to be incense, but also maybe some burning plastic mixed in. I got the fumes for maybe 30-60 seconds while driving. Afterwards, and for a while that evening, I felt a little... unsettled. Maybe a little queasy, maybe the heart rate was a little higher than it should have been.

I figured I just drove past some bong party and got some of somebody's weed.

I didn't sleep well that night, and woke up, wide awake with fight-or-flight alertness at 4:30am (I *can* wake up quickly, but it's not customary for me- waking up quickly is something I normally have to decide to do and it takes effort) and couldn't get back to sleep. The next day (that would be yesterday) I still maybe had the elevated heart rate, and I had a nasty headache all day that wouldn't go away that 2 Motrin only took the edge off of.

I began to consider going to the doctor, and maybe filing a police report, because what the fuck did I get dosed with on Weds?

Last night I slept OK, and today I feel pretty normal.

So, what the fuck did I inhale Wednesday evening? And should I have gone to the doctor, and/or filed a police report? Did I drive past someone cooking?

[Bullspit]

Two ideas:

1. Meth
2. Brain Tumor

I've never smelled meth cooking etc. but they say it has a strong chemical odor.

A good friend of mine started smelling odd things and feeling a bit off. He had a brain tumor.

[PawPaw]

Not enough information for an educated answer, so a few questions.

Did you notice smoke?
Were you in an agricultural area?
Did you notice anyone spraying anything?

[Greg]

Not enough information for an educated answer, so a few questions.

Did you notice smoke?
Were you in an agricultural area?
Did you notice anyone spraying anything?

I didn't notice any smoke.

I was in a residential area in a moderate density suburb, a bedroom community (not much industry or agriculture and what little there is isn't near there).

I didn't see anyone at all. Windy road through the woods, houses set back from the road.

[Aesop]

And per the old joke, get your hearing checked.
It's possible that you can't hear your own gas passing.

On a more serious note, the number of possible explanations for it range from someone cooking drugs, to a truck or railcar nearby (or ahead of you on the same road) outgassing something unhealthy.
Residential doesn't necessarily help: someone could have been tenting or untenting a fumigated house, or the like; or the local landscaping minions (private or governmental) could have just sprayed the median or margins of the road with something.

[Jericho941]

Might be worth checking the blotter. See if a meth lab burned down in the area.

[BDK]

Just an FYI, back in the 80s there was a waste disposal company in NJ disposing if toxic waste by dribbling it out on the roads...

[mekender]

I would guess, meth lab...

[workinwifdakids]

I would guess nothing, but I will say this: GO TO A DOCTOR.

Brief episodes of phantom smells or phantosmia – smelling something that’s not there – can be triggered by temporal lobe seizures, epilepsy, or head trauma. Phantosmia is also associated with Alzheimer’s and occasionally with the onset of a migraine.

There's a real possibility something happened inside your body. Olfactory hallucinations followed by feeling crappy aren't something to take lightly. Let us know what the doctor said.

[Greg]

I would guess nothing, but I will say this: GO TO A DOCTOR.

Brief episodes of phantom smells or phantosmia – smelling something that’s not there – can be triggered by temporal lobe seizures, epilepsy, or head trauma. Phantosmia is also associated with Alzheimer’s and occasionally with the onset of a migraine.

There's a real possibility something happened inside your body. Olfactory hallucinations followed by feeling crappy aren't something to take lightly. Let us know what the doctor said.

I wasn't the only person in the car, nor was I the only person to notice the smell. Luckily, I was the only person to experience any effects.