If Chris Hansen Is Back, You Know It’s Bad: Roblox and Our Kids
August 17, 2025I had just taken a shower when it happened.
Before stepping in, I’d put some of my favorite lemon pods in the diffusers around the house. It had become part of my routine—something I kept doing, even though I hadn’t smelled anything in four years.
Afterward, I walked back through the living room… and I smelled it.
Bright. Clean. Lemony. And I very nearly cried.
In 2021, something hit me hard and took my sense of smell with it. Not just a little—completely gone.
No food smells.
No candles.
No perfume.
No coffee in the morning.
Taste was affected too, but what I didn’t expect was how deeply it would impact my emotional memory, my mood, my confidence, and how I felt in my own body. I didn’t smell like anything. Food didn’t smell like anything. Holidays didn’t smell like anything. It was like living in black and white, and trying to describe color.
I tried everything. Every old wives’ tale. Every crunchy remedy. I even did scent retraining, sniffing essential oils and waiting for something to shift. Nothing ever did.
But I kept reading. I kept looking. Not obsessively—just leaving the door open.
Then this spring, a friend sent me to research some ideas and I came across an article about a tiny, low-dose wellness patch that was being tested in Europe. Researchers were exploring whether a very low dose of a nicotine patch—the kind often used to help people quit smoking—could help stimulate the neural pathways tied to smell. They weren’t using it for its original purpose. They were testing it in microdoses to see if it could essentially “wake up” the brain’s olfactory receptors.
The compound interacts with neural receptors involved in inflammation and sensory processing. And while the research was still early, it was compelling enough for me to try.
I cut a 7mg patch into quarters and wore 1/4 of it a day, several days in a row earlier this month but then went on a trip and forgot to start again. Until this week..
That’s it. No magic trick. No overnight miracle.
I checked in with my wellness-savvy crew before trying it, and while there were a few raised eyebrows, there were also several nods and “why nots?”
I went about my life.
And then a few weeks in, I caught a whiff of something faint.
Then something else.
And then… the lemon.
I had truly started to believe this part of me was just gone forever. And today reminded me it wasn’t.
It’s been four years. And yes, I know smell isn’t everything—but it’s connected to so much more than we realize. To joy. To appetite. To safety. To memories.
That moment gave me hope.
I’m not sharing this to give advice. This is not medical guidance, and I’m not suggesting anyone try what I tried without doing their own due diligence. I’m not a doctor or a wellness blogger. I’m just a woman who got frustrated, curious, stayed open, and tried something small that helped me feel more like myself..
If you want to try it, do your own research and talk to someone you trust. But don’t be afraid to follow your curiosity. That’s what brought me back to lemon.
I used ChatGPT to help me dig deeper—into the research, medical trials, and how this specific compound interacts with the nervous system. It didn’t give me a diagnosis or a promise, but it gave me clarity, confidence, and the language I needed to understand what might be happening in my own body. And because I am kind to it, it was so excited for me.
Your body is still listening.
Healing sometimes whispers.
Don’t stop trying.
Sometimes the thing that brings you back… smells like lemon.
Do you still deal with any weird symptoms no one seems to talk about?
What’s the weirdest wellness hack you’ve tried that actually worked?
I’m collecting them. Feel free to send yours my way—especially if it involves onions, socks, duct tape, or anything else you once rolled your eyes at. 😉
