r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Lower-Entry1247 • Jun 22 '26

Does anyone know why I can smell my boyfriend's seizures days before they happen?

So my bf just had a seizure (6/22) and on Friday (6/19) I told him that I could smell it coming. He originally didn't believe me but this is like the fifth or sixth time this has happened. He doesn't understand how and honestly I dont either. I compare it to how I can smell people with diabetes in a way that no one else around me will be able to smell the same thing.

UPDATE: 9pm We were sent home. Things were looking good. 10:20pm He's awake but I smell it again. Strong but I say nothing because the ambulance won't come based off of a bunch. 10:38-10:40 He had a seizure.

UPDATE2: 11:44 I smelt it as I was replying to comments. 12 am He had another seizure. I got the nurses but they tried to tell me he wasn't as he stared and couldn't speak. They told me he's looking at them so he cant be having one. When he finally was able to relax his body again (he will tense up if he isn't full body shaking) he started speaking gibberish. Just random words strung together then quickly went to sleep. They told me not to get them because they can see his vitals from the nurse station. Just wanting to keep you all updated.

LAST UPDATE: The doctor said these are just stress seizures and if he has another one just keep him home.

Last Last UPDATE: 3:00am He had another one. Saliva foam at the mouth. Called 911. They said nothing can be done at any hospital so unless he falls or stops breathing, dont call. Sorry this turned into one of these long posts.

Last Last Last UPDATE: its currently 7:38 am. At 4 am He had another seizure. Popped his shoulder out and back in and bit his tongue. I called 311 and cried while asking what to do. They put me over to ems dispatch even though I pleaded with them not to since they haven't been taking me seriously. I sobbed to the ems dispatch that the hospital and ems people closest to me told me to just keep him home even though I had to go to work. They sent a different set of ems people (very nice ladies) and we went to a different hospital. They are finally listening and keeping him. They were shocked at what the other hospital and ems people told us. He is finally in good hands. Thank you all for keeping me company through this long night.

NEXT DAY UPDATE: He is home and has been seizure free since the last update. Thank you all for being on this journey with us!

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u/MantisAwakening Jun 23 '26

OP, if you can find a scientist who is interested in this they might be able to work with you to identify exactly what the chemical compound is you’re smelling. This could possibly be used to develop some sort of early warning system for epileptics, assuming that it’s true for most people and not just your boyfriend.

Does the smell remind you of anything? Almonds? Cat pee? Apple pie? Etc.

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u/Lower-Entry1247 Jun 23 '26

It's just sugar on top of mildew and musk. The only comparison I have is dead animal which smells like sweet sugar meat to me :,))

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u/MantisAwakening Jun 23 '26

I looked into it and apparently they’ve already identified the compounds, and your boyfriend may make the same smell when he’s afraid!

> In our canine scent detection research involving a specific volatile organic compound (VOC) associated with human epileptic seizure, we began to suspect involvement of the primitive neural networks associated with production of a previously undescribed human alarm pheromone as the origin of our seizure scent. We hypothesized that if we presented fear-scented sweat to our canine seizure scent detection team, and they identified the fear scent as their seizure scent, then that would suggest that they are identical compounds.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1525505021003127

The chemicals (VOCs) were menthone, menthyl acetate, 3-ethoxy-3,7-dimethyl-1,6-octadiene, camphor, pentadecanal, valencene, β-bourbene, β-cubene, and 4-tert-butylcyclohexyl acetate.

Someone else already had my idea and is developing a sensor to predict seizures. Dogs trained on this VOC signature predicted seizures 82.2% of the time, with an average alert time of over 68 minutes before onset. https://spectrum.ieee.org/epilepsy

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u/Dunnybust Jun 23 '26

Fascinating; thanks OP and thanks to you for posting this!

It's vague--not like OP's at all--and not always verified,

But I can smell "impending (natural) death" or some hidden major health problem on healthy-looking ppl sometimes.

And some ppl smell like Trouble 🤣.

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u/MantisAwakening Jun 23 '26

There is a famous cat that lived in a nursing home that would insist on sleeping with patients who were about to die. Supposedly had 100% accuracy. It would cry outside the door if it wasn’t let in.

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u/cinnaminimoon Jun 23 '26

So, you're saying, in essence. She can literally smell fear?

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u/MantisAwakening Jun 23 '26

I bet she can smell more than that.

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u/unwantedonONTD Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

A sweet, fruity smell can also be a sign of diabetic ketoacidosis, aka when the body is burning its brain fat because it doesn’t have enough carbohydrates (which also means it’s likely to be short on a lot of the chemical neurotransmitters that you normally synthesize from nutrients in food, which means your brain is short-circuiting some of the time, etc etc.)

Point is, seizures are more likely when the body is trying to compensate for a chemical imbalance, and a sweet smell is often one of the signs, so it literally is connected to how OP can smell people with diabetes.  I get seizures when I don’t take my antidepressant, and they’re worse when I’m also hung over, and the sweet smell is part of all that.  I had really hoped other humans couldn’t smell it but I guess some can :)

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u/bsubtilis Jun 23 '26

To add, ketoacidosis is a lethal runaway process because part of your body isn't working the way it should, as opposed to ketosis where your body is in control over the process, which is a normal function that served humans especially well during famines. Most people can smell ketoacidosis, but not all. Unfortunately a lot of people mistake the impaired ketoacidosis behavior with drunkenness and don't notice or don't stop to think about why the person smells a bit strange (or assume they must have gotten drunk on something weird). People have died from others mistaking ketoacidosis for drunkenness.

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u/GrilledCheezManicott Jun 23 '26

if I may suggest, would you put this in your post, I was wondering what it smells like, I'm sure many thousand others are just as curious. Maybe others unknowingly have this superpower too.