Hi Colin don't know if it'll work but have you thought of foam ear plugs up your nose not very dignified but if you can't smell anything,. 

I struggle with cooking smells too and can't stomach savoury food due to the disgusting taste in my mouth from the chemotherapy. I tend to stick to tinned fruit. Not a great diet but at least I'm eating something. 

Sweet things taste vaguely normal so I try to eat by alternating a mouthful of food with a slug of Ribena.

I hope that you manage to find something that you can eat.

Hi, have you given the complan shakes ago? They are full of nutrients and don't require cooking so the smell shouldn't be too off putting. You must try and build yourself up before chemo. My sense of smell and taste went to pot during my chemo, everything was pretty vile.....

good luck....pop into your chemist and ask about the shakes type meals, they are good for people convalescing......

Hi Colin,

Are you on any treatment at the moment? Only asking cause this can be quite common with chemo but you say you haven't started it yet.

I really struggled with smells while on Taxanes and also when on Platins. However, I didn't really tackle it because I couldn't eat at the time anyway.

If there is a smell you can cope with then it might be worth putting a tiny bit of that just below your nostrils (maybe using an essential oil or something, just ensuring it's a skin safe version).

While on platins if I was out for a meal (rare mind you) I tended to pick places with outside seating, not great with winter looming though. I did lose over a stone during my last chemo so in between chemos I intentionally build my weight up to the highest level of a healthy weight for my height. There's so little we can do to help our weight while on chemo other than force ourselves to eat and that just isn't always an option.

Also worth checking whether this aversion could be psychological? Maybe ask to see a palliative care doctor to see if they can give you any techniques to help? I had psychsomatic vomiting with my last chemo and it was extreme (hence the fast weight loss), our palliative care doctor was a Godsend with techniques that did cure it, just took a little time and effort.

Anyway, sorry if none of that helps, just some random thoughts.

Best wishes for the chemo.

LJx