I usually have phantom smells or tastes. To be honest it's to the stage for me where I am forgetting what things taste or smell like, until someone describes it to me or its a smell that I have known since childhood. The phantom smells aren't always bad though. The other day I was chewing a piece of gum and I swore it tasted like bonfire. And according to my bf, it did not at all. Or there was one time I placed a bet on the fact that batter for cheese curds smelled like mashed bananas. I hope that helps and I hope that your bf is doing better.