Smells are my main trigger

I am not officially diagnosed with ARFID, but this group has been a huge support for me since I joined. I’m 36 and have been an on extremely limited diet my entire life. I’ve found that smells, especially those that linger, are the biggest factor in my limited diet. But it goes far beyond that. It is painful for me to be around people who have eaten my trigger foods that have a strong aroma, and that includes A LOT of things. It has played a huge factor in all of my relationships, and it keeps me from enjoying most social situations.

The biggest triggers for me are anything that has garlic, vinegar, onions, peppers, cheeses, fish, and anything fermented. When other people eat those things, even if it was many hours ago, I can smell it immediately when they are in the same room as me, and it makes me feel ill. I won’t go near any type of condiments or seasonings other than salt and black pepper. Foods that don’t smell (to me) are mostly fine, so I can eat plain proteins, grains, most fruit, and even some vegetables. The problem is that I have to prepare everything myself because almost all pre-prepared or restaurant food will have ingredients I cannot eat.

I flew 12 hours to visit my friend yesterday, and being at the airport, in the lines, and on the plane were torture. I had my sweatshirt over my face for most of the trip so I wouldn’t feel sick, but the combination of different smells was really difficult for me. Has anyone else had a similar experience or been able to work through this?

As I mentioned earlier, it has been detrimental in most of my romantic relationships. Intimacy is very difficult for me because of the various smells (food/breath/body/etc.) and a number of other sensory issues, but I really want to overcome this. Past/current partners have been great about avoiding my trigger foods, but it is not fair for me to expect anyone else to eat exactly like I do, so I often find myself staying on the opposite side of the room/house when my partners eat “smelly” foods. I’ve been very open about everything with my current partner, and they have been very supportive and given me space when I need it. I just don’t want to live like this forever. Sometimes I wish I was one of those people who permanently lost their smell from Covid 🤷‍♂️

Any insight/ideas/support would be much appreciated!