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More On Loss Of Smell & Taste


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Hi all, the ENT said my sinuses look lovely--no swelling, inflamation, or infection--and that the sinus surgery I had a few years ago did it's job well.

He agreed with my allergist's referral to the Smell and Taste Center at U of Penn; his suspicion is nerve damage, either from some sort of degneration, autoimmune reaction or infection (viral)--all sources of possible neuropathy. The other possible cause is head trauma-but I haven't had any around the time of the sensory loss.

He said it's unclear if I'll ever get the smell sense back :blink: Bummer, but if I can even get a little of it back, that would be lovely!

Nina

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Guest tearose

Well Nina, I am not surprised. Who are we to think there is an easy fix anyway! :blink:

So, I'm holding on to hope that the U Penn testing gets answers for you.

I mentioned I have similar symptoms...the funky thing for me is when all of a sudden, like out of the blue, I will be able to smell something so clearly. It can make me say "WOW" because it is sensory overload all of a sudden and then, it goes away.

If you are happy with what you learn, I may consider a visit there myself someday.

I do miss the "consistent" ability to smell things. I miss the smell of ivory soap, of honeysuckle, of dirt!!!

I also miss tasting food.

gosh, this is getting sad.

Hey, at least I can taste sugar!

I think I'll have some cake.

best regards, tearose

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I understand wanting to taste things. I can tasted the sweetness of chocolate, but not the "chocolatey-ness". All the subtleties of tastes are gone, I just have basic sweet, sour, bitter and salty, undifferentiated--caramel tastes like sugar, sugar tastes like sugar, icing tastes like sugar. Boring.

Nina

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I know you've considered new medications, but I wonder if a medication that you've been taking for a long time could cause you to lose your sense of taste and smell?

Flonase and Nexium can also cause it. Here are a couple of links: http://www.rockbottomrx.com/products.asp?id=117 and http://www.healthsquare.com/newrx/nex1577.htm .

I've had intermittent loss of taste and smell over the years. I never knew exactly what caused it, but at times it could have been medication side effects. I used to use Flonase and other prescription nasal sprays. I don't remember if the loss of taste and smell occurred when I was using them or not. I've also had a problem with other types of altered taste and smell, such as foods tasting bad or weird or partial loss of taste and smell at times. Sometimes I have a sweet, bitter or salty taste in my mouth even when I haven't eaten anything, etc. I also have severe allergies and migraines.

I hope you get better soon. I know it's awful to have your taste and smell affected like that.

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Nina,

No pun intended, but that stinks. I hope you are lucky and someone figures this out for you. Eating is one of the few pleasures I have these days, and I think it is for a lot of us.

Amy

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