No sense of smell or taste

[Chim Girl]

I had a heavy cold over 2 months ago, since then I'm unable to smell or taste anything. I can, just about, sense the heat of fresh chilli, lemon, raw ginger, salt, and wasabi, if eaten in large(ish) amounts, but otherwise nothing. It is torture.

Suggestions anyone?

[LHDisbest]

Doctor.

HTH

[Miss Pitstop]

Take bets from people to eat spoonfuls of lime pickle, chillis or other hot foods - won't help your taste return but might help with the credit crunch?

Seriously, I don't think your situation is that uncommon, but I imagine it's very frustrating. Hope you get it sorted.

[BB-Q]

Are you a smoker?

Stuff like that lasted for ages when I smoked.

[TheEnd]

taste is mostly smell, so i guess it's your nose that is playing up.

it'll come back, but it can take a few months

[Chim Girl]

TheEnd said:

it'll come back, but it can take a few months

Aaargh. As someone who loves wine and cooking, waiting months is such a miserable prospect. Non-smoker by the way, so no added delays from that, thankfully.

I like the idea of taking bets, at present I can easily munch my way through a raw chilli or two. Not sure my stomach will appreciate the assault though.

Edited by Chim Girl on Saturday 13th December 22:00

[skip_1]

Sulphur poisoning?

Edited by skip_1 on Saturday 13th December 22:01

[BB-Q]

The eating of plenty of chillies is a good way to avoid any possibility of rquiring colonic irrigation in the near future.

Mind you, you're a girl and therefore built wrongly, so all bets are off!

[TheEnd]

it's called anosmia, and is fairly common after cold viruses etc
keep an eye out (or an ear rather) for any changes in your voice, something like that could suggest swelling in the sinuses and a problem up there

[davido140]

you'll be fine as long as your tit doesnt start bleeding.

ETA just to clarify...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Seems to be "medical 20 questions" here tonight!

Edited by davido140 on Saturday 13th December 22:24

[Chim Girl]

davido140 said:

you'll be fine as long as your tit doesnt start bleeding

Thanks Doc...

[IforB]

TheEnd said:

it's called anosmia, and is fairly common after cold viruses etc
keep an eye out (or an ear rather) for any changes in your voice, something like that could suggest swelling in the sinuses and a problem up there

Have you been watching scrubs?

[TheEnd]

i googled the name of the condition, and made up the rest,
ie. it is possible to lose it after a virus/cold, and you'd just need to wait, but if there is something current causing it, like blocked sinuses, then it's something that needs treating. common sense i suppose

so most likely its on the way to healing itself, but anything else added to it might suggest something currently wrong

[wendyg]

My mum had a brain haemorrhage when I was really little, I'm guessing I was about 3, so she would have been early 30s. Big praise to the surgeons who diagnosed the problem and saved her life in the early 70s. Apart from a bit of memory loss, her only main loss was her sense of smell.

While she's said that it's not exactly catastrophic, it really does affect her life. She can remember the effect of smells, food is really bland, she refuses to have any gas appliances because she would not detect a leak, etc.

If I had to lose a sense, I'd choose taste. There are only 5 basic tastes, and most flavour from food is smell anyway.

[Benni]

Seems OP is the perfect partner for me [/PH].....

Edited by Benni on Saturday 13th December 23:31

[FourWheelDrift]

Chim Girl said:

I like the idea of taking bets, at present I can easily munch my way through a raw chilli or two. Not sure my stomach will appreciate the assault though.

If you try eating large quantities of raw chillies and other hot stuff for bets, your stomach is not the thing I'd be worried about.