I can eat strawberries and bananas again! And I ate tons of strawberries in May as we went strawberry picking a couple of times. We picked about 20lbs each time! They still have some kind of an off smell/taste but much more tolerable and almost enjoyable. I can pretty much eat everything now, except for fried food and sweets. Well, who needs them anyway.
The things that I get bad smell/tastes from at the moment are narrowed down to arugula, parsley, some cereal (such as Kashi Heart to Heart or any Cheerios type cereal), fried and baked “goods”. I don’t eat any meat or processed foods any more (such as deli meat) so that helps, too.
I can taste and enjoy most fruit. I eat watermelon for breakfast almost every day. I love my green smoothies. I use apples, oranges, pears, mangoes, pineapple, kale and spinach a lot. I prefer green apples to red ones. Sweeter apples still have some kind of a bad after taste. I can tolerate most veggies, too. However romaine lettuce still has a bitter smell and taste. I can still eat it, but iceberg tastes better.
I can also eat fish, eggs, dairy, and most bread. I can even eat nuts which have been tasting rancid for the longest time. I enjoy eating almonds and pistacchios again. I remember not being able to tolerate them in January when we went to Turkiye. So even after 10 months after my head injury, nuts were tasting bad. But after 2-3 more months, things started to get better. So, try to be patient. It will get better.
The only dessert-besides all the fruit I have-is dark chocolate. Milk chocolate tastes too sweet now, thus no good for my taste buds any more. Although I used to eat and enjoy tiramisu in the past year, even shortly after my accident.
I don’t do anything special for my nose any more other than the occasional Nasonex and Saline sprays when it gets itchy from allergies. I keep taking multivitamins and alpha lipoic acid. I quit taking synthetic vitamins though. Now I only take natural whole food based ones. Now that I eat healthier, I don’t even take them every day.
I’ve been reading the comments and wanted to tell everyone to keep strong and hopeful. It can and will get better. I’ve probably recovered 80-90% in about a year. I remember how miserable I was about this time last year, so I certainly know what you’re going through. Try to stay healthy and it will come back!
4 comments
Comments feed for this article
June 17, 2008 at 5:31 pm
fjb
For what it’s worth, or misery loves compay, I also found in just the past few days that I can taste strawberries, and it’s normal. Before, the sour flavor, that caused a solvent taste ruled. Same for bananas. Go figure. I used to be a super-taster. Cooking was my best skill, and my life revolved around it.
July 3, 2008 at 11:48 am
Anonymous
I also suffer from asnomia. I have allergies, chronic sinusitis, pan sinusitis, constant sinus infections which contributes to this lack of smell and taste. I am now asthmatic because of my sinus troubles. The only thing that cures my condition is prednisone along with antibiotics. I can no longer use prednisone, as I developed cataracts from it (already had the surgery) and developed osteopenia from this drug. Although it cures it temporarily, the drug has long term effects (not to mention while on it, I suffered from muscle cramps, change in personality and bad muscle spasms. I stopped my flonase nose spray as that contains some cortisteroids than can be absorbed – it wasn’t helping. It’s the olfactory nerve that gives us the smelling ability which in tern helps us with taste. That’s my problem. The inflammation around this nerve is why I can’t smell or taste. I can only detect if something is sweet or salty. I tried homeopathic pills which worked – I can’t tell if it was the pills or because it was winter time with no allergens. Lactoferrine and gogiberries – suggested to me by a well known ENT in NY> I am going to try acupuncture (although I heard it’s a slight chance it may work) I feel for you all. I either eat too much because I’m not getting satified, or I don’t eat because it gets depressing. i miss the smells of fresh laundry, my cologne, the flowers in Spring and the rain hitting cement on a hot summer day. Some of our problems can be temporary or permanent. There’s a second or two I think I’m smelling. But then it’s gone. So maybe there’s hope …
July 3, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Anonymous
forgot to mention the times where there is a sour taste in my mouth, sometimes bad breath, and some foods leave a bad taste.
October 15, 2008 at 8:56 pm
c
I got a real bad cold Dec. 2007 and now it is Oct. 2008 and still little taste and no smell for flavor. Don’t know what to do since the doctor said the longer your taste and smell is gone the chances of it coming back are nil. Nice positive feed back from our health care in Ontario Canada. Any suggestion please post.