PILOT SPIN
Spin Zone => Spin Zone => Topic started by: Becky (My pronouns are Assigned/By/God) on January 10, 2024, 07:53:22 PM
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Not a joke. Since November I’ve gradually lost my taste and smell to zero. Haven’t had covid to my knowledge. Last time I had a cold was February 2023. Researching, I see that it can be zinc deficiency, although I have zero of the other symptoms of that.
I don’t have sinus issues and never have. No dry mouth or such.
My acupuncturist told me to try nicotine patches at a low dose. She said if I did have covid in February, the spike protein binds to the olfactory nerve and the nicotine releases it. Honestly, online are many stories of the nicotine (gum or patch) giving people back their taste and smell. I was hopeful but it did not work. Now I am trying zinc supplementation. And will consult another doctor.
Just thought I’d throw it out there to see if anyone has experience with this. It takes much joy out of life.
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See an ENT (otolaryngologist - but nobody knows how to pronounce that.) Or get a referral to one.
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This happened to my son in law after a minor cold. Not covid this was years before Covid. Like you said, it took a lot of joy out of his life and he feared it was permanent but over time it gradually came back. That’s the good news. The bad news is it took like two years. That’s the only case I personally know of. I hope yours doesn’t take nearly that long. I agree with Jim, see an ENT.
Edit to correct. Son in law. Not brother in law. I just woke up. No coffee, I had to quit coffee last week so I’ve lost my way of jump starting my brain.
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I have nothing, just hope you can find an answer.
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what he said...
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I'm so sorry. Taste and smell are some of the major joys in life. I hope that you recover both very soon.
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Not a joke. Since November I’ve gradually lost my taste and smell to zero. Haven’t had covid to my knowledge. Last time I had a cold was February 2023. Researching, I see that it can be zinc deficiency, although I have zero of the other symptoms of that.
I don’t have sinus issues and never have. No dry mouth or such.
My acupuncturist told me to try nicotine patches at a low dose. She said if I did have covid in February, the spike protein binds to the olfactory nerve and the nicotine releases it. Honestly, online are many stories of the nicotine (gum or patch) giving people back their taste and smell. I was hopeful but it did not work. Now I am trying zinc supplementation. And will consult another doctor.
Just thought I’d throw it out there to see if anyone has experience with this. It takes much joy out of life.
I suspect you did have a mild case of Covid. If you got the shot you might have your taste now, but you might also be dead from heart failure.
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<sigh>
People are waaaaaay too quick to blame everything on covid
It’s not like loss of taste/smell never happened before 2019
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<sigh>
People are waaaaaay too quick to blame everything on covid
It’s not like loss of taste/smell never happened before 2019
So where is this being blamed on covid? Had you actually read the replies you might have noticed the opposite. ::)
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I suspect you did have a mild case of Covid. If you got the shot you might have your taste now, but you might also be dead from heart failure.
Zero regret on the clot shot. We were third tier when it came out, after health care workers and the over 65. By that time almost everyone we knew who got vaccinated was getting covid and getting angry about the ineffective shots. Big decision factor for us, that.
If the cold I had in February 2023 was indeed covid, and we know loss of taste and smell IS one of the complaints from it, one does wonder why it took nine months for this symptom to appear.
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So where is this being blamed on covid? Had you actually read the replies you might have noticed the opposite. ::)
Read the replies indeed
“I suspect you had a mild case of covid. Ifyou have got the shot you might have your taste now”
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Read the replies indeed
“I suspect you had a mild case of covid. Ifyou have got the shot you might have your taste now”
One person.
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Zero regret on the clot shot. We were third tier when it came out, after health care workers and the over 65. By that time almost everyone we knew who got vaccinated was getting covid and getting angry about the ineffective shots. Big decision factor for us, that.
If the cold I had in February 2023 was indeed covid, and we know loss of taste and smell IS one of the complaints from it, one does wonder why it took nine months for this symptom to appear.
From the first news reports my wife the RN said that there was so much wrong with everything they were saying that she didn't even know where to start.
When masking went from a fad to a series of 'laws' she said that the people making the decisions had zero idea what they were demanding and it would make it SO much worse.
When the asshole regime started demonizing ivermectin, my said that anytime you see that type of reaction in the media its because someone is out to make money on the alternative.
When people started being fired for refusing to take the fake vaccines she said, "Watch. Once the stupidity is over those people firing employees for refusing be guinea pigs for the big, fake science, pharmaceutical houses, will sue and win."
The fake covid bullshit, with the fake vaccine bullshit, was as corrupt and dishonest as the fake movie theater popcorn scam, and the thalidomide bullshit. It is just as fake as the bullshit HPV bullshit.
obama the queer, commie rammed obamacare thru and decimated privacy rights in the process. The fucking bill titled patient privacy was ll about ENDING patient privacy and any doctor patient confidentiality.
liberal democrats are fucking assholes and should be rounded up and deported along with all the illegal aliens.
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One person.
And I thought it was obviously in jest.
I guess not.
And I get blamed for not having a sense of humor.
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One person.
I don't know about you, but my world and experiences includes people other than PS posters.
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And I thought it was obviously in jest.
I guess not.
And I get blamed for not having a sense of humor.
sarcasm and humor is sometimes difficult to pick up.
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sarcasm and humor is sometimes difficult to pick up.
I understand that, I almost put the statement in green. But I didn't think this needed it:
If you got the shot you might have your taste now, but you might also be dead from heart failure. ]/quote]
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sarcasm and humor is sometimes difficult to pick up.
Also, it wasn't ALL sarcasm.
I didn't say that she DID have Covid. I said I suspected she had it.
I personally know three people who's first symptom of Covid was loss of smell and taste. I never personally knew anyone that suddenly lost that sense because of a cold, except maybe for a day or two. Their cases were practically symptom-less otherwise. Which is further proof that the panic was a scam. (Did I need to add that too?).
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I had scarlett fever back in the day and completely lost my sense of smell.
just saying...
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I suspect you did have a mild case of Covid. If you got the shot you might have your taste now, but you might also be dead from heart failure.
You should have put the first sentence in green font. I got it.
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Update. I stupidly fell on February 29 over an asphalt parking curb. Broke my right wrist this time, plus had to get some stitches for a little head gash. Wrist break was clean and aligned, so I’ve been in a removable brace for five weeks. Today the orthopedic surgeon (the same one who operated on my left wrist, may she be praised) said the break had healed beautifully and stayed in alignment. I must say it’s impressive to see an image of a healed bone. The body is amazing. Will start PT to regain movement.
Anyway, I asked the surgeon about loss of taste and smell, and she said she had the same thing happen to her. She thinks it was covid even though the taste/smell loss was the only symptom. What helped her was smell therapy … three times a day she would smell essential oils of rosemary, lemon, eucalyptus and peppermint for a while. It retrained her brain but she said a couple of things still don’t taste right to her. I’ve heard this from others. Will try it. She also mentioned nicotine patches help some people, and referred me to the FLCCC website, so I’d say she’s solid with docs who question.
In concert with Rush’s miraculous eclipse sighting, when I fell (it was at a local food truck) and bystanders began to help me, who should pull into the parking lot after about 10 minutes but a couple of paramedics who happened to decide to have lunch there that day at that time. They bandaged my head and splinted my wrist and iced my knee which also I’d injured. A man was there whom I’ll always think of as an angel … he kept looking me calmly in the eye and saying “It’ll be okay.” When my husband took me to the urgent care the doctor on duty was our dear friend and next door neighbor. His name tag reads “I treat, Jesus heals.”
Some would say coincidence. I’m not in the mood for that today.
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Wow, Becky. Glad it healed nicely and you're on the road back.
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Gosh Becky, you’ve been through the wringer! Glad there were people there to help you and no, not a coincidence. Hope the sense of smell improves.
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Update. I stupidly fell on February 29 over an asphalt parking curb. Broke my right wrist this time, plus had to get some stitches for a little head gash. Wrist break was clean and aligned, so I’ve been in a removable brace for five weeks. Today the orthopedic surgeon (the same one who operated on my left wrist, may she be praised) said the break had healed beautifully and stayed in alignment. I must say it’s impressive to see an image of a healed bone. The body is amazing. Will start PT to regain movement.
Anyway, I asked the surgeon about loss of taste and smell, and she said she had the same thing happen to her. She thinks it was covid even though the taste/smell loss was the only symptom. What helped her was smell therapy … three times a day she would smell essential oils of rosemary, lemon, eucalyptus and peppermint for a while. It retrained her brain but she said a couple of things still don’t taste right to her. I’ve heard this from others. Will try it. She also mentioned nicotine patches help some people, and referred me to the FLCCC website, so I’d say she’s solid with docs who question.
In concert with Rush’s miraculous eclipse sighting, when I fell (it was at a local food truck) and bystanders began to help me, who should pull into the parking lot after about 10 minutes but a couple of paramedics who happened to decide to have lunch there that day at that time. They bandaged my head and splinted my wrist and iced my knee which also I’d injured. A man was there whom I’ll always think of as an angel … he kept looking me calmly in the eye and saying “It’ll be okay.” When my husband took me to the urgent care the doctor on duty was our dear friend and next door neighbor. His name tag reads “I treat, Jesus heals.”
Some would say coincidence. I’m not in the mood for that today.
There's some great people out there. Glad you're ok.
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Glad you healed well, and had such great people helping you out. Neat suggestion about the essential oils.
Take care!
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Thanks everyone. It’s so easy to get doomy and gloomy about the world, but indeed good people are everywhere. We sometimes get down on young people but two high school girls came right over and helped me into my car to keep me warm, and brought napkins and pressed them on my head wound. They were asking me my husband’s phone number when the food truck guy’s wife came out and took that over, and took my phone and put her number in my contacts and said to keep her updated on how I was doing. She said the next time I came in for a Habayaki Burrito it was on the house. I texted her later with an update after the urgent care visit, and immediately my phone rang and we had a long conversation about how we all need each other. She loves her customers and had some good stories to tell.
When we got home we asked our neighbor Mike to take my husband over to pick up my car, and while they were gone his wife came over and insisted on massaging my feet. It was wonderful. She also texted frequently while I was healing, saying let’s go for a walk, which helped me overcome my fear of getting out there and falling again.
I think it’s important to realize how just a text, a short visit, anything really, can mean so much when you feel isolated or sidelined. We all need to be that person, that friend, that neighbor, that relative … who keeps contact going and helps if needed. I feel quite humbled.
Also, because I’m right handed, my husband has had to do all the cooking and cleaning up, and even tie my shoes. I’m learning a lot about him. But that’s for a marriage thread! ;D
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Thanks everyone. It’s so easy to get doomy and gloomy about the world, but indeed good people are everywhere. We sometimes get down on young people but two high school girls came right over and helped me into my car to keep me warm, and brought napkins and pressed them on my head wound. They were asking me my husband’s phone number when the food truck guy’s wife came out and took that over, and took my phone and put her number in my contacts and said to keep her updated on how I was doing. She said the next time I came in for a Habayaki Burrito it was on the house. I texted her later with an update after the urgent care visit, and immediately my phone rang and we had a long conversation about how we all need each other. She loves her customers and had some good stories to tell.
When we got home we asked our neighbor Mike to take my husband over to pick up my car, and while they were gone his wife came over and insisted on massaging my feet. It was wonderful. She also texted frequently while I was healing, saying let’s go for a walk, which helped me overcome my fear of getting out there and falling again.
I think it’s important to realize how just a text, a short visit, anything really, can mean so much when you feel isolated or sidelined. We all need to be that person, that friend, that neighbor, that relative … who keeps contact going and helps if needed. I feel quite humbled.
Also, because I’m right handed, my husband has had to do all the cooking and cleaning up, and even tie my shoes. I’m learning a lot about him. But that’s for a marriage thread! ;D
It is amazing how strangers will help. I did the same thing once, tripped over the curb and fell down, but had no injuries, and people came over to help me up and ask if I was okay.
Once at DFW I had to get the Skylink but the up escalator was broken and I had to manually walk up the stairs and due to my bad hip I was having a lot of trouble and a man came up behind me and asked if he could carry my bag for me, and without thinking I let him. He walked with it ahead of me up the stairs and left it up there for me. Only then did I realize he could have just run off with it, you probably shouldn’t hand your luggage over to strangers at the airport. What if it had been Sam Brinton, lol!
But he was just a stranger who helped someone he didn’t know and didn’t even seem to want a thank you, he went running off to get his tram before I even made it to the top of the stairs. It was a hit and run good deed, lol.
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Hahaha, you’d have recognized Sam Brinton!!! And told him to … (insert language). ;D
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Hahaha, you’d have recognized Sam Brinton!!! And told him to … (insert language). ;D
Yep. I think if it had been any man dressed as a woman and acting fruity I might have declined and not because I dislike drag queens or trans. As you know I’ve had them as friends. But it is because I see the impulse to help a stranger by carrying something heavy as a very masculine thing. Men do that sort of thing. So if an effeminate male offered it, I would have been suspicious. Not that women don’t also offer help to strangers but they do it in a nurturing way like the girls and the guy’s wife that helped you, not by hauling heavy things around. The fruity gays/trans/drag types have too much feminine energy, I wouldn’t have expected them to offer to carry my bag. I could be wrong but the types I knew were always like, “Tee hee, I’m a girl.” They’d be scared of bugs.
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Don't want to totally hijack Becky's wonderful story, but.....
My wife has a problem with dizziness and balance. Today is our 53rd anniversary so we went out for breakfast. It's a local place we go to frequently. As she got up from the booth we were she lost her balance and was headed down. She always screams, which certainly got everyone's attention. Luckily I was both watching and close enough to catch her by the arm and keep her upright.
Next Wednesday she will have a reverse shoulder replacement on her right shoulder. This will be her fifth joint replacement surgery. Her shoulder has gotten so bad at this point that I get to a lot of things she cannot. I'm good at many things at this point. There will be many more things I'll get to do as she recovers.
There have been times when I couldn't catch her and she goes down. Fortunately she has not had any serious injuries.
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It’s a scary thing for sure to have that “I’m going down” feeling. Getting up from being seated or lying down is a big time for that instability. I feel it sometimes just from fear. My falls have not been from instability but rather stupidity.
I’d never heard of the shoulder reversal until recently, and what an amazing thing it is. My neighbor had it and is now recovered. She had a machine that cools the surgery site uniformly and without having to run back and forth with ice.
I’m glad you can be supportive of your wife, Eppy. My good report yesterday certainly was helped to come about by my husband’s willingness to do things so I could heal and not struggle.
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K, so an update on having no smell or taste. It came on gradually last October-November. I tried the covid protocols but now all the docs say it probably wasn’t covid because of the gradual onset. Sometimes docs don’t listen very well. I’ve mentioned it to every medical professional I’ve encountered and they have no idea.
The ENT looked up my nose for polyps and found none. If I’d had them they could have been removed. He’d done that for a patient who was a wine taster by profession.
So his last ditch guess is a tumor (very rare) on my olfactory bulb. He ordered an MRI, which I can’t bring myself to do as it would have contrast and seems like diagnostic overkill.
The only things I can taste are very bitter. I can taste parsley, and really bitter IPA. I can detect sweet and salty. I can smell essential oils (eucalyptus, lemon, peppermint, etc.) but can’t smell the real thing, like grated lemon rind.
I just feel stuck, but like someone somewhere should be able to suss out the cause.
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K, so an update on having no smell or taste. It came on gradually last October-November. I tried the covid protocols but now all the docs say it probably wasn’t covid because of the gradual onset. Sometimes docs don’t listen very well. I’ve mentioned it to every medical professional I’ve encountered and they have no idea.
The ENT looked up my nose for polyps and found none. If I’d had them they could have been removed. He’d done that for a patient who was a wine taster by profession.
So his last ditch guess is a tumor (very rare) on my olfactory bulb. He ordered an MRI, which I can’t bring myself to do as it would have contrast and seems like diagnostic overkill.
The only things I can taste are very bitter. I can taste parsley, and really bitter IPA. I can detect sweet and salty. I can smell essential oils (eucalyptus, lemon, peppermint, etc.) but can’t smell the real thing, like grated lemon rind.
I just feel stuck, but like someone somewhere should be able to suss out the cause.
I'll be the bad guy here, so please forgive me.... you want to get a diagnosis but you won't have an MRI. GET THE MRI...
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I'll be the bad guy here, so please forgive me.... you want to get a diagnosis but you won't have an MRI. GET THE MRI...
I agree! Wholeheartedly.
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Agree with the others, get the MRI.
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Yup do the MRI.
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After my bicycling accident, I had three MRIs and three CT scans. It's a no brainer. (pun intended). Please do it.
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The doctor said such a growth is VERY RARE.
There are dozens of reasons for my condition, including hypothyroidism, which I have, and big-gun antibiotics, which I’ve had to take for gut infections. I don’t know the mechanisms for those being a cause, but the ENT (a surgeon) brushed them off and naturally looked for surgical treatments. I feel there is a LOT more he could have looked into. He jumped right to the RAREST, most dire thing at the end of a long tail of possible causes.
The contrast used in MRIs is not good for your health.
If there is an olfactory growth, it’ll be brain surgery.
I’m not going to look this all up or I’ll scare myself to death.
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The doctor said such a growth is VERY RARE.
There are dozens of reasons for my condition, including hypothyroidism, which I have, and big-gun antibiotics, which I’ve had to take for gut infections. I don’t know the mechanisms for those being a cause, but the ENT (a surgeon) brushed them off and naturally looked for surgical treatments. I feel there is a LOT more he could have looked into. He jumped right to the RAREST, most dire thing at the end of a long tail of possible causes.
The contrast used in MRIs is not good for your health.
If there is an olfactory growth, it’ll be brain surgery.
I’m not going to look this all up or I’ll scare myself to death.
I've had contrast MRIs several times. I don't consider it a health risk.
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It’s very unlikely the scan will find a cause of the problem, but it will provide you with a baseline image for the future. And on the off chance there is a mass, better to know about it sooner rather than later.
I recently had a head MRI with contrast due to persistent visual disturbances in one particular location in my field of vision the cause of which my eye doctors had ruled out was in my actual eyes. The only thing they found was brain shrinkage “normal for my age” (!) I had no idea that was a thing. So be prepared for that shocking finding.
Anyway the conclusion was “ocular migraine” which might be related to partial focal seizures but that didn’t show up on the MRI, there were no tumors or any abnormalities. Other than shrinkage. It was cold in that room.
The only bad side effect was I got a small clot in the vein on the back of my hand where she stuck the contrast needle. It hurt for a couple weeks but now is gradually getting better.
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It’s very unlikely the scan will find a cause of the problem, but it will provide you with a baseline image for the future. And on the off chance there is a mass, better to know about it sooner rather than later.
One of the lesser appreciated, but still very important parts of diagnosis is to rule out the unlikely causes. That leaves fewer variables and uncertainties.
I have never heard that contrast agents are unhealthy, but I have heard that bacon is unhealthy, yet I still love to eat it.
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The MRI is a good idea. I feel like crap after one with contrast, but it is the best way to find issues. Another option is a PET scan. I asked my doctor for one given my family's history with cancer. He told me that it's great for finding tissue that is abnormal. But the downside is that most abnormal tissue is benign and everyone has it. And every abnormal needs to be biopsied to make sure that it is indeed benign. However, if you're looking for something specific like an olfactory tumor it's pretty good.
But whatever you do, don't ignore it and hope it goes away or that it's nothing. Keep pressing for tests until you're SURE you know what it is.
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But whatever you do, don't ignore it and hope it goes away or that it's nothing. Keep pressing for tests until you're SURE you know what it is.
Which will likely be diagnosis of exclusion. You rule out all the bad stuff it could be. What’s left is the vague systemic stuff poorly understood for which there is no specific test. Like: “If it was associated with a virus, it’s probably long term damage to olfactory nerves. We can’t really see that on imaging.” Or: “If you don’t think it was a virus, it could be long term damage from the bad American diet; too many carbs, trans fats, sub clinical micronutrient deficiencies, and so on. The damage occurs slowly over time until it crosses the threshold of being noticeable to you, possibly a combination of both. Gradual lifelong damage kicked into overdrive by a viral illness.”
The diagnosis will end up being “idiopathic anosmia”. Which means, from the literal translation from Latin: “You lost your sense of smell but we are too stupid to figure out why.”
Have they completely ruled out allergies? My sinuses are full of what the ENT calls “allergic strands” or thickened mucus that doesn’t go anywhere. I imagine it reduces my sense of smell which I think has declined in recent years but not as dramatically or suddenly as yours.
Unfortunately reduced sense of smell is also just part of getting old. You’re not that old yet though, for it to be this bothersome.
The inclination for doctors to “go overboard” with testing is also because of liability. The doctor knows there is 99% chance you have no operable lesion but on the 1% chance you do and he fails to find it, he’s open to lawsuit. If he is sued his insurance may deny coverage if he didn’t order these tests. He has to recommend it but you are free to decline. However, assuming you have good health insurance, it is minimal cost to you, virtually no risk, and does eliminate the most dire of causes, which is a sort of peace of mind.
Having said that, I do feel an ethical problem with making society pay for unnecessary testing, but we are enmeshed in the system as it stands. If you didn’t vote for the politicians (their agencies) who over-regulate private insurance and implemented Medicare/Medicaid (basically socialized medicine), as well as enable a dysfunctional legal system punishing doctors overzealously, you’re not responsible for the fact of it but you are forced to exist within it. So you are entitled to use it to your maximum advantage.
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If you didn’t vote for the politicians (their agencies) who over-regulate private insurance and implemented Medicare/Medicaid (basically socialized medicine), as well as enable a dysfunctional legal system punishing doctors overzealously, you’re not responsible for the fact of it but you are forced to exist within it. So you are entitled to use it to your maximum advantage.
Well put.
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Well put.
Thank you.