Sensory deficiencies - how to cope?

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Jun 22, 2022
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Since I got the unmentionable illness, the sensory inputs associated with tasting food have disappeared. I can only taste sweet and baking soda. All nuances are lost.

I am sure I'm not the only one. How do you cope?

Is there a special technique to enhance flavors to overcome the deficiency?

Please don't turn this into a discussion for the illness itself, I am asking for the food part ONLY.
 
It's been 3 weeks. I have a constant smell of battery acid in my nose but am able to faintly sense mint from toothpaste.

I'm a non-smoker.
 
Don't give up hope since it's only been 3 weeks.

Are you fat? Can you use this to make you a healthier eater? Some people are entertained by food and pay the consequence. I grew up having a health nut mom that would say to us kids when we complained of her cooking " food is for nourishment, not entertainment".
 
I came within about an inch of dying of Covid last November. I was in the hospital for eleven days and on oxygen for two more months after being paroled. Most food was fine, but Taco Bell fire sauce and La Victoria hot sauce tasted terrible and I always liked those before. Also, IPAs did not taste good any more. My taste for hot sauce came back, but I do not like the strong IPAs any more.
 
I am on week 4, and just last week slowly started getting smell/taste back. I am the main cook for the family, and I had a hard time seasoning things correctly...and it still isn't right. I occasionally smell things others don't, sometimes a specific flavor will seriously turn me off, and sometimes I still can't smell anything. I went water skiing yesterday, so had a good sinus cleaning...all I smell is lake water today ;-)
 
My bride and I came to two conclusions after both having a strong case...

When you get sick, laying in a bed, and letting this "virus" settle in will take you to your grave - STAY ACTIVE, keep moving and keep your lungs working.

IMHO this is not natural...never experienced being sick like that before. Our bodies clearly don't know how to cope with it.
 
Don't give up hope since it's only been 3 weeks.

Are you fat? Can you use this to make you a healthier eater? Some people are entertained by food and pay the consequence. I grew up having a health nut mom that would say to us kids when we complained of her cooking " food is for nourishment, not entertainment".
While I agree with your advice in this case, your Mom was absolutely wrong about the nature of food. My wife is a wonderful cook and foodie. Some of her creations, and places she’s taken me, are far, far more than mere nourishment. They’re entertainment, delight, as well as nourishment. Plain gruel and vitamin supplements would be nourishment, but who would want to live that way?
 
Find out if cold foods are more palatable than warm foods. Otherwise, you'll just have to wait for your sense of smell and taste to return. It should not take more than a few weeks in most cases but it can take years in rare instances. I have a friend who lost not only all his sense of taste and smell but also all his teeth after coming back from sandland. He was exposed to something officially unacknowledged that messed him up permanently. He says everything tastes either metallic or it's just tasteless
 
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A medical professional recently told my family member to practice smelling and tasting every day, like weight lifting in reverse. Start with strong tastes and smells that they can still detect. Then, they are supposed to gradually reduce the concentrations and introduce more subtle smells and tastes over the next weeks and months. Apparently the sensors themselves are still intact, but need to rebuild the neural pathways so the brain can communicate and recognize the tastes and smells again. I have no idea if this is true, just sharing anecdotal information.
 
I believe medical researchers said the loss of sense of taste and smell was most likely related to inflammation and that it was a neurological effect. No idea if neuroadaptation can be accelerated. I suppose reducing inflammation should be the primary objective.
 
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