[sapphire9]

Several weeks ago, I had a bad cold, which has left me with ongoing mild congestion and the inability to smell and taste since April 14. My doctor has given me meds to treat the symptoms and says the senses will come back when the infection goes. I am very concerned about this, since it's been such a long time. Has anyone experienced this problem and if so, how long before your senses came back?

[kaplods]

This happened to me last winter. I even posted here about it. I found the link, but realized I didn't really note when it came back entirely. I had no sensation of taste at all for about 10 days, and then it started coming back slowly.

I remember at the time, that looking up the problem online, scared me because I found stories about people losing the sense of smell and taste forever after a virus or after using remedies containing zinc (I had used zinc lozenges that week).

Heres the thread, if you're interested

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/gene...mell-gone.html

[sapphire9]

Thank you for giving me hope and for the thread. I'm nervous about the zinc. After I got the cold, I decided to take cal-mag-zinc tablets because zinc was supposed to be good for that. I also took Ricola cough drops, but don't know if there is any zinc in them. Not being able to use these senses is very disorienting and takes away one of life's major pleasures. Not just the food, but the ability to smell fresh air, roses, etc. If I hold up a strong spice or perfume to my nose, I can smell it briefly and once in awhile I get a brief whiff of something, although it almost seems like an illusion. I can't taste anything at all. Have tried wasabi, peppers, etc. but they just burn my tongue. Can experience textures though. Unfortunately the only textures that are satisfying right now are bread, butter and cheese. Tomatoes, which I normally love, feel icky. I hope I get back to normal soon.

[CrystalZ10]

You will once the cold is gone completly..it will come back gradually and you won't even know when it came back.

I used Zicam for a cold once and lost my sense of taste. It was awful...everything tasted and felt like sawdust! I got it back two weeks after I stopped taking it.