So, I'm now a year into the loss of my smell and taste and what a year it has been. It started with a cold like feeling every so many days until one day I woke up with a stuffy nose, no smell and no taste and it didn't come back. I was also at the same time diagnosed with Asthma and because the doctors were more concerned with this my sinus problems got swept aside.
I finally ended up paying privately to go and see an ENT surgeon who, after a CT scan, diagnosed chronic rhinitis. All the sinus pockets in my head were blocked, no wonder I couldn't smell anything!
So, back in June I had sinus surgery where they unblocked most of my sinus cavities but unfortunately it was unsuccessful. I have had loads of antibiotics but the bacteria in my sinuses keeps mutating making the antibiotics useless. After spending nine hundred pounds on blood tests, which were not covered under my insurance, they showed that I had a bacteria in my sinuses called Haemophilius Influenzae which I am having a vaccination for tomorrow. I am also washing my sinuses out with a mixture of saline and baby shampoo, which I can tell you stings like mad.
So, what next if this injection doesn't work?
I'm already spraying steroids up my nostrils, next it will be washing my sinuses out with steroids and maybe more surgery. We're now five days from Christmas and my first one not being able to enjoy the tastes and smells we all love. I have missed so much this year, my daughter had a baby and I never got to smell him and that really makes me sad.
Can I live the rest of my life with no taste and smell? I really, really hope not, it would be extremely sad 😭 .
Why am I writing this? Well, I really hope there might be someone else here who has gone through what I am going through and has come out the other side with a positive outcome. Someone who can offer me advice, something else to try maybe. I look to you my friends to help in anyway you can.
Hello dear friend,
I am saddened to hear about the suffering you have been going through for the past year.I am an ENT surgeon and i totally understand the agony one faces with out the sense of taste or smell.well do have a trial of steam inhalation and if that also doesnt help you with it ;definately think about the surgical option ,as taste and smell are very important assets for enjoying small day to day happiness
Thank you for your reply and for understanding how hard it is not to have these senses. It is like a death, a disability I've lost so much. I'm having more surgery, I pray that things will change x