My condition seems to be more unique and difficult to recover from due to its cause. These articles don’t give me much hope but facts are facts. There is a slim chance that I might get my sense of smell back in months or years–that is if I am lucky enough..
Recovery of olfactory function following closed head injury or infections of the upper respiratory tract:
“During an observation period of approximately 1 year, more than 30% of patients with post-URTI olfactory loss experienced improvement, whereas only 10% of patients with posttraumatic olfactory loss experienced improvement. Furthermore, age plays a significant role in the recovery of olfactory function. ”
Treatments for olfactory loss from Head trauma(HT)/ Post traumatic injuries:
“…the olfactory system has the ability to regenerate. Indeed, there is the potential for recovery after a head injury and animal studies have demonstrated that recovery is possible. Costanzo recorded cells from the olfactory bulb of a hamster and demonstrated recovery within nine months. However, in humans the prognosis is much lower and the estimated possibilities for recovery vary widely from 15% to 39%.”
“It is generally believed that this aetiology can not be treated with drug therapy. However, approximately a third of sufferers do recover with the most likely cause being natural regeneration of the olfactory system. The onset of regeneration usually occurs within three months of the trauma ; beyond one year then the chances of recovery are slim. Early recovery may occur due to mechanisms such as the disappearance of blood clots, and later recovery, due to regeneration of neural elements. Complete recovery may take approximately five years.
CAUSES of OLFACTORY LOSS
| Aetiology | % patients |
|---|---|
| Head injury | 19* |
| Post URI | 17* |
| Nasal/sinus disease | 16* |
| Idiopathic-nasal | 17 |
| Toxic exposure-nasal | 5 |
| Multiple | 5 |
| Congenital | 2 |
| Age | 1 |
| Idiopathic-oral | 9 |
| Miscellaeous-oral | 6 |
| Toxic exposure-oral | 1 |
* Main causes of olfactory loss, which accounted for >50% of the reported cases. (Original data obtained from Seiden, 1997). (ANOSMIA by Helen Gatcum and Tim Jacob)
No Smell No Taste 
114 comments
Comments feed for this article
August 14, 2007 at 9:38 am
Anonymous
I’ve just discovered this site. My anosmia began is April following a bad cold. I was worked up for other causes for this conditon but everything was negative. Every now and then I get a fast whiff of something familiar like coffee or coconut and then in the same instant it disappears and doesn’t resurface for days or weeks. I’ve tried acupuncture and am now trying alpha lipoic acid. I feel like I’m fixating on this more than I should be. It’s not like losing sight or hearing and I’m annoyed with myself for not just moving on and dealing. Strangely, however, I’m still eating up a storm. Can’t explain why.
September 20, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Pam
Have you ever determined what caused the sickening smells? About ten weeks ago I had a minor cold thing going on. Since then, things that should smell wonderful – orange juice, Downy, hand soap, perfume, shampoos, vinegar based foods – smell absolutely revolting!! I don’t know how to describe how repulsive the smells are – like sickly sweet garbage smells. Cooking is close to impossible, since my sense of smell is so off.
What did the docs ever say about your sense of smell returning to normal? Has it improved?
October 27, 2015 at 7:31 pm
Anonymous
I can’t stand the smell in my nose.
October 27, 2015 at 9:47 pm
Richie
Hello, and thanks for sharing. I hope your smell and taste return back to you. In brief, I had a sever fall on the ice one night. I hit my head pretty and lost conciseness for a few minutes. The right side of my face was a deep purple the next day. For the next few days I applied the normal Ice packs and took aspirin. It wasn’t until a few months that I noticed a sever pain in my left shoulder. When the pain got so sever, I had an MRI done. I received a call from my physician the same day telling me that it was positive for a medical term known as Frozen Shoulder. About a month or so after this, I realized I could no longer smell nor taste. Another MRI of the brain proved a fractured skull. The sensation of smell and taste never returned. It’s almost 4 years and sad to report, I never recovered that sensation again. My shoulder is still painful and I have limited motion with raising my shoulder extent any length above my head. I still hold out hope for a cure and believe that it will return in time. Good luck and keep the faith…Richie
September 21, 2007 at 11:22 pm
Ipek
My hyposmia was caused by a head injury. You can read the details in my previous posts. I suffered the most in the first two months after my injury. I had to learn to live with all sorts of horrifying smells and tastes. I didn’t even want to get in the kitchen the first month. It was a nightmare.
Now after almost 6 months, I can speak of some improvement as I posted recently. The only things I can smell right are roses and raspberries at the moment. Most of the rest is still highly distorted, but there seems to be some hope.
I couldn’t stand orange juice right after my head injury either like most everything else, but now I can drink it again. I can enjoy tea once again too, but coffee still smells/tastes too weird. Don’t lose your hope, you can see some improvement in time. It happens slowly.
All the doctors could say was there was no cure or treatment and it could take months or years to see some recovery.
November 7, 2007 at 3:01 am
Renee
I had a head injury about 2 years ago and have not been able to smell a thing NOTHING at all not even bathroom cleaners. I would really like to know if there is any hope at all? I’am a chef and my life has come to a stop over this. Please can anyone help me.
Thanks
December 8, 2010 at 1:25 pm
cindy
Have you regained any loss of taste or smell ?
December 8, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Lonly
Hi, im not her. But i can nog taste a little bit of gingerbread. Do you think my smell can come back or is it just that one? And also, do you think ALA (Alpha lipoic acid) works? And is there anything a can do to helt the regain of the smell? Anything at all? Please help!
March 5, 2008 at 1:02 am
Prajyot Sinha
My father had a fall when he was in bathroom. He got a injury in his head.
After that he lost his sence of taste and smell. I want to ask if Liopoic acid works or not.
it is now around a year and more after the incident.
please help me.
July 23, 2008 at 11:33 pm
Vicki
Oh, my goodness I hope someone will just email me back and tell me how they deal with not being able to taste anything or smell anything.
January 20, 2006 I had a heart attack and I guess I fell back “like and old Oak tree” on a cement floor. I hit my head so hard that they thought it was cracked open, but it wasn’t. When I came to in the hospital they were worried about my heart cause it had stopped for 6 minutes but I was worried I’d busted my neck or something. Anyway, it was the next day when the lady brought my lunch which was a tuna sandwich. Now we all know tuna SMELLS! I was eating it thinking “what the hec??” I couldn’t taste it and I went to smell it and I couldn’t smell it either. I called the nurse in and asked if she smelled the sandwich. She said, yes, what’s the problem. I asked her to bring me some rubbing alcohol pads and she did (even tho at that moment she thought I was crazy;-) and I love the smell of rubbing alcohol, I put them up to my nose and there was nothing. I started to cry and realized something was terribly wrong. I tried talking to Dr’s about it and they acted like it was nothing. I have only told a few of my family members and a couple of friends and even they say “I’m lucky to be alive”.
I don’t want to be alive if I can’t smell or taste anything. Is there anyone out there that can understand what I’m feeling. Please email me!
Vicki @ vickijeanne78@yahoo.com
August 11, 2008 at 1:58 am
Carol Cathey
I had a roller skating accident in 2004. I flew through the air, landed on the back of my head, sat up and wrenched off one of my skates, and vomited. I couldn’t sit up for a long period of time. I knew I had a concussion, the worst ever, but I did not go to the hospital because I knew they would tell me not to go to sleep. I discovered within 24 hours that I had lost my sense of smell. I can now sometimes smell some things, very faintly. At first I would TRY to smell things like gasoline or other strong smelling substances, and couldn’t. It still is not functional, but I doubt there is anything I can really do about it. I wonder if this problem constitutes a “disability”, since it is provably dangerous since I cannot cook without standing in front of the stove, can’t smell fire, can’t detect dangerous chemicals, etc. If a couple of my other senses were affected, I would be deemed Blind or Deaf. Thank God I can still taste, although that sense is compromised due to my lack of olfactory ability, but if it were all the way gone, I probably would never eat because everything would taste the same…like nothing. There is no way to fix this problem, as far as my research can discern. However, is there a way to classify this problem as a “disability”?
August 17, 2008 at 11:45 pm
tinman
I’m happy to report that even though it’s been 9 weeks since my fall and I still can’t smell (or taste) s**t, alcohol still gets me buzzed. And since I can no longer tell cheap from the good stuff, my wine bill has plummeted. Thank you, Ernest & Julio!
I’m 58 and not looking forward to the declining years with essentially no taste but hey, it’s better than a bum knee. They really suck.
January 27, 2015 at 6:49 am
Anonymous
brilliant !!!!!!!!!
every cloud has a silver lining, i have the same thing and yep no more bad smells or grim meals they all taste and smell the same,
like blackcurrent on fire …ha ha
June 21, 2015 at 10:28 am
Anonymous
Made me quit smoking lol
August 18, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Anonymous
I am 37 years old and was hit with a softall in the back of the head 5 weeks ago while running bases and lost my sense of smell. My ct scan was normal, but I still can’t smell and everything tastes distorted. My head was bruised and lasted for a couple of weeks. I’m wondering if my brain is stil bruised and when it heals, my smell will come back. Would mild bruising show up normal on a Ct scan? Does anyone have an idea how long that may take to heal?
I will still play softball, but will definitely wear a batters helmet next time.
August 20, 2008 at 1:22 pm
AW
I had some kind of upper-respiratory infection in mid-June, and after recovery realized my sense of smell was gone. It has now been almost two months, with no change, except for a horrible smell/feeling I get when breathing through my nose- similar to the chemical/burning/root canal/trash smell described by this blog’s author.
I am very depressed over all of this and find I have to censor my complaints because most people see it as something quite novel and amusing. However I feel shut off from the world and most things sensual/sensory.
If anyone has any experience in recovery from anosmia following a URI, please be in touch..
January 27, 2015 at 6:53 am
Anonymous
i suffer no smell or taste also..
……………..most sensual/sensory,hmmmm…. ??????????
on the bright side, better than losing your sight i reckon.
March 3, 2015 at 4:43 pm
AHM
Just checking to see if your sense of smell returned. I am getting over a URI and my sense of smell has gone. Just yesterday I noticed my coffee had a strange but pleasant taste, kind like broth, now the is the only sense of smell I have even though I know it is not a smell that is around me because no one else can smell it. Kind of wierd, just wanting things to get back to normal.
March 3, 2015 at 5:14 pm
Richie
Hello, thank you for your concerns. Sad, but I never did recover my taste or smell after my head injury. It’s not a good feeling to miss out on the foods I use to love to eat. My head trauma was sever at the time, and I didn’t start to loose the ability to taste and smell until several week after my accident…If anyone out there has any suggestion…All are welcome… 🙂 Richard
August 25, 2008 at 11:49 pm
juan
I want to know if zink help anyone to get their sence of smell back.
May 12, 2010 at 1:35 am
Anonymous
i would like to know how to fix my smell two
January 27, 2015 at 6:54 am
Anonymous
have a wash ….lol
September 3, 2008 at 12:33 pm
SC
My husband lost his taste and smell from a head injury 4yrs ago he says he still can not taste or smell anything. yet he picks up on what kind of lotion I put on, he can ditinguish herbs without looking, he says when things taste good or not good, he can tell when a reciepe is missing something…. Is this possible? could his loss of smell and taste have come back and it is now all in his head? I’m confused by this?
September 3, 2008 at 6:13 pm
fjb
SC, I think that your husband’s experience is probably different from that of mine. I know my problem was caused by an infection. That being said, let’s assume that nerve damage is nerve damage. I can taste and smell things, and some sensations are correct. I can smell rose. I can taste oranges. However, some stuff is really off, alcohol, vinegar, and wine smell the same, and in the case of things in this category that aren’t lethal, taste the same. So, I am presuming that he is tasting, just not normally. That being said, I’ve heard of blind people who can “see”. And, I’m a meditator, and from experiences with it I know that there are many things about perception that either are beyond our normal experience, or are not noticed in our normal experience. And, then, we just presume that we are all preceiving things the same way, e.g. red is the same to everyone, but there’s no way to actually tell. And, now I can say that who is to say we are all tasting things the same way. We’ve all experienced not eating salt for a while, and how salty things can then taste. I’ll never toss a vegetable to a dog again and wonder why it isn’t so interesting to him.
September 4, 2008 at 12:16 pm
SC
Thank you for the insight fjb…. 🙂
SC
September 8, 2008 at 3:47 pm
ds
I lost my sense of smell (and therefore taste) three years ago after a serious sinus infection. For those of you who are ‘not wanting to live’ without a sense of smell….I can relate, I understand that feeling of ‘why bother’….I was the most sensory-related person I know. And that’s not just me saying it; friends, colleagues, work associates all confirmed that I was always vocalizing about what the air smelled like; or some plant (I’m a field ecologist), or some habitat. I could smell snow the night before it fell….
All of that is gone; and with it, a very very important part of my soul. But after three years I’ve learned some things that no one could tell me.
First off; it may or may not come back. You have to let yourself greive (yes, grieve) this loss of one of the five key senses we have. It is true that you won’t get much empathy for this loss: I used to have to remind folks that they would probably be much more verbally empathetic if I was struck blind…but somehow we discredit the significance of the of our sense of smell. (you will have people bringing you dishes that they over-spiced; or a particularly strong perfume because they’re trying to be helpful. I gently chide them and ask if they’d tell Stevie Wonder to “look harder” at the mountains in the distance….does he see them now?)
Secondly; what I discovered after two years, was that I had developed a different taste palette. It is our mouth that tastes salt, sweet, bitter, sour, acid…and also the “heat” of hot peppers, and a fifth taste that the Japanese call “umame”…meaning earth-like. I know you may not be interested right now, but over time, I’ve found Asian cuisine to be the most mouth-satisfying: sweet and sour, smooth and crunchy…they have alot of texture which becomes REALLY important. You will learn to differentiate between foods based on those simplest flavors and textures. It will NOT be the same tastes you used to have….but you will develop a different approach to food. I even starting cooking again (after I could go grocery shopping again without just standing in the produce aisle crying that I’d never taste a peach or cherry, or an apple again).
Lastly, remember that memory and emotion are strongly tied to smell…so, not only are you going to have to work through the grief of loss (and this IS a real loss); you may also find that your emotions are more modest in some regards. Remember how walking into the kitchen when someone was just pulling an apple pie, or cookies, or bread out of the oven would make you stop, smile and say, “ahhh……”…. Well, that little tiny ‘jump-start’ of sweet happiness or contentment is now gone….that too is a deep loss. It took me more than two years to realize that I was over the depression (mostly) but that I was still missing those little jump-starts of delight now and then (think hyacynths in the spring, fall leaves, warm babies, puppies…..). So, that has taken a greater awareness of self to not stay subdued and shut-out from the world. People ask if my hearing has improved…I don’t think so, but I’m certainly alot more aware of sounds an pay more close attention to them.
Lastly, if you live in a home heated by natural gas (or have a cooking stove/oven), propane, diesel, etc. then get a gas-detector for in your home. I walked into an Airstream trailer where there was a propane leak (which I couldn’t smell) and was just about ready to light a match to start a pilot light when my partner came in screaming to stop…..
Best of luck. Let yourself get angry and be sad. Be kind to your friends who can’t comprehend what it’s like. And yes, cheap wine will work just as well as the ‘good stuff’….but be careful not to abuse it in your search for solace!
I don’t cry about it as much as I used to. Yes, I still eat too much…sadly, in search for ‘mouth satisfaction’. If you had an eating/weight problem before this probably won’t ‘cure’ it.
And yes, I get occaisonal ‘molecules’ of an odor…no pattern to it what-so-ever…..sweetpeas one day, not the next. Bacon for a moment; then gone. Raspberries in the sun….a fleeting sense. I find that I’m now so aware of these occaisonal molecules that I’ll surprise folks around me by saying….”salt-water, can you smelll it?”….and they won’t be aware that they can till I ask.
October 29, 2009 at 12:28 pm
jenny
ds: thank you for your frank advices. I am glad to have found this site and to know that there are people who are experiencing the same thing as I do. For a while, I thought I was going nuts with this distorted smell n taste. I just had a head injury a month ago and I have lost part of my sense of taste and smell. Some strong smell would smell metallic to me. I am sad but try not to think about it. I pray that all of us will recover from this all.
September 18, 2014 at 7:45 am
Anonymous
Thank you so much ds for this great post it’s really helped me
September 10, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Barbara
ds: Thank you for your post. It is so true that is almost made me cry. I am learning day by day to deal with this condition. Sometimes I almost forget then it will hit me after school. I teach jr. high so lunch is no big deal..15 minutes of scarfing down a meal that never was that good to start with. It’s the weekends and the fun of new restaurants, good times over a meal that make me sad. But your post has helped me. I am still learning and enjoy some foods like vanilla ice cream and fruit. One thing I have learned it to quit bitching about it because, like the dr.’s, no one really cares except us.
September 12, 2008 at 4:11 pm
ds
Good; I’m glad it helped a bit. I’m not kidding about crying in the grocery store…sometimes I’d go in and walk up and down the aisles, simply looking for something that I wanted to eat. Then I found Kettle Corn! Sweet, crunchy AND salty! it worked for a while….
It will get better (the grief part); and if you pay attention and can let go having the breadth of taste/smell/delight that you were used to, and be more aware of what you can discern for taste, food will regain a role in your life again, even socially.
I strongly suggest Asian food (OK, not sushi…used to be a favorite of mine, but not so much now….). Think Thai, Chinese, Japanese…and if you haven’t tried those authentic cuisines see if you can find some place to go and try: texture, sweet/salty mixed in the same dish; hot spicy with crunch and bitter…..I swear they are cuisines formulated for those of us with only mouth taste….
When you’re ready…
September 15, 2008 at 8:46 am
lc
ds – your words are very encouraging. I could never have known how isolating not being able to smell could be. It’s something that connects people in such a way that they never quite realize.
Nobody can really understand what it’s like except those who’ve experienced it. I suffer from parosmia after a head injury months ago – i had started off anosmic, but it progressed into phantosmia and parosmia.
I too have found myself welling tears at the market, at the movies, in the streets. Smell is something that connects you to everyone – watching people’s heads turn excitedly towards fresh baked muffins or fresh popcorn, hearing tummies grumble at smoky BBQ or knowing someone’s cooking nextdoor – it’s a part of the world that we have to rely on other less obvious cues for, if any at all, and it’s terribly sad. It can make one feel very lonely, even when surrounded by people.
I’ve tried to take time out to grieve about it and move on, but it still proves difficult with each passing day.
Sushi is one of my favorite foods – although not so much now for me too, but so it goes with all foods as my taste is severely impaired – not just from olfactory loss, but from severe distortion. It’s hard for me because i’m asian, so having grown up with these foods and knowing what my foods taste like show me everything that’s missing when i eat them. Its….boring…..thus terribly, heartbreakingly sad.
i miss…..fresh cut grass, lemons, fresh laundry right out of the drier, shampoo, chopped basil, sesame seeds, the subtle nuances of sushi ( i know you hear me on this one), the smell of water and earth by the river – i could go on…
October 23, 2016 at 8:36 pm
Shelli Hurt
I know this post was made a very long time ago, but I am currently experiencing parosmia. I really need someone to talk about it with. 😦
June 1, 2017 at 10:35 pm
Belinda
Hello i was just wondering how you are going? I had a head injury also and have your same symptoms anosmia first and then paranosmia next, some people say it’s a good sign but I’m feeling really down about it all, it’s so hard to enjoy life, any information on how you are going would be so greatly appreciated. 🙂 thankyou
September 16, 2008 at 12:07 am
Anonymous
One month ago I fell out of a moving vehicle and along with many other things, I fractured my temporal bone which has affected my sense of smell, taste and hearing. My hearing has gotten MUCH better however the smell and taste has not. I can smell and taste better than the first 2 weeks but its not even close to normal.
Im not sure if reading these posts are helping me or hurting me however theyre letting me cry. Im scared and all anyone can say to me is how lucky I am that this is the only permanent injury but like everyone else has said nobody understands.
I love food but its the never being able to smell thats really getting to me. Im such a smeller that I would actually purposely smell bad things just because I cant help myself, I NEEDED to smell EVERYTHING and the thought of being 24 years old and having to live the rest of my life this way is absolutely breaking my heart…
I keep trying to think positively that it will come back but as time goes by and nothing changes, I am slowly losing hope.
December 9, 2010 at 7:27 pm
cindy
Have you regained your sense of smell or taste yet??
September 22, 2008 at 2:38 am
peanut69
DS…
Thank you DS, for giving us all permission to grieve for our losses. Some for taste, some for smell, some for both, and all for the “nice smells of life” that we are now missing. It’s been 18 months for me and some things have gotten better, others have stayed the same, but it is the “nice things of life” that I miss the most. So big thanks to you for reminding me that I have truly lost something important in my life and for letting me know it was ok to be angry, sad, depressed, and grieve over it. It has helped me very much. Thank you!!
September 25, 2008 at 1:37 pm
ds
hello all;
I’m glad my words have helped. My heart aches for all of you for which this is so new and it feels hopeless. I too couldn’t imagine living my rich, full life without a sense of smell. I stated emphatically numerous times that I’d give up my sense of taste for the rest of my life if only I could get back my sense of smell… no generous spirit took me up on my offer of barter.
I understand your lack of hope, your disbelief and despair, and your deep sorrow. It may be no consolation; but I can only assure you that it does get easier. You will survive, you will find richness and joy again in other delights and yes, even in taste. Eventually.
I can’t tell you how to get through it; or offer any platitudes. Only some assurance that you will persevere, and you will live into the days ahead where the grief, anger and sorrow will diminish and become less pervasive. There will come a time when you won’t wake up first thing in the morning and think of it….you will regain a new equilibrium.
Be gentle with yourself in that journey.
October 4, 2008 at 4:26 pm
JP
DS
You should be a writer because your words touched the hearts of all of us who suffer from our loss which I always took for granted. You know the saying “stop and smell the roses”…I wish I literally could smell a rose (which is my favorite flower) and I have gone through my own grieving process but people think I’m on a pity-pot and say “Get over it” as they’re enjoying decadent chocolate cake.
I fractured my skull during a seizure on 9/4/07 and the doctors said it could be a year or never before my senses returned. So when the year came, (and I had so much hope) and nothing changed I fell into a bad depression and just gave up on eating. I too used to eat everything in sight hoping to find some pleasure, some gratification. It dawned on me that everything social revolves around food…going on a date, meeting friends, holidays (thats a biggie). But now I am learning the meaning of acceptance and I am grateful I didn’t go blind or worse..die. I still have hope and I also have a lot of gratitude for my life. I’m thankful I stumbled onto this site because now I don’t feel alone or different. So thank you for your posts and thank you to everyone for sharing your experience. Remember..”There’s strength in numbers”
October 4, 2008 at 9:31 pm
peanut69
It is too bad that most “smellers” don’t get that it IS a REAL LOSS to us. Move on over, on your pity-pot, I think I can probably speak for us all when I say “We all know how you feel and understand it completely.” It always helps to “talk” to someone who’s going through a like experience. Wishing us all a full and complete recovery. More like praying for it!
October 7, 2008 at 11:07 am
JP
Thanks peanut for understanding.
October 20, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Lisa
Sorry to report that nothing is changing, As a matter of fact it’s getting worse! These horrifying smells have changed to something even more horrifying…I dont know what to do. I try to stick my nose in nice smelling things thinking maybe it will get rid of the rancid smell stuck in my nose but it doesnt. Im living on cheese and veggies. I absolutely can not eat any meat and its sooo depressing. I could barely eat anything but yet, Im gaining weight…go figure.
Well I have an appt with the neurologist in 2 weeks. Hopefully he can help. I heard that there is this hospital in philly that is the best of the best when it comes to smell and taste so that will be my next step. My ENT has not done a damn thing for me. I explained everything to him and his answer is, you got me! YOU GOT ME??????? what kind of “DR.” is he?? So im going to switch to someone that can hopefully give me some options. Has anyone recovered 100% from this?
This has to be one of the most depressing things I have ever experienced in my life and the thought of going on like this makes me want to lock myself in my room forever….
January 20, 2017 at 11:30 pm
Anonymous
Wondering if you ever got results from visiting either neurologist or hospital in philly? It’s many years later how are you doing?
January 20, 2017 at 11:33 pm
Anonymous
Why can I smell flowers but not smell smoke or taste anything?
October 28, 2008 at 3:46 pm
JP
SMELL UPDATE-
Hi friends- just wanted to share with you that I smelled bleach the other night . This is the first identifiable smell since 9/4/07. I was worried the smell may stay in my nose permenantly because of other stories I’ve heard but thankfully it didn’t and I have a renewed hope that this is only the beginning. Still no flavor in my food and I’m losing weight drastically because I have given up on eating. Well at least this way when the taste does come back, it won’t be a problem for me to gain 50 lbs back from binging at every buffet place in town.
Keep positive and stay hopeful!
October 30, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Lisa
So I went to the neurologist, he says all of this is normal and that 70% of his patients “like me” recover 100%!! yippie!! finally, some HOPE!
i am feeling a little better and I smelled shrimp the other day! I stopped everything I was doing and called my mom and was screaming…I smell shrimp!! lol it was a very exciting day. So now I go for an MRI and EEG test. The EEG will determine whether or not they can help me get rid of the bad smells. The DR. said the bad smells may be seizures? has anyone heard this? Well Im just trying my best to stay positive, I hope you all can do the same.
November 18, 2008 at 12:00 am
peanut69
Update…
I lost my sense of smell also (about 2 yrs ago) and right know I have been dealing with what I think is a very light chemical/blood taste and smell. It’s quite a combo and with me almost 24-7. I really didn’t have to deal with this until recently. I started taking Alpha Lipoic Acid (600mg a day, split into 3 doses) 6 weeks ago and about 2 weeks ago when I started smelling this combo, however with the bad came a great deal of good. I also have started to taste the flavors in some of my food and can sometimes even smell what I cooking if it’s a really strong smell. A huge leap from where I was 2 months ago with no smells and no flavors what so ever. Before that I had phantom smells like vanilla cake and chocolate chip cookies baking, these would go on for days. All in all not bad smells, but after telling my family for days “I smell cake and cookies” I would wind up baking, because I made everyone else hungry for them LOL. I swear, it’s the Alpha Lipioc Acid working that is giving me my sense of smell back slowly. I can even very lighlty smell my candles burning now. I thank God every morning when I wake up and can still smell stuff that day.
December 23, 2008 at 2:11 am
peanut69
Update…
I think that the ALA is working for me. I’ve been taking it since 10/07/08. I have been able to smell some things, in their “real” smell, if I am up close to them and some things I can now smell, not their “real” smell, but how I smell them now. This is all a bonus for me, since a few months ago I could smell nothing at all. My sense of taste seems to be getting a little bit better also. My Doctor and I found out that the “Blood/Chemical” smell was the nasal spray he had me taking. It dried out my sinuses so well that they were bleeding (just a little bit, not enough to be noticed on a tissue). Lovely huh?! I’m no longer doing that and the smell went away. I hope all of you get some results.
March 1, 2009 at 9:42 am
Polly
I lost my sense of taste and smell 40 years ago when I was 16. I have no idea why.
It is something you just get used to I take a bucketload of sugar with everything and tons of salt just to get some taste sensation.
I am not adventerous with food prefering to stick to textures I know as food now is just a fuel it is not something that is an enjoyable experience to be savoured.
I also (and I don’t know if this is connected) particularly fancy people anymore I wonder if the sexuality side had more to do with sense of smell than we realise.
I think over the years you just accept it there are times when I throw away perfectly good food because I don’t know if it OK because I can’t smell it
I also seem to find the only seat on the train next to the toilet or by smelly people who others have moved away from. Things like gas and smells of burning can be a danger point
There are worse things that could happen to you and no one has any sympathy for anyone who has lost those senses. Somethings you just have to accept things and move on
March 1, 2009 at 9:43 am
Polly
* DON’t particularly fancy people
March 29, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Olfactory
People………………… If your like me, you want to know what is going on inside your head. Get an MRI and ask for a difusion tensor MRI to see the pathway to connectivity of the nerve. I fell 4 months ago and I must have severed my olfactory and I have read everything about this only to find there is no cure and it is black magic. The nerve can regenerate and heal at 1mm per month and that’s why they say it may take 1 year or longer to regain this function. It is pot luck if they connect to the olfactory bulb because of scar tissue. I am miserable but I am humbled that I was lucky to leave ICU after 6 days and now I am fine except for taste and smell. Family and friends always remind me how luck I am and now i agree. I need to find ways to enjoy the taste of food or smells that I used to enjoy. There are many clinics in this country that specialize in this but how do they specialize if they can’t cure you. Sure , go there and pay many thousands and you are in the same boat as if you never went. But they have your money. I am not negative but that bothers me a bit. Tell me you will give back half my money if you can’t cure me as you know there is no know cure to man. This has been going on for years with the research end of this and all testing is done on animals. I would love to know if anyone had any luck with a remedy that may have worked a little. Any ideas, let me know. Thanks,
January 20, 2017 at 11:40 pm
Debra milianta
Just starting on journey to find answers for smell and taste disorder and just wanted to know if you ever heard from anyone after all this time who benefited from going to any of those special clinics ?
April 18, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Chloe
Read more about Alpha-Lipoic Acid Here:
http://www.thenutritionreporter.com/Alpha-Lipoic.html
and here:
http://www.gracemedicalequipment.com/articles/cosme/ala.htm
October 22, 2009 at 8:13 pm
LOLLY
T5 all and sundry, if you are still reading this from the 2008 group, yes the bad smells DO GO AWAY!!!!! and do pray because it does work, put your faith out there!’HE” can do what no other can,,,and…HE WANTS TO.IAM PROOF! Try it, you;ll like it.
October 11, 2010 at 11:41 am
Lonly
Hi, i have lost my smell to, have anyone tryid Alpha Lipioc Acid, and if so.. does it work??
December 9, 2010 at 7:35 pm
cindy
If there is anyone who has regained their sense of smell and taste more than one year after a head injury please let me know there is hope!
December 14, 2010 at 4:25 pm
husam arafa
To Cindy,
I had 2 head injuries in the last 12 months. Initially, My Cacosmia was unbearable. Everything smelled and tasted like feces or trash. The only thing I could eat was white cheese (specifically, a brand of cheese that comes from the island of Cyprus). In the last month I noticed a slight improvement. The rancid smell is still there (especially that of cooked food), but the taste of meat, chicken and vegetables had improved. It is a slight improvement, but compared to what I had gone through for nearly a year, it is a bliss.
So, YES…there is hope. Actually, I never lost hope although all doctors confirmed that there is no cure or hope
December 18, 2010 at 12:42 am
cindy
To: Husam arafa
Thanks for the encouragement. I’m happy that you have had some improvement and still have hope I will and anybody else who has suffered
the same.
December 18, 2010 at 1:11 am
cindy
k
December 21, 2010 at 7:48 am
mariam
i lost my sense of smell and taste due to head injury about 3 weeks ago and i’ve been depressed but trying to be positive. It has been such a hard thing to let go of. I havent been to the doctor for a follow up yet. I can’t help getting really sad about it sometimes. hoping that it comes back.
December 21, 2010 at 8:59 pm
cindy
To: Mariam
As I’ve stated in earlier posts I lost my sense of taste and smell in Aug of 09 due to a head injury. I Am still trying to be hopeful, but from everything I’ve read the chances of them coming back after 1 year are slim with most recovering occuring within the first 3 months so the chance of you recovering is much better since it’s only been 3 weeks since your accident. I do hope you recover. I know how terrible it is to lose these senses. I have always taken them forgranted and other people don’t seem to think it’s a big deal but as you know it is. It affects so many aspects of life. Please write with your progress and don’t give up hope! You can call me if you like at 586-243-7979
Cindy
December 29, 2010 at 8:48 am
Jan
Well I’ve just stumbled across this blog…..I live in Queensland, Australia………..My brother had an accident about a year ago…He fell off a roof, fractured his back and hit his head badly and had a brain bleed….Although he still has quite a bit of pain, his back is slowly improving, but as a result of this accident he no longer has his “normal” sense of taste and smell…..He has described to me exactly the same “smells and tastes” as you people have been describing!!……….I feel so sorry for him so I was searching the net to see if I could find anything that might help him……That’s when I found this blog…..I think I’ll have to send him the link………………Jan
February 3, 2015 at 10:23 pm
Fiona
I to live in QLD. And I fell down the stairs in the dark in April of 2014. I was coughing up blood for weeks and blowing my nose always ended in a very blood soaked hanky. That cleared up after 3 weeks. But almost a year down the track I still have no sense of smell or taste. A coke from Maccas tastes like I just sprayed deodorant in my mouth. Not sure if that is a positive sign of the revolting metallic taste or a bad sign. Has your brother regained any of his senses back? Enjoy your day Fiona
February 3, 2015 at 10:46 pm
Richie
Hello All…I posted a comment here about a year or so back. I hit my head about 2 years ago when I slipped and hit my hit my head. I was told I fractured my skull. I lost my ability to taste and smell. It has been sometime now, and I miss being able to tell what food or smell is again. 😦 Perhaps one day it might return again…Richie
January 5, 2011 at 12:20 am
cindy
Has anyone regained their sense of smell/taste after losing due to a head injury after more than a year has past?
January 14, 2011 at 12:42 am
Cindy
Has anyone regained their sense of smeel/taste after 2 years? Has anyone used a zinc supplement and found any success?
January 18, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Dave
My wife passed out and hit the back of her head very hard. Fractured skull, bleeding, etc. She also lost her sense of smell and taste. Not a complete loss, but things smelled and tasted HORRIBLE to her. She lots lots of weight because she couldn’t eat anything.
The good news is that she is at least 90% back to normal. Somethings bother her still, but not many. The biggest factor is TIME. Her injury was over 3 years ago, and it took almost all that time to get where she is now. Her senses recovered very slowly. Doctors said 6-12 months if at all. In that time there was little progress. However, by year two things starting improving rather rapidly.
I know all injuries are different, but there is hope with enough time.
Best wishes to all.
January 18, 2011 at 9:28 pm
Cindy
To Dave.
Thank you for your post. It gives me hope that there is still a chance. I’m
so happy for your wife, she must be so relieved and grateful to have them return. I’ve found that people don’t view this as that great of a loss and yes it could always be worse, still unless it has happened to you people
really don’t realize what a huge impact losing your sense of smell and taste has on your life. I pray for recovery for mysellf and everyone who
can no longer stop and smell the roses.
Thanks again for giving us all hope!!!
Cindy
February 8, 2011 at 2:30 pm
Jennifer Ungerland
I fell and hit my head really hard 3 weeks ago. I was diagnosed with a concussion and my CT scan came back negative. I have no lingering probelms other than my complete loss of smell. I agree you don’t know how much of a loss something like this is until it happens to you. I am lucky to have no other problems but some moments throughout my day just plain suck. After i give my kids a bath I miss that baby smell, I miss the smell of cooking and with Valentines day around the corner I miss the smell of flowers. Of course this completely masks the flavor of food. I can taste if something is sweet or salty but there is no flavor. I am hoping that because it was a minor concussion that this is only temporary.
July 3, 2015 at 10:49 pm
Anonymous
Did you ever regain your sense of smell and taste? I recently had a similar injury.
July 4, 2015 at 6:40 am
Anonymous
It’s been about 4 years now. My taste nor smell never returned. I still wait for the day they might find a cure for this.. 😦
May 13, 2016 at 12:57 pm
Dennis
Did your smell come back?
February 10, 2011 at 10:12 am
Cindy
From everything I’ve researched and I have research alot your chances of recovery are very good, however the chances of recovery after a year get much slimmer with most recovery being in the first 3 months. Although, I have read several posts where people have recovered after 3 or more years, which is what still gives me hope. Please write and let me know how you do. Or you can call me at 586-541-8037 or email me at cserra333@comcast.net. I have more info on a clinic in Chicago that specializes in smell and taste disorders. I plan on going to there. There is also one in Washington DC. Should you not recovery, but I pray you do!!! . Thinking of you, Cindy
January 20, 2017 at 11:47 pm
Debra milianta
Wanted to know if you went to Chicago clinic or other and if it was of any help at all. I hope it did. I am just starting my journey with this issue. Thank you for a reply
February 21, 2011 at 3:20 am
Anonymous
I’VE GOT IT BACK!!! THERE IS A GOD !!!!!!!!! LOVE, ME!
February 21, 2011 at 7:41 am
Jan
Hi Anonymous,
re: I’VE GOT IT BACK!!! THERE IS A GOD !!!!!!!!! LOVE, ME!
How long did you have this problem before you “got it back”….Thanks Jan
February 21, 2011 at 7:42 am
Jan
Oh, so sorry Anonymous…….That is great news by the way!!
February 24, 2011 at 3:11 am
cindy
To Jan
About a year and a half. It will be two years on 8-02-11.
October 23, 2011 at 7:43 am
husam arafa
Dear Cindy. It has been slightly more than 18 months since my head injury. I had seen 4 (supposedly top rated) specialists and they all confirmed that the Cacosmia Condition is more likely permanent and I have to deal with it (as if I weren’t). Unfortunately, I have noticed in recent months that the issue of bad smell had more drastic psychological impact than anticipated. I Have lost real passion for life and any activities. This is due to the fact that many activities are related to smelling and eating. No outside dining, no normal life at home, no travelling, etc…… I hope you could control these issues before they becom
June 22, 2011 at 8:15 pm
Tanvir Hossain
To Jennifer Ungerland
I had a traumatic head injury on 15th May 2011. Same as you recent Ct Scan suggests that no clot is in my brain, taste which was gone also recovered. Everything appears to be normal except the complete loss of smell. Doctor has said there is a slim chance of gaining it back. Mostly negative as the injury / concussion severed the thin nerves that connect the brain with nasal system. This case has got remote possibility of recovering because these nerves seldom connect each other by itself and there is no procedure available.
However, the type of head injury that affects the part of the brain where senses are decoded or controlled, has better chances of recovering. It is said that Brain cell itself regenerate the cells related to olfactory system. I know three parsons who got their smell back. They had injury on the part of the brain where senses are controlled. My point is that the type of injury that matters
However, We all should be hopeful. There is someone up there. He can do miracle!
Tanvir
June 28, 2011 at 1:03 am
Lynn
Hello,
I came across this site just to see if there was any new information regarding loss of taste and smell due to a head injury. I lost my taste and smell in 1985 when I was 18 years old. The neurologist told me that it would probably never come back. About 3 years after the accident I started developing phantom smells that lingered from days to week. I thought it was all in my head, but it wasn’t. For years I had this smell and sometimes taste of metallic and then that went away. Over the years I have seen some improvements but right now my taste is about 60-70% back, but my sense of smell is a crap shoot. I can smell familiar things for a brief — and I mean a brief — moment and then poof it’s gone (I.e. Roses, rain, etc). I spent about the first couple of years in a grieving period, but accepted the fact that this is what it is. I would be curious to know from others on how you perceive things now with the loss of these senses. I find that I walk through life as though I am not aware of everything that is going on around me because I am not experiencing those sensory situations that make you remember your surroundings — if this makes any sense. Even though there are somethings I can definitely know it when I smell it, it’s a fleeting smell and does not stay in my short term or long term memory — if that makes any sense. I miss having my full senses and often think maybe it’s a dream and one day it will all come back and then all that I lost perception would all come back to me from the 16 years I lost — if that makes sense. If u want to talk more about my loss or your loss then email me at dvxoperatv@earthlink.net.
September 1, 2011 at 2:34 pm
Kat
Hi, I had a bike accident on 29th June 2012 and had a pretty bad head trauma. I lost 40% of my hearing in my right ear and 1 ago I noticed that certain foods were smelling really disgusting and always the same smell. The things that smell the worst are meat, chicken, butter, bread etc. Did anyone else have it where you didn’t get this problem straight after your accident but maybe a month of so after?? I went to see the neurologist today and he said that I’ve got Parosomia and that it will go within 3 months. He was really sure of this, but now I’ve found loads of sites where people say that it could take years…I’m confused, can anyone help??! Thank you so much!
September 16, 2011 at 9:58 pm
Oremus
All I can say is that I lost my sense of smell completely in 2005 after a fall. I have had a partial recovery of smell and my taste is quite good now but it took several years to get there (even though I was told I would probably never smell again–bah you were wrong doc!)…also here is an actual medical report of someone getting a compete restoration of smell..9 years afterwards…so don’t give up! Here is the link to the medical article…http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2767158/
January 18, 2012 at 3:13 am
cserr333
Dear Oremus,
I couldn’t have said it better myself five or so doctors told me if I hadn’t regained my sense of taste and smell after a year chances were slim to none that I ever would…good thing it’s not up to them, because over 18
months later and while my case worker thru auto insurance was getting me approved to go to The taste and smell clinic in Chicago I was eating Mint Chip ice cream (which was one of the only things I could barely taste,just the essence of mint. againt all odds I regained my sense at first about 75% then over the next few days 110% I could and still can taste the most minute spice…..called my case worker and said Cindy cancell the request I made to go to the Taste and Smell Clinic/Chicago…she said why you don;t want to go…I said no I don’t need to go !!!…AMEN!~~~~0+:-)
January 19, 2012 at 1:22 pm
Justin
I am an 18 year old boy
On the 30th of June 2011 I was on my way to extra physics at school at 9am in the morning. I was on a quiet backroad on my 125cc Bike.
at a small t-junction halfway down the road an oncoming opel zafira turned through my lane and collided with me head-on. Apart from spending my holiday in ICU, I was also placed under an induced coma to let my brain heal. I fractured my jaw in two places, completely shattered and displaced my wrist and carpel bones and snapped my left femur so badly, that it protruded out of the top of my thigh.
I too, after being distracted with many other operations on my wrist between my final examinations, realised that my sense of smell had disappeared. After looking at my MRI scans taken on the day of the accident, I can see that the frontal lobe of my brain was surrounded by quite a lot of fluid, obviously it had been under trauma, thus I have assumed that I have lost my sense of smell due to my olfactory nerves being severed from the olfactory bulb of my brain.
Of late, however, I have noticed that I am able to smell some smells(eg. cologne, some deodorants…etc) slightly. This has confused me slightly as now I am beginning to wonder if this is mild recovery beginning to finally take place, or is there another cause to my loss of smell? (I did catch Pneumonia in ICU when fluid was being drained from my lungs). I am going to the ENT soon to see if perhaps polyps are the cause of my loss of smell, because it would then make sense if only strong-smelling odours could be smelt.
Are there any homeopathic treatments available that anyone knows about?
Anybody that has any tips or advice on recovery can email me at : jgregan93@gmail.com
March 4, 2012 at 12:17 am
Joe
I started to lose my sense of smell in viet nam after being in a ambush that involved the NVA using some type of gas on us. This was on July 24. 1966 during Operation Hastings. I have none at all now.
Joe USMC “Grunt”
February 12, 2016 at 8:42 pm
joe1064
I also have PTSD
April 25, 2012 at 8:41 am
stewardshipcoach
I slipped and fell on the ice December 16, 2010 and fracture my skull and burst my right ear drum. After a night in the hospital I came home wondering why my sense of smell was gone. After the usual waiting period, 30 days, the doctors basically told me there was no hope of ever regaining my smell.
First let me say that I did smell some things. However what I smelled was usually bad. I found that it was confusing to people when I told them I could not smell and yet I would recoil at the smell of food. I finally settled on the term that my smell was altered. Nothing really smelled right. After the first few months of my accident I would walk into a restaurant and have to fight back gagging. So, I was smelling something but it was typically bad.
Not being able to smell means not being able to taste. I can live without smelling but I did not want to live without taste. What I could actually taste, as before my injury, was a very short list of about ten things. What I could eat that did not taste bad was a bit more extensive but still narrow in scope.
I like many who have posted here had to fight through depression. I also had to fight off eating the few things that tasted good but were bad for my weight and health. There is just so much smoked Goda cheese you can eat before your cholesterol shoots through the roof.
At about the six month mark I met on an airplane a woman who worked at a health store. She recommended a herb called Lions Mane. I have been taking this since then. Frankly I do not know if it has made the difference or it is simply time.
However I wanted to write that about seven months after my accident I was able to eat nearly anything. Not that I taste it but at least it does not taste bad. Oh the joy of eating chips and salsa! I still cannot really taste much of anything but I feel I can live the rest of my life much happier. My smell capacity has improved and I do occasionally smell flowers and other things like I remember them smelling. I now take simple joys in smelling anything.
I have written all that to simply say, Don’t give up hope. This post has gone basically dormat but if you are like I was searching for any answers or even the slightest degree of hope then take heart from me. While I am still recovering I have not given up the hope that one day I will be able to smell as before. That is my continual prayer. May it be yours as well.
Mark Brooks
August 7, 2012 at 2:07 pm
Tamara
I had an accident on Friday, April 13, 2012, yes an unfortunate date, I know. I was dancing with a friend and was doing a mid air flip on his arm and he lost his grip and dropped me. I passed out immediately and regained conscientious about 10 minutes later in an ambulance. I refused to go to the ER and the EMTs really felt no need to take me because I was very coherent and talkative and had a ride home. 4 days later I sat in an ER with such a splitting headache that only a shot of Demerol would take care of it. Prognosis: severe concussion and mild whiplash. At the time I did not notice that I had lost my sense of smell and taste because I had been asleep for 4 straight days and had not eaten anything. I still have regained no sense of smell and very limited tastes. Mostly, I will taste something very sweet, spicy, or salty and that taste will segue imprint in my taste buds and EVERYTHING will taste that way for a given period of time. Doctors here tell me it may or may not return. But I am very pessimistic about it returning. I am from the South and what I miss so much is the taste of Southern food and the smell of fresh cut grass/hay! I lost 16 pounds in the 1st two weeks, which I couldn’t spare to lose. I have to force myself to eat right now and it’s because I dont enjoy food anymore. But if I don’t make myself eat, I will lose more weight, and at 110lbs and 5’6″, I can’t spare any weight!
August 21, 2012 at 2:13 pm
Firefly
Hi All! That is, if there are any other still reading this board. (I still think there are, considering I found it and it has helped me a lot) My story is like some others here, though I have only been without smell for just over one week (since my fall). I still have much hope, but I am very impatient with myself. Patience has always been one of the attributes I was complimented on, but I have found through this experience, that I only really have it with other people and not myself! I am incedibly blessed to have escaped with the minor/moderate concussion that I have and have had no real complications. For that I am truely grateful. However, the one thing that keeps me down is that I have entirely lost my sense of smell. I noticed it the day after my accident (I fainted and fell back hitting the back of my head on the asphalt). Things I once loved and to be honest never thought I took for granted, such as candles, rain, cut grass, and most of all-food, no longer had any scent. I am an amateur chef and baker-this devastated me like no one would believe. Scents have always been one of the biggest parts of my life. I know it is very soon, but I can’t help but still worry. I am trying to hope and praying constantly, which is helping some. I go for an MRI this afternoon-hopefully it will have good results. Just in case, I have been making some major dietary and health changes to my life. I have researched vitamins and minerals meant to help restore brain function after trauma and regenerate some nerves and even reduce scar tissue. Since from head trauma I am pretty sure it has to do with Olfactory nerves. I am hoping these things will also help speed my recovery and help me gain my sense of smell back. I too have lost most of my appetite. I can tase sweet, salty, bitter, and even a little “umami” that savory flavor you can’t really place. Everything is just dulled. Foods and spices like onions and garlic that I used to LOVE that are mainly comprised of smell are NOTHING at all in my mouth. I have been putting Turmeric on everything since I read it has been shown to counteract brain trauma. I think I’ll post a list here of different foods and vitamins to help some people out. Sometimes rest and eating right in a certain way can REALLY do wonders for your body. Writing this has been very theraputic for me, so thanks to anyone who has made it this far in my rant! Here’s hoping for all of us 🙂
August 25, 2012 at 3:22 pm
Me
Thank you FIREFLY! Im woundrin “vitamins and minerals meant to help restore brain function after trauma and regenerate some nerves and even reduce scar tissue” which do you mean? i really want to do everything i can to restore my injury. So please tell me what your eating 🙂
August 26, 2012 at 5:43 pm
Justin
I’m also super keen on any information regarding the speeding up of the indefinite recovery period. I am at peace with my loss…for now, but every now and then find myself missing that awesome sense I took for granted.
I have been on flixonase for the past 4 months as per my ENT’s request. It helps to an extent, a very minimal extent and not for long, so I have stopped as I am beginning to get nose bleeds from the antibiotic.
September 4, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Anonymous
There is hope!
My sense of smell is back and still developing. Two and a half years ago I had TBI with contra coup that crushed my olafactory bulb leaving me entirely without any sense of smell whatsoever. Within about two months I had what some may call phantom smells. There was a lingering faint smell of burnt matter or rotting wood always present. Perhaps four months after the accident I could smell something in some situations but it was not the right thing. I could smell my underarm deodorant when it was close to my face as a smell of something chemically soapy. Sadly some rises when pressed into my face had the same result and same supposed smell. Thanks to my neurologist for calling that “hallucination.” my brain injury was sufficiently disturbing to me in other ways so that I ended any further discussion with him on that matter.
Next came the extra taste. While I was eating I could also supposedly tase my aftershave or something like it as if I had it on my lips and kept getting bits of it in my food. Another frequent event of the time while regaining my sense of smell was the funny tastes in my mouth that seemed to come from nowhere. A taste of blood? Something like that.
I want to affirm some sensations others have described here. Every now and then I get a spark of a smell of something for but a moment. So faint is such a smell that I am not sure that is is a memory of a smell or an actuall smell. It is gone again in an ephemeral instant. If I make an electrical analogy it’s as if an electrical connection is made for a second. I will speculate that this is a hint that something is growing back… Take it s a good sign.
One of the first taste and smell combinations o come back for me was the banana. At first banana came back weakly but like the taste and smell of an over-ripe acrid over-sweet banana. That has gradually converged down to an ordinary banana. Similarly a year ago the smell of burning cigarettes returned. What I smelt was sweet cold coffee from somewhere and I gradually learned to look for someone smoking. Not exactly the right smell but I can see how the two different smells relate. It’s like that with many smells: I feel as though certain elements of the pallate are missing and I am registering something even of it’s somewhat the wrong thing. As if I see blue when someone shows me green all because my yellow is not registering. My smell is still growing even of it is weaker and incomplete. Even coffee was gone once for me. Rosemary once a blank is back even if distortedly soapy and basil is back as a hint that sparks more often now…
I also noticed that I get more return and growth of my sense of smell when I am not stressed… Work ends and I am startled by new sensations…
Aldous
September 5, 2012 at 6:03 am
Justin
Wow, this is really awesome news! 🙂 I am currently going through many of the things you describe, seeing as my olfactory nerves themselves were damaged.
This has really lit me up with joy. I understand it is still only a possibility, but the fact that someone has confirmed the fact that nerves are able to regrow.
I head that is has been proven that the brain can encourage nerve growth. Every night before bed One should just try sniff around and smell, focus hard if you can. It is said that this may improve the chances/speed of recovery.
Thanks Aldous, that is awesome news 🙂
September 5, 2012 at 8:17 am
Aldous
Perhaps it’s to do with circulation but I also find I smell additional things when I am out running. If a new smell is going to present itself I will notce it first when out running. Car fumes first appeared that way about a year and a half after the accident. The smell of earth also came fist during a run, but it smelled more like cigars, not the smoke of burning cigars, but the dark tobacco itself of which cigars are made. This summer two and a half years after the accident cut grass is starting to appear, faintly but it’s there.
I am glad you recognise these things Justin. I do think there is an order of development of sensation that others have described here that I have picked up on in what was written here before me. I feel that I have experienced that development much as you have.
Aldous
aldous_n_gaiters at yahoo.co.uk
September 22, 2012 at 8:35 pm
Mark Niklas
I lost sense of smell two years ago after Lothrop surgery which is opening the nasal bone between frontal sinuses. The surgery was the last resort for constant acute sinusitis and recovering polyps due to allergies. I could stand headaches and inflammation for years, I went trough three endoscopic surgeries, it did not help so I decided for Lothrop. It is very invasive and lost of smell is a drawback . sense of smell can be lost because of scars of damaging the olfactory bulbs in the nasal tissue. Can anybody have similar cause of loss of smell and how you cope with it. Is there any help to restore the smell .
Mark
September 28, 2012 at 2:28 pm
Eve Alexander
I had a concussion almost 4 weeks ago. After a week of mostly sleeping, I’m fully recovered except my sense of taste. Everything tastes wrong, even water. I would describe the taste as metallic. I hope my sense of taste returns because I’m sad without it.
May 6, 2013 at 3:04 pm
lodging4vacations.com
Hello, I enjoy reading all of your post. I like to write a little comment to support
you.
May 15, 2013 at 10:18 am
Anonymous
Has anyone any idea if stem cells is being researched as a way of regaining olfactory senses?
July 15, 2013 at 9:34 pm
Anonymous
I AS WELL HAVE LOST MY SMELL AND TASTE FOR 2 YEARS NOW.. ITS VERY HARD TO EVEN EAT, KEEP WEIGHT ON ….. I HAVE A BRAIN INJURY, BRAIN TUMOR, IN FRONTAL LOBE……I TRY EVERYTHING TO REGAIN THESE SENSES BUT NOTHING………… 😦
September 3, 2013 at 3:39 pm
Richie
Hello Everyone..I am glad I found this page…Last year I sustained a very severe head trauma..I lost my ability to taste or smell…I eat only because I need to…For the past 3-4 months now, I have been getting a very strange metalic/acid smell and taste ..Not really sure why…has anyone here ever had this happen…I am really in need of some answers…Richie
September 3, 2013 at 4:01 pm
Aldous
Hey Ritchie it’s possible that something is growing back. The first phase gave me a soapy taste with things I ate as a secondary or side flavour. It sounds like this started about 6 months after your accident, and if anything will come back it starts within that time frame. You can’t be sure but it seems to me that the start of returning smells and taste are smells and tastes that are not obviously related to the things you are smelling and tasting. Only very gradually did the original tastes come back for me. 3 and a half years after my accident almost all smells and tastes are back now, if weaker.
Strange that raspberries still have that soapy (maybe you could call it metallic) side taste for me. And women’s perfumes are so complex that they just smell like weird soap now, because a few things from the pallet are still missing. Aftershave is similare but less distant from what I recall as the original.
I heard that B12 helps nerves grow back. I bought a bottle aft my accident but my short term memory was, well, let’s just say, a little compromised for a while so I really don’t think I took too many B12s. You could try as it isn’t harmful.
Best wishes,
Aldous
September 9, 2013 at 3:18 pm
Lindsay
About 10 months ago I got a concussion from from hitting the back of my head on my open car door. It bled quite a bit and obviously hurt. but other then that i was fine. Ive had concussions before so i was awake of the dizzyness that would follow. i didn’t notice the loss of my taste or smell until about 6hrs later when i tried brushing my teeth. Ive had 2 MRI’s and seen two different neurologists, both have given me the same conclusion, post concussion syndrome. I do not smell or taste ANYTHING. I was told all my nerves looked intact and there was “nothing” wrong with me. I feel bad complaining because by the sounds of it, we are all in the same boat. Just frustrated and have had no real answers to what is going on.
May 15, 2016 at 10:46 am
Dennis
You ever get your smell back?
September 22, 2013 at 3:58 pm
Billie
Very good blog! Do you have any hints for aspiring writers? I’m planning to start my own website soon but I’m a little lost on everything. Would you propose starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many options out there that I’m totally overwhelmed .. Any tips? Thanks a lot!
April 5, 2014 at 10:11 am
vipul
hi, my name is vipul. last friday i had a operation of DNS(devieted nasal septum) and after 8 day but still i have no test and smell. is it normal??? can somebody tell me if they had a same problem. i am worried if its permanent.
March 31, 2015 at 7:58 pm
Eva
I completely lost my sense of smell 16 years ago from multiple sinus infections. It returned 3 weeks ago during a medical crisis involving extremely high blood pressure. My bp is still being stabilized. I hope the smells stay!
March 31, 2015 at 8:26 pm
Justin
Hi all,
I posted my first comment here in 2012, detailing a motorcycle accident I was involved in which caused me to lose my sense of smell due to closed brain trauma.
I have been through a superb, positive psychological development since I last posted and have regained both mental and emotional stability.
My sense of smell, however, has not returned. I very rarely am able to detect a change in the scent of the air, but cannot actually interpret the scent as I cannot pick it up well enough to identify anything other than a ‘change’.
So far it has been almost 4 years, progress is almost nonexistent and hopes for recovery have retired into acceptance.
I am 21 now, and with each passing year, 17 years worth of scents fade further and further out of memory 😦
March 16, 2016 at 2:08 pm
Gail
I was hit by a car in Sept. 2015. Hit the back of my head, had a concussion and brain bleed. When I got home from the hospital I noticed I lost my sense of smell. I can taste salt, sweet, tart but cannot differentiate between flavors. I am disheartened to hear there is only a 30% chance of recovering my smell. I am grateful that my injuries were not far worse, but this lasting effect has truly impacted my life. I have compassion for those who have been living with this for a long time. I lived most of my life with this sense intact and it is unfortunate that in my twilight years I will not be able to smell the roses I planted, my favorite perfume, a good cup of coffee or the smell of the spring breeze. How ones life can change in an instant!
May 14, 2016 at 1:47 pm
Dennis
Did you get your smell back?? I’m going through the same thing.
June 9, 2016 at 4:28 pm
williams udim
I lost my sense of smell 9 years ago as a result of head injury , but I am still experiencing pains in my head where I had the injury. does it mean I can recover someday?
January 24, 2017 at 9:26 am
Christian W. Tokpah
I was involved in an accident. That l was injured both on my face and nose, since that encounter I been struggling to smell, I always bring things close to my nose before smelling it a bit. The accident occurred Three months ago.
November 30, 2017 at 9:29 pm
Marua
Look into atlas orthogonal treatment. A relative of mine had a couple head injuries and her smell and taste was diminished. After starting atlas treatment, she thought her food smelled and tasted much better. This was about 10 years after her last concussion.
January 3, 2018 at 6:27 pm
George
I lost my sense of smell about 2 and half years ago to everyone else it just seems like nothing, including the doctors at Ent. When you first realise you can’t smell it’s such a shock, I was trying to smell absolutely everything but nothing ever smelled and also food I used to love cooking lol but theirs no point anymore it’s kind of like being blind. Also I feel like I don’t have emotions or feelings like a smell used to remind me of when I was younger. Example mums cooking or nans house etc. It really isn’t nice. I could go on about how devastating it actually is but I want to keep positive. So I’m just reaching out to see if Anyone here has had any progress and if you could give me some advice as to anything You have tried that’s helped you? I mean I’ve had a ct scan which found everything to be normal I was given nose drops steroids. I’ve heard about lipoic acid, castor oil and acupuncture has anybody tried these.. please mail me if anyone has some advice??
January 4, 2018 at 10:46 am
marua
I’m very sorry about what you are going thru. It’s a terrible loss and severely impacts quality of life. You are right, ENT doesn’t think it’s a big deal. They also don’t think ear pain, dizziness, or Tullio is a big deal.
I would suggest looking into Atlas Orthogonal treatment from a specialty chiropractor. Google it, learn more, find someone in your area. It is helping bring back my aunt’s sense of smell and taste and she’s thrilled with the results so far. She has suffered several head injuries over the decades. I could not find an atlas chiro in my city, but am regularly seeing an upper cervical/concussion specialist chiro to treat my neck injury. My sense of smell is twisted. Bacon smells like hamburger, skunk smells like fabric softener, etc… when I started a kitchen fire I couldn’t smell the smoke at all. After being in a wreck, I had double whiplash and concussion from striking the back of my head. My nose wasn’t directly hit, but the brain injury has impacted my vision, hearing, balance, cognitive, sense of smell, and even killed teeth, so it was quite a wallop. X-rays, MRI, CT all said my brain is fine and scans won’t show nose damage the neuro said. Scans showed my neck was fine, too, although I had severe painful tingling in legs, feet, arms, hands, face until the chiro put my neck right again. Obviously, scans don’t give the true picture of what’s going on in the brain. Since seeing the chiro, it has greatly helped my neck and vision and I seem to smell things more accurately, too, but not all the time. I still get “phantom” odors, like smelling bird poo for days wherever I go, so it can’t be a real smell. While still not smelling all things accurately, now skunk smells like skunk again! The ENT said if smell isn’t back within a year, then it won’t come back at all. It’s been 18 months and I have seen improvement. Plus my aunt’s experience shows healing can still take place decades later. I hope you get relief soon.