8 ms·

I lost my sense of taste a few years ago, from a combination of extreme stress and the flu. Lasted about a week, and it was utterly terrifying. I first notice

I lost my sense of taste a few years ago, from a combination of extreme stress and the flu. Lasted about a week, and it was utterly terrifying. I first noticed it when I tried to eat, iirc scrambled eggs, and couldn't stop gagging on the texture. Once I figured out what was going on, it took a couple days to figure out what I could eat without retching. I ended up being entirely vegetarian - meat without taste is a horrible experience, and only ate milk and eggs as ingredients. Overall, 0/10, do not recommend unless you have to go vegan but don't have any willpower. When my sense of taste gradually returned, I practically cried I was so relieved.

jmnicolas 6y ago
FWIW critical lack of zinc is associated with loss of smell and taste. Apparently the body consumes a lot of zinc to fight viruses. You might benefit of supplementing for while.
bmikaili 6y ago
Imagine thinking only animal products have taste. Try that steak without any sauce or seasoning.
- humanrebar 6y ago
  That's an odd standard. I don't like carrots without salt either.
- bashinator 6y ago
  I love steak with no seasoning. And I brought up the animal products because they were the most extreme example, but I also couldn't eat raw lettuce (tasted like cardboard). As a salad lover, this fucked me up almost as badly as the meat. I was pretty much doing peanuts, noodles, tofu, and meal supplement shakes.
Angostura 6y ago
I lost my sense of smell for about 6 months following a bad cold/ something flu-y. Initially I didn;t really notice - I wasn't enjoying food much, but it was when I was painting a room and realised I couldn't smell paint that I really noticed. I remember when it came back. Someone made me a cup of tea (I'm British) and I rhapsodised for about 5 minutes about what an excellent cup of tea it was. Up until then, I couldn't really detect any difference between tea and coffee.
GordonS 6y ago
I lost my sense of taste a couple of years ago too - after eating a load of pine nuts! It was the strangest thing - everything tasted of nothing. Thankfully it had fully come back within 48 hours.
zelphirkalt 6y ago
Thanks for that first hand account of what it is like. Good to know.
- troutwine 6y ago
  Fun fact, I was born without a sense of smell. Texture is a huge part of my enjoyment of food -- probably obviously -- and what caused the OP revulsion are things I enjoy, as another first-hand anecdote.
  - bashinator 6y ago
    I assume it was more the abrupt change in the taste, rather than anything inherent in the texture. It was the culinary equivalent of not realizing you're stepping off a curb, and flailing for balance.
  - amsully 6y ago
    To pile on. Ben & Jerry's ice cream has large chunks of toppings because Ben Cohen had a reduced ability to smell. He charactized quality heavily towards texture of the ice cream resulting in what Ben & Jerry's is know for today. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Cohen_(businessman) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Cohen_(businessman)
    - paulcole 6y ago
      There’s a good story in the Ben & Jerry’s cookbook about how Ben and Jerry argued about which size chunks of Heath bar to use in their ice cream. They ended up with the perfect mix of little shards and big chunks by freezing a case of Heath bars and throwing it onto the concrete floor from the top of a ladder.
      - lurkeyloo 6y ago
        It was my favorite ice cream...wish somebody else sold something similar...
kibwen 6y ago
Curious, my partner is also extremely texture-sensitive and has not been able to stand eating eggs or meat for as long as they can remember, but can definitely sense smell and taste. I wonder if there's some interesting connection there.
- kokey 6y ago
  This type of texture aversion is not uncommon with people who have sensory processing or autism spectrum disorder and there's a lot of people who don't fall within those groups but have some of those traits in the same way. Aversion to the texture of meat, mushrooms and tomatoes are quite common. Sometimes this goes along with pica, which is the tendency to want to eat things that others consider not edible like cardboard, dirt or rubber.
  - kaybe 6y ago
    Let me tell you about the horror that is vanilla pudding with vanilla ice cream. The textures clash in a way that is just.. terrible. But also kind of interesting.
- protomyth 6y ago
  I know a few people that really have an adverse reaction to oatmeal. The texture makes them nauseous.
  - jpxw 6y ago
    This is likely because the consistency is somewhat like the consistency of vomit. I like oatmeal (or porridge as it’s called here), but I can understand why people wouldn’t.
    - gnulinux 6y ago
      I love the taste of oatmeal in milk but can't stand the texture. The way I eat is very slowly with a small spoon. Since COVID, I've been eating milk+oatmeal every day (powder milk and oatmeal have almost infinite life) so I definitely got better at eating it. But I still can't stand putting a big spoonful of it in my mouth, even though I love the taste and smell!
kalium-xyz 6y ago
lost the feeling of hunger for a few years due to medication I was on and barely have much sense of taste to begin with. My nose is often stuffed rendering me barely able to taste and smell most foods. This combined with a need for a high calorie intake I cannot say that I felt any qualms with meats but eating as a chore is horrible and a most disgusting feeling, the mechanical movement and disassociation that comes with this numbness is something people will adapt to however, and can be beneficial when making choices on what to eat.
- bashinator 6y ago
  That's exactly what spurred me to use meal-replacement shakes. If I couldn't enjoy eating, I at least could avoid wasting time on it.
- toomanybeersies 6y ago
  I have periods of a few days every so often where I completely lose my appetite due to my ADHD medication. It's fascinating how something that's usually such a pleasure becomes a complete chore. I need to force myself to eat, literally stuffing food into my mouth and methodically chewing, there's no enjoyment whatsoever, no matter what I eat it feels like I'm eating sawdust. Usually when it happens I switch from eating solid food to liquid meal replacements and tinned fruit, things I can more or less just pour down my throat.
  - bashinator 6y ago
    That's exactly what I ended up doing, switching to liquid meal replacements.
abiogenesis 6y ago
Curious, are you still a vegetarian?
- bashinator 6y ago
  I am not.
xwdv 6y ago
Were you at any point ready to just accept it for the rest of your life or did you always hope it would return?
- bashinator 6y ago
  I was ready to accept it for the rest of my life. Got the subscriptions to various meal replacements, started mourning. I was also in a pretty depressive state, which I imagine didn't help my immune system with the flu, or my optimism for the future.
bufferoverflow 6y ago
I once loss most of my taste sense, and only could taste the sweet. It might seem like a cool thing, but it's annoying as hell. Everything tasted sweet. A nice beer turned into a disgusting carbonated drink. Eating a burger was like chewing mushy candy. I didn't feel like eating anything. Thankfully it only lasted a couple of weeks.
ceedan 6y ago
Years ago, I also lost my sense of taste for a few days (toothpaste burned my tongue)... I would also describe it as terrifying and immediately depressing. The next day I had pizza and cake with tons of frosting, but everything tasted like soap. I was really concerned that the damage to my taste was permanent. I was in disbelief for a few days. As I ate my regular meals, I just reminded myself that they were things I enjoyed. I can still vividly remember the pink frosting and the texture of the cake, and the burning sensation on my tongue that I thought was just a really effective oral hygiene move
- plutonorm 6y ago
  Most of our sense of taste comes from smell.
- csunbird 6y ago
  This is actually a good anecdote, which makes me wonder: Did we evolve our taste mechanism to make meat and everything nourishing to taste good, so we can actively seek and put effort into acquiring next meal that tastes better?
  - phkahler 6y ago
    Yes. That is what taste and smell are for. Unfortunately people have figured out how to grow/make/prepare food that tastes good but is not good for us.
- jxf 6y ago
  > toothpaste burned my tongue What does this mean? Like, you covered your tongue in toothpaste? I'm very curious about what led you to try this — a moment of desperation?
  - ceedan 6y ago
    It was a chemical burn from brushing my tongue with toothpaste and not rinsing soon after. It was probably some kind of Crest or Colgate toothpaste. This was like 15 years ago so I hope the ingredients have changed.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
philliphaydon 6y ago
About 5 years ago I got a cold or flu while travelling. I flew home (3 hour flight) when my head was at its worst, eyes wouldn't stop watering, blocked up nose, sore throat. When we came into land my left ear didn't pop and I went completely deaf in my left ear. I was so freaked out by it. If I snapped my fingers next to my left ear I couldn't hear it at all. Doctor told me to not worry, it will come back, asked me to go see him if it wasn't normal again after 1 month. About 2 weeks later I was sitting at work and out of no where i had this weird sensation in my left ear and in a few seconds it was like a increasing rush of air followed by a popping sound and my hearing was back, I was shocked I stood up in the office and was like "MY HEARING IS BACK!", I was so happy. Even tho I could ear from my right ear, it was a horrible experience. I couldn't imagine permanently losing any sensory be it hearing, taste, vision, smell, touch. I wouldn't wish the experience on anyone.
- alasdair_ 6y ago
  > About 5 years ago I got a cold or flu while travelling. I flew home (3 hour flight) when my head was at its worst, eyes wouldn't stop watering, blocked up nose, sore throat. Just a polite reminder to people to please stop doing this. The flu kills people. Stay out of aircraft if you have it, please.
- dijit 6y ago
  Similar thing happened. I was on a flight, totally normal. During the flight my nose blocks up a little bit. As we land, the worst kind of “your head is going to explode” sensation. Eyes watering. So much pain I’m rocking back and forward in my seat. Nothing can be done. Nothing can stop it. Ended up losing my hearing (both ears) for 2 months, everything sounded like it was underwater, not even distant. But underwater. Anyway. Turns out I have some random allergy to birch trees and being within 2km of one when it’s pollinating can block me up. Utterly horrifying experience. Losing a sense is no joke. Makes you understand how fragile the human form is.
- sokoloff 6y ago
  If you’re going to fly with moderate to serious congestion, I recommend bringing oxymetazoline hydrochloride spray (Afrin, Dristan). It has addictive qualities, so use cautiously and adhere to labeling guidelines, particularly around duration of use, but it will get you down.
billpollock 6y ago
I lost most of my sense of smell a few years ago. I've lost much of my ability to differentiate tastes as well. As a former supertaster, lover of bourbon (I used to be able to tell my bourbons apart by smell), serious cook, and total foodie this has been the most depressing experience in my life. Think about the experience that you have when you walk from one room to another, or into a field of flowers. I can't smell the differences between rooms, I can't smell the flowers, I can't even smell smoke. People love to say you're so lucky you can't smell all of those bad smells but life isn't about the bad smells. Smell is memory. We wake up and smell the air around us, the dirt, the trees, the people we love, the people we hate, even exhaust fumes. The smell of ink on paper, spices, lavender, tea, the air after an electrical storm, the subtleties in beer, freshly fallen snow, rain, grass, the aroma of wine, freshly roasted coffee. I can no longer smell any of that. When I realized that my loss of sense of smell was permanent I was suicidal for many months. I've gotten over that feeling for the most part and now I work to make the best of it because this is just the way that things are. We all have our challenges. When faced with things that we can't change the best way forward is to work with what we have and make the best of it. Since I can no longer tell when food is ready by the change of smell I have to pay close attention to what it looks like and use a thermometer to carefully monitor its temperature. I can't tell when something is burning. I've installed gas sensors in my house because I can't smell the gas that comes out of my gas range but I refuse to cook on electric. I have an induction burner but it's not the same. You can't beat fire. And I'm not giving up. I've gotten pretty good at roasting coffee but mostly by eye. My 1966 Volvo caught fire as I was driving because I couldn't smell the gas coming out of the leaking fuel pump or the smoke coming out of the engine. Fortunately my neighbor was in the passenger seat and he pointed out that the engine was on fire. He kept telling me that the car was beginning to smell a lot like fuel and he asked me if he could open the windows. (It's an old car so things break easily.) Fortunately the car didn't explode and we got out safely. Loss of smell is no fun. Try cooking or eating while holding your nose. You'll get the idea. Just keep in mind that it's always like that. You can breathe in as deeply as you like and you still won't get the smells. You won't create the new memories and you'll have a hard time recalling the various smells that you've grown up with. They'll fade with time.
- s5300 6y ago
autokad 6y ago
thats very interesting. in 2012, I got the worst sick I have ever been. body pain so bad it helped to moan to ease the pain, and a really bad pnenomia. but one of the things that was the kicker, eating food caused me to gag. I couldnt do it, I wonder if I had lost my sense of smell and didnt know it.

jmnicolas 6y ago

FWIW critical lack of zinc is associated with loss of smell and taste. Apparently the body consumes a lot of zinc to fight viruses. You might benefit of supplementing for while.

bmikaili 6y ago

Imagine thinking only animal products have taste. Try that steak without any sauce or seasoning.

humanrebar 6y ago
That's an odd standard. I don't like carrots without salt either.
bashinator 6y ago
I love steak with no seasoning. And I brought up the animal products because they were the most extreme example, but I also couldn't eat raw lettuce (tasted like cardboard). As a salad lover, this fucked me up almost as badly as the meat. I was pretty much doing peanuts, noodles, tofu, and meal supplement shakes.

Angostura 6y ago

I lost my sense of smell for about 6 months following a bad cold/ something flu-y. Initially I didn;t really notice - I wasn't enjoying food much, but it was when I was painting a room and realised I couldn't smell paint that I really noticed. I remember when it came back. Someone made me a cup of tea (I'm British) and I rhapsodised for about 5 minutes about what an excellent cup of tea it was. Up until then, I couldn't really detect any difference between tea and coffee.

GordonS 6y ago

I lost my sense of taste a couple of years ago too - after eating a load of pine nuts! It was the strangest thing - everything tasted of nothing. Thankfully it had fully come back within 48 hours.

zelphirkalt 6y ago

Thanks for that first hand account of what it is like. Good to know.

troutwine 6y ago
Fun fact, I was born without a sense of smell. Texture is a huge part of my enjoyment of food -- probably obviously -- and what caused the OP revulsion are things I enjoy, as another first-hand anecdote.
- bashinator 6y ago
  I assume it was more the abrupt change in the taste, rather than anything inherent in the texture. It was the culinary equivalent of not realizing you're stepping off a curb, and flailing for balance.
- amsully 6y ago
  To pile on. Ben & Jerry's ice cream has large chunks of toppings because Ben Cohen had a reduced ability to smell. He charactized quality heavily towards texture of the ice cream resulting in what Ben & Jerry's is know for today. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Cohen_(businessman) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Cohen_(businessman)
  - paulcole 6y ago
    There’s a good story in the Ben & Jerry’s cookbook about how Ben and Jerry argued about which size chunks of Heath bar to use in their ice cream. They ended up with the perfect mix of little shards and big chunks by freezing a case of Heath bars and throwing it onto the concrete floor from the top of a ladder.
    - lurkeyloo 6y ago
      It was my favorite ice cream...wish somebody else sold something similar...

kibwen 6y ago

Curious, my partner is also extremely texture-sensitive and has not been able to stand eating eggs or meat for as long as they can remember, but can definitely sense smell and taste. I wonder if there's some interesting connection there.

kokey 6y ago
This type of texture aversion is not uncommon with people who have sensory processing or autism spectrum disorder and there's a lot of people who don't fall within those groups but have some of those traits in the same way. Aversion to the texture of meat, mushrooms and tomatoes are quite common. Sometimes this goes along with pica, which is the tendency to want to eat things that others consider not edible like cardboard, dirt or rubber.
- kaybe 6y ago
  Let me tell you about the horror that is vanilla pudding with vanilla ice cream. The textures clash in a way that is just.. terrible. But also kind of interesting.
protomyth 6y ago
I know a few people that really have an adverse reaction to oatmeal. The texture makes them nauseous.
- jpxw 6y ago
  This is likely because the consistency is somewhat like the consistency of vomit. I like oatmeal (or porridge as it’s called here), but I can understand why people wouldn’t.
  - gnulinux 6y ago
    I love the taste of oatmeal in milk but can't stand the texture. The way I eat is very slowly with a small spoon. Since COVID, I've been eating milk+oatmeal every day (powder milk and oatmeal have almost infinite life) so I definitely got better at eating it. But I still can't stand putting a big spoonful of it in my mouth, even though I love the taste and smell!

kalium-xyz 6y ago

lost the feeling of hunger for a few years due to medication I was on and barely have much sense of taste to begin with. My nose is often stuffed rendering me barely able to taste and smell most foods. This combined with a need for a high calorie intake I cannot say that I felt any qualms with meats but eating as a chore is horrible and a most disgusting feeling, the mechanical movement and disassociation that comes with this numbness is something people will adapt to however, and can be beneficial when making choices on what to eat.

bashinator 6y ago
That's exactly what spurred me to use meal-replacement shakes. If I couldn't enjoy eating, I at least could avoid wasting time on it.
toomanybeersies 6y ago
I have periods of a few days every so often where I completely lose my appetite due to my ADHD medication. It's fascinating how something that's usually such a pleasure becomes a complete chore. I need to force myself to eat, literally stuffing food into my mouth and methodically chewing, there's no enjoyment whatsoever, no matter what I eat it feels like I'm eating sawdust. Usually when it happens I switch from eating solid food to liquid meal replacements and tinned fruit, things I can more or less just pour down my throat.
- bashinator 6y ago
  That's exactly what I ended up doing, switching to liquid meal replacements.

abiogenesis 6y ago

Curious, are you still a vegetarian?

bashinator 6y ago
I am not.

xwdv 6y ago

Were you at any point ready to just accept it for the rest of your life or did you always hope it would return?

bashinator 6y ago
I was ready to accept it for the rest of my life. Got the subscriptions to various meal replacements, started mourning. I was also in a pretty depressive state, which I imagine didn't help my immune system with the flu, or my optimism for the future.

bufferoverflow 6y ago

I once loss most of my taste sense, and only could taste the sweet. It might seem like a cool thing, but it's annoying as hell. Everything tasted sweet. A nice beer turned into a disgusting carbonated drink. Eating a burger was like chewing mushy candy. I didn't feel like eating anything. Thankfully it only lasted a couple of weeks.

ceedan 6y ago

Years ago, I also lost my sense of taste for a few days (toothpaste burned my tongue)... I would also describe it as terrifying and immediately depressing. The next day I had pizza and cake with tons of frosting, but everything tasted like soap. I was really concerned that the damage to my taste was permanent. I was in disbelief for a few days. As I ate my regular meals, I just reminded myself that they were things I enjoyed. I can still vividly remember the pink frosting and the texture of the cake, and the burning sensation on my tongue that I thought was just a really effective oral hygiene move

plutonorm 6y ago
Most of our sense of taste comes from smell.
csunbird 6y ago
This is actually a good anecdote, which makes me wonder: Did we evolve our taste mechanism to make meat and everything nourishing to taste good, so we can actively seek and put effort into acquiring next meal that tastes better?
- phkahler 6y ago
  Yes. That is what taste and smell are for. Unfortunately people have figured out how to grow/make/prepare food that tastes good but is not good for us.
jxf 6y ago
> toothpaste burned my tongue What does this mean? Like, you covered your tongue in toothpaste? I'm very curious about what led you to try this — a moment of desperation?
- ceedan 6y ago
  It was a chemical burn from brushing my tongue with toothpaste and not rinsing soon after. It was probably some kind of Crest or Colgate toothpaste. This was like 15 years ago so I hope the ingredients have changed.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

philliphaydon 6y ago

About 5 years ago I got a cold or flu while travelling. I flew home (3 hour flight) when my head was at its worst, eyes wouldn't stop watering, blocked up nose, sore throat. When we came into land my left ear didn't pop and I went completely deaf in my left ear. I was so freaked out by it. If I snapped my fingers next to my left ear I couldn't hear it at all. Doctor told me to not worry, it will come back, asked me to go see him if it wasn't normal again after 1 month. About 2 weeks later I was sitting at work and out of no where i had this weird sensation in my left ear and in a few seconds it was like a increasing rush of air followed by a popping sound and my hearing was back, I was shocked I stood up in the office and was like "MY HEARING IS BACK!", I was so happy. Even tho I could ear from my right ear, it was a horrible experience. I couldn't imagine permanently losing any sensory be it hearing, taste, vision, smell, touch. I wouldn't wish the experience on anyone.

alasdair_ 6y ago
> About 5 years ago I got a cold or flu while travelling. I flew home (3 hour flight) when my head was at its worst, eyes wouldn't stop watering, blocked up nose, sore throat. Just a polite reminder to people to please stop doing this. The flu kills people. Stay out of aircraft if you have it, please.
dijit 6y ago
Similar thing happened. I was on a flight, totally normal. During the flight my nose blocks up a little bit. As we land, the worst kind of “your head is going to explode” sensation. Eyes watering. So much pain I’m rocking back and forward in my seat. Nothing can be done. Nothing can stop it. Ended up losing my hearing (both ears) for 2 months, everything sounded like it was underwater, not even distant. But underwater. Anyway. Turns out I have some random allergy to birch trees and being within 2km of one when it’s pollinating can block me up. Utterly horrifying experience. Losing a sense is no joke. Makes you understand how fragile the human form is.
sokoloff 6y ago
If you’re going to fly with moderate to serious congestion, I recommend bringing oxymetazoline hydrochloride spray (Afrin, Dristan). It has addictive qualities, so use cautiously and adhere to labeling guidelines, particularly around duration of use, but it will get you down.

billpollock 6y ago

I lost most of my sense of smell a few years ago. I've lost much of my ability to differentiate tastes as well. As a former supertaster, lover of bourbon (I used to be able to tell my bourbons apart by smell), serious cook, and total foodie this has been the most depressing experience in my life. Think about the experience that you have when you walk from one room to another, or into a field of flowers. I can't smell the differences between rooms, I can't smell the flowers, I can't even smell smoke. People love to say you're so lucky you can't smell all of those bad smells but life isn't about the bad smells. Smell is memory. We wake up and smell the air around us, the dirt, the trees, the people we love, the people we hate, even exhaust fumes. The smell of ink on paper, spices, lavender, tea, the air after an electrical storm, the subtleties in beer, freshly fallen snow, rain, grass, the aroma of wine, freshly roasted coffee. I can no longer smell any of that. When I realized that my loss of sense of smell was permanent I was suicidal for many months. I've gotten over that feeling for the most part and now I work to make the best of it because this is just the way that things are. We all have our challenges. When faced with things that we can't change the best way forward is to work with what we have and make the best of it. Since I can no longer tell when food is ready by the change of smell I have to pay close attention to what it looks like and use a thermometer to carefully monitor its temperature. I can't tell when something is burning. I've installed gas sensors in my house because I can't smell the gas that comes out of my gas range but I refuse to cook on electric. I have an induction burner but it's not the same. You can't beat fire. And I'm not giving up. I've gotten pretty good at roasting coffee but mostly by eye. My 1966 Volvo caught fire as I was driving because I couldn't smell the gas coming out of the leaking fuel pump or the smoke coming out of the engine. Fortunately my neighbor was in the passenger seat and he pointed out that the engine was on fire. He kept telling me that the car was beginning to smell a lot like fuel and he asked me if he could open the windows. (It's an old car so things break easily.) Fortunately the car didn't explode and we got out safely. Loss of smell is no fun. Try cooking or eating while holding your nose. You'll get the idea. Just keep in mind that it's always like that. You can breathe in as deeply as you like and you still won't get the smells. You won't create the new memories and you'll have a hard time recalling the various smells that you've grown up with. They'll fade with time.

s5300 6y ago

autokad 6y ago

thats very interesting. in 2012, I got the worst sick I have ever been. body pain so bad it helped to moan to ease the pain, and a really bad pnenomia. but one of the things that was the kicker, eating food caused me to gag. I couldnt do it, I wonder if I had lost my sense of smell and didnt know it.