Why can't I smell?

°sniff sniff°
worry not.

I’ve noticed that it takes a while after you get over a cold to be able to smell again. How long ago did your cold go away?

I still have it but the decongestant is keeping me breathing comfortably

One thing comes to mind here…do you use any Zicam cold products? They had a piece on the news last winter about it. It will dull your sense of taste. It did me! Even long after I was over a bout of sickness & for weeks I couldn’t taste OR smell. They said Zicam will do that & in some cases, it was permanent. I went to the medicine cabinet & threw it all out. Too bad, because it DID help. But the side affects aren’t good.

Probably this is a temporary condition caused by having a cold. A head cold can cause swelling or blockage of the nasal passages, even with a decongestant. Usually the loss of the sense of smell due to a cold comes back two or three days after the cold is gone.

Apparently, some Zicam products have been discovered to damage one’s sense of smell, so hopefully you didn’t use Zicam. If you did, then you might want to talk to your doctor.

no i used pseudoephedrine

@Darwin Guess we saw the same report.

@jbfletcherfan – I used to use Zicam so I always look for a report on it when this sort of thing comes up.

@jbfletcherfan and @Darwin: Yes, there are several lawsuits against Zicam for loss of smell. Whether or not it actually causes that when used as directed, I can do not know.

Oh no Dewey Cox!! How are you ever going to learn how to play guitar now?

I usually can’t smell or taste much of anything when I have a cold, but it goes away once that cold is gone. I don’t think it’s really that big of a deal.

i guess what I’m wondering is why I can’t smell even though I can breathe. What is the physiological explanation?

@hearkat a lawsuit? Hmm. I hadn’t heard that. I do know this…I DID NOT like not being able to taste!

@DominicX It’s not a big deal if your smell & taste come back. But when it takes a looong time, that’s another thing.

@jbfletcherfan

Yes, but there wasn’t any indication of a long time in this question.

Believe me, I’m a hypochondriac. I’m the first person to get worried about something like this. But generally a cold doesn’t distress me too much unless it was like last time when I had a painful sore throat for 9 days…

Usually when something “lasts too long” in my opinion, I see it as reason to see a doctor.

@DominicX If you’ve never taken Zicam, then this isn’t an issue for you, I’d guess. You’re just dealing with plain old stuffy nose with a cold. The next time you get a sore throat, go get some Chloraseptic throat strips. They’re WONDERFUL. They numb your throat. And gargle with warm salt water. Listen to Dr. JB. ;-)

@jbfletcherfan – http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/case/zicam.html

I can never smell when I have a cold. Very normal.

Don’t wash for a couple of days. I’m betting you’ll smell after that.

@AstroChuck no, he’d have an odor. He still wouldn’t be able to smell. LOL

@AstroChuck is a clever cat

Lurve to @DominicX for admitting he’s a hypochondriac…. that made me smile

@jaketheripper you may be breathing better, but if your sinuses are clogged and you’re still sick, then it’s normal for you to have a limited sense of smell/taste. If you haven’t taken Zicam, then don’t fret too much over it… as you start to feel better your sense of smell/taste will graduall get better (chances are, you haven’t really LOST the sense of smell all together)

Zinc nasal swabs were used YEARS ago to treat… (oh, I wish I could remember, it wasn’t the cold) but the health care community has known that it could lead to anosmia in some people for a very long time.