# Struggles and Support > Frustration and Struggles >  >  This is so sad :(

## Keddy

I'm literally crying right now. My mom was also crying when we found this out  ::'(: 
I have permanently lost my sense of smell.
I was prescribed a steroid called Afrin for a severe viral respiratory infection. It comes in nasal spray form. I took it for three days, with the exact recommended dosage, and the first few days I used it I could still smell and taste but not much. Now, five days later, I have literally zero sense of smell or taste.
I contacted my doctor's office and told them exactly what was going on. They said it's not a common side effect but some people who have used Afrin have completely and permanently lost their sense of smell.
I am so fucking angry at the doctor who prescribed it for me. Did she realize she was fucking up my life?!  ::(: 
I'm going to have to learn to only eat things for texture. I can pretend I'm tasting my food but that is so depressing  ::'(: 
I found a link to this medical forum, all these people also lost their sense of smell:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Ear--No...Loss/show/7457
Some got it back but some never did  ::(:  One person says they haven't had their sense of smell since 2007  ::(: 
Well, on the bright side, I can eat less and lose more weight. But I'm never going to enjoy food again  ::(:  I'm so sad  ::(: 
Keddy

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## Inscrutable Banana

You said that some people returned to normal, and I'd say in your case it hasn't been long enough yet for you to know if it's permanent—give it a little more time before concluding that it is.

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## Kesky

> You said that some people returned to normal, and I'd say in your case it hasn't been long enough yet for you to know if it's permanent—give it a little more time before concluding that it is.



Hang in there keddy. I agree with banana. Don't throw in the towel yet. I hope this resolves in time. Take care.

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## SmileyFace

Oh my goodness, that seriously sucks. I hope you're one of those people who eventually gets their sense of smell and taste back!  ::(:   ::(:  That is so frustrating. I'm sorry  ::(:

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## Keddy

> You said that some people returned to normal, and I'd say in your case it hasn't been long enough yet for you to know if it's permanent—give it a little more time before concluding that it is.







> Hang in there keddy. I agree with banana. Don't throw in the towel yet. I hope this resolves in time. Take care.







> Oh my goodness, that seriously sucks. I hope you're one of those people who eventually gets their sense of smell and taste back!   That is so frustrating. I'm sorry



Thank you, Banana, Kesky, and Smiley  :group hug: 
I'm keeping my fingers crossed and I don't think I've ever prayed this much in my life. I really hope it's not the case and that I get it back, but I'm terrified.
I'll keep you guys posted  ::(: 
Btw I am such a friggin medical disaster. Between blood pressure issues, appendicitis, liver surgery, a horrible sinus infection, weight issues, and all kinds of nutty physical symptoms from anxiety, and now this, I've been falling apart these past few months  ::'(:

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## IllusionOfHappiness

Here's hoping it's not permanent, Keddy.  :Hug:

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## Keddy

> Here's hoping it's not permanent, Keddy.



Thank you, Illusion  :Hug: 
I'm hoping for the best.

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## merc

I'm so sorry. I don't see how they could give you this medicine without warning you. I'm hoping that you'll regain your sense of smell. Sometimes a sinus infection alone can damage the sense of smell for a bit and I hope that is what it is and not permanent damage from the medication.

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## Keddy

> I'm so sorry. I don't see how they could give you this medicine without warning you. I'm hoping that you'll regain your sense of smell. Sometimes a sinus infection alone can damage the sense of smell for a bit and I hope that is what it is and not permanent damage from the medication.



Thank you, Merc  :Hug: 
I doubt it's from the infection, as the congestion is subsiding and the cough is already almost gone... Hoping it's temporary. 
I don't understand how there isn't a big fat warning label on the box of that crap, since it seems like this has happened to thousands of other people, some of whom never recovered.
My mom actually said we might want to take this to court. She's raging pissed and thinks I should sue either the company who manufactured the medication or the practice that prescribed it for me. I think she might have a point there.
For now, just going to wait it out... *Sigh*
I want pizza  ::'(:

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## enfield

your life is just full of surprises isn't it. maybe not the good kind but at least its keeping things interesting you know. you lost your _sense of smell?_ i wish i could say things that strange had happened to me, but no, the the last thing of any note that happened to me was my book shelf collapsed as i was putting a book back into it, and before that it was that my tooth had chipped, which doesn't really make for much of a story compared to losing your sense of smell and suing the doctors or drug companies or whoever is responsible for all that they are worth! i do hope you get it back though.

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## Keddy

> your life is just full of surprises isn't it. maybe not the good kind but at least its keeping things interesting you know. you lost your _sense of smell?_ i wish i could say things that strange had happened to me, but no, the the last thing of any note that happened to me was my book shelf collapsed as i was putting a book back into it, and before that it was that my tooth had chipped, which doesn't really make for much of a story compared to losing your sense of smell and suing the doctors or drug companies or whoever is responsible for all that they are worth! i do hope you get it back though.



That's a good perspective you have on it, Enfield. You crack me up sometimes  :: 
Thanks for putting things in a better light for me. True, it would be an interesting conversation piece to have lost my sense of smell, to say the least...
I sure hope I get it back. My virus is finally going away *knocks on wood* so hopefully the effects of the nasal spray will wear off.
And the lawsuit bit would make for a great story too, LOL- my crazy mom suing the drug company. Oh Lordy. 
I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and pray a lot tonight. Hoping this all gets resolved soon, and boy do I have a crazy life, LOL

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## Keddy

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY it came back! My sense of smell and taste came back!!! ^_^
It was from the nasal spray, after all, but thank goodness it was only temporary...
The only problem now is I'm stuffing my face again... LOL I missed food...

I overreact to everything. I should take a theatre class at my college.

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## Inscrutable Banana

Eh, you had a legitimate concern, you just needed to give it more time before allowing yourself to think it was permanent. Either way, it's good to know it was just temporary.  ::):

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## Otherside

> YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY it came back! My sense of smell and taste came back!!! ^_^
> It was from the nasal spray, after all, but thank goodness it was only temporary...
> The only problem now is I'm stuffing my face again... LOL I missed food...
> 
> I overreact to everything. I should take a theatre class at my college.



I'm sorry, I didn't see this until now. Otherwise, you would have had my condolences (is that the right word? Or do you only use that if someone died? At least, I hope you're not dead.) 

But, I'm glad to hear that things seemed to sort out for you. I think a lot of us on here manage to do the overreacting dramatic thing. If it wasn't for the anxiety thing, I might just join you in theater class.

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## Kirsebaer

Now stay away from that nasal spray from hell!  :Tongue:

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## merc

Yeah! If you have a cold be very careful with taking any zinc, it is know to interfere with sense of smell. Although it claims to shorten the life of a cold; it can damage your sense of smell. I had a horrible sinus infection and lost my sense of smell for about a month. It was awful. Glad you're better.

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## Total Eclipse

Glad it came back Keddy  ::):

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## Keddy

> Eh, you had a legitimate concern, you just needed to give it more time before allowing yourself to think it was permanent. Either way, it's good to know it was just temporary.







> I'm sorry, I didn't see this until now. Otherwise, you would have had my condolences (is that the right word? Or do you only use that if someone died? At least, I hope you're not dead.) 
> 
> But, I'm glad to hear that things seemed to sort out for you. I think a lot of us on here manage to do the overreacting dramatic thing. If it wasn't for the anxiety thing, I might just join you in theater class.







> Yeah! If you have a cold be very careful with taking any zinc, it is know to interfere with sense of smell. Although it claims to shorten the life of a cold; it can damage your sense of smell. I had a horrible sinus infection and lost my sense of smell for about a month. It was awful. Glad you're better.







> Glad it came back Keddy



Thanks, guys  :Hug:

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## Keddy

> Now stay away from that nasal spray from hell!



Believe me, I will  :Tongue:  That crap should come with a warning label. Jeeeeesus... Nice of the drug company who manufactures that stuff to give me a borderline anxiety attack for three days.

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## Ironman

> YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY it came back! My sense of smell and taste came back!!! ^_^
> It was from the nasal spray, after all, but thank goodness it was only temporary...
> The only problem now is I'm stuffing my face again... LOL I missed food...
> 
> I overreact to everything. I should take a theatre class at my college.



I kind of figured that it wasn't permanent.  Three days?!  I can understand weeks on end, but only three days?  I have heard of Afrin, but not anything like that.  ::(: 

I am glad you can SMELL!   AxS's Adam Sandler needs to SMELL things too!  ::

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## SmileyFace

> YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY it came back! My sense of smell and taste came back!!! ^_^
> It was from the nasal spray, after all, but thank goodness it was only temporary...
> The only problem now is I'm stuffing my face again... LOL I missed food...
> 
> I overreact to everything. I should take a theatre class at my college.



OMG WOOHOOOOO!!!!

And you were not overreacting. You had every right to be upset over that loss of smell and taste, especially considering you weren't sure if it was going to be temporary or not. I would have been freaking out like crazy as well.

I'm glad it all came back!

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## Ironman

> OMG WOOHOOOOO!!!!
> 
> And you were not overreacting. You had every right to be upset over that loss of smell and taste, especially considering you weren't sure if it was going to be temporary or not. I would have been freaking out like crazy as well.
> 
> I'm glad it all came back!



I would have given it at least a week.  If a medication caused loss of smell after three days, it would have been removed from the market and rightly so.

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## Skippy

An asshole I used to know was like that from a brain injury. He never got his smell or taste back.
Wow, glad it did I think I would DIE if i lost mine....food is too yummy!

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## Misssy

Yah my doctors have also prescribed this to me as well in the past. 

That really sucks..   ::(:      Class action law-suit? 

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Ear--No...Loss/show/7457

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## Misssy

Holy hell look at this [BEEP] :   http://www.king5.com/news/local/Judg...215307431.html

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## Nightingale

How is it now, Keddy? Any improvement?

My FIL lost his sense of smell and taste, too. He also lost the ability to salivate (is that a word? When you can't produce saliva?). He, too, was so sad and upset. His, too, was from medication, due to a stroke. The only things he would eat and drink were water, brown rice with chicken broth, and Ensure. We're huge foodies. It hurt us watching him struggle with losing those senses, when food had been such a important part of our lives together.

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## Monowheat

> YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY it came back! My sense of smell and taste came back!!! ^_^
> It was from the nasal spray, after all, but thank goodness it was only temporary...
> The only problem now is I'm stuffing my face again... LOL I missed food...
> 
> I overreact to everything. I should take a theatre class at my college.



I've only just spotted this (slow, much??) but I'm glad to her you're ok.  ::):

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