Almost 2 years since my last post??!!!

Okay, let's not say I don't at least check the blog from time to time as I do moderate all the comments that come in but good lord...2 years since I checked in with any updates of my own? Seems like there should be some kind of punishment for that like permanent exile from all social networks or something.

Well, there have most certainly been developments in my condition and will be posting my latest situation shortly. Suffice to say for now that I'll be going the surgery route yet again in a few short days!

Luxury cruise for an anosmia sufferer

My wife and I have been on 4 or 5 cruises over the years but the last one was about 6 years ago which was before my anosmia occurred.
Well, we recently went on an Alaskan cruise aboard the Princess cruise line. We had a spectacular time, saw great sites and of course one of the big attractions or draws for people who cruise is the vast amounts of food that is served on board a cruise ship.

Well, let me tell you, it pretty much sucks to have all this super high quality food being served and not being able to smell or taste it! As a matter of fact, since I became anosmic in the fall of 2005, I've probably only had a handful of meals in really good restaurants because I really don't care anymore. So this was the first time in this situation.

Just a note from the very strange life of an anosmic!!

More thoughts on smoking, allergies and anosmia

Well it's been some time since my last post so I thought I'd at least get on and give yet another update and some thoughts. As it is, I still am not able to smell or taste anything. I am still getting my allergy shots although I'm doing once a month now. How long does this last anyway??

I will say that my allergies are definitely better. I had a little episode the other day of some stuffiness and I was really shocked as I've had virtually no allergy symptoms for some time. I had a couple glass of wine the night before so it could have been due to that. The allergy shots have not helped my anosmia however which is unfortunate.

I had posted some time back about not smoking cigars for a while and seeing if that would help but it didn't but something dawned on me recently and I'm giving it a shot again.

Here's what I was thinking: For years I smoked cigars occasionally. Maybe on a Sunday afternoon while relaxing in the yard. In May of 2005 I started smoking a cigar every day. Or if not, close to it. I continued this pattern throughout the summer and into the fall of 2005. Those who have read my earlier posts know that I was on vacation in New York in October of 2005 when I lost my sense of smell.

Since that time, except for my experiment with giving up cigars, I've continued to smoke them to one degree or another. Sometimes only on the weekend but (being honest with myself here) for the most part, I have smoked a cigar a day for some time. And it just keeps nagging at me: Is this the main factor for my anosmia? Is it possible that the cigar smoke is enough of an irritant to cause inflammation which in turn blocks any aroma from getting up into my olfactory region?

So, I've once again stopped smoking cigars. When I first tried this I honestly can't remember if I truly stopped or if I cheated once in a while. It's been about 10 days and nothing has changed but my wife feels IF it's the reason, it might take some time for olfaction to resume. I will continue to post here occasionaly to let people know the results. If anyone has any input or info on smoking and anosmia please comment.

Allergies gone but 2 years of not smelling

I have been terrible at posting lately (an understatement) but as I passed a somewhat dubious milestone in October of this year I thought it would be a great way to announce it!

It was 2 years ago, October 5th 2005 to be precise, that after years of terrible
allergies, sinus congestion and sinus infections, I lost my sense of smell and taste. My wife and I had gone to New York for a vacation and it was there that I noticed my sense of smell had disappeared. Some of the best restaurants in the world and I can't taste the food?? At least we made it through the better part of the vacation before it happened.

Well, as past readers of my Anosmia blog have read, I had subsequent nasal polyp surgery which didn't help, I'm currently in a maintenance phase of allergy shots which haven't helped (although they have done wonders for my allergies), I tried abstaining from all alcohol and cigars, I've learned to actually love nasal irrigation, have been on a steady regimine of Nasonex, Flonase, Veramyst or some other sinus spray and yet, I still cannot smell anything nor taste anything.

A dose of prednisone does bring back my sense of smell and sense of taste of course that goes along with it, but as we know, you can't live on prednisone. So the doctors (primarily my allergist) feel that there IS olfaction. It's not like a virus killed off my olfactery nerve. But why I can't smell after all this time is a mystery.

I can say that my allergies and sinus congestion has all but disappeared thanks to the allergy shots and nasal irrigation I do and I'm thankful for that at least but
I truly feel for anyone who has just developed this condition and I always try to talk with anyone who wishes to discuss it. I've learned to live with it yet still hold out hope that one day I will be able to smell.

Update on being alcohol free

Well, I haven't had any liquor in my system at all for a month and while I was convinced that this would help me smell (even after my last experiment yielded no results), I still am anosmic.

I have however noticed a few things: For starters, even though I cannot smell anything, I do notice that I am much less congested in my sinuses.

Also, while I cannot taste. Or for those sticklers out there, while I cannot taste FLAVORS, my sense of taste of bitter, salty, sour, sweet etc is a little better. Olives for example do give off more of a tang than they did.

So even though I still suffer from anosmia, stopping drinking or even imbibing less, has had a benefit.

The only problem is that we are going on a wonderful motorcycle rally this weekend where there'll be about 75,000 other bikers. It's quite the party and anosmia or not, I'm going to enjoy some beers, some martinins and some cigars!

Upon return I think I'm going to give accupuncture a try.

Strange sense of smell

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the fact that I've discontinued all alcohol intake for some time but a few days ago I had a strange sense that I'm smelling something. It's not any kind of definable odor or aroma nor is it unpleasant. It just seems that I'm getting something.

Now, this could be all in my mind or it could be what is known as "phantosmia". If I'm not mistaken, some people who suffer from anosmia also have this condition where they seem to smell scents that aren't actually there. Although unless I'm mistaken, those "smells" are usually very unpleasant if not repugnant. Again, it's hard to say what's going on here and in fact it only lasted a few days but it was interesting to note.

I've run out of my prescription of Nasonex and haven't used it for about a week so I imagine it would be an opportune time for me to call my ENT and get my prescription refilled. Maybe it will help!

Allergy Shots helped during the dry winter

Well, southern California has finally ended the driest winter in recent memory and my sinuses held up fairly well. I was figuring that with all the dry Santa Ana winds we had this year and very little rain, my sinuses and allergies would be at their worst but they actually held up.

I think the allergy shots are helping with reaction to allergens but I am somewhat disappointed that they have had no affect on my anosmia. I'm in a maintenance phase on the environmental part of my shots (dust mites, dander, etc) but am still working up with the grass and pollen shots.

I've also totally stopped drinking, mostly due to just getting lazy and happy sitting around watching tv but also because it really was having an effect on my sinuses. I tried stopping before to see if it would help my anosmia which it didn't but I can honestly say that my sinuses are much less congested in the morning. Who knows, maybe somewhere down the road my sense of smell will return. I still wake up every morning and get out of the shower thinking I might smell some coffee but it hasn't happened yet.

What's your favorite food?

If you can't really "taste" anything. What's your favorite food? I've found that there are some foods that I enjoy more now than before my anosmia. Some not so good for me!


Being involved in bodybuilding and fitness for about 25 years, my diet was always important. I always ate fairly bland food (turkey burgers, tuna, chicken breast) so I was surprised when I became anosmic that it actually bugged me that I couldn't taste anything. I mean, turkey burgers and skinless chicken breasts aren't the most exciting flavors. So now that texture and taste (sweet, sour, salty etc) are what I crave, I've found that my healthy eating isn't so healty anymore. I need to pick things up and try to get back on track.

I'll post on some food that I used to love but can't bear in my next post bBut for now, here's some favorites:

Celery
Potato chips (especially the super salty/vinegar type)
Almonds
Cheddar cheese (can't figure this one out, probably just the texture)
A GOOD hamburger
Seltzer water/club soda
Hot peppers
Granny Smith Apples
Olives
Hot Dogs
Pickled Herring
Sardines

I ate most all of these prior to being anosmic but they are favorites right now.

Still Anosmia but some food is good

I've recently been taking a look at the types of foods that I enjoy now more than I used to since I've been suffering from anosmia. Nope..still can't smell anything.

For about 3 months I've noticed that it's definitely texture that appeals more than anything else. Crunch is good. I've always loved nuts, carrots, chips and anything crunchy but I have been eating celery like it's going out of style.

And even though I can't taste it, I always dip the celery in either hummus or sometimes peanut butter. With the peanut butter it's definitely the salty taste that is appealing to me and with the hummus I usually get the spicy type so I get some kind of heat/burn.

For a while, any type of pasta was disgusting to me. There was something about the texture that was completely unappealing. But lately, as long as I put some hot red pepper flakes on it, any type of pasta or italian dish is good.

And even though they're crunchy, apples have very little appeal. I still eat them and usually the sour Granny Smith type but it's not sour enough to make it something really enjoyable. Bananas that I used to love are now pretty much out of my mind. Again, it's something about the texture.

And that's what it's coming down to: Texture and the basic flavors of salty, sweet, sour, etc.

First liquor, now cigars

Well, the new year has brought no relief from my "condition". Not that I was expecting to wake up on January 1 and be able to smell the coffee or anything. My little experiment with not drinking brought no change but someone said something to me over the holidays that kind of made me think.

As I think I've mentioned, I love cigars. Up until this all started I loved the taste and aroma of a GOOD cigar. But even though I haven't been able to taste one in over a year, I've continued to smoke them. Sometimes one a week, sometimes 3 but I also go on binges where I'll smoke one every night.

My brother in law mentioned how irritating smoke is to sinuses, which of course I knew, but I never figured I'd give them up and see if there's a change in my "condition". I'd go days without smoking one and never noticed any change so I figured they didn't have anything to do with it.

But if I look back to when this started back in the fall of 2005, I was pretty much smoking them non stop. Is there a connection? Is the cigar smoke causing inflammation? Will it take weeks of not smoking them to see any improvement? I'll give it a try. Hopefully it will help.