Asthma and taste buds

[TGA15]

Hi, my 80 year old dad has just been diagnosed with asthma following a bad respiratory attack which led to him being in hospital for over a week. He was on oxygen and a salbutamol drip and was eating well in hospital after the first couple of days. However, since he has come out and on a daily inhaler, he cannot taste anything at all but I can't really find anything about this apart from getting him to rinse his mouth out thoroughly following an inhale. Has anyone else experienced this problem or have any suggestions? Thank you.

[Hidden]

Perhaps he ought to be prescribed a spacer to use with his inhaler. His GP should be able to give him one. The spacer would prevent the drug he is inhaling from affecting his tongue and taste buds.

[TGA15 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks very much for your response, I will advise him to mention this to his GP.

[LittleIreland]

If his tongue has a white coating, he could have oral thrush which would affect his taste. It's a common side effect of inhalers unfortunately. Spacers can help. Rinsing after using the inhaler is a must.

[TGA15 in reply to LittleIreland]

Thanks very much. I will advise him to suggest spacers to his GP and also to rinse after inhaling. Think he's going to have some 'ups and downs' until he gets on top of this!

[Tinytune]

My husband was rushed to rhesus and high dependency 15 months ago and was diagnosed with eosinophilic asthma. He hasn't been able to taste or smell anything at all since then. He has now also been diagnosed with chronic sinusitis, silent reflux and paralysis of the voice box. It really gets him down but the doctors arent bothered about it.

[TGA15 in reply to Tinytune]

That sounds awful for him and affects his quality of life. My dad had been backwards and forwards to his GP for the past few months and they said he had rhinitis and prescribed watery nasal sprays, which didn't help. On the day he was admitted to hospital, he had actually been to the GP late morning when he was having real trouble breathing but they just sent him away with steroids tablets. Later that day an ambulance was called and he was then diagnosed with asthma, so was having a bad asthma attack which was quite frightening. He hasn't received much info from the hospital so I have directed him to asthma.org and doing some research for him.

[Jollygood]

Tga15, I hope your dad is ok. This forum is great for info and support. Best wishes.

[TGA15 in reply to Jollygood]

Thank you.