My husband had open heart surgery four weeks ago to replace his aortic valve and replace a section of the ascending aorta.
He's still unable to taste much and what foods he can taste seem to have an alteted taste.
Has any one else experienced this please?
Yep, I haven't been able to taste or smell anything in years. Occasionally, I will get a whiff of something, like my granddaughters nappy yesterday. I think my problem is more of an issue with my sinuses but I could be wrong.
Thank you. That must be quite difficult to get used to. My husband is havinga real problem with this issue as he's losing weight quite rapidly.
If he is losing weight rapidly he should see his doctor about it.
It is difficult to get used to. My wife has to do the smelling for me. I make our tea most nights but, before we eat it, my wife has to taste it to see if it "needs anything".
On the up side, I don't smell most of our Zoé's nappies.
five years ago I had a bad case of flu which in turn turned me anosmic, I used too have a superb palate but now most things taste the same, so sadly I think thats what we're going to have to live with
Hi Debbie,
i went through very similar post my op. It does come back slowly but for me took 2 to 3 months.
Mark
I think it is coming back Mark but very very, very gradually. We have a list of about 10 things which taste 'ok-ish". So I'm using these food items and trying to introduce new ones daily.
It's very strange - bread apparently tastes awful - but toast is ok. Ham tastes horrible but bacon is ok.
I think it will come back but it may takes months as you say.
It is comforting to know that other people have had this experience though. Thank you.
My worst episode was opening bottle after bottle of decent red wine on Christmas morning, declaring them corked, pouring down the sink. Until my wife intervened and tasted one and said they were fine....
Oh no! Gutted!
Fairly major operation that takes a bit of recovering from. In my case about 3 months. It takes 10 weeks for the breastone to knit together. Lots of comfort food to entice him to eat - rice pudding. mash potato, etc
I had/have the same thing and my op was 15 months ago. It does take quite a while for your taste buds to recover and in my case there are biscuits I used to love which I now can’t eat as I don’t like the taste and texture! It’s very early days since his op but things should improve fairly quickly. For the first few months after my ops I just ate on the basis of little and often. I also had Complan meal replacement drinks after my first AVR but couldn’t bear the taste after my second op, so used Superdrug’s version. Weird how the body works!
He may also find his concentration levels low and memory. I gave up reading for the first couple of months cos I couldn’t remember what I had just read. That too gets back to normal after a few weeks.
Hope his recovery continues to go well.
Wendy
Thank you everyone for your replies. It's comforting to know that others have experienced the loss of taste and that in the most part some or all has returned given time.
It's 4 months since my AVR. Almost back to full fitness, going to cardio rehab twice a week helped tremendously. I used to love a strong cup of tea but have no taste for it anymore, strangely I now have a love of coffee, which I have never drank in my life haha. I remember when they woke me up after my surgery and asked if I wanted a drink and I told them how I like my tea. It came in a cup with a straw, I took a big drink and it was very milky. Now, no matter how strong I make it, it tastes milky. Therefore coffee is my new brew haha. Everything else seems fine now, just takes some time to get back to normal routine and getting your life back together. Hope your husband's recovery gets back on the right track soon x
Hi
I did not have any open heart surgery, I had Heart attack and 7 stents, I lost my smell and taste, and I have been trying to work out what has been causing it, also Dry mouth and tingling fingers and toes at times, I have narrowed it down to Atorvastatin, I take 80mg a day, I cut my pill in half for a couple of days and started to get my taste back. I ran short of pills over a weekend and did not take any for 2 days, everything almost returned to normal on the third day, I'm speaking to my GP and surgeon and going to request to change to a different pill and see if that brings everything back to normal. This seems to work for me, but everyone is different and you may not be taking Atorvastatin.
If that is your worst side effect of Atorvastatin I would stick with it. There are a lot worse side effects of statins, read the leaflet.
I've had loss of taste. My smell seems ok but things taste bland. I've got angina, so no surgeries. So I did wonder on medication. I am on artovastatin plus others. Its a comfort to read these posts. Take care xx
Hello I had CABG (triple by pass) back in 2015. Loss strength in both thumbs, which has improved but they are still a little weaker than before. Lost sense of smell and taste which returned after a few months. Had damage to vocal cords which has permanently lowered and stiffened voice. Phrenic nerve was nicked and took a few months of breathing exercises to completely inflate my left lung. Most ancillary nerve damage comes from the packing of heart cavity with ice during surgery. The way I have learnt to look at these minor issues is that. I am alive and feeling massively safe better than I had for over a year. I was just a few weeks away from another massive heart attack. So a small price to pay for another 7 years and counting of quality life.
Loss of appetite, change of taste, and sleeping problems following heart surgery.
Heart surgery 
Hospital bag/items for home recovery (Open Heart surgery)
Open heart surgery 
Open heart surgery.
