Hyperosmia (heightened sense of smell) after op

[thecatandus]

It's now nearly 5 weeks since my valve replacement and bypass, and while I'm totally pain free (except when I breath in) my nausea and lack of appetite seems to be getting worse. I'm now thinking that this is due to hyperosmia (it's getting worse), which I've had since I came round from the op.

I can smell disinfectant that was used on a carpet 9 months ago for example - everything is exaggerated, and it is the chemical smells that are the worst. I'm so worried that this is something permanent - I've struggled with my sense of smell for years due to polyps, and yet now just the opposite.

Anyone else had this?

[Yumz199725]

Hi thecatandusGreat to hear your pain free that's amazing and at 5 weeks post op. Sorry to hear about your nausea and sense of smell sounds like a nightmare! Hopefully it's just temporary and will be gone in another week. My mum suffers terrible with her sense of smell it's awful she can't smell or taste anything accept something very sweet or something very sour or hot like a curry. Sorry I can't advice you on what's causing it or if its temporary but I'm sure someone with alot of experience in this will be along soon it seems valve replacement recovery can affect everyone differently. Wish you all the best with your recovery and with your 6-8 week check up, maybe mention it to your cardiologist at that appointment and see what they advice x

[AlfredV]

Could the lack of appetite be the cause of a heightened sense of smell rather than a symptom? I have experienced this and it was after about 60 hours into a fast where I had been taking on no calories. All of a sudden I was able to smell things that were going on that weren't in the same room. It was remarkable and hard to explain to others that my sense of smell appeared to have improved several fold in no time at all. Apparently this is an ancestral response to starvation whereby your senses become fine tuned in order to help you locate food sources.It may have nothing to do with that though, it's just a thought. I hope you are able to get to the bottom of it.

[thecatandus in reply to AlfredV]

Now that is an interesting theory.

I've just had a phone call from the rehab nurse to see how I was (got a first appointment in 10 days), and she said it wasn't common, but not uncommon either, and should improve over time.