How awful for you, surely one of life's most simplest pleasures denied. I do hope this is a passing phase for you and it sounds like Gaba isn't going to help :/ I take 20mgs nortriptiline at night and that seems to have helped with my sleeplessness and anxiety. Either that or I just am feeling better! That's the trouble isn't it, we're all in a world of a reasonable amount of guesswork with meds.
The sense of smell often one of the very first signs of PD is a large part of the sense of taste. My sense of smell came back as far as I am concerned once on sinemet and taste was never affected - I'm contradicting myself I know but its all subjective - but when I do the smell test in a research project I don't seem to be able to discriminate between any of the twenty or so things wafted under my nose.
Hi Eva, I have taken a lot of different supplements, everyone needs something different. I tried GABA and it didn't do anything....maybe try it at night, many people outside the US use it for sleep, thats what my neurologist said. He said it wasn't a problem with the sinemet interacting------- maybe one instead of 2/day would work better.
I find that I am very sensitive to supps which wasn't the case before I got PD.
I have also lost 60#, which is a PD trait, but I am doing acupuncture and my appetite is coming back full force.
I suspect Sinemet does affect out digestion, metabolism, appetite directly, and I learned to work around it. I don't restrict my diet, except caffeine, and trying some of the more fattening foods I haven't had in years, thats kind of fun.
I have almost completely lost my sense of smell & everything I eat usually tastes extremely salty &/or bitter. No one else ever seems to agree with me though.
I lost my sense of smell a few years before I was diagnosed. I have not lost my sense of taste, but I do not have much appetite. Sweets taste better than any other food to me.
I lost my ofactury (sp sorry) senses gradually starting years before realizing and being dx with PD. Now I can scrub a closed shower with straight bleach and not smell it until my throat feels raw and my eyes burn!
Our brains (although compromised) are still powerful. Driving in my convertible last spring I was missing the smell in the air of cut grass or fresh worked fields after a spring rain.... and like magic it was there! My visual cortex triggers my memory and in a couple of nanoseconds I have a simulation that is almost real.
I was dx'd 13 years ago and realized this phenomenon long after it was automatically doing it. That is my best explanation anyway.
I have similarly learned how to taste somewhat from memory combined with texture and salivation on my tongue (sweet/,sour etc)
It's more interesting to me how I can smell a campfire and not get overloaded by smoke until my eyes or throat physically burn.
Go down to replies to see some comments. You can also search within the site for other blogs that people reported on their gain of sense of smell back.
I'm doing this exercise and haven't loss all sense of smell. I can smell, not sure if 100%.
Please disregard if this is not what you believe in. I'm just trying to help.
How do you take coconut oil? I may try it. I have lost some of my sense of smell but still have sense of taste. I thought I'd lost the sense of smell completely but lately have smelled things cooking in the oven and can smell hand lotion etc.
I first noticed the problem when I could no longer smell the noxima I wash my face with - a sort of menthol smell. So now I use that as my measure to know if I am taking enough CO - some days it smells real good and other days I can hardly smell it at all. I put a spoonful in my tea and coffee and it also tastes great on cooked vegies etc.
Dry mouth! Ahh, that is another problem and I hate it. I've tried all the products. I use xylimelts that stick to the roof of my mouth with some success. When I'm home I eat olives! While the pulp is in my mouth I get moisture relief. Sounds crazy but it does help and I guess they are a healthy food too.
I too have problems with dry mouth and lack of appetite. For dry mouth, I buy a delicious -to-me all natural cinnamon gum at Whole Foods and chew it most of the time. It is a pain sometimes, but it really helps! It has also lessened my swallowing problem (exercise? ) and makes it a bit easier to speak. It also helps control my new drooling issue and seems to treat my constant congestion. I buy gum with Xylitol in hopes of protecting my teeth.
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The BEST supplements 
When does supplementation become toxic or counter-productive?
Comprehensive supplements list (when to take and with what)? Not just for PD.
