So, when The Husband was 18 he suddenly developed an allergy to aspirin, was diagnosed with nasal polyps, developed asthma, developed allergic rhinitis really badly - he is allergic to dust, pollen, leaf mould, so is fully symptomatic year round and lost his sense of smell. Pretty good for a few days’ work.
Anyway, the sense of smell is more dormant than dead and sometimes comes back fleetingly if he is prescribed steroids for gout or whatever else. He’s been back and forth to doctors and specialists, but there is no real interest in treating him - he’s just a confounding case. He was diagnosed hashis recently and has been taking 100 mcg levo. And his sense of smell seems to be slowly coming back... any connections do you think? Or pure coincidence? I know there are quite a few of us who find there is a connection to being under medicated and post-nasal drip, so I guess we are wondering... ?!!! I mean, surely not, right?
Lotika.
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Lotika
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Well there’s a thing. I read about a connection with zinc earlier today and I had put a daily zinc tablet in his pill box for the last couple of weeks, so that could be one of the variables!
Thank you - good to know re piccolinate. I shall investigate zinc as we are nearly out and need some more in time for the great pill box Sunday fun we’ve been having - I have hashis too, so it’s quite the production line. He is already on magnesium to help absorb vit d etc.
Ha yes I was going to reply to Lotika that it’s important to probably balance the zinc with a little copper and then saw your message redhead.
So I take this jarrows one with both in but because I haven’t had my copper levels tested and it’s not good to have too much I alternate with a plan zinc piccolinate. Not v scientific I know but feel that works and is a good enough compromise.
Interestingly the white spots on my nails which I have had all my life disappear when I take zinc and reappear when I don’t! So not an old wives tale after all!
My first reaction to aspirin ( in fact it was ibuprofen in the same family as aspirin) happened when I was in my late 20s.
Steroid tablets help my sense of smell (which is incredibly variable and for some time was completely absent) as do nasal steroid sprays. I also take zinc now for immune system but hadn’t known of the link with smell until I saw it mentioned above.
So, I have several years when I could smell literally nothing and since then had long term oral steroids for the asthma which deteriorated very badly. I am off the steroids now but they have damaged by adrenal function, thinned my bones and caused all kinds of issues so they are not a panacea nor good long term.
So, my sense of smell is back and using nasal steroid spray periodically helps.
I still get a lot of “olfactory hallucinations” where I can smell something that isn’t there, or something that smells nice usually smells horrid.
So, it’s not perfect but I can now smell when I have accidentally left the gas ring on unlit! I used to have my children tell me the house smelled of gas 😳
I had polyp surgery once- never again! It was medieval and as I sat in the hospital afterward with two tampons up my nose for the bleeding ( I’m not kidding! ) I thought this isn’t fun! Medication should keep the polyps at bay.
I’m experimenting at the moment so try essential oils - for insomnia and stress. My friend gave me a diffuser and it’s been amazing for clearing the nose and making my lungs feel clearer and bigger!
Thank you so much for this, Travelling - that is exactly what he has! I’d never heard of it. He’s on a conf call right now but I look forward to sharing it with him.
He can take ibuprofen these days: the doctor told him to try it for gout, as I recall, and prescribed steroids at the same time so that he could take them if he reacted and luckily he didn’t.
He had the surgery twice - once in the US and once in the U.K., but it didn’t make any difference. And I did laugh at him re the tampons as well and told him I had spares! He didn’t think I was very funny?!
He can’t smell gas, doesn’t know if he’s burning bacon, has no idea what his aftershave or my perfume smell like and thinks pesto is “tasteless” and doesn’t know when the bin smells bad. It’s the pesto thing which makes it clear how bad it is to me!
He gets quite frustrated with it because he thinks it is a quality of life thing and I agree... but it is so helpful to have had a look at the link and I feel at least we know why they can’t do anything much...
On a different thread I mentioned the smell thing and someone suggested that tablets for good tummy bacteria might help. He has been taking those too, so perhaps it is another variable.
I hear you re kids and gas! No kids, but he wouldn’t smell gas or a fire or whatever, or if food was off, so it is worrying sometimes!
Still, he’s getting glimmers right now and that is definitely something positive. He seems to always have nasal spray on the go of various types and thinks too much of the steroidal one makes it worse, so he alternates with a saline version.
I find that gluten increases my PND, so we are going to try him GF after his next blood test for the thyroid at the end of the month. His choice of sequence - I’m glad I have persuaded him to try at all and I did at least convince him to give it a go before he can go to a pub garden - it’s just easier!
Well, thanks again - that’s just shed so much light all of a sudden, so I really appreciate it!
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