Food suddenly tastes different?

[A///]

For the last few weeks I've been noticing my food tastes different. Things do not taste as I recall them tasting. They tastes different, but not bad different. I thought it was due to one of the medications I'm taking but the doctor says it isn't during my last visit to get my levels checked. I haven't damaged my tongue with hot liquid. I don't drink coffee and never have much. It's been a long time since I've smoked. Chocolate tastes like plastic, strawberries taste like bland grapes, grapes taste like blueberries, blueberries taste like sweet meyer lemons, and the list goes on. Beef tastes like chicken, chicken tastes like fish, lamb doesn't taste like anything anymore. It's like I'm eating soy protein granules they put in those crappy cup soups. Eggs from the neighbours hen house taste like nothing. I can make out the texture of what's in my mouth alongside the salt and pepper but that's it. Maybe a twang from the yolk. Don't have covid, never had it, haven't hit my head on anything, hurt my tongue in any manner. I did push to get a test to check if I had a stroke in my sleep but nothing showed up. I did have a fever a month or a month and ahalf ago that lasted a few days and didn't really respond to naproxen or paracetamol.

Is this one of those overnight "You lost a buncha senses because you're old ass is getting even older" phenomena's? The wildest of yet is I stuck one of those generic paracetamol tablets that's not got a coating on it to make it slide down the gullet easier onto my tongue and kept moving it around to keep it from dissolving, which didn't help and it began to dissolve in my mouth because I had no water near me. Had to walk to the kitchen to get a glass of tap water by which time my tongue was coated in the dissolving tablet. This stuff is bitter, but it tasted like icing sugar, not as sweet, but close enough. I'm tempted to go find an edible aloe plant and knock a leaf off and lick the gel to see if my taste is that messed up but I'd rather not tempt fate and get bit by a snake hiding.

I'm not on any particular exciting or unique medication. Simple mundane stuff for a man.

 

[lxskllr]

Covid?

edit:
I get breakfast sandwiches from aldi. Pretty sure they're Jimmy Dean. They usually taste good, but sometimes the sausage tastes like wet dog. Is it the sandwich, or is it me? :shrugs: That's my only experience with what you're saying.

 

[nakedfrog]

Yeah, Covid was my first thought too, but he says he hasn't had it. Not sure how confident one can be of that though.

 

[dullard]

Many things can cause it. Here is the Wikipedia article on Dysgeusia which describes them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysgeusia

It does often go away on its own. Could be mental decline. Could be a disease (even one where you had no other symptoms). Could be many things. The well known common one now is Covid. We know you said you don't have it, but did you do a proper Covid test 3 days and 5 days after getting symptoms? If not, you'll likely never know if you had Covid or not.

I have a good friend who got it. Onions and garlic tasted like garbage to him. Garbage smelt great like onions and garlic. Really awful sounding since he had to force himself to eat what tasted like rotten trash. It lasted about 6 months and slowly went away.

 

[A///]

We know you said you don't have it, but did you do a proper Covid test 3 days and 5 days after getting symptoms?

Yes. I had my own tests. I then thought to have a doctor's office do it as I needed my blood checked out anyway. I've a habit of running on low vitamin D due to being inside all day and working an office job my entire life, and that tender English skin you see. Nothing showed up. I suffered some bug bites from mosquitos before the fever sat in, maybe a month. I wasn't too worried about malaria even through there's been a detection of it in us based mosquitos. I'm not on any steroids for inflammation, although I did take a short course of prednisone last year. I've not exposed myself to any chemicals. I was working with my soil earlier this year but it's been tested for heavy metals and contaminations. I had "clean" soil delivered and opted to hire a crew to do the work because my back wasn't going to put up with that. It's been sodded over. Ih aven't burnt my tongue or again hit my head. No known disease in the family.

Been taking the same vitamins for years. The only normal tasting food I've had recently was broccoli. Steamed. Tasted as I expected.

 

[BoomerD]

After I had my knee surgery almost 20 years ago, foods that had been favorites, no longer tasted good to me. I was once a devout chocaholic...now, I can barely stand the smell, let alone the taste. This has affected a lot of foods I once enjoyed.

 

[A///]

Covid?

edit:
I get breakfast sandwiches from aldi. Pretty sure they're Jimmy Dean. They usually taste good, but sometimes the sausage tastes like wet dog. Is it the sandwich, or is it me? :shrugs: That's my only experience with what you're saying.

Jimmy Dean premade sandwiches are my guilty pleasure on busy mornings. They always taste fine to me. One of these days I'll prep my own batch of them but it's easier to buy the premade stuff.

 

[lxskllr]

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. Doctors don't know everything. There's still plenty of mysteries out there, and they sometimes can't find the cause of problems. Maybe with infinite testing, and the right person coming up with the right idea at the right time will figure it out, but maybe not. Hopefully it'll sort itself out going forward.

 

[A///]

After I had my knee surgery almost 20 years ago, foods that had been favorites, no longer tasted good to me. I was once a devout chocaholic...now, I can barely stand the smell, let alone the taste. This has affected a lot of foods I once enjoyed.

Yes I've heard this happens to some who are put under for surgery. 99% come out fine but there's the 1% like yourself who have altered taste for years or for life. I'd like to pretend working an office job with easy exercise means I'll never need to get my knees done. After reading yours or pcgeek's thread I felt rather queesy.

 

[dullard]

Yes. I had my own tests.

Good job. Most people do their own test on the first symptom day (which will almost always be a false negative if they were positive). Few people properly wait until several days later. I'm impressed.

 

[A///]

Good job. Most people do their own test on the first symptom day (which will almost always be a false negative if they were positive). Few people properly wait until several days later. I'm impressed.

I think most people hate the feeling of the swab so deep in their nostril. It's an enjoyable sensation for me. I had a bunch of tests due to them being on sale and through my pharamcist's office giving them out to longtime customers. I'm down to 4 boxes with 2 tests each which should last me through winter, but I'm planning on getting my annual flu shot and the booster in a couple weeks. We've still got muggy weather and I don't want to deal with the headache and nausea in this heat.

 

[dullard]

I think most people hate the feeling of the swab so deep in their nostril.

You are doing it wrong if it is deep down your nostril. That was what they did right at the beginning of the pandemic since we didn't know any better. But we know better now. For accurate results, you want it in about 1 cm (half inch) and after you blow your nose of anything that might be in there. Your goal is to collect the cells that line the inside of your nostrils and as little of anything else as possible.

 

[BoomerD]

You are doing it wrong if it is deep down your nostril. That was what they did right at the beginning of the pandemic since we didn't know any better. But we know better now. For accurate results, you want it in about 1 cm (half inch) and after you blow your nose of anything that might be in there. Your goal is to collect the cells that line the inside of your nostrils and as little of anything else as possible.

When I had my COVID test done in June (positive) They swabbed so deep it felt like they were swabbing the back of my eyeballs.

 

[dullard]

When I had my COVID test done in June (positive) They swabbed so deep it felt like they were swabbing the back of my eyeballs.

Yeah, old habits die hard, even for professionals.

 

[esquared]

When I had my COVID test done in June (positive) They swabbed so deep it felt like they were swabbing the back of my eyeballs.

Then there is this.

The Debate Over Whether to Swab the Throat When Testing for SARS-CoV-2

This Medical News article discusses whether swabbing both the nose and the throat might improve the sensitivity of rapid antigen COVID-19 tests.

jamanetwork.com

"The FDA says swabbing the throat with tests authorized for use only with nasal swabs could cause harm.

"One potential harm, according to the agency, would be decreased test sensitivity, although studies so far haven’t found that to be the case. The problem, Ismagilov said, is that rapid antigen tests in the US have been validated only with samples from nasal swabs."

 

[A///]

Was out for a walk and thought of something I did a few weeks ago after this turn of events happened. I'd accidentally bit down onto the left portion of my tongue near the rear. I accidentally did it again a few times in the days after as one does. I've done this before without ill effects. As this happened after the weird taste set in I didn't think much of it.

I did some reading this morning online and an article made mention of toothpastes and oral rinses having a certain antibacterial that can cause taste changes. I went to check my toothpaste and oral rinse and it wasn't listed anywhere. I've been using the same products for as long as I can remember in this country. Bog standard colgate white paste with a cheap oral rinse I switched to non alcoholic in 2004.

A week ago I had a Hershey's bar, the small single piece ones just to see if the chocolate issue affected all. Tasted as much as I remember hershey's tasting. Sugar laden with a bizarre twang to it due to them using soured milk.

I'm a creature of habit meaning I'll buy the same brands of stuff and eat the same stuff I know I like. The only medication change I had was earlier in the year for a temporary basis. A corticosteroid spray but it's a drug I've used before without issue because my preferred drug wasn't available. I only had to use it for about a month and disposed of it when I was done.

The only abnormality in my diet has been consuming a half teaspoon of manuka once a week on an empty stomach but I've been doing that for a few years now.

You are doing it wrong if it is deep down your nostril. That was what they did right at the beginning of the pandemic since we didn't know any better. But we know better now. For accurate results, you want it in about 1 cm (half inch) and after you blow your nose of anything that might be in there. Your goal is to collect the cells that line the inside of your nostrils and as little of anything else as possible.

That's what I mean. I think the initial tests that came out weren't that great and needed more matter. It's still not a pleasant feeling for most due to how stiff the test kits are and how sharp they are compared to the bluntness of a ear swab. The idea of having non reactive COVID always crossed my mind as I rarely ever fall ill. Even being among sick people pre covid I never caught a cold. I always assumed genetics or a good diet.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I just punched that into WebMD. You're probably pregnant, or you have cancer.

 

[IGBT]

Does mustard still taste like mustard?? Mustard is a fairly good test for taste bud sensitivity...horse radish is another.

 

[WelshBloke]

Weird sense of taste can linger long after a COVID test is negative!
Took a friend of mine a year to get her sense of taste back!

 

[BoomerD]

Does mustard still taste like mustard?? Mustard is a fairly good test for taste bud sensitivity...horse radish is another.

It's tough to find horseradish that's got any taste beyond vinegar. Good HOT horseradish...the kind that melts your sinuses is rare.

 

[IGBT]

It's tough to find horseradish that's got any taste beyond vinegar. Good HOT horseradish...the kind that melts your sinuses is rare.

Yes...nothing like a "punched in the nose" kind of horseradish..

 

[Red Squirrel]

Horseradish tastes like what I imagine natural gas would taste like. Or more specifically the chemical they add to it so it has a smell.

 

[brianmanahan]

i wonder what happened to AIII

 

[AdamK47]

Most likely came to the realization that this shrivled up old forum is a time sink he no longer wanted.

 

[brianmanahan]

Most likely came to the realization that this shrivled up old forum is a time sink he no longer wanted.