Sjogrens and Taste changes

[dry2010]

Has anyone experienced this with Sjogrens? I have recently run into this and it is really beginning to bug me. I read that it can be part of Sjogrens I have been on Plaquenil generic for eight months. Trying to sort all this out.

Dry2010

[Joe S.]

I don't know, I have two food groups I did not have before, Chocolate, and Chips. (spices tend to burn now)

[Aquarius]

Hello, Yes I definitely have taste changes.  My taste is significantly diminished with an ongoing bitter, almost rancid and metallic taste in my mouth.  I also have extremely dry sinuses with no congestion or post nasal drip.  I have wondered if there is a connection between the two. 

[puccini914]

If anyone is taking Topamax, it can cause major taste changes.  When I was taking it, I couldn't drink sodas from a can because all I tasted was metal, yuck.  I don't even like soda that much to begin with, so it was no big loss.

[navydad]

everything taste horrible to me,, I miss icecream,, the taste of hot cholocate fudge sundaes,, a good steak with A1 sauce, Hot chicken wings,, BBQ chips,, anything spicy,,
  I just slowly lost my taste buds,, when I first get up in the mornings, I swear it takes my brain a while to even register the smell of anything,, I cant drink coffee with ust cream in it anymore,, no taste, I use French vanilla powder in my coffee now,, wifes complains I use to much,, let me enjoy what i can still taste ok?,,
I used to go with my sons to the local bar on tuesday nights to get wings,, they have a hot sauce there that can remove paint,, my sons will get 30 wings and eat that sauce n them,, since y eyes dont water,, just smelling that stuff swells my eyes,, and literally makes my thraot feel like its closing up,, and it probably is,, no saliva makes for a dry closed throat,, used to have a beer while we were there,, but alchol is drying,, and I would pay for it the next day,,,

[gphx]

My sense of taste is diminished but my sense of smell is far worse. Used to be I'd go out in a crowd and notice perfume, the smell of cigarettes, maybe marijuana or alcohol, etc.. Now I notice absolutely nothing. When I actually do smell something it stands out. I forget things on the stove now and most of the time I don't even smell the smoke until it's everywhere. Eating food you can't smell is really strange. I figure my nose is just so chronically dry those sensors must be gone. Oh well as far as things go I don't care too much about the sense of smell anyway. If I wasn't so tired I might have a big career in crime scene cleanup. ; )

[Babs659]

I have absolutely lost some sense of taste and smell

[Daisy1234]

About 10 years ago I was at a restaurant with my sister and order a nice plate of bruschetta.  My sister was exclaming how tasty it was although the garlic in the bruschetta was overly strong.  I took a couple of bites and literally tasted nothing.  No garlic, no tomatoes, no bread, it all tasted very bland to me. 

Its been pretty well the taste story for me every since.  Everything tastes bland.  But if the food does turn out to be spicy, I won't be able to tell while I'm eating it, but later I will get both mouth sores and very bad gastric upset and sometimes vomiting.   So now I read the labels of everything that I eat as well as ask copious questions about any food that is being prepared for me by others. 

My sense of smell started to diminish after my sense of taste went and now I can't smell even the most fragrant rose in a florist's shop or whatever else has an odour.  It does cause me some concern as we had a problem with a gas leak issue this past summer and I was blithely unaware, couldn't smell a thing.  Luckily, my dog alerted me to the fact that something was wrong and I called for help.  On the up side though, my dog is an english bulldog and they are known for their penchant to be gassy, and I also never notice that either lol.

[Liz D.]

Yes, my sense of taste has definitely changed!!!  That was one of my first symptoms of SJS.  Every meal I would complain to my husband that dinner had no flavor at all.  He thought I was crazy because he said everything was tasting fine to him.

Our saliva helps break down the food and helps the taste buds to do their work and pick out the foods flavors.  Without that saliva, everything is just so bland.  Once I started on Evoxac and had a bit more saliva, some of my taste came back.

But it is also a Catch 22 for us, because at least in my case, I want to salt everything extra to get more taste, but then salt just dries us out more.  It is a lose lose situation.

Liz D.

[Diane54]

My sense of taste has changed also....the things I love just don't taste the same....and the taste in my mouth is always sour. I do have GERDs but it doesn't taste acidy...just sour and dry!

[Joe S.]

Liz D, Maybe your are craving salt but getting the wrong salt. There may be other tissue salts that you need.

http://www.chakraforce.com/Salt.html

[LizPetillo]

My mouth always tastes skunky.

One of the very few foods I can eat - cooked frozen peas - tastes like what peanuts used to taste like to me before I got this evil disease.

I can't taste anything right.  I only eat to take the plaquinel.  It's just no fun anymore.  I miss food.

[navydad]

Just had to add,,, BLAND,, I forgot that everything just taste BLAND,,

[irish]

I have loss of smell and loss of taste also. It is very strange cause I can smell some things. I had a "smell test" at my ENT's office many months ago and they were surprised at how many I got right. It is a standardized smell test, It is set up with groups of ten I think. Trying to sort out smells. I could sure smell the gasoline smell.

The loss of smell and taste I think is really neuropathy. There is a spot in our nose that is called the olfactory bulb and if you do a search you will be able to see images and info on this. It is hard to understand just how all this takes place cause I think that I am so congested that it screws everything up.

I used to be able to smell everything and I mean everything. Could always smell gas fumes, etc. I could smell better than my hubby. Not anymore. Sure makes it hard to cook cause I always judged how much spice to put in food by its smell. Now I just pray that it is ok. Irish

[Bonnie]

Loss of taste and sense of smell also happened to me, there was a point when the only things that had any taste were capers in vinegar, and mostly anything pickled.  Which played havoc with the gerd.  I also was convinced that there was a terrible smell in my house. 

Since taking salagen I can taste food, and my sense of smell is better (but not perfect)

I work at a large University and last week had a student with personal hygiene issues (unfortunately this was one of my being able to smell days  )