Altered sense of smell/ taste

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KarenNWendyn

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Has anybody here experienced an altered sense of taste or smell related to ALS?

We’ve previously discussed phantosmia (phantom scents) in ALS on this forum, but I’m noticing that some previously appetizing smells are now offensive.

For example, the smell of turkey cooking (especially turkey soup and ground turkey) is now nauseating to me, and I’m having some issues with cooked salmon.

Is this crazy or just another reality of the ALS monster?
 
absolutely.

For quite awhile anything with tomato sauce tasted metallic. It passed.
I sorta suspected the Gabapentin.
 
I'm afraid it is commonly reported Karen :(
 
Yes, Karen, this often happens with ALS.

My husband used to love my homemade lentil soup but when I was cooking it a few years ago, the smell absolutely nauseated him. This seemed to change because now it doesn't bother him.

Sharon
 
Karen - this also happened with Brian. I had to constantly run the exhaust fan as he could not stand any cooking smells at all. When first vented it was still and issue and then as the years wore on, it seemed to leave. You are not going crazy. :)

Hugs
 
Yes. I thought it was just another manifestation of fibromyalgia. I made curry yesterday and it smelled so strong I couldn't eat it. I usually love the smell. I'll see if I can choke it down today.

Getting the Healthy Chef prepared dinners helps because they're already cooked and you just heat them for a minute or two in the microwave.
 
here: smell more sensitive (smell cigarette at the distance bigger then before als), taste loss app 80%. ncbi says about taste, didnt find about smell, but it doesnt exclude it,
 
Just another delight of the nightmare and there’s more stay tuned

Chally
 
FYI - my words from an earlier thread ...

I had a loss of most taste years before any ALS symptoms. The specialist I saw for this said this wasn't unusual when getting older.


"Some loss of taste and smell is natural with aging, especially after age 60."

"As you get older, it can get harder for you to notice flavors. Some women can start to lose their taste buds in their 40s. For men, the change can happen in their 50s."
 
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My 87- year old mother is complaining that nothing tastes good, and she was always a prodigious little eater. Sweet things are unbearable. Everything is bland, even her favourite home-made cooking. The smell aberrations that you PALS report above remind me of the the horrific smells I encountered while undergoing chemo for breast cancer 12 years ago. I actually had a closet physically ripped out and removed from my hall because of the stink coming out of it (also made the entry hall more roomy---that was the official reason I told my husband----but nevertheless, it was actually because of the stink). The smell of food cooking, especially anything prepared or manufactured or convenience food smelled appalling, something I'd never smelled before or since. Certainly no one took me seriously when I talked about it with my team. I guess there was little to be done about it. Perhaps you're all on a certain drug, those of you with smell aberrations? Riluzol? My Mum's on no active "treatment" for ALS, just things for her ailments of aging.
 
I have no trouble with the smell of food, but I can no longer stand the smell of cigarettes, I used to be a smoker years ago but now I can no longer be around cigarette smoke. I also find that my sense of taste is no longer the same, food dose not taste as good as it once did, but liquids tastes the same.
Al
 
Just to contribute to the question that has no definite answer: my dad lost his sense of smell quite a while before he was diagnosed. He used to love good food and recently has been saying everything tastes the same ( not good) except chocolate and cakes. No idea if it is and related.
 
I can hear and smell like a dog. I have a very good sense of taste.

I have a huge appetite, always did.

The two smells that give me an instant headache are cigarette smoke and perfume. I can't play cards with people wearing scents. That has not changed but the food smell has. I never had it before this past year.
 
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