Question:
Why do things smell and taste different?

I am almost 3 months post-op, and ever since surgery, certain things have smelled and tasted differently. Coffee used to be what i lived on..now the smell is horrid, the taste of milk is funny, even my shampoo/conditioner smells funny. Anyone else have this and what is it? does it last forever??? i hate it! i want to like coffee again!    — candymarie3 (posted on March 22, 2006)

March 22, 2006
Candy, As for what it is, I have NO idea. However, I can tell you that I am over two years post-op and can not eat cheese anymore unless it's melted in/on something. For example to have a string cheese as a protein snack, out of the question....it tastes like wax to me! I have given up on it ever changing back at this point. That is the only thing I have noticed it with though, so I guess I am lucky. Angela
   — Angela T.

March 22, 2006
OH, and I've also heard from a friend(WLS patient) that she no longer can taste soda, so of course I had to try for myself...and ya know what? all it taste like is carbonated water...no flavor! i just want to enjoy my coffee...sniff sniff
   — candymarie3

March 22, 2006
Candy I also had the same problem with taste and smells. I am 2 years out almost and still the taste and smells of some things i cant handle but that could be a good think. Because if i understood right they really prefer you not to drink coffee for awhile anyway so that could help you to not want it. I just kinda looked at it like this if something smelled bad to me then i wouldnt eat it THANK GOD..... Hope this helps ya. But hey ya I think it is very normal I have had other people say the same thing that they didnt like the smell and taste of alot of things now. Mary Brown
   — marybrown

March 22, 2006
I too had the same problems with smells and tastes. But then one day I didn't notice it anymore. When I first came home to relax I lit a candle and about vomited, the odor was just awful. I still love my coffee I just drink decaf with a small amount of Splenda and evaporated milk or reg. milk. Like I said one day I woke up and noticed the smell of something and didn't get the urge to vomit.
   — 1968 Loser

March 23, 2006
Candy, I too had some of those problems with taste and smells. The dietician from my surgeons office told me that it was natural. That everyone seemed to have that happen after surgery. Senses get heightened. Even lights were brighter to me. She said they do not know why it happens but it does...and that it usually only lasts for 6 months. I still have a couple things that really get to me and I am 2 and a half years out. But I think they are just things that were so pronounced to me in the first couple weeks..and were sugary things..that the smell just made me so nautious...that I have wanted to keep it that way. Just one look at them and I can get sick. Hope that helps some.
   — AjAngelll