MY ANOSMATIC LIFE

Well, for now. 2017 marks ten years since I lost my sense of smell. But guess what? I have been able to smell and fully taste for a week now! I usually don’t make a huge announcement, but I must share this exhilarating, yet RARE experience.

So how did this happen?

It’s all thanks to Prednisone,  a steroid that controls inflammation in the body, aka the little orange pill that keeps me hopeful about getting my smell back. 

I haven’t been prescribed Prednisone since 2013. I can actually count on my fingers the amount of times that it’s been prescribed, which is less than six times. My ENT doctor usually prescribes Prednisone every other year. Surprisingly, my Nurse Practitioner (NP) did when I went back to her the day before New Year’s Eve because I still had sinusitis after 10 days.

As soon as my NP said, “I’m going to prescribe you Prednisone for a couple of days…,” my eyes lit up because I knew EXACTLY what was going to happen. I was going to be able to smell and taste EVERYTHING! I always get my smell and taste back when I take Prednisone…never fails. Last time, I was able to smell for a little over a week.

I’ve never been prescribed Prednisone for over 10 days…taking it longer is not an option (for me). Like every other drug, it has side effects. Prednisone can:

• Make you super hungry.
• ☝🏾Lead to weight gain.
• Cause insomnia. I was up till 5:30 am the other day binge-watching on Netflix because I couldn’t sleep. Thanks to the snowstorm, I’ve caught up on some sleep.
• Thin your skin and more…

Despite the side effects, I happily take Prednisone every time it’s prescribed to get the ability to smell and taste. I have been able to smell some things mentioned before that I missed. Here’s a short list of some new (old) smells and tastes:

• Shea Butter (Oldie but goodie!)
• Body Almond oil (LOVE!)
• Jasmine and violet oil 😍
• My Salve facial moisturizer (smells so good with the lavender oil in it)
• Salmon (OMG, it tastes good!) I didn’t start eating salmon until a couple of years ago…after I lost my sense of smell.
• My mother’s Gumbo (so freaking good). I don’t recall ever eating gumbo when I could smell/taste.
• Chili (spicy and delicious!)
• My carrot, orange, and ginger juice. I’ve been told it tastes like Whole Foods 🤔 but I like it more when I can barely taste it.
• My green juice (I’m not a fan of the smell and it took me forever to drink it)
• My beet juice (Looks better than it tastes to me but my family likes it!)
• My banana pudding. 😋 My family says it tastes amazing and they were right! I also forgot how good bananas smell.
• Lavender spray (refreshing)
• My breath. I have definitely been wondering how my breath smells since I have been using fluoride-free toothpaste and it’s fine. 😌👍🏾
• GAS…fumes! 🙄
• Starbucks Coffee – I finally got to wake up, go to a coffee shop, and actually smell the coffee. ☕️

I’ve really been enjoying the ability to smell for myself (Shout out to everyone who’s done a smell test for me). Of course, I don’t want this to end. But taking Prednisone is merely a short-term fix. So, I’ve been doing my Neti-pot nasal rinse every morning to try to prolong this (which I rarely do). Yes, it sucks knowing that this is temporary, but it keeps me pretty optimistic.

I am always thankful for this occurrence because it brings hope that my sense of smell can return permanently once I figure out 1) What’s hindering my ability to smell and 2) How to treat it.

I’ve gotten so used to my anosmia that sometimes I just give up trying to treat it. But I’ve got to figure out a long-term solution and pretty much experiment to get out of this “bubble” I live in. I have to be my biggest (health) advocate to find solutions. The first step is believing that my smell can come back permanently, which I do.

Next step: Strategize