I was wondering if anyone else has experienced a decrease sense of smell and taste. I have had this problem since April which is about the same time I started the medication Orencia. I have been to an ENT doctor and had a CT Scan of my sinuses and there isn't anything abnormal. I was told to increase my prednisone, and have tried every antihistamine and decongestant pill and spray there is, but no luck. The ENT doctor wants me to go to an allergist. I have had hayfever all my life but I've never had a problem with smell and taste before. I went to the orencia web site but didn't find anything like what I am experiencing. I am almost convinced it has to be the Orencia, but I was thinking maybe it could be the RA causing it too. Any suggestions would be great.
Melody
Hi it sure could be the medication. Maybe prednisone? LyndaI have no clue I am sorry. But I hope you find out where the problem is coming from.http://www.entnet.org/healthinfo/topics/smell_taste.cfm
http://www.meei.harvard.edu/patient/tasteandsmell.php
Those are a couple of good articles on taste and smell. Hope maybe one of them can push you in the right direction!!!
I know with my own meds that some foods taste funny and some smells make me nauseous. Interesting though! Mel have you been using zinc lozenges for cold/flu prevention? Any other herbal/alternative remedies? Zinc in particular has been shown to adversely affect the sense of smell. I've also heard that people with enlarged adenoids can't smell very well. And most of our sense of taste is actually our sense of smell, so if you can't smell, you probably can't taste either.