Advise: Can’t Taste Pipe Tobacco After Chest Infection

[KennethR]

Olfactory neurons supposedly go through their life cycle every couple of months and new ones grow back as others die off. They don't always grow back the same, though. It's possible things have changed and/or you might also still be healing.

Thanks for letting me know that information about olfactory neurons.

 

[HeavyLeadBelly]

Yeah like a few others said, this sounds like covid. Get tested and if it is it may take some time to get your senses back.

It’s such a crazy bug. Some of my friends got real sick, some lost their senses for a bit, others are now long haulers, and some, like me, barely noticed it, and all this regardless of getting the 5G Covid shot or not.

Hang in there and good luck!

 

[rectifythis]

I recently had Covid and lost most of my taste and smell. What worked QUITE well both times is taking Hylands Bioplasma cell salts. ("All 12 cell salts"). The newer size is like a small aspirin, take 1 under the tongue in the morning until things get better. If your taste drifts off again, just take it again for a little while. A few weeks is typical.

 

[woodsroad]

It is possible that your chest infection started off as undiagnosed Sinusitis. Start a regimen of steroid nasal spray and saline irrigation, and stop smoking until your olfactory perception returns to normal.

 

[KennethR]

It is possible that your chest infection started off as undiagnosed Sinusitis. Start a regimen of steroid nasal spray and saline irrigation, and stop smoking until your olfactory perception returns to normal.

Thank you for mentioning this when the cough started. I was sneezing a tremendous amount and it might've actually started as a sinus infection or an allergy reaction that then went to my chest.

 

[Peter Peachfuzz]

My advice is not to take medical advice from a smoking forum.. See a doctor and find out what you're dealing with.

 

[lukasstrifeson]

Every year I take a break from alcohol and pipe tobacco for three months it just so coincided that I got a really bad chest infection near the end of that time. In the last week, I’ve tried to start pipe smoking again but getting a real lack of taste in some of my favorite tobacco’s. I really like Plum Pudding and Presbyterian blend but both blends felt flavorless from what I strongly remember. I was really scratching my head because I know the taste of these tobaccos and love them, but was getting none of the satisfaction. My question to the forum is how long should I expect this to last? Any advice?

If you're happy taking a 3 month break every year why not that another month off?

Obviously, it'll depend on the type of infection you had but your olfactory senses can be affected and it just takes time to get back to baseline.

 

[KennethR]

If you're happy taking a 3 month break every year why not that another month off?

Obviously, it'll depend on the type of infection you had but your olfactory senses can be affected and it just takes time to get back to baseline.

Agreed.

 

[KennethR]

My advice is not to take medical advice from a smoking forum.. See a doctor and find out what you're dealing with.

Thanks, I take all the advice given on this forum with a good dose of common sense and real medical consideration. I know others have lost taste due to different flu, etc, and it's been a new experience for me and valuable to hear how long it's taken others to recover.

 

[Peter Peachfuzz]

Thanks, I take all the advice given on this forum with a good dose of common sense and real medical consideration. I know others have lost taste due to different flu, etc, and it's been a new experience for me and valuable to hear how long it's taken others to recover.

The quest, unless I missed it, is what are you recovering from?

 

[KennethR]

Hello everyone, I am pleased to say my taste has returned after my illness. Thanks for the responses and encouragement. It was most distressing and confusing when you know what tobacco is meant to taste like and it doesn't.

 

[anotherbob]

Hello everyone, I am pleased to say my taste has returned after my illness. Thanks for the responses and encouragement. It was most distressing and confusing when you know what tobacco is meant to taste like and it doesn't.

Worst experience I had with lost taste happened with mono. Every snuff and every pipe tobacco literally smelled and tasted like the stuff we swab out of our pipes with cleaners. Not fun. That didn't last long, but was worse then bland.

 

[Lumbridge]

I have been experiencing something similar, though not from any illness that I know of. I can't taste latakia at all, and some other blends have little to no flavor, while I can still taste some others just fine. It also comes and goes seemingly randomly. Very weird.

 

[BriarBrook]

Glad to hear you came to your senses... I have a nasty habit of losing my taste and smell anytime I get a cold. Fortunately, I only get sick about once a year, and I lose my senses for around a week. When I had covid in 2020-2021, I had no taste or smell for close to 9 months. For anyone else experiencing loss of smell/taste, patience is usually the key.

 

[Singularis]

The couple times I’ve lost my sense of smell in the last few years (probably from covid or some other coronavirus), it took a couple days to a couple weeks before it came back completely. The trick is to smell the tobacco from the tin or jar before packing it and lighting up. If you can’t smell that, there is almost no point in burning and puffing. Of course YMMV, and I hope you get it back quickly.