Hi all,
After having a radical nephrectomy around the middle of april my taste buds were shot. It was so strange. Everything I ate tasted awful and nothing like it used to taste pre op.
I couldn't work out what had happened. I brushed my teeth, gums, inner cheeks, and tongue but still nothing tasted normal. Nothing tasted nice either. Gradually it started to get me down. For instance - Salt and vinegar tends to be my favourite crisps. But they were way way too strong. I have crunchy nut cornflakes every morning...delicious. However they tasted like burnt cardboard in milk after my op.
This madness. This horrendous nightmare went on for about 6 weeks. Truly awful and quite debilitating. Seemingly daft yet it had such an effect on me.
Then just gradually my taste began to return to how it was pre op.
The point of me writing this post was to say that 6 days ago my taste began to go away again. It was horrible and getting worse. However this time i read up on google about taste changes and read that a lack of B12 can bring on a metallic type taste in your mouth. And that is what i had. Exactly like after my op.
I had some Vit B12 tablets and took one right away. Then took another the next day and my taste was almost normal again. The third day i took a B12 my taste was back to normal.
As someone who follows a vegan diet i am probably more prone to be B12 deficient. And during my stay in hospital i obviously didn't eat right. I was on a super light diet. And it was this that probably affected my ability to taste. Then when i came out of hospital i still didn't absorb enough B12 and hence it took 6 weeks for my taste to recover.
Long story short. If your food starts tasting awful and nothing like it used to. If you have a horrible metallic taste in your mouth that you can't shift. Try Vitamin B12.
All the best ...Del
