Did you take anything with zinc in it? Zinc is known to take away one's sense of smell and therefor, taste. Whatever is the cause, I would guess it will come back eventually, though that may be some time. I'm sorry you can't enjoy a meal very well!

Yes, some years ago I caught the 'mother of all colds', like I had never had before. Lost sense of taste and smell for a very long time. Many years have passed, and it did recover slowly...but I still am unable to smell smoke very quickly. Very odd, but after DH tells me there is smoke, I do smell it. Sort of a delayed thing. It is scary for me as I am terrified of fire(and am always burning bread!).

Unfortunately, it never bothered my taste buds enough to quit eating (LOL)

I lost my taste 6 years ago..no fun. The Doctor said if I had lost both taste and smell, she would have had me checked for having a stroke.

I had a severe sinus infection in the 1980's and I lost completely my sense of smell. It took a long time to get it back and it is still impaired.
I have taken zinc but not sure if it helped.....I think it was just time that made it better.
The ENT doc didn't have any suggestions except that because I was a nurse, it was probably an advantage not having to smell some of the smells I was exposed to.....good way to look at it, I gues.

The infection in the sinus may have damaged the nerves.

Sounds like a nerve problem. See a neurologist.

My taste has been impaired for several years. In my case, and I'm not tying to scare you, it turned out to be from a tumour. If your doctor is baffled, he can easily rule out a tumour or a lesion with a CT scan. I should have had one years ago, and I wouldn't be in the mess I'm in now, because my tumours would have been resolved when they were smaller and less complicated.

I am going back to the doctor on Tuesday. I had an xray on my sinus and I had a bad infection from the cold I had.

It sure is annoying not being able to smell or taste. I am sure I have nerve damage as some have said, hope that is all it is.

That's probably all it is, Enjoyspring. I didn't mean to make it sound sinister, just that it's important to rule things out. I'm glad you're going back, but I'm sure it's nothing serious. Keep us posted.

Well, I went to the doctors today, he said I have ANOSMIA, caused by the virus I had. It has damaged the nerves. He said there is no cure for it, it could take up to a year to get my taste and smell back and even then he said it would be very limited. This just sucks.

I had the flu this past February and suddenly lost my sense of smell and taste. I went to a specialist and he told me the virus had damaged the receptors in my brain that control these senses. He said he could not tell me if or when I would ever get them back. I also have a "phantom" smell and taste that permeates both, which he said might be a sign that it is trying to come back. Has anyone else had this?