Gross coffee aftertaste like smell in sinus and all food tastes gross!

Seems to me that this is the sort of thing a periodontist and maybe a dentist should look at! It may still be any number of other things in your environment, but this should be checked. It helped me, even when my doctor thought I was crazy!

There are many issues stemming from the oral cavity that your perfectly capable and intelligent doctor is completely baffled with, but anyone knowledgeable in dental hygiene can spot right away. In this case, it may be something as simple as a cavity, slightly-infected gums due to infected sinuses, decaying food stuck in between teeth that flossing can't really clean-out (there are other tools out there that are much more efficient for getting food out of some of those spaces). It would describe some of the issues y'all are experiencing.

I had something similar for about two horrible years, but oddly enough the problem would slowly fade almost completely away when I (temporarily) stopped using flouride-based toothpaste & mouthwash and switched to zinc-based stuff. Obviously I cannot say whether or not it was psychosomatic, as I was the one experiencing this. Now I switch back & forth between the two types. It also helped when I temporarily stopped eating foods with baking soda & baking powder.

Just thinking about it makes me cringe, to this day.

Some dental/periodontal work and preventative maintenance later, nothing triggers it anymore, although now in addition to flossing, I've got a dental pick to help clean between teeth along the gumline.

Now, in terms of what some of you are experience with regards to dust & smokey smell, once a month, I change out the air filters in the house, and exchange the air by opening up the windows and turning on the ceiling fans & AC, and vac the dust, otherwise I get a dusty smell in my nose when I wake up in the morning. I always know when it's time because the smell only comes back at that point.

I hope my experiences help out! I know that dealing with this is not fun at all!

Did you find a solution to this issue you are having ? If so pls let me know I would be very grateful.

Its not there in the morning because your sinuses are closed. Coffee opens up the airways hence you get it after drinking it. I've had this "thing" for years and cannot work it out ?!?

I have had this same problem for 4 days now so I had to search this topic and came across this forum.
I went in for root canal, had a cold going in. My dentist mentioned that my tooth canal was closely associated to my sinus area.
I have been a smoker for 20 years and my sense of smell and taste had diminished. Now, these senses are grossly exaggerated and I do mean gross. Going in to an ENT doc soon.

Guys, I had to get in on this conversation because I have it, too. It's probably best referred to as Parosmia, but its cause is unknown. I've had it for about 17 years now, starting in my early 20's. It's only associated with my left nostril, and as one fo you mentioned, if I cover that nostril while eating or smelling anything, the bad taste or smell (burnt, moldy, stale) is temporarily relieved. It comes on like a light switch. It is induced by rapid air passage through the nose (eg, deep inhalation, a sneeze, laughing), talking too loud or singing (again probably air passage), burnt things (smoke of any kind, burning things in a kitchen or from a grill - coffee is a #1 inducer, I think because it is roasted beans), and high humidity like steam. If I don't control it, it can last for a few minutes up to an entire day. Fortunately, I can control it in several ways. The primary way is to squeeze my nostrils very firmly with my left thumb and forefinger (to the point it hurts) and inhale to create a vacuum in my sinuses. Takes 10 seconds or so, then I release and sometimes this fixes it. Other times I have to do this over and over to the point of nearly tearing the skin on the outside of my nose - which is the biggest down side. Have to do this in private, as it looks quite bizarre for folks who don't understand what I'm doing. Fortunately, I have found another way to deal with it. Make myself sneeze. While sneezing can cause it, it can also make it go away. I take a q-tip and gently prod deep in my left nostril until I sneeze, eyes will tear up in the process. I induce about 3 or 4 sneezes back to back - takes about 1-2 minutes. I only do this in private of course. This causes a highly congested nasal state. My nostrils drip a little at first, but I gently blow out the excess mucus (sorry so graphic) and then go on my way. The congestion will fade over then next half hour, but it usually fixes the problem for many hours! I beleive the problem is isolated to a patch of cells in my sinus that overexpress a mutated form of olfactory recepor (I'm a scientist, and this is just my theory). Don't know how it got started, maybe a virus, bu they get activated by these various stimuli, and can be inactived by covering them with a thin layer of mucus. Additionally, I believe they can be silenced more long term, but not sure yet how. I have also found that brushing my teeth first thing in the morning and avoiding coffee (which is very hard for me) and other inducers, can lead to a state of desensitization, where it is less prone to being activated. For the last year and a half, and I'm not sure why, the problem has been substantially reduced. I no longer have those horrible days where it happens every hour or so. The only thing I have really changed is that I now brush my teeth or use listerine a few times a day, beginning very first thing in the morning, as this seems to keep it in a desensitized state and thus much much easier to manage. I can still induce the smell problem at anytime, but it is much easier to get rid of using the techniques I discussed, and it stays away for loger periods. I can only hope it stays in this sort of remission, and I suppose it's possible it could one day go away. Anyway, hope some of this might be useful to you, and if I ever learn of a more proper diagnosis or clinical treatment, I will certainly post it here.

ldmiller wrote:

smbrownx wrote:

If I blow my nose hard or talk to loud too much I have what seems like a bursting of a strange smell in my sinus. The smell permeates everything. I cant get it out of my sinus. Everything smells of this (Greasy, Coffee, burnt)smell. Food no longer tastes good either. Flavors of all food now include this smell and its disgusting. I've used saline nasal spray. Tried to blow whatever it is in my sinus out, all with no avail! My wife says there's nothing different in my breath either. I've had this for years in one form or another. About 4 years ago, it used to happen whenever I would drink a really strong cup of coffee (Starbucks), but now it happens when I blow my nose or even stranger....When I talk loud or yell??? I have't drank coffee for months thinking this was the cause but it still happens daily. The smell and taste is always gone when I wake up in the morning. Please tell me you've heard of this or better yet you know how to fix it.

Guys, I had to get in on this conversation because I have it, too. It's probably best referred to as Parosmia, but its cause is unknown. I've had it for about 17 years now, starting in my early 20's. It's only associated with my left nostril, and as one fo you mentioned, if I cover that nostril while eating or smelling anything, the bad taste or smell (burnt, moldy, stale) is temporarily relieved. It comes on like a light switch. It is induced by rapid air passage through the nose (eg, deep inhalation, a sneeze, laughing), talking too loud or singing (again probably air passage), burnt things (smoke of any kind, burning things in a kitchen or from a grill - coffee is a #1 inducer, I think because it is roasted beans), and high humidity like steam. If I don't control it, it can last for a few minutes up to an entire day. Fortunately, I can control it in several ways. The primary way is to squeeze my nostrils very firmly with my left thumb and forefinger (to the point it hurts) and inhale to create a vacuum in my sinuses. Takes 10 seconds or so, then I release and sometimes this fixes it. Other times I have to do this over and over to the point of nearly tearing the skin on the outside of my nose - which is the biggest down side. Have to do this in private, as it looks quite bizarre for folks who don't understand what I'm doing. Fortunately, I have found another way to deal with it. Make myself sneeze. While sneezing can cause it, it can also make it go away. I take a q-tip and gently prod deep in my left nostril until I sneeze, eyes will tear up in the process. I induce about 3 or 4 sneezes back to back - takes about 1-2 minutes. I only do this in private of course. This causes a highly congested nasal state. My nostrils drip a little at first, but I gently blow out the excess mucus (sorry so graphic) and then go on my way. The congestion will fade over then next half hour, but it usually fixes the problem for many hours! I beleive the problem is isolated to a patch of cells in my sinus that overexpress a mutated form of olfactory recepor (I'm a scientist, and this is just my theory). Don't know how it got started, maybe a virus, bu they get activated by these various stimuli, and can be inactived by covering them with a thin layer of mucus. Additionally, I believe they can be silenced more long term, but not sure yet how. I have also found that brushing my teeth first thing in the morning and avoiding coffee (which is very hard for me) and other inducers, can lead to a state of desensitization, where it is less prone to being activated. For the last year and a half, and I'm not sure why, the problem has been substantially reduced. I no longer have those horrible days where it happens every hour or so. The only thing I have really changed is that I now brush my teeth or use listerine a few times a day, beginning very first thing in the morning, as this seems to keep it in a desensitized state and thus much much easier to manage. I can still induce the smell problem at anytime, but it is much easier to get rid of using the techniques I discussed, and it stays away for loger periods. I can only hope it stays in this sort of remission, and I suppose it's possible it could one day go away. Anyway, hope some of this might be useful to you, and if I ever learn of a more proper diagnosis or clinical treatment, I will certainly post it here.

I sure hope someone comes up with a solution to this problem soon. I would swear I was sitting in a garage inhaling car exhaust! This has been driving me nuts! I have tried to explain it to my doctor and he is clueless. Please I hope someone has a good idea of what this is. I was taking Cipro for a kidney infection for 7 days. The doctor also started me on low dose high blood pressure medication. 3 days after finishing the Cipro this darn thing started up. Though it might be the high blood pressure medication so stopped taking that and now a week and a half later it is still a problem. Some morning I wake up and everything is fine and then about 2 or 3 hours later it all starts up again. I am at my wits end with this. I read up on Parosmia and Photosmia but neither one gives any true solution to getting rid of this. Hope someone has come up with something by now.

I have thought I was crazy since this started happening to me about two years ago. I started noticing it when I would wake up in the morning and drink coffee before eating any kind of food with it. I would get a distorted coffee taste in my sinuses that I could not get away. I noticed if I ate something before the coffee, I could sometimes avoid the smell but sometimes it would occur anyway, even when I wouldn't drink coffee at all. I noticed the smell would be more prevalent if I waited too long to eat between meals, or if I would not eat breakfast in the morning. It first started occurring after a bad sinus infection I got. It was driving me crazy. It slowly began to fade, only occurring every once in awhile until the other day. I cracked a cap on a tooth I had a root canal on about three years ago. At the same time, I came down with a sinus infection. Now, every time I eat, I taste the food I just ate in my sinuses- especially if I blow my nose- which is quite often with the infection. The taste is distorted compared to the taste of the food when I ate it, but I can tell it is similar. It always has a hint of the burnt coffee, bitter odor/taste. About thirty minutes after I eat, the smell/taste turns back into the burnt/bitter smell/taste and is definitely triggered by drinking coffee, steam, and blowing my nose. I think it is definitely related to my tooth issue and probably occurred because of the root canal I had on it about three years ago. It is one of my back right molars. I was shocked when I saw others posting about root canals and oral issues. For me, I think this is the problem and will be seeing about getting that tooth removed. Hopefully a healing will come for everyone with this problem because of the misery it brings. 

This is amazing--I have had the same problem since 2006. There are other people like me!  It began while I was frying zucchini.  All of a sudden, everything smelled bad.  It continued infrequently for a few months, and then it began happening more and more frequently.  Now, almost six years later, my sinuses pop usually around 9 a.m., and most food taste bad and things smell weird until I go to sleep (when I wake up it's usually gone for a short time) or use my neti pot (thankfully, that provides short-term relief if I actually want to enjoy a meal).  It's only in the right nostril, so if I plug that, everything smells fine.  My triggers are inhaling quickly, smelling something that is frying or burning, talking suddenly, or being around heat or steam.  I do have very chronic sinus infections now (I have had about 15 in the last two years).  I know that I do have some cysts and other issues in my sinuses, and I am at the point of scheduling endoscopic surgery with a balloon sinuplasty.  Has anyone else found relief through surgery?  My ENT doesn't seem to have any other answers.  One of my theories is that the mucus is not draining properly and creates the distortion.  I am interested in the scientist's theory about cells that was posted above.  If anyone has any further information, please post it. 

WOW, A few years back when this first started for me, there wasn't this many incidences I could find with others having the EXACT same issue!

I have gotten multiple sinus infections over the years and the have seemed to increase in frequency since this started happening to me.....Whenever I would take an antibiotic this would make it all go away for usually a couple months. However over the years I think I have become ammune to taking ammoxacillin now....good luck everyone and please come back with any success stories if anyone is lucky enough to figure one out.

Sorry, this is my 3rd post in a row.....

I am right there with all of you! I went to an herb doctor and he told me I had bacteria in my sinuses one time and then the other time bacteria in my teeth. He gave me some herb stuff to use but nothing has worked yet.

Im glad im not alone. One doc told me that he thought I had mental problems and was just making it up.

i'm finally glad i have found people that know exactly what i've been going through.  I've had this problem for the past 6 years, it started off once or twice a week but now its 4 or 5 times a day.  At first it made me throw up and then it would go away, then i was able to get rid of it by building pressure in my head and coughing.  Now i neti pot but thats loosing its effectiveness.  I went to the doctors and they gave me nasal sprays for alergies which worked for a little while, i had a CAT scan and a camera shoved up my nose but they didnt find anything.  I feel crazy trying to explain it to people as they just dont get how it can make everything taste and smell so bad.  the only thing i've found that always works is sticking tissue up my nose but as soon as i take it out its there still.  i cant go eound with tissue stuck up my nose anyway.  i do find that it has given me thick spit, like i have a permeant nazal drip.  From what i can tell its related to my sinuses somehow.  I plan to try the doctors withthis new found information.  if anyone finds anything that works please post it, i am worried that this will be permenant every day as its getting worse and i cant bear that thought..... i'm only 27!!

I have the exact same problem and it's been going on for 2 years now. I've had sprays given to me and even antihistamin tablets, none of which worked. I also had an endoscopy and that didn't show anything irregular. I'm really stumped that no one has a solution for this yet, if you solved it please let us know how!

I've had the same problem for roughly 4 years and it started out once a week to twice a month and would go away within a matter of hours. Now, however it happens frequently, sometimes days on end and usually lasts until I go to sleep. It started out happening when i breathed in or out of my nose too hard, sneezed, sometimes coughed, now it happens sometimes when I barely breathe in or out of my nose, and sometimes happens withoit breathing, seemingly triggered by nothing.

hey guys,

i've been dealing with exactly the problem you are describing for a while now, and since doctors and "conventional" medicine didn't seem to have an answer, i started poring over natural health encyclopedias. I found that often smell and taste disturbances are caused by what can be anywhere from a minor to serious zinc deficiency, and decided to try supplements. after about a week on the supplements the problem is nearly gone. not sure if this could be everyone's problem, but my guess is that it could help some of you, especially if you've noticed that you have a weaker immune system or a heightened susceptibility to infections, like me (zinc deficiency also impacts the immune system). 

zinc works best when taken in combination with selenium and copper, but if you are going to supplement be VERY careful not to exceed the recommended dosages, as this can cause serious and potentially lethal metal poisoning. mushrooms, oysters, and certain meats also have particularly high concentrations of zinc.

hope this can at least help someone, because it helped me!!

good luck. :)