Hi. Your taste is back? because my problem is the same for you?
The taste buds gradually came back. No doc but the clamps go on your tongue and antibiotics are known to give issues with taste to. In my case the last thing to taste normal was white wine!
Hello all,
If you have come across this page, then like most people here you probably are suffering from the unfortunate loss of taste after having a tonsillectomy surgery.
As I’m writing this it is 18/06/2018. I had my tonsillectomy just over a year ago on 31/05/2017. Today, I just had a biscuit and thought to myself... I CAN totally taste that!!! And with that thought I decided to write this to give you all some encouragement and to assure you that it may be difficult now but – as I experienced – there is light at the end of that tunnel!
Rewind back to about a month after I had my tonsillectomy, I was absolutely distraught!!! I had had a successful surgery. The tonsils were successfully removed (albeit it being the most agonizing thing I had EVER been thorough - I might make a separate post about the actual surgery). But upon my recovery from the pain and being able to eat normal food again, I discovered - to my horror - that everything I ate was either tasting BLAND, or I could not taste it at all.
Here are the things I noticed:
I could not taste sweet things (i.e. Coca Cola, biscuits, chocolates etc). These were all just very bland and I couldn’t register the sweetness at all.
Savoury foods (which I LIVE for) all tasted very strange! Very distorted from what they should have normally tasted like.
Ultimately, the process of eating food was just not a pleasant one anymore. Sure, we need to eat to survive but I LOVE eating and not just because I have to. I LOVE the taste of food and the taste accounts for about 80% of the fun of eating. You can imagine then how sad and upset I was about this.
I researched as much as I could to find something… ANYTHING that would help. But it was not easy. I found in my medical pack from when I had the surgery that recovery time from this issue does vary depending on the person. For some it can be 6 weeks… for others 6 months… And for very few up to 18 – 24 month. You can only imagine my horror!
So you all might want to know HOW LONG TILL I TASTE AGAIN THEN? Well, my manager who had the same surgery about 2 months before I did had hardly any problem at all. She said that her only issue was that she couldn’t taste wine after the surgery, but this cleared up after about a month. That was it!!!
For me – on the other hand – it took a while. I know for a FACT that for at least 3 months, I could not taste things well. But, slowly the taste began to come back. Savoury foods slowly but surely started to taste like normal again. I know that sweet foods took longer (e.g., it took a while before I could enjoy Haagen Daz Cookies & Cream again). But I can assure you, I do now.
So my message to you all is this…
There was a time about 2 – 3 months after my surgery, when I was CERTAIN that I wasn’t going to taste food as I used to. It was challenging and frankly, quite possibly the biggest challenge I’ve ever faced in life! But, please be reassured that it WILL get better. For me, thankfully it didn’t take as long as I could have done. I believe that EVERYONE will have this issue if you’ve had a tonsillectomy, but I also believe that EVERYONE will recover from it (unless there truly was a complication during the surgery). You might not even realise that it has got better. For a while, I was questioning whether I could actually taste things again or whether I was just used to the fact that I can’t taste. Thankfully, I can report that it’s the former and not the latter.
So hold your head!!! You WILL get through this rough stage. Remain positive and before you realise it your taste will come back. Everyone is different, so everyone will experience different recovery times. BUT YOU WILL RECOVER!!!
And lastly, I will like to encourage you to write about your experience when you do recover just to add variety and to let people know how long it took you.
Thanks… and remember…. There is a light (and taste) at the end of that tunnel!
Christopher
If you have come across this page, then like most people here you probably are suffering from the unfortunate loss of taste after having a tonsillectomy surgery.
As I’m writing this it is 18/06/2018. I had my tonsillectomy just over a year ago on 31/05/2017. Today, I just had a biscuit and thought to myself... I CAN totally taste that!!! And with that thought I decided to write this to give you all some encouragement and to assure you that it may be difficult now but – as I experienced – there is light at the end of that tunnel!
Rewind back to about a month after I had my tonsillectomy, I was absolutely distraught!!! I had had a successful surgery. The tonsils were successfully removed (albeit it being the most agonizing thing I had EVER been thorough - I might make a separate post about the actual surgery). But upon my recovery from the pain and being able to eat normal food again, I discovered - to my horror - that everything I ate was either tasting BLAND, or I could not taste it at all.
Here are the things I noticed:
I could not taste sweet things (i.e. Coca Cola, biscuits, chocolates etc). These were all just very bland and I couldn’t register the sweetness at all.
Savoury foods (which I LIVE for) all tasted very strange! Very distorted from what they should have normally tasted like.
Ultimately, the process of eating food was just not a pleasant one anymore. Sure, we need to eat to survive but I LOVE eating and not just because I have to. I LOVE the taste of food and the taste accounts for about 80% of the fun of eating. You can imagine then how sad and upset I was about this.
I researched as much as I could to find something… ANYTHING that would help. But it was not easy. I found in my medical pack from when I had the surgery that recovery time from this issue does vary depending on the person. For some it can be 6 weeks… for others 6 months… And for very few up to 18 – 24 month. You can only imagine my horror!
So you all might want to know HOW LONG TILL I TASTE AGAIN THEN? Well, my manager who had the same surgery about 2 months before I did had hardly any problem at all. She said that her only issue was that she couldn’t taste wine after the surgery, but this cleared up after about a month. That was it!!!
For me – on the other hand – it took a while. I know for a FACT that for at least 3 months, I could not taste things well. But, slowly the taste began to come back. Savoury foods slowly but surely started to taste like normal again. I know that sweet foods took longer (e.g., it took a while before I could enjoy Haagen Daz Cookies & Cream again). But I can assure you, I do now.
So my message to you all is this…
There was a time about 2 – 3 months after my surgery, when I was CERTAIN that I wasn’t going to taste food as I used to. It was challenging and frankly, quite possibly the biggest challenge I’ve ever faced in life! But, please be reassured that it WILL get better. For me, thankfully it didn’t take as long as I could have done. I believe that EVERYONE will have this issue if you’ve had a tonsillectomy, but I also believe that EVERYONE will recover from it (unless there truly was a complication during the surgery). You might not even realise that it has got better. For a while, I was questioning whether I could actually taste things again or whether I was just used to the fact that I can’t taste. Thankfully, I can report that it’s the former and not the latter.
So hold your head!!! You WILL get through this rough stage. Remain positive and before you realise it your taste will come back. Everyone is different, so everyone will experience different recovery times. BUT YOU WILL RECOVER!!!
And lastly, I will like to encourage you to write about your experience when you do recover just to add variety and to let people know how long it took you.
Thanks… and remember…. There is a light (and taste) at the end of that tunnel!
Christopher
8 months ago I had tonsillectomy, from 5 months I have a strange bitter sour taste in my mouth and salty phlegm in my throat. Is this a part of the recovery process? Does anyone have a similar problem?
Did it ever get better for you
As Christopher has suggested, I have come across this page due to research (the umpteenth) since I had my tonsillectomy in January 2023 over 15 months ago. My tonsillectomy was recommended as I had asymmetric tonsils which is a 'red flag'. In addition, my dad had passed away with throat cancer eight years previously.
As Chris has mentioned, the pain was unimaginable - ladies out there put the delivery of your baby together with a broken bone, multiply by two and you may be half way there in terms of pain.
I have had a strange, metallic taste from the outset. This is present 24/7. Initially, it impaired everything I ate and I could not distinguish between salt, sweet, etc. Gradually that has improved although the bitter taste has remained.
Then in November '23 I had wrist surgery which involved another general anaesthetic. The situation got markedly worse after this and I felt I was back at 'square one'. I used to dread eating as I knew that it would not taste as it should. Now seven months after wrist surgery and 16 months after my tonsillectomy, I can taste most things although a cup of tea (I live in the UK so it is a 'national' drink) doesn't taste of anything unless it's strong and stewed and then it tastes bitter. However, as soon as I have finished eating, the bitter taste returns and remains. Some days are better than others but, to date, I have no idea why.
I eventually went back to my ENT consultant last Thursday and was informed that I have nerve damage from the surgery. Whether this is the glossopharyngeal nerve from the cutting instruments or whether it's another nerve from the tongue clamp, I do not know. Apparently, I will 'eventually' develop a way of ignoring it. 'Eventually' of course has no time limit.
I have taken comfort from the posts on this site realising that it is not just 'me', nor is it all my head - it's a real thing. I live in the hope that my recovery has been made longer by the second general anaesthetic and that I will enjoy food again sometime in the future.
Thank you for reading.
Anne
As Chris has mentioned, the pain was unimaginable - ladies out there put the delivery of your baby together with a broken bone, multiply by two and you may be half way there in terms of pain.
I have had a strange, metallic taste from the outset. This is present 24/7. Initially, it impaired everything I ate and I could not distinguish between salt, sweet, etc. Gradually that has improved although the bitter taste has remained.
Then in November '23 I had wrist surgery which involved another general anaesthetic. The situation got markedly worse after this and I felt I was back at 'square one'. I used to dread eating as I knew that it would not taste as it should. Now seven months after wrist surgery and 16 months after my tonsillectomy, I can taste most things although a cup of tea (I live in the UK so it is a 'national' drink) doesn't taste of anything unless it's strong and stewed and then it tastes bitter. However, as soon as I have finished eating, the bitter taste returns and remains. Some days are better than others but, to date, I have no idea why.
I eventually went back to my ENT consultant last Thursday and was informed that I have nerve damage from the surgery. Whether this is the glossopharyngeal nerve from the cutting instruments or whether it's another nerve from the tongue clamp, I do not know. Apparently, I will 'eventually' develop a way of ignoring it. 'Eventually' of course has no time limit.
I have taken comfort from the posts on this site realising that it is not just 'me', nor is it all my head - it's a real thing. I live in the hope that my recovery has been made longer by the second general anaesthetic and that I will enjoy food again sometime in the future.
Thank you for reading.
Anne