loss of smell & taste, dizziness & tingling in hand

[Trace80]

Hi All

8 weeks ago I had an accident, and fell down my stairs at home backwards - had a nasty bump to the head - suffered with headaches for days and still suffering dizzy spells even now and tingling in my left hand - had a head scan - normal , but complete loss of smell and taste which bothers me the most - only able to sense sweet/sour/bitter on my tongue, but no flavours.

I went to see the neurologist this week and he said that I have first cranial nerve damage which is apparently quite common after a fall.  I didnt have to have another scan as I had already had a scan at the hospital in December and that didnt show any bleeds. Basically I was told, pessimistically if I didnt regain the senses within 3 months which is average for this type of thing then I probably wouldnt at all and to make sure that my home was fitted with correct safety equipment, such as smoke alarms as unable to smell. No other advice or encouragement was given.
Since then I have felt very flat and depressed, as this does not seem a big deal to anyone except me.  I think I was expecting a miracle cure or a tablet to make it all go away! Once i rdo reach the 3month average recovery time I am sure it will be even worse if my senses have not returned by then. Everyone says that I should be grateful that I have not damaged anything else, and I absolutely know this and its true, and I should be grateful and all of that, but my selfish thoughts are that its still like living in an isolated world and there's no one else to talk to who understands, except people that are going through it who have posted on here.    It affects every single day of your life as everything revolves around eating and smelling - I have read such stories of people who live with this every day, but I must be really weak and pathetic as I just cant imagine being like this for the rest of my life. It is having such a big impact as I am a very social person, and enjoy a busy life which revolves a lot around eating and drinking.  Surely there must be something that I can try - herbal - operation wise - drug wise or whatever to improve the situation - if anyone knows where I can get further help please let me know .....i would be so pleased to hear from anyone in a similar situtation this is driving me insane..I know I need to stay positive but its so difficult...... Heeeelllllpppp me please, Tracey

[meccamaggie]

Hey Trace it's me Maggie, your Alaska non smeller friend,
  I haven't been on this site since you and I connected, it was too hard from overseas.  I just read MoonFace35 story on hear, it sounds so similar to yours, with the dizziness.  She also has partial hearing loss.   No smell no taste for her either.  People don't get it at all, they act like if I just try harder.  Or they think if you can still taste sweet salt sour bitter you can taste.  THAT IS NOT TASTE!!  I too am very social and love food, entertaining and great wine etc.   I want to be pro active and aggressive on this issue.  I wrote to you about DR Joel Fuhrman, and water fasting.  I haven't been able to find any information on water fasting and anosmia, but I know it helps the body to repair other nerve disorders.  The thing is if we have severed out nerves, whhhhhaaaaa.  take care and you're not alone, Maggie

[kimberly85901]

You need another CT scan.  I had an injury in November, I was told it was a slight concussion.  CT showed  no major injury.  MRI taken 10 days later showed inflamed meniges.  No one seemed to know what to tell me about that.  2 months later - well, over two months from the initial accident - I ended up in Neuro ICU at Barrows getting a burr hole drilled in my skull and a drain inserted.  Turns out I had a SLOW BLEED from the accident and I ended up with a subdural hematoma.  They took over 200 cc of blood off the right side of my brain. I am told that I am lucky that I did not stroke or die.  Please look into this....just becasue the bleed did not show up initially does not mean you don't have one!

[WAislandgirl]

I was in a car accident when I was three months old.  Since that time until I was a teen I used to think you had to learn how to smell.  I can not smell at all.  Never could that I remember.  I have never known what things really taste like.  I am truly sorry for you all that had the sense of smell and then lost it.