everything tastes bad

[Troy]

I had my AVR surgery May 11th. Was not able to get at ON-X valve because I had an anurysm on my aorta and the ON-X did not have an extention sleeve, so I got a Carbomedics mechanical valve. Anyway nothing tastes good. I feel like I am starving since surgery, nearly three weeks. I can eat only a little before I have to quit. Does anyone know if it is the coumadin causing my taste to change. Or has anyone had a similar experience?

 

[Nancy]

I believe that just aboout everyone has this problem for a while. Things taste like dirt. It is a side effect of the surgery, probably the anesthesia or pain meds, or just body trauma. Eat what will taste good to you, popsicles are things that people like and tolerate. Just like a pregnant woman, if you fancy pickles and ice cream right now, then by all means eat that.

Your taste buds will get better soon, and you will eat normally again.

 

[Cooker]

Troy,

I did not have taste for anything for about three weeks. That changed over night and now I am trying to gain control My walking is not making up for my cravings. To my knowledge Coumadin does not effect your taste but everone is differant.

I am sure Al has more insight on this. Give it time.

Tom

 

[Tom F.]

Yours is a very common post-op. complaint. Give it about a month and things will gradually taste better.

 

[Ross]

Cooker nailed it on the head. It's unreal. You hate everything for awhile and then one morning you wake up and want to eat the house down. Taste will come back, it just takes a long time. I'd say your due in about a week or so and then LOOK OUT!

 

[Georgia]

Fruit was about the only thing edible post-surgery; I griped about the hospital food - except that all food was horrid.

Try pure fruit drinks (maybe smoothies) and sweet canned fruit. And citrus.

Be careful of Ensure, power bars and other diet supplements - they'll really foul up your inr. They're loaded with Vit. K.

 

[RandyL]

ICECREAM is the only thing I could eat. I hated the smell and taste of everthing. Don't worry you will eat again real soon, so in the meantime try some icecream

 

[Glenda]

Yup, just like everyone else said. It took about three-four weeks before I could stand the site of food. I hate a lot of popsicles and ice cream and then not very much. I also lost much needed weight, about 20lbs, but low and below I knew it was too good to be true. I started eating and everything tasted good to me, things I didn't even like before, of course I gained the weight back and then some. Believe me your taste will come back.

 

[Marguerite53]

All I craved was Jello!! I figured it had a little more substance than a popsicle (which was my second choice). Then for some reason I just had to have days and days of scrambled eggs!! It will get better. Try to get some kind of protein in you. Even just a little at at time. It will help.

Hope everything else is going well for you!

Marguerite

 

[William]

I'll bet it's the anesthesia causing the loss of taste. It stays in the body system longer then expected, but your taste will return. It took me a 1.5 months to get my taste back to total. As said, this is a normal OHS thing. Spicy foods helped me during this time.

 

[Guest]

It could be another medication, but not likely to be warfarin. The most common answer is the effects of anesthesia.

 

[LLJ]

I was never on Coumadin and everything EVEN ice cream,tasted bad! I vote for anesthesia or maybe the Heart lung bypass dioes something (Besides make you lose your memory)
LLJ

 

[lcwhitney]

I have afriend who is ananestheologist. he says you store the anesthesia in your body fat. It just takes time for it to work its way outof your body.

Lettitia

 

[stik]

I had the same exact procedure done a little over 4 years ago. I do remember a lot of things not tasting right for a while after. One thing that I enjoyed a lot was Jello (the green sour apple)...my wife got me the little snack packs that are pre-made, refrigerate and eat...I would eat 4 or more of them a day. I told her we should have bought stock in the company as much as I ate.
As mentioned by some of the others, ice cream was always good and popsicles. I'm a big guy (6'10") and have always had a healthy appetite, so it was strange not having a taste for some of my favorite foods for a while.
Give it some time...it took me a month or more before everything seemed right.
How have you adjusted to the "ticking"? It drove me up the wall for several months...and still does some nights when laying in bed trying to sleep.
The best thing for me has been to stay active so I am good and tired when I try to go to bed. It was my third OHS, so I knew how to recover and did it much faster than expected.
The best piece of advice I can give you is to keep up with your warfarin/coumadin and have your PT/INR done regularly. I neglected it for a while having moved to a new city in October of last year and being complacent about finding a clinic to administer the test. It almost cost me dearly...I had a clot break lose and cause a mild stroke several weeks ago and land me in the hospital for a week under observation. Some good came out of it as I found a great group of docs and an awsome clinic.
All is well now, but I am on limited activity for another month or so. It scared my wife and the rest of my family terribly...really woke me up too.
Take care. Do you have any arythmia (requiring any other meds?) I was on amniodorone for nearly a year after...and it caused a lot of problems keeping my protime in check. Some weeks I was having to go every other day to get checked. I am looking into buying a home tester, which will make it much easier to keep my meds in order. Feel free to email me any other questions you may have...I am always willing to talk about my experience.

 

[aussigal]

I know exactly how you feel...I am almost 6 weeks post-op and still havent re-gained my appetite...
in-fact I even get really nauseous because I have no desire to eat and had to get a "shot" of maxalon from the doctor ...

I have been told its a very common after-effect and will wear-off...
well thats great but I want it to wear-off NOW!!!!
I have no solutions other than to eat whatever appeals whenever it does...

I too hope this goes away really soon...and if it is the drugs/anaesthethic I had a double-dose so I am in this boat for the log-haul...YUUUUKKKK....

Today I had to quickly cook up some roast veggies cos I had a sudden craving for them!

At least you are not alone...

 

[catwoman]

Troy:

I had no sense of taste or appetite for 4-6 weeks post-op. My parents, who nursed me for 2 weeks after I left the hospital, were at their wits' ends trying to find something, anything that I could taste. Mom bought a lot of cantaloupe, watermelon, orange juice for me and I also drank a lot of iced tea w/ lemon & lime.
I lost about 24-25 pounds; regained about 8 of those in the next year. I was wanting to lose weight anyway. I looked pretty gaunt post-op, due to the drastic weight loss.

I occasionally still have problems with my sense of taste. I went to my family doctor 5/18 and he's referred me to an ear, nose & throat specialist. I do have a small cyst in one of the sublingual salivary glands, and that could be causing the problem, but this intermittent problem started after my surgery.

 

[Troy]

Thanks for the input. I just wasn't sure what was going on. Yesterday I was able to eat a good meal, rather than the normal handful of food. It was so satisfying!! I had been craving food, but could not eat it. I love food. But the only thing that tasted ok was pickles and fruit.

 

[EVELYN]

Glad to hear you ate yesterday, Troy. It will get better from here on. I rmember when Tyce had his AVR....he ate pudding, tuna salad 1/2 sandwiches, and hot wings.....and that was about it. Fruit juices were also a staple in our household. He had no appetite for about 3 weeks and then it returned with a vengeance......

It's normal, just go with the flow.

Evelyn

 

[traumahob]

John has been having the same problems. The only thing that seems to fit the bill is spicy food. The issue appears to be getting better now that he is approaching 5 weeks post op.It probably will just take time. Deb