1 Week Post-Op - Sense of Taste?

[retiredmls]

My recuperation has been great and at this point I'm basically independent. Haven't needed pain meds since Day 2 and finally got a few hours sleep in the same position last night. The one thing I'm still noticing is that some things don't taste the same to me. I can no longer drink my favorite drink (which is probably a good thing since it has caffeine). The other positive side effect is that I now like water which I couldn't drink before without any flavoring. Just wondering if this is a normal experience and for how long.

 

[morvaji]

Retiredmls... I did not get my taste back for several months nothing tasted like food, but the water tasting good stays with you which is great I hated water as well... Good luck and welcome to the Club : )

 

[malibu82]

i loved water after surgery too! i also loved it after giving birth to my babies. it was like i could not get enough of it, in large amounts.

before surgery, i also loved flavored water and zero calorie gatorade type drinks.

after surgery, i could NOT drink those for awhile! for some reason, it all tasted really salty to me! made me sick....

now everything is back to normal. i can't stand water again, and am back to flavored waters and diet coke. (caffeine free!)

 

[Michelle D]

For two months everything changed, I went from drinking nothing but ginger ale to only water. I was addicted to Luigi's Italian ice, the only think I could eat in the morning were nutrigrain eggo waffles with butter only. Everything was too salty which is good since we should cut our sodium. I couldn't eat chicken or steak. The only meat I could handle was boar's head turkey and I could tolerate ground beef. I still can't eat processed foods so use this change of taste to your advantage.

 

[pat45750]

I am 3 months post op and still am not back to normal. I have found that ice water is the best. Sometimes ice tea is OK. I ate fresh fruit for weeks during my hospital stay and after since it was the only thing that tasted right. A Coke or piece of chocolate was terrible. Chocolate still doesn't taste right. I threw out more food in the last few months. You buy it and then it just doesn't taste right. All the folks here say things will get back to normal. It might also be some of the meds we take that change things. I really like vegetables and salads, but have to watch that I don't eat too many salads since I am on warfrin. I am happy to alive and functioning, so I have just changed my eating habits. I have lost weight and find that to be a plus!

Pat

 

[buncle]

I remember on day 3 in the hospital they told me I was getting a big juicy hamburger for lunch.I was so excited as I hadnt had much at all to eat and was getting my appetite back alittle.When they took the cover off the tray and I smelled the burger I grabbed it up and took a big bite.It tasted like cardboard! I couldnt even force myself to eat it.It started getting better after about a week but, there were some foods that took quite awhile to taste right.