Mother Angry About Loss of Sense of Smell After Zicam Use

Highlands Ranch, COThe sense of smell is something that people might take for granted, until they lose it. Jenny R. believes she suffered from Zicam side effects which include a loss of the sense of smell. Jenny says that since she suffered the reported Zicam smell loss, she has become concerned about the risks to her family, because she is unable to smell things that would alert her to danger.

"I had never used [Zicam] before 2004," Jenny says. "I was pregnant in 2004 and I got a bad cold in January. I called my obstetrician about it because they don't like you taking too many medications when you're pregnant. He suggested I take Zicam because it was 'natural'.

I got the pump spray of Zicam and used it as the directions said and my cold cleared up but I still can't smell. I thought it was because of the pregnancy. I was making hamburgers the other day and my husband had to smell the meat to make sure it was okay. The meat was actually rotten but I couldn't smell a thing. If my babies have a dirty diaper, I can't smell it.

I had surgery [in February 2009] because I thought it was a sinus problem. The surgery had no affect on my ability to smell--I knew there was a chance it wouldn't work--but it's very depressing.

When I used the Zicam there was severe burning at the very top of my nose, higher than my eyes. I grabbed my head—it felt like my brain was just burning. But I thought it was natural. I thought maybe it was burning because of the inflamed sinuses.

My books said you can have a stuffy nose when pregnant, so that's what I thought happened [to my sense of smell]. I thought when I had the baby I would be able to smell again. Since then, I've had another baby and I still can't smell.

It affects your quality of life. If there's something on fire or natural gas leak, I can't smell it. When I get my kids out of the bath, I kiss them, but I can't smell their baby smell. It's a big deal to me that I can't smell my kids. My husband smells their clothes and I try to smell them—it's stupid to some people but it's something I should be able to do. I should be able to not give my kids rotten food.

There have been times where my kids have said, 'What is that smell?' and I don't know what to do because I can't smell it. Do we call the fire department and get out of the house? Your smell is a sense for a reason. It's depressing, thinking I might never have it back.

If I really, really try I think I can smell the faintness of chocolate chip cookies baking and that makes me happy. It's probably a dull smell but it's exciting because I can smell it.

I can taste foods but it's different from before. I love cooking gourmet dinners. I find lately that I'm under-seasoning things. For a while my husband would say there was a lot of salt in the food. That was because I was cooking and tasting the food, but to me it tastes bland and then my family says I put in too much salt. So now, I don't put as much in the cooking and put more salt on my plate.

I'm mad. One split second can ruin something you take for granted—your sense of smell."