Since having a hernia operation and heart, lungs and kidneys failing during the operation and spending 2 months in CCU and a month in Rehab to wean me off the ventilator—I am at home now with no tastebuds and I always loved to eat. Why no tastebuds?

Dr. Joshua’s Answer:

Sometimes loss of taste is actually loss of olfaction - i.e. smell. Most of the taste sensations we experience are actually olfactory (smell) sensations. It’s not always easy to distinguish between the two: Put some sugar in your mouth, then salt. If you can differentiate between those two, your taste sense is still there. Now try to smell coffee, alcohol, tobacco. If you cannot tell these apart, what you are experiencing is loss of olfaction.

Various possible causes for loss of taste/smell exist. Respiratory tract infections, medication (e.g. some antibiotics such as aminoglycosides which are sometimes used in intensive care), head trauma, tumors..

I can’t say for sure what caused this in your case. Perhaps some infection or medication during the intensive care, maybe something else. How long has it been? Often, if infection or medication is the cause, the sense will slowly return. Sometimes the damage is irreversible.

If you can, talk to an ear, nose and throat specialist about the problem.