Loss of taste/smell on Advair

[Aoconnor]

I have been on Advair for one week. It has completely taken my taste and smell ability away. I am not going to take it any more, but will my taste and smell senses return with time?


This discussion is related to advair discus side effect.

[dftbasara]

This conversation was very helpful to me this summer when I lost my sense of smell and taste while on Advair and was looking for answers. In the hopes of helping someone else, I will share what happened to me. I was given Advair and Singulair for an allergy problem that was causing asthma symptoms. I had used  Advair in the past with no side effects. I lost my sense of smell and taste almost immediately. I could only taste sweet and salty, and could not smell at all. I stopped taking both of the new drugs and got on the internet to find answers. When I saw that others had lost smell and taste with Advair I contacted my doctor and pharmacist. Both said they had never met anyone with this side effect before, and my doctor seemed to want to believe that the loss of smell was due to a sinus infection I had developed. I knew it was more severe than that, as no smells at all were getting through, even when I could breathe through my nose. The pharmacist aknowledged that these were known side effects and warned me that the loss of smell might be permanent! My ability to taste started to come back within about a week of stopping the Advair. I went back on the Singulair and found it not to be a problem. Three weeks after stopping the Advair my sense of smell returned rather suddenly, over a couple of days. It came back in sporadically, like suddenly I smelled the chicken I had cooked, then could not smell anything again that day. The next day I was able to smell for several brief periods, and now, a week later, I'd say my sense of smell is pretty much back to normal. So, if this is happening to you, I hope that you have the same result I did and are able to taste and smell again soon!  As I said, I had taken Advair in the past, and this time I only took it for about three days till I figured out it was causing these very unwanted side effects.

[Samnchelle]

I was on it for 3 weeks and lost my sense of smell and taste. Off it for 2 days now and it's coming back!! NOT going back on it! It screwed up my voice badly too and gave me headaches.

[Svetlanas]

My mom was on advair about 5 years ago and after a few months completely lost all sense of taste. At the time this didn't seem to be a known side effect so the doctors said it had to be something else. I finally found an obscure article which mentioned advair could be the culprit! I'm happy to report that her taste came completely back within about a month of stopping use of the inhaler. The one interesting change was that she didn't mind spicy food at all once taste came back but before that  she spent her whole life unable to tolerate spiciness. Good luck and I hope this helps.

[Tammy2009]

It should come back in time, you need to let the cells regrow properly. Just make sure you don't stop taking the advair without replacing it with something else - you need to make sure your lungs are working well and treating your asthma properly.

Good luck and merry christmas!

[Aoconnor]

Thank you for your advice. I have left a message for my Pulmonologist to let him know what happened. I have stopped taking the Advair, feel fine so far. Am getting some small sense of smell/taste back, but not nearly normal at all.

I hope to hear good new, that my taste and smell senses will return fully.

[evewisewoman]

Hello there,

I would go back to the doctor who prescribed the Advair for you. It is important that your doctor know that your sense of taste and smell has
gone away.  You could ask your doctor whether your sense of taste and
smell will return with time.  Good luck to you.  Eve