Jason,
I had a injury with bleeding on the brain about 3 years ago and they found out only 3 days later by my PCP. I don't want to dwell in the past how a big hospital ER in D.C. area misdiagnosed and sent me home when i was bleeding on the brain.

Coming to your loss of smell and I can completely understand since I lost my sense of smell and taste which I noticed only few days later since I was so confused with what was going on. Ofcourse I was bleeding on the brain.

Probably they gave you the steroid (prednisone) but my Neurosurgeon who I saw few days later didn't suggest any. Steroids can be a tricky thing I think. Anyways without any medical intervention my bleeding stopped and my brain didn't want to quit and even I was recovering fast. For any TBI (later I learnt) the main concern is swelling. After 5 weeks I was hit with Post Concussion Syndrome which made my life terrible. That was when I really felt the TBI effect.

My sense of smell and taste was not completely lost but every smelled and tasted nasty and very depressing. I even wished it was completely gone. I lost lot of weight because I hated most of the food which didn't help my recovery.

After 2 months I tried non-volitional Neurofeedback and immediately after my session my sense of smell and taste improved where I was able to enjoy some food. It also helped other symptoms to come down. Dizziness, headaches, fatigue etc., But didn't last long. My Psychologist mentioned some of her patients who lost the sense got it back after the therapy. Anyways when it comes to tasting flavor smell plays a significant role.

Then I tried HBOT for about dozen session after a year but didn't see any change immediately.

Has taken B12, B6 consistently for about 2 and a half years. Latest test showed I am very close to maximum range with B12 so my neurologist wants to stop it for a while so I don't get toxic.

After about 2 and half year my smell and taste started to improve and still improving. About 2 months ago I started a new anti-seizure medicine called Trileptal and also went for Cranio Sacral Therapy. my smell and taste improved further and now it is about 80% during the day and close to 100% during night. Don't ask me why Overall my symptoms goes down after 9 pm. No one has a clue.


Meanwhile I also get in touch with the doctor office who is a specialist in this area. He doesn't accept any Insurance except Medicare and tests and treatments are intensive. Like he put you in an fMRI and ask you to smell and look at the brain. Tons of blood tests.

Website : http://www.tasteandsmell.com/

Treatment wise it can be anything from Transcranial magnetic stimulation, asthma drug (yes, that is right) seems to help if there is a problem with biochemicals.

Inspite of all this no one can guarantee. Only way to know whether it works or not is to try.

Some people can take it positive like Mark mentioned. I know a guy who lost it but now he says he doesn't has to buy expensive wine and get buzzed with cheap wine

I know this won't solve the problem and I sympathize for your condition. I stop here since I can keep going on............

Keep up your spirit!