UPPP and taste

Hi I had a UPPP and tonsilectomy done on Monday last week.. I am recovering ok I guess.I got hydrocodone and it pretty much stops the pain.
It seems all is healing up as it is supposed to do. Healing feels no worse than when I had strep throat. I am used to the pain of strep throat and tonsilitus because before surgery I got thoat infections all the time. Every two or three months I would be in pain,swollen tonsils raw throat getting shots of prednisone to calm the swelling and the antibiotics both pills and shots to kill the infection fast.

My doctors were concerned about my throat infections because I got big bone spurs growing off my cervical spine,into my throat,and it causes my espohagus to have a 'speedbump'. When my throat gets infected and inflamed my espohagus rubs against the bone spurs alot. I was told if my espohagus wears through from being rubbed and compressed against the bone spurs it could become a real serious problem for me.

My tonsils were already huge ,my uvula was long and because of the tlack of space in my neck,my airway was very narrow. When I would get throat infections sometimes I wound up in the ER,because I was unable to swallow and my oxygen levels were reduced. Because my throat was packed full of tissues there was not much room for swelling left. my fleshy throat made sleep really tough on me,and the CPAP didn't help me much because of the lack of space ,made worse by the swelling infected tissues and the spurs that together conspired to close off my airway.So Something had to be done,space for air and swallowing had to be cleared somehow.
They could try to cut off the bone spurs growing of off my cervical spine ,poking into my throat ..OR.. I could get a UPPP & Tonsilectomy.


I got a UPPP and a tonsillectomy.
I was told by my ENT considering my case and that my Apnea was mild-to-moderate, I had a very good chance I would no longer need the CPAP machine once the healing process is all over and the swelling goes down. Already I see a big difference,the CPAP works really well now.. Before surgery I felt like the CPAP was suffocating me worse than my throat alone because it was blowing the tonsils and the uvula against the back of my throat and against the'speedbump' caused by the bone spurs.CPAP sometimes would close my airway too,I could not endure CPAP longer than 15 minutes. Ironically Cpap kept me awake with choking sensations,Apnea while awake.. I find despitrte the swelling,a fter the UPPP and Tonsils out I breathe all night,smoothly. I dream even with the CPAP off.

Last night I had CPAP on for 4 and a half hours. It seems the air just flows easy as it should.Even when I am awake I find breathing is much more in and out ,easy for me now.I don't mouth breathe anymore.

This is my Question, It's for anyone else who has had UPPP or tonsilectiomy ,or any throat procedure that required the use of a tounge clamp..

Did you develop a problem with your sensations of taste after the operation? An alteration in taste? If so how did it effect you? Did it go away?
How long did it take? Was the healing gradual or sudden? Did you do anything to help get back your normal taste sensations? Was it a side effect of pain medicines or antibiotics? Or was it nerve damage?

I find ,myself,after my operation was done, I can't taste sweetness ~at all~.

When I eat ice cream it tastes like unsweetened cream,blah..Chocolate is bitter ick..Tapioca pudding is tasteless goo Ugh.. A cherry slurpee tastes like bitter red water, yuck..Most things I eat end up tasting bad or bland. Stuff I normally love like Breyers Vanilla fudge twirl ice cream really tastes bad.
I can taste salty bitter and sour. Sweetness is just GONE. I taste sugar and all I get is a grainy sensation.No sweet taste. This has got me kinda upset.

Is this taste problem caused by nerve damage to my tounge? Caused by the tounge cl;amp,or was my nerves damaged by the UPPP or Tonsillectomy? If so is there any way to get my sense of taste back to normal?
Is there medicine vitamin to help me? Some kind of therapy to do to restore my taste of sweet?..Will this taste problem go away over time and sweet tastes return someday? Or is it a permanent condition I got to live with forever now??

If it is permanent nerve damage,how could I know if it is,or if it is not.
Regardless of the outcome I feel like clobbering my ENT.He didn't bother to warn me about this risk of distortion to my sense of taste. He said NOTHING about risks to my sense of taste. He told me this procedure would hurt,bad and there was a risk of bleeding..Told me what my recovery would be like,how long it takes ..Explained what the UPP and tonsiliectomy can do to help me breathe easier..He told me he thought I would not need the Cpap machine after it all heals up.He gave me hope. He made it seem like a minor risk, with a long painful recovery,that if I endured it, It would all be worth it. and I believed him.
He was so big on all the promise of the surgery and the positive propaganda ..And he was so short and tight lipped on sharing the risks with me. And that makes me very angry at him.I think he deliberately minimized the dangers of this surgery to me.I feel so manipulated and duped like an all day sucker,taken advantage of..

I will be seeing him next month for post op follow up. I feel like letting him have a piece of my mind over this taste problem.
I am so scared..I can't help but wonder will food taste bad like this forever? I sure hope not. Scareist thing is I may NEVER know if I'll taste sweet again ,until the nerves heal from the clamp trauma.Stawberries are tasteless,Coffee tastes really bad. Cheesecake is tasteless.Arizona tea tastes foul. Sigh.
But I'll say this,this taste problem has made me really angry at my ENT. And I am very frustrated.And I feel like I was misled or manipulated into it somehow.

You are saying your ENT, left a bad taste in your mouth! People selling Roses, are apt to hold them under your nose, to make a sale.

In your case your problems sound like they were desprate, Most just don't do what's needed for XPAP to succeed. I hope your surgery completes to the good. At least you are now able to use CPAP for the good. Jim

I had a UPPP about 10 years ago, and had the same issues with taste. Everything tasted like c**p for about 3 months, then things improved. Hang in there and be sure to drink pleny of water, even if it's hard to do. I didn't, and ended up seriously dehydrated!

I can't comment on your specific surgery, but my wife had a fairly major operation a few years back (not OSA related). She too said things tasted funny after the operation (specifically, her sweet taste buds were off just as you describe). The doctor told her that often the anesthesia that's used will give you an "off" taste for a while after the surgery... several weeks to a couple of months.

I had never heard of such a thing and I though he was crazy. But, sure enough, her taste buds returned to normal after a couple of months. Ask your doctor about it and give it a little time.

I had a UPPP on July 13, 2006, and a friend had UPPP,
Tonsillectomy and Tongue Suspension on the same day. Both of us are having issues with taste since the surgery. The only thing that tastes anywhere close to right are sweet. Everything else is just nasty. My friend describes it as a burned taste. We've been told that this is temporary and will resolve itself. Soooo... hang in.

I had I uppp surgery over 2 years ago and I still have poor taste. It is very upsetting to be hungry and everything to taste horrible. Good luck.

I had UPPP done around 1997 or 1998. I don't recall having a change in how things tasted, but I was unable to eat spicy foods for around four years. I still can't eat real spicy foods today.