Wow, I had no idea that the condition even existed, nevermind that so many people are afflicted by it. I apologize if the tone of my OP was too flippant.
Enlightening stuff, though. Thanks.
What about texture? Could I still feel the food - or am I numb to that as well?
My sense of smell went wonky (the best way I can think to describe it) one summer, and everything smelt wrong. Aromas that I normally thought of as good were bad. Odors from foods that I normally don’t like very much were downright, lose-my-lunch disgusting. I subsisted on simple carbs and sugar - which don’t smell like anything.
Sounds like there is a small, but possibly viable market for someone to make “Bachelor Chow” for people suffering from anosmia or ageusia who just don’t care what they eat.
Similar to Dog Chow, it would be convenient nuggets of balanced nutrition, but not quite so hard and crunchy as dog food.
I’ve a nasty head cold at the moment, and my sense of smell and taste is maybe operating at about 5% of what it was before.
I can appreciate spicy (capsaicin), sour (vinegary), and a touch of salt and bitter, but only just a touch. I can still taste chocolate pretty well, though. My food enjoyment is waaaaay down, as is my consumption.
I was reduced to trying to appreciate my spaghetti dinner tonight for its texture. Fortunately Mrs. Mercotan had added some lemon juice and jalapenos, or it wouldn’t have been able to distinguish the sauce from a thick chicken soup, or a lumpy custard.
I hope this doesn’t last too long. I’m anticipating dining on some spicy tuna sashimi and a few other subtle japanese dishes in the near future!
I lost the use of my taste buds 10 years ago. Luckily my sense of taste returned about 3 months later.
This was the result of treatment for oral cancer. After an operation to remove most of the cancer, I underwent radiation treatment as a sort of “mopping up” procedure. About 3 days into the radiation my taste buds went bye-bye. When I tried to eat, everything tasted like cardboard. The doctor kept track of my weight, since weight-loss was a common side effect.
I was able to keep my weight and nutrition in the good because I subsisted on a “healthfood” type drink that I designed myself.
Don’t remember the exact recipe, but it was something like this:
-1 qt. nonfat milk
-enough instant milk powder for another qt. milk
-small can orange juice concentrate
-1 banana
-2 tbls. canola oil
-1 cup all bran
-2 cups frozen peas, microwaved
-there might have been some other ingrediants and something to up the calorie content, but I don’t recall them.
Anyway, I dumped the whole mess into a blender and drank it every day along with a couple of multivitamin-mineral pills. I figured this gave me plenty of protein, nonsaturated fats, both soluble and non-soluble fiber, and calories. I looked up the ingrediants on a chart at the time and it was around 2000 calories.
About 2 weeks after the radiation treatment ended my taste buds started growing back. I then i realized how terrible this concoction tasted. I couldn’t stand drinking it anymore. When I switched back to real food everything had kind of a “funny” flavor. I did lose a little weight at this point, but nothing serious. It took about 6 months for everything to return to normal and to fully enjoy food again.
BTW, one other result of the radiation treatment that I still suffer from is the loss of some of my saliva glands. I take a pill twice a day to help produce extra saliva from the glands that are still active.
I think I might quite possibly lose the will to live. I guess there’s still texture and hot/cold, but a world without flavour? Crikey.
Get out, man! 
No sense of smell or taste today. I took a half cup of rank, burned old coffee off the burner, and held it up to my nose, less than a half inch away. I felt warmth, but smelt absolutely nothing
I sipped it. It tasted like warm water.
I had my RN check it out. It smelled vile to her, she refused to taste it!
<<sigh>>
Well, my taste buds and sense of smell are still AWOL. I’ve been checking it a few times a day, by breathing deeply with my nose in a jar of minced garlic, then one with cinnamon sticks. Not a thing.
I can taste some salty and sweet, and chocolate iced cream delivers a bit of chocolate flavor, but this is getting old.