Loss of sensation/numbness

Hey everyone! If there's already a thread like this, please point me in that direction. Thanks a lot. 🙂

Here's the medical issue. Has anyone dealt with losing their senses?

I've got two family situations to lay out, so if anyone can weigh in or offer advice...

My mom completely lost her sense of smell and taste. Totally gone. 😢

Basically, she can't tell the difference between the smell of BBQ and, excuse my language, something gross like crap. I'm using an extreme example just so you get how bad it is. She literally cannot smell anything. Not flowers, not fish, not steak, not perfume. NOTHING. Nothing at all. Good or bad. And the taste? Gone too. She could eat anything and have no clue what it is. You give her fish, tell her it's beef, and if she can't see it, she’d swear it's meat. This has been going on for a while now. She saw an ENT, who told her some virus just wiped those senses out. She had a viral thing right before this happened, though it wasn't even that heavy. Once she recovered from the virus, her smell and taste were just dead. Anyone else dealt with this?

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Then there's my own situation, which isn't nearly as bad as my mom's. But look, three different times in my life, I've temporarily lost my sense of touch entirely. Like, seriously. I touch my skin and feel absolutely nothing. Put my hand in boiling water vs. ice water, and there's zero difference. Pick up a 20-pound weight, feels like I'm picking up a feather. Wood, metal, plastic... no difference. If I closed my eyes and touched something, I wouldn't know what it was. It's happened three times now, always lasting about a week, and then the feeling slowly crawls back. It just happened again recently. I'm fine now, but 5 or 6 days ago, I couldn't even feel myself typing on my keyboard. Super weird. Anyone experienced this? Why does my sense of touch just vanish sometimes? I haven't mentioned this to my doctor yet. Should I? 🤷

Two questions:

1. Is there any chance my mom gets her smell and taste back?

2. Am I at risk of losing my sense of touch forever since this keeps happening?

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Thanks for the help! 🙂

Keith Martinez77 said:Greetings, everyone. If there’s already an existing thread covering this topic, please feel free to redirect me to it—I’d appreciate it. Much obliged. 🙂

Here’s the issue at hand. Has anyone here dealt with a loss of sensation before?

I’m going to lay out two situations involving my own family—if anyone here can offer some perspective or even just a comment, I’d appreciate it.

My mother has lost her sense of smell and taste. Completely. Just gone. 😢

Look, she can’t distinguish the smell of a Sunday roast from—pardon my French—something much more unpleasant like sewage. I’m using an extreme example here just to make sure you grasp the gravity of the situation. The point is, she simply cannot smell anything. Not the scent of flowers, not fish, not a steak, not even expensive perfume. Nothing. Neither pleasant nor foul—just total sensory silence. Furthermore, her sense of taste is gone too. She could eat just about anything and have no idea what it actually is. If you served her fish but told her it was beef—and since she can't see exactly what's on the plate—she would genuinely believe she was eating meat. This hasn't been a sudden thing; it's been going on for quite some time. She saw an ENT specialist, who explained that some kind of virus essentially wiped out those senses. Before this happened, she had caught a viral infection—nothing particularly severe, mind you—but once she recovered, her ability to smell and taste vanished entirely. Has anyone else dealt with something like this?

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Then there’s my own situation—though, admittedly, far less dire than my mother's. I’ve had this bizarre experience three separate times in my life where I completely lost all sense of touch, if only temporarily. It’s a strange thing—you touch your own skin and feel absolutely nothing. You could plunge your hand into scalding hot water and wouldn't notice a difference until you switched to ice water. If I lift a twenty-pound weight, it feels no different than lifting a handful of feathers. Wood, metal, plastic—it’s all the same textureless void. If I were blindfolded, I wouldn't be able to distinguish one object from another. It’s happened three times now, and each episode lasts about a week before the sensation gradually trickles back. I just came out of the most recent bout. I’m fine now, but five or six days ago, I couldn't even feel the keys under my fingers while typing. It is a deeply unsettling sensation. Has anyone else dealt with this? Why would my tactile perception just... vanish like that? I haven't mentioned it to my doctor yet. Should I? 🤷

I have two questions:

Is there any actual chance my mother might regain her sense of smell and taste?

Is there any real risk that I'll end up losing my sense of touch permanently—considering I’ve already dealt with this temporary loss three times now?

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Thanks to everyone for the input. 🙂

As far as I understand, the cranial nerves are the primary drivers behind our sense of smell and taste. My own situation involves a brain tumor wrapped around the twelfth cranial nerve—the hypoglossal nerve—which, among other things, manages swallowing. I dealt with significant issues getting food down before my surgery, and even now, those difficulties haven't entirely vanished. To be more precise, smell is governed by the first cranial nerve, the olfactory nerve, while taste is handled by the ninth, or glossopharyngeal nerve, which innervates the posterior third of the tongue. Given that, there could be some underlying pathology or perhaps a tumor at play here. Is she suffering from headaches as well?

I can't speak to the sensory side of things—that's out of my wheelhouse—but usually, these kinds of issues stem from neurological pathologies. We’re talking anything from relatively straightforward nerve compressions to more serious conditions like multiple sclerosis.