Can you explain 2 bizarre sensations post op?

[amymeri]

Two very strange post surgery sensations that I have no explanation for but would love your input....

1.  Right after surgery for a couple days I had a distinct applie juice smell inside my head.  What was it?

2.  When recovering, every time I at sometime cold it would feel like it was traveling up my eustachian tube, into my inner ear.  My doc said it was because the area was inflammed ...but I had retrosigmoid and it shouldn't have affected my eustachian tube.  Plus I didn't feel it until more than a week after surgery.

Thoughts?

Amy

[matti]

Hi Amy - I did not experience the apple juice smell, but when I ate or drank something cold, I would have the same feeling you described. It was definetly weird and I have on occasion felt it 8 years later. My doctors did not seem concerned when I asked about it :-\  I experienced so many odd things during my recovery. The first month I constantly heard a faucet dripping sound in my head and when that subsided, it was helicopters. Never a dull moment

Cheryl

[nipanddale]

Hey Amy,
It's been two weeks since my surgery (translab) and I havn't experienced anything similar. The side I was operated on still feels "dead". I can't really taste anything on that side. I can't speak to your smell sensations, either. One thing is different, though: I've always had very sensitive teeth, especially cold stuff like ice cream. Before the surgery, I always used my tongue and lips on ice cream. Now, I can literally bite into an ice cream bar or cone and it doesn't even phase me.

Remember Star Trek II? When they put those lizard creatures into Chekov's ear? Sometimes I feel like I've got one of those in my operated ear, and it's moving around. I guess we're all different.

Hope your recovery continues to go well!

Dale

[Static]

Dale,
It's funny how you mention about your surgery ear.  I can't feel anything on that side and often wonder if a bug flew in therre or anything since it's been quite buggy around here in all the humidity LOL!  I can relate with the "dead" feeling though and I'm over 2 years out, still feels that way but the tinnitus noise level has risen quite a bit, especialy when there's noise in the background like a fan or AC or background noise in a store etc.
Stat

[justafactoflife]

amymeri,

I didn't have the apple juice smell in my head, but maybe during intensive care, they spilled some on you trying to get you to drink some. 

Seriously, I do remember some of what happens right after surgery, and it could be the results of anesthiesia wearing off.  Reading several posts here, I have seen that some of us do indicate funny smells and tastes due to injury to the facial nerves and those that control your swallowing may be implicated in your tasting apple juice.  I still have the tinnititus and there are some rare days that it makes a kind of buzzing sound like an electrical short going on if you have heard that, but this is inside my ear.  I was told by my Ear Noise, and Throat specialist who checks my hearing that this is normal due the the swelling and injury of the nerves and the healing process.  Ususally, it goes away after a few months.  I hope you are doing OK, and Good luck in your recovery!

[Windsong]

re smells:

apple juice usually is a kind of a nice scent remembered....

i don't know the answer for the weird scents one can have after treatment for an AN

i do know that i ahd some of my own after fsr...

i figure whatever "nerve" sensory thing already known to be responsible for scents etc is responsible.....

also i figure it has to do with some something re memory, but hey, olfactory thihngs have never been explained thoroughly, regardless of an AN

 best wishes,
Windsong