Apart from pregnancy and having a cold is there any other reason peoples taste buds change

[Jenasaurus]

I love cheese, well I used to. At the age of 55 I just cant bear the taste of it anymore. Everyone used to tease me about my love of cheese and even on this years christmas card from my DS and his GF they have called me Wallace. I am quite saddened by this as although I eat a little meat I am not a fan of it and cheese was my go to food for protein and taste. This is light hearted really but wonder if the menopause has created a similar change of taste similar to pregnancy. I just made a cheese toastie, something I normally love but it tasted bitter and salty so I didnt finish it. Anyone else suddenly not enjoy the taste of a once favourite food. I have also gone off chocolate too so its savoury and sweet food

@Phoenix76

In that case there’s literally so many things that could cause it. I agree it’s worth having a chat to a gp, primarily about the bloating and being uncomfortable. To me, what I hear now is you’re not going out and therefore maybe not getting exercise? Limited exposure to the sun reducing (perhaps greatly) your vitamin d intake? I asked how long it’s been going on as if it’d been a week or two covid was looking quite likely but as it’s been a month or more I’d seek a gp assessment. Don’t worry, it’s more likely to be non sinister than not but definitely worth a chat.

Thank you Phoenix76 I will contact my GP for an online chat (dont think they are doing the f2f ones yet) and talk it through. I feel fine in myself, maybe a few sleeping issues and a bit of heartburn but other than the taste change and bloating I am ok, no pain etc :)

I've had something similar... I've drunk orange squash since I was a child, several glasses per day. The one day last year I suddenly couldn't stand the stuff.
I'm quite picky in my tastes and I do find that I'll eat a lot of one food, then suddenly go off it, like a switched has been flicked off.

Well curing would be the main trigger wouldn't it? My taste and smell was odd for weeks after a positive test and I had no other symptoms.

Corona!

It was just my normal cheddar and it just didn't taste the same
Could it be that it is not you, but the cheddar that has changed?

Maybe you have a deep-seated sinus infection. My sense of smell changed some years ago after repeated bouts of sinus trouble. I can taste and smell some things, but not others. It can be quite disconcerting sometimes.

You are supposed to get tested with a change in taste. I guess you don’t have it if you don’t go out but this is the situation we’re all in just now.

Your taste buds do change, there's a reason (for example) that many adults who were raised on milk now can't stand the stuff. It does happen every 7 years in children, again that's why older kids might like spice while little ones don't.

That said, I know a lot of menopausal women go off wine but that's because of the hangovers, not the taste. It would be worth a dentist appointment (especially if you haven't had one in a while due to Covid) to check gum disease etc.

(I'm weirdly over-invested in this because I am that menopausal woman who is off the wine, I couldn't deal if I end up off cheese too!)

I thought it was pretty well known that menopause causes taste changes in a lot of women?

I even got warned this for IVF - because they simulate artificial menopause, your tastes might change, as they do in natural menopause.

@BigSisLittleSisCardboardBox

You are supposed to get tested with a change in taste. I guess you don’t have it if you don’t go out but this is the situation we’re all in just now.

I thought it was for a loss of taste and smell rather than a change, I work for an ambulance trust (admin position from home) but we have been offered the lateral flow twice weekly tests throughout the trust as they have enough for all to have them rather than just the patient facing paramedics. I may accept this but would feel a bit guilty as I dont mix with others that I may be taking it from someone more social. Apologies if this appears as a drip feed but my DD who lives with me works in a nursery and attends Uni one day a week so there is actually a transmission route I guess.

Just age.

You're tastes change.

@SarahAndQuack

I thought it was pretty well known that menopause causes taste changes in a lot of women?

I even got warned this for IVF - because they simulate artificial menopause, your tastes might change, as they do in natural menopause.

Thanks SarahAndQuack, this is what I suspected but didnt know for sure, I have started going grey, increased wrinkles and deteriorating eyesight so I guess this is another joy of the ageing process

Chemotherapy

You live with someone who works in a nursery and goes to uni! Yes, that is a extremely likely transmission route - get a bloody test!

I have also heard from friends of friends that it's not always a complete loss of taste, but often a change, as you describe.

And don't get a lateral flow test, they're rubbish - get a proper one, sharpish!

@unreliableursula

You live with someone who works in a nursery and goes to uni! Yes, that is a extremely likely transmission route - get a bloody test!

I have also heard from friends of friends that it's not always a complete loss of taste, but often a change, as you describe.

And don't get a lateral flow test, they're rubbish - get a proper one, sharpish!

Yes Ok, I will do. I just have no other symptoms and my DD seems well but could by asymptomtic I suppose. I dont think it is COVID but having a test would rule it out.

My DD doesnt go to a traditional Uni set up, she attends one day a week at college with 4 others so not a large group of students. The nursery set up though that is different, no social distancing, masks etc but again no one seems to have been infected at her nursery. We were in Tier 1 before lockdown, although South East has rising cases now, our town is still quite low.

@Jenasaurus - I am now really second-guessing myself! But I've always got the idea it was quite normal?