[BuffaloJack]

I used to take Zicam when a cold was coming on.
Then I read several reports that the zinc compound in it damages your taste buds. I didn’t believe it at first until I noticed that foods were becoming bland.
It took about 6 months before my sense of taste came back.
I suppose I was lucky, because the reports said that it could be permanent.

[reformedliberal]

I had the exact same experience, only I totally lost my sense of smell for about 3-4 weeks. Totally. I found it frightening, since we cook/supplemental heat w/propane and use it in our business. Food had no taste and I’d lost the ability to know if it was spoiled. No sense of smell was disorienting.

The Zicam cured my cold in a day, but the price wasn’t worth it.

[Sacajaweau]

Vitamin C tablets work for me...It stopped an oncoming cold in its tracks.

[T-Bone Texan]

I work with a person who says he lost his sense of smell due to zinc usage.

[Rockingham]

An October 2009 medical research report titled "Zicam-Induced Damage to Mouse and Human Nasal Tissue" found the original Zicam formula to have a risk of damaging the sense of smell. The criticism was not refuted by the manufacturer. Facing adverse medical evidence, law suits from users who had lost their sense of smell, and threats of regulatory action, the manufacturer revised the Zicam formula to make it less damaging and less potent.