Will I be able to
QI SUFFERED a stroke in April, from which I recovered and am doing well. However, six weeks after the stroke I lost my sense of taste and now everything has a metallic taste.
I’ve seen a GP who prescribed a nasal spray which hasn’t had any effect. What can I do?
AWHEN you have a stroke the blood supply to a part of the brain is cut off. The brain cells in the area supplied by the affected vessel are deprived of oxygen and die.
The effects of a stroke depend on the size and part of the brain affected. If the stroke involves the part of your brain that receives information from your senses then this can cause problems with taste.
Common issues include being unable to taste things as well as you could before, which can alter flavours or mean that something like a curry that would have tasted very hot before your stroke now tastes very mild.
In some cases, a salty or metallic taste in the mouth occurs and in others, the sense of taste disappears altogether.
Unfortunately there aren’t any treatments that can help to correct the problem and, especially to begin with, it can be very frustrating as inevitably you don’t enjoy eating as much as you did before.
However, the good news is that many people find problems do improve with time and hopefully that metallic taste will slowly become less noticeable.
I AM currently on three types of medication; perindopril, clopidogrel and atorvastatin.
Is this safe? I keep hearing about problems when people are taking lots of different pills. I’d be very grateful for any advice.
ATHE perindopril you are taking is used to treat high blood pressure and is also used to improve the function of the heart muscle.
Clopidogrel helps to stop the platelets in the bloodstream sticking together. Platelets are involved in blood clotting and clopidogrel is used to help prevent blood clots, especially in the small arteries that supply the heart muscle and the brain, which reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Atorvastatin is the most commonly prescribed statin used to lower cholesterol levels.
These drugs are commonly prescribed together in people who have had a heart attack, or are at risk of one, especially those who have had a metal stent inserted in one of the coronary arteries. The combination is safe and side effects are rare.
DO YOU know if there is a cure for molluscum contagiosum? My daughter, who is four, has it very badly on her chest and the backs of her legs.
She keeps rubbing the spots and irritating them. I’ve heard colloidal silver spray can help get rid of it. Should I try it?
AIN molluscum contagiosum, small, pearly white or slightly pink lumps, 2-5mm across, appear on the skin. They can look a bit like warts but unlike warts (which are solid), molluscum spots contain white, cheesy fluid.
It is caused by a virus which is passed on by skin-to-skin contact or by touching things that have been contaminated by the virus, such as a towel.
It can affect anyone of any age but is most common in children aged one to four. The lumps develop two to eight weeks after