This from an acquaintance.

Bob Swinney


I want my friends and loved ones to know what has happened to me in hopes that it will never happen
to you or anybody you care about. About 10 days ago, I felt a cold coming on; so before I went to
bed I used Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel. It's supposed to help you "get over your cold faster."
Immediately after I sprayed it into each nostril I felt the most horrific burning sensation
imaginable. It literally felt like I had sprayed pepper spray directly into my brain. It burned
all the way to the top of my skull. My nasal passages swelled, my eyes watered - the burning lasted
all night long into the next day.

After about a day, I realized I couldn't taste anything and I thought, "Wow - I must
really have a bad cold.." Then I noticed that I couldn't smell coffee brewing, couldn't smell my
perfume when I put it on, couldn't smell the popcorn I burned, couldn't smell my favorite candle.
I panicked and starting smelling everything that I could find that had really strong odors -
ammonia, finger nail polish remover, bleach, etc. I couldn't smell ANYTHING! I started tasting
everything that had really strong tastes such as HOT salsa, raw red onions, Doritos, coffee. I
couldn't taste ANYTHING!

I told my mother about this and she said, "Oh, I've heard Zicam can affect your
Olfactory nerve." I went online, typed in "Zicam side effects" and bam - up popped all sorts of
web sites with people reporting the same thing I experienced. It seems that this past June ,
Zicam pulled the swabs for adults and children off the shelf but not the nasal gel.

I went to my ENT and he said the Zicam had basically "FRIED" my Olfactory nerve and
the results are most likely permanent. He put me on a strong dose of a steroid called Prednisone
in hopes of recovering ANY bit of the nerve damage but he told me to "take this and pray." He
said he had read about the side effects of Zicam and couldn't believe it is still on the shelf.
It isn't FDA approved. I am taking the Prednisone and praying but nothing is happening. I
LITERALLY CANNOT SMELL OR TASTE ANYTHING! I can tell if foods are hot or cold, I can tell the
consistency and I can faintly detect if it is salty but that is it.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE pass this on to everyone you care about. I don't want this to
happen to ANYONE else!!!!!!!!!! And if you have Zicam in your medicine cabinet--THROW IT AWAY!

Please share with everyone you can.
Check it out on the link below.

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsro.../ucm167065.htm

Robert Swinney wrote:
This from an acquaintance.

Bob Swinney


I want my friends and loved ones to know what has happened to me in hopes that it will never happen
to you or anybody you care about. About 10 days ago, I felt a cold coming on; so before I went to
bed I used Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel.

(...)

Whoa. Thanks, Bob.

--Winston

Wow. Stuff worked a charm for me on several occasions. Then I read about
people losing their sense of taste and smell. Didn't Google anything,
and from the article I read, I got the impression it happened over time.
I'd sent some off to my wife in Australia, and called her to tell her to
toss hers out too. She and one of her kids had used it too, so it's
scary to read how bad this could have been. Hope this gets passed around
widely...


Jon

mattathayde wrote:

IIRC, the reason people lost smell was because they did not follow the
directions on the product. you are not supposed to spray it into your
sinuses, just into your nose

I read one article that mentioned the lost sense of smell from using the
swab version, which is what I was using. Took multiple applications. I'd
sent a box of swabs to my wife in Oz, later told her to throw them out.
She said the swab version burned like hell, but fortunately she didn't
lose smell or taste.
The price is too high to chance it. I don't dare lost my sense of smell.
I want to know if my farts are bad enough I need to vacate the area
before someone figures out I was the source... G


Jon

In article , BQ340 wrote:

"This product [Zicam] is not intended to diagnose, treat and cure or prevent
disease" What the hell is it then, snake oil?

Exactly. It's "homeopathic" which is a fancy way of saying "no active
ingredients".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy
"Claims of homeopathy's efficacy beyond the placebo effect are unsupported by
the collective weight of scientific and clinical evidence ... Homeopathic
remedies generally contain few or no pharmacologically active molecules, and
for such remedies to have pharmacological effect would violate fundamental
principles of science..."

And for a humorous take that does a pretty job of demonstrating what complete
nonsense homeopathy is, see
http://depletedcranium.com/how-homeo...s-illustrated/