From Carole Carriker:

Re: Mouth microbes helping the chef make magic? (Nov. 11): I just read your story about bacteria in the mouth being responsible for creating some flavors, and it gave rise to a whole bunch of questions! Last summer I had a sinus infection, and was prescribed an antibiotic (the generic version of Biaxin). It totally messed up my sense of taste, and destroyed my sense of smell.

Now I’m wondering if that’s because certain bacteria were killed off.

It’s been a little over 4 months, and my sense of smell and taste are coming back, but still not normal. I talked to my nurse practitioner, and she said to wait and see what develops. I guess I’m just wondering, is there a specific bacterium involved in this, and is it possible I’m lacking that? Or is the loss of smell and taste caused by something else? (I’ve researched the side effects of this medication. I haven’t found much information, other than that these are common side effects. )