Dear Dr,

My name is ... from Israel.

My question is the following:

I'm taking gancyclovir and & foscarnet (IV) for more than a year and half. Due to CMV retinitis infection. About a year ago I started to lose the sense of smell, already many months I'm not able to smell anything at all. The sense of taste I have lose completely about two months ago.

Is this problem irrevocable (a fait compli) or there is some solutions. My doctor said it is due to the foscarnet, is it really that the cause of the loss of those two senses?

Because I also suffer from molluscum contagiosus infection, with my doctor we decided to switch to cydofovir. Do you think that this can be a solution as well?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Sincerely

Loss of senses can be due to a number of things, including disease of the brain. Whether you will recover these senses is dependent on what is causing the problem. I have a lot of experience using foscarnet, and have never encountered loss of smell and taste as a side effect. Cidofovir may be useful in this situation, and if you regain these senses it may in fact be connected to medications you were taking previously.