My first experience with Parosmia was in the student clinic at OCOM where I attended for my masters in acupuncture and Chinese medicine.
A pregnant patient presented with typical symptoms of Parosmia, things she previously loved the smell and taste of, were now completely revolting, including her husband, whom she gaged and belched just sharing her experience around him. She didn’t know what to do. Common anti nausea medicine often prescribed to pregnant women wasn’t working for her and she had tried all of the natural morning sickness remedies to no avail. I was her last resort (not atypical I must admit).
At this early stage of my practice I had very little idea what to do herbally for her. So many pregnant patients are and were encouraged not to take medication and even plant medicine of any kind while pregnant, even for Parosmia. I spoke with my supervisor and inquired as to what they recommended for my treatment approach. They shared with me a combination of abdominal acupuncture and an herbal formula referred to as “pill curing”.
Pill curing is a patent formula that is great for everything from nausea to morning sickness, motion sickness to hangover. Traveling and upper GI having a time? Another great use for pill curing.
I administered the acupuncture and sent my patient with instructions and the herbal formula. She seemed relieved to have a plan.
I was disappointed when I didn’t see her in the weeks following her first appointment. I wondered how she was and whether what we had tried with her was working. I was surprised to see her name pop up about 4-5 months later. As I reviewed her chart I worried that she had been suffering all of this time with her severe symptoms, as some mothers do.
After showing her into her room and assisting her in getting comfortable I asked what brought her in, was she still feeling extreme nausea. She looked at me as though I was the only one in the room doubting the efficacy of the plan we had made. She shared that her symptoms never returned after out treatment, after 5 days of herbs she no longer needed any, her symptoms of Parosmia had resolved. She was back during her third trimester for low back pain and acid reflux.
Since this first patient, I have encountered many cases of Parosmia and similar nausea and indigestion patterns that Pill Curing and abdominal acupuncture have been effective at resolving.
With our new COVID reality we are hearing of patients developing Parosmia with COVID and having lasting effects after COVID resolves. Especially for those patients with Parosmia after recovering for COVID, I would recommend abdominal acupuncture and Pill Curing. Read more here