Taste buds.....How long before they come back?

[PilotNY]

Hi Everyone. Quick question for ya.
Been vaping for 17 days and quit analogs when I started vaping. Doing great with no jonesing for them (Yah for me!!!!) lol Anyway, was a 1 pack a day smoker on and off for close to 40 years. Finally decided to give them up.
Now that I have started vaping everyone asks me if my tastebuds have come back yet. When I try new flavors I cant taste what they say it should taste like. I know that my taste and smell has been affected by smoking for so long. I am sure that someone out there has been in the same position. How long did it take you to regain your taste and smell back after smoking for so long?

Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[AzPlumber]

If you can pick the smokers out of a crowd by their "aroma" you're well on your way to recovery. Seriously it can take some a few months to fully restore your sense of taste and smell.

 

[Grimwald]

My sense of smell came back first after say 1-2 months. My sense of taste (yes I know taste and smell are connected) wavered for several more months. Sometimes everything tasted good, then awful, then no taste at all. My taste buds and I were at war for about 6 months.

Warning. Regaining your sense of smell is not necessarily a good thing. I started smoking in college in 1970. The world doesn't smell like I remember. I want to know who screwed it up.

 

[PilotNY]

Thanks @AzPlumber. I have not gotten to that point yet. I hope to soon. Funny how you lose a few senses and dont even realize it until you quit....

 

[dhood]

It will happen. Took me a few months after 40 years of smoking. Still not sure my senses are entirely back after a year of vaping.

 

[Jugband]

Just stick with it. No matter how long the wait, it sure beats the alternative. It will return, just wait and see

 

[PilotNY]

@dhood and @Jugband . Thanks for answering. Wait is all I can do.

 

[MagnusEunson]

Saltines and sorbet .. I'm not kidding. You can help reset your own palate - which you will have to do over the course of vaping too.

It won't be the first or last time you have that tasting transition to contend with. -Mags

 

[dhood]

I don't believe in an All Day Vape. I generally will run through an assortment of 3 or 4 different juices over the course of a day. I have 18 tanks/drippers on a stand and change flavors constantly. I think that may be one reason I've never run into vapor's tongue. I don't vape a specific flavor long enough for it to numb my taste buds.

 

[PilotNY]

I hear ya @dhood . I try to change frequently. But I find it hard to taste over half of the juices I try. When I do find 1 that tastes good, I add it to my growing collection (5 tanks as of today). My buddy at work and I change tanks and RDA's all day at work sampling each others purchases. I just wish I could taste more than I do is all....

 

[dhood]

You can always back down to unflavored for a while. It gives you all the vapor and nicotine of a regular flavored vape and it is quite pleasant. It's slightly sweet from the VG, but other than that it doesn't assault the taste buds and, to me, allows them to recover. It may take a week or so... on the other hand, if you've ever had sushi, think about why they put the ginger on the plate. It's there to cleanse your palate. There is a juice that is designed with ginger and it is just for resetting your taste buds. It's called Tongue Tonic by Vintage Vapors. Might be worth a try.

 

[corn flakes]

Congratulations on giving up smoking.

My taste buds have been changing every 3 month since I quit. When I first started I didn't taste very much. At about 3 months my taste started coming back and wiped out about half the juice I has as I couldn't vape it.

3 Months after that everything I ate, drank or vaped tasted horrible for a couple of weeks. Lately I find I am getting to much flavor. My devices have remained consistent during this time and have only dropped the nicotine once.

 

[Tommy-Chi]

Dittos on "congratulations on giving up smoking."

What I often find is that lowering the wattage yields more taste.

 

[ChildWithATemper]

I don't believe in an All Day Vape. I generally will run through an assortment of 3 or 4 different juices over the course of a day. I have 18 tanks/drippers on a stand and change flavors constantly. I think that may be one reason I've never run into vapor's tongue. I don't vape a specific flavor long enough for it to numb my taste buds.

What dhood said. I alternate 7 flavours a day and haven't run into vapor's tongue either. When I started vaping, I googled pretty much everything i was wondering about and found an advise about vaping menthol to avoid vapor's tongue - so some kind of menthol has always been in my rotation. After 17 years of smoking my sense of smell was the first to come back, roughly after 5 days of dual using vape and analogs - I could smell a smoker 5 meters away along with other nasty bodily odours of other people. My taste has not changed much.

 

[JavaJunkie]

Smoked for 19 years. Took my taste buds several months to recover.

Welcome to vaping! I hope you love it as much as I do!

 

[PilotNY]

Dittos on "congratulations on giving up smoking."

What I often find is that lowering the wattage yields more taste.

That is exactly what I do, keep the watts low. TY

Smoked for 19 years. Took my taste buds several months to recover.

Welcome to vaping! I hope you love it as much as I do!

Already do my brother!!!! TY

 

[Frenchfry1942]

The OP mentioned taste buds. For me, it was awhile, a rather long while. It was a month (about) and I started to appreciate single, or basic, flavors (fruits). But, I got nowhere with complex mixes that some vendors have. Last summer, which was at about 7-8 months, I suddenly noticed flavors on the intake and different tastes on the exhale. I could identify more. It was just something that hit me one day.

I do have to say that my quality of gear was significantly higher at that point, too. So that, most likely, played a role.

As to smell, it was way, way faster. I think cleaning myself, my clothes, my car, etc. helped there, too. I can smell a smoker much faster and it is rather negative. When I smoked, I didn't realize just how much I smelled.

Anyway, we are all a bit different, so YMMV.

 

[sucram]

Its beeen nearly 4 years for me, I still cant taste complex flavours so I stick to mainly fruits and slightly modified versions