Blue,
I loved Zicam until about 8 months ago. In fact, I think even a quick perusal of my posts (sporadic as they are) would show how many times I have chimed in about the healing goodness of Zicam.
Until...well about 8 months ago I was getting a cold so I picked up the Zicam lozenges. This was new for me because I had used the spray before. Well, I hit the lozenges hard (every 4 hours on the dot, but in a day and a half- I had completely lost my sense of taste! It was gone...no salt, no sweet, no bitter, nada. Granted, no cold either, but no taste!
Did some checking on the intarweb and it turns out that some other people have had problems as well. But, my taste buds were busted for about 3 weeks and then slowly started working again and didn't function right until about 3 months later. And while I realize that a cold can cause a loss of sense of taste as well...it wouldn't for 3 months! Not even close.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking...a lost sense of taste...big deal. But, do you know how bad it sucked to get up every morning and not be able to taste my coffee? To not taste pizza or salsa? Eating ceases to be a pleasure if you can't taste, and it becomes a chore. Everything is cardboard.
Well, that is it. I have had my fill of Zicam.