Charm:
I'll try to "Comfort You" some here. I was always a "Fire Eater" as well. Coming out of treatment milk even burnt! Some folks on here said it soothed them but man 'O man it was horrible for me. Anyway, a lot of things that shouldn't even be considered spicy would (And some still do) set me on fire. My saliva has come back very well but I still have a huge lack of taste and my taste buds "Flatten out" rather quickly into a meal. However, thank goodness I can eat!! About spicy stuff, I have really started to stretch it out at this point and experiment a lot, even though I still can't taste a lot of things. I am back to loving Mexican food (Or at least the texture), however I am very cautious about salsa's and things that are too spicy. Chili Relleno's are on the list and I get flavor almost all the way through one. There again different restaurants provide different sensations and even the same restaurant can provide different sensations depending on the day (Weird, and I'm starting to think that hydration plays a huge role in my taste reaction daily, and as mentioned earlier, I've offset taste for texture in order to have a more pleasant eating experience). I guess what I'm saying is hang in there, it may never get back to where you were but at least you can eat, breathe, and love life!! Enjoy each day and experiment away!!

Regards,
Steve