Covid loss of taste and smell

[smitty0705]

I used a neti pot at about day 12 and I think that helped clear things out and my taste/smell came back shortly after.

 

[FQLover]

I am weirdly lucky in that the 20% or so of sense of smell I am missing is largely the bad stuff. I don't smell poop really, nor cigarette smoke, urine, nor my dog's bad breath. Like, nothing much is there for any of those four things.

 

[Buckalew11]

I had Covid-19 in August’20. Very mild, no congestion at all. Lost taste and smell. In October I started to get a whiff of a few things, everything was faint and mild. Then in December I was giving a perm and thought I would pass out. The smell was metallic and burning metal sorta. My client made the comment “perms don’t smell like they used to, thank God!”

The next several months everything smelled like that perm ( which didn’t smell anything like a perm!)— water, shampoo, soap, toothpaste, etc. it was horrible!
Then in May’21 that smell left and another one started. Very specific: Popeye’s chicken— like leftover in a car on a hot July day. Oh gag. To this day I smell that smell quite often.
I’ve done essential oils since the Fall of 2020, trying to reconnect something to something . Orange smells like (strong) wet dog. Lavender smells like faintly like lavender. Someone gave me a Fireside Marshmallow candle and I get a hint of sweet from the marshmallow but no fireside. I can smell faintly the Beach Club ( lobby) candle that Dan sent me. And it smells as I remember the BC smelling!
My husband’s coffee smells like there’s a skunk close by. Bacon tastes like greasy meat. Every once in a while cigarette smoke wafts by.
I don’t want to give up but I’m at 1.5 years…

 

[Breezy_Carol]

My sister-in-law had COVID December 2020 and still was having trouble with taste/smell this past September.

 

[Lilsia]

I had Covid-19 in August’20. Very mild, no congestion at all. Lost taste and smell. In October I started to get a whiff of a few things, everything was faint and mild. Then in December I was giving a perm and thought I would pass out. The smell was metallic and burning metal sorta. My client made the comment “perms don’t smell like they used to, thank God!”

The next several months everything smelled like that perm ( which didn’t smell anything like a perm!)— water, shampoo, soap, toothpaste, etc. it was horrible!
Then in May’21 that smell left and another one started. Very specific: Popeye’s chicken— like leftover in a car on a hot July day. Oh gag. To this day I smell that smell quite often.
I’ve done essential oils since the Fall of 2020, trying to reconnect something to something . Orange smells like (strong) wet dog. Lavender smells like faintly like lavender. Someone gave me a Fireside Marshmallow candle and I get a hint of sweet from the marshmallow but no fireside. I can smell faintly the Beach Club ( lobby) candle that Dan sent me. And it smells as I remember the BC smelling!
My husband’s coffee smells like there’s a skunk close by. Bacon tastes like greasy meat. Every once in a while cigarette smoke wafts by.
I don’t want to give up but I’m at 1.5 years…

I completely sympathize with you. Most people can't understand how much your sense of smell affects your life. As someone who has always had a hyper sense of smell, even the most mundane of smells can bring on a horrible reaction. The worst is they way people treat you like you are crazy and overreacting. They would always say, "I don't smell it", as if that makes any difference. With so many people now being affected, I wish there would be a public campaign to educate people on how offensive perfumes and colognes are to a lot of people. My hope is that people stop wearing scents in enclosed areas like airplanes. I wish you luck and hope that your sense of smell returns to normal.

 

[DLgal]

I completely sympathize with you. Most people can't understand how much your sense of smell affects your life. As someone who has always had a hyper sense of smell, even the most mundane of smells can bring on a horrible reaction. The worst is they way people treat you like you are crazy and overreacting. They would always say, "I don't smell it", as if that makes any difference. With so many people now being affected, I wish there would be a public campaign to educate people on how offensive perfumes and colognes are to a lot of people. My hope is that people stop wearing scents in enclosed areas like airplanes. I wish you luck and hope that your sense of smell returns to normal.

One of my autistic sons is a super smeller/taster. He smells things none of us can smell and he is a very selective eater because of how strongly some things smell. I can cook a food like onions and he will continue to be able to smell it a week later, well after I have stopped noticing it. I have to open windows and crank up the hood vent to high when I cook certain things he can't stand the smell of. Some smells literally make him gag and feel sick to his stomach.

 

[dvcgirl67]

My sister had Covid in December of 2020....so over a year for her. She's regained some of her ability to taste/smell...but she just told me the other day that it's still only partially back. She's investigating a specialist to help her.

 

[Foxhound3857]

I was just put on 10 day Quarantine by Nordstrom ECC based on my symptoms. I'm going to try and get tested at Kaiser tomorrow, but did any of you guys have similar symptoms from COVID?

Moderate fatigue
Moderate muscle aches
Mild nausea
Mild sore throat/cough

It's a coinflip whether this is COVID or not, and considering I'm triple vaccinated and mask/distance everywhere I go, and don't leave the house unless it's for work/volunteering/weekly errands (which I do on the same day as volunteering to save time/fuel), I'm going to be very upset if it really IS COVID. I did everything I could to protect myself and still got it in the end?

 

[GreatLakes]

It took me over a month to get mine back. My wife is going on two months and she has some back but not all.

Someone who babysits for us took over a year but it came back eventually.

For me I lost the scent portion of my taste but not sense portion. I could tell sweet, salty, bitter, etc. For example if I closed my eyes and ate a Lemon I wouldn't know it was a lemon but new it was citrus.

 

[MamaLema]

I was just put on 10 day Quarantine by Nordstrom ECC based on my symptoms. I'm going to try and get tested at Kaiser tomorrow, but did any of you guys have similar symptoms from COVID?

Moderate fatigue
Moderate muscle aches
Mild nausea
Mild sore throat/cough

It's a coinflip whether this is COVID or not, and considering I'm triple vaccinated and mask/distance everywhere I go, and don't leave the house unless it's for work/volunteering/weekly errands (which I do on the same day as volunteering to save time/fuel), I'm going to be very upset if it really IS COVID. I did everything I could to protect myself and still got it in the end?

No way to really know unless you get tested. Hope you feel better soon.

 

[ashley0139]

I was just put on 10 day Quarantine by Nordstrom ECC based on my symptoms. I'm going to try and get tested at Kaiser tomorrow, but did any of you guys have similar symptoms from COVID?

Moderate fatigue
Moderate muscle aches
Mild nausea
Mild sore throat/cough

It's a coinflip whether this is COVID or not, and considering I'm triple vaccinated and mask/distance everywhere I go, and don't leave the house unless it's for work/volunteering/weekly errands (which I do on the same day as volunteering to save time/fuel), I'm going to be very upset if it really IS COVID. I did everything I could to protect myself and still got it in the end?

These are all the symptoms I had when I had it. No lost of taste/smell, but these were pretty much exactly my symptoms. Luckily I felt bad for about 3 days and then was better. Very mild for me, thankfully.

 

[DisneyTeacher]

I had covid in November of 2020 and loss of taste and smell were my only symptoms. I think it took about two weeks for it to start to come back and once it started it seemed to come back fast. I still have couple of things I can’t smell and sometimes I think I smell something that isn’t there. However, I know a couple of people who had covid year or more ago and still can’t taste or smell so I’m very happy to be close to normal again.

I read smelling familiar things helped regain smell so every day I smelled spices I knew what they smelled like. Several nights of sniffing garlic and other things I finally caught a faint sift.

I hope your get your smell and taste back soon.

 

[Lilsia]

One of my autistic sons is a super smeller/taster. He smells things none of us can smell and he is a very selective eater because of how strongly some things smell. I can cook a food like onions and he will continue to be able to smell it a week later, well after I have stopped noticing it. I have to open windows and crank up the hood vent to high when I cook certain things he can't stand the smell of. Some smells literally make him gag and feel sick to his stomach.

I am like that with strong odors like perfume and especially cigarettes. It feels like someone is jabbing something down my throat and I start to have trouble breathing. Full blown allergic reaction. Luckily, no foods really bother me on a regular basis. Every once in a while something will smell nasty. But I can pretty much eat anything. The one food item that gags me is seaweed. It smells and tastes like rotten pond scum to me. Bleh. I can tell you that things change as you get older. Things that used to bother you, don't anymore but you can pick up new things.

 

[Disneychick75]

If you or someone you know went through this, how long did it take to be normal again?

it been 9 days so far and I’m feeling pretty discouraged. I’m the cook in the family and it’s been hard to do it with loss of these 2 senses.
I feel like a big part of life has lost its pleasure.

We all had covid back in August. Our daughter just started getting both of these senses back w/in the last month.

 

[bjscheel]

DD23 had it early November and taste was gone for 2-3 weeks maybe. Smell is just starting to come back, faintly. I had read to have her smell strong things so she was sniffing the Vaporub this weekend- said she didn't so much smell it as feel that sensation it gives.

 

[Foxhound3857]

These are all the symptoms I had when I had it. No lost of taste/smell, but these were pretty much exactly my symptoms. Luckily I felt bad for about 3 days and then was better. Very mild for me, thankfully.

Well I got my test this morning, so I'll know in a couple of days. It was an hour wait, but I was honestly expecting it to be worse.

The test itself isn't so bad anymore. Anyone remember the Roto Rooter nasal swab it used to be, going WAY in there? Now it's only about an inch or so.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

For my family and friends smell took longer than taste. Also metal tasting food and feeling like atuff doesn’t have enough salt and pepper. I went to breakfast with a friend months after she had it and she took the salt, looked at me and apologized and basically said she has a hard time tasting seasoning.

 

[Dead2009]

I got it Saturday, but haven't lost my smell or taste yet and the symptoms have gone down with each passing day.

 

[okeydokey]

My daughter lost hers for about six months. when it starting coming back, it was off. She smelled and tasted things, but the smells and especially tastes were not accurate. It finally resolved itself. Interestingly this was her only symptom.

 

[jackilvsmath]

Our whole house had COVID last February.

me - severe cold symptoms and no smell. Gone totally for almost 10 months. Finally mostly back but not 100%.

DH - long term cold symptoms, hives and loss of taste and smell for 3-4 days.

DD#1 - mild cold symptoms and dizziness.

DD#2 - no symptoms.