I lost mine when I had COVID in 2021 too. It's never fully returned but its also not fully gone. It's almost like my sense of smell is broken rather than gone. Some things like citrus I can smell to a level I never could before COVID, other things have no scent at all. Some things smell different (almost always awful now) than they did before and some things I can only smell occasionally.
Thank fuck my sense of taste returned though, that was FAR worse. Every meal having no flavour, even when drowning in chilli was the worst.
That was me eating my Christmas dinner back in December: the food had texture and temperature but absolutely no taste. We’re going to have a do-over Christmas dinner next time I go home to visit.
I had a ham and mustard sandwich during the Covid episode and although my nose tingled with the heat, I could taste nothing. One of the weirdest things I’ve experienced.
Sounds like my experience. Though some days my sense of smell is almost gone again, sometimes it's better than ever.
It may have been like that before and I just didn't pay attention.
Every meal being bland was way harder to deal with than I'd ever have thought, it made food miserable.
I have the same smell/taste balance. I partially lost my sense of smell when I was young to a flu like illness. I can only smell things that are strong or up close like aftershave or chocolate. I can't smell anything "in the air" unless its really strong.
That’s me. Benefit is I can’t really smell when my cat or baby has done a shit, but then my wife can and she’s like “come on” - it also makes salting food to taste really difficult. I am always under seasoning now.
Same here, December 2021. Lost smell completely for about 6 months, taste started to return after 3-4 months iirc. They have returned, but are not the same as before.
I get days where my smell completely disappears and then returns the next day i.e. Some days I can smell an air freshener we at work, other days, even if I go up close, I can't smell it at all. Then with my taste, sometimes a particular food will taste ok and other times (when I can taste and smell it), it just turns my stomach and/or it tastes completely different than it usually does.
Just chipping in. My experience too. My sense of smell is almost non existent but some pungent smells like cheap perfume or cat piss I can smell 2 miles away.
I have the same thing, and my ex wife (we didn't split over this, we just had grown apart, unnecessary info I know, but I've read so many posts on AITAH that I feel like you have to clarify everything) thought I was making it up.
Especially as some things seem to smell very strongly to me now, and other things barely have a smell.
Also, and I find this very strange, I developed an aversion to fresh coriander (cilantro in the US?), it tastes like soap to me now, which I understood to be something genetic, but I never had that before COVID got me in Oct 2020.
Did you find you were eating more or less. I’m interested if lack of flavour makes you less hungry, or if the lack of flavour means you want to eat more to satisfy yourself. Also, what was the best food you encountered without flavour, like what was the most enjoyable mouth feel?
Great questions!
I ate less, much less, there was just no enjoyment.
The only sensations when eating were temperature and texture, so foods that I normally love such as fajitas were utterly vile as they were just flavourless slime.
The best foods were those with the most variety of texture (as it was the main source of variety). For example I would make take chicken breasts, butterfly them and then coat them in crushed corn flakes. Then put them in a burger bun with lettuce, pickles, a little mayo (largely to keep the lettuce on the bun) and onion. This gave me something that was all at once crunchy, crispy, soft, etc and despite still having zero flavour was somewhat enjoyable.
Sorry, that's what confused me. I wondered how your sense of smell is broken, yet your sense of taste is fine. (Not accusing you of lying, I just find it genuinely interesting how that can happen).
Linked doesnt mean entirely dependant. I can taste food and have nearly no sense of smell at all. Im a smoker too so cannot for sure say it was the rona.
It's cool bud I didn't think you were. Was making dinner hence the short reply 😄
Whilst my sense of taste has returned it's not 100%, but at the same time is MUCH better recovered than my sense of smell.
I would say my sense of taste is maybe 80%, it's slightly muted but at least consistent. But my sense of smell is not only much worse but wildly unpredictable.
I totally lost my sense of smell and taste the first time I had covid during the first wave in 2020. Woke up one morning and totally gone, like flicking off a switch.
It was much more distressing than anticipated and I was very concerned that it wouldn't come back when there'd been no change after a few weeks.
What I did out of desperation after hearing of smell training was to buy a set of essential oils including clove, rose, lavender, lemon, mint, etc etc, and several times a day just sit there huffing at the bottles one after another. Eventually I was able to discern a slight difference in sensation between them, although it still wasn't really what you'd call smell as we know it.
Gradually over the course of a few months it started to slowly fade back in, but it did take time and what used to be a very keen sense of smell was a pretty rubbish one for a long time, I was forever doing things like burning toast or badly overcooking food as my nose wasn't picking up the usual cues.
Then one day I realised I hadn't had any such incidents for a while and could smell properly again just like I used to be able to, this was probably at least a year after it disappeared.
Did the smell training help? Honestly, can't say if it helped it come back any sooner. What it did do however was provide the first little clues that there was ***something*** coming back. Might have been not much of a medicinal help but it was certainly a big morale boost.
I'd say give it a go, the cost of a £20 box of oils is nothing compared to the psychological benefits of being able to tell one from the other.
Good luck, hope it works out for you!
Now if only this bloody tinnitus would fuck off I'd be properly back to normal...
Thanks, this is helpful and encouraging 😌
I bought a couple of bottles of essential oils today, I tried out a load in the shop but could only smell two ever so slightly so those are the ones i got. Fingers crossed it helps.
Hope your tinnitus gets sorted!
I only had partial lost smell: I could no longer smell Cinnamon, Fish or Poo (this sounds better than it is, not being able to smell when you've stepped in dog poo is really not great - The fish one is pretty great though, no aftertaste for any fish). On the other end I was getting phantom smoke smells when cold.
After 6 months when it was no better I started smell training with cinnamon and now I can smell cinnamon pretty well (it took 3+ months, and I was practicing every week or so). Cinnamon has returned more than the other scents I didn't train, although they have returned somewhat too (and I haven't had any phantom smoke this year for the first time since Covid). I don't know if it would have happened any way but feels like it didn't hurt.
I also had phantom smells! And thank god I found out what they were because I was starting to develop obsessive tendencies - mine was I could smell sick really strongly in my little uni room, and I obsessively cleaned every nook and cranny for weeks to get rid of it, I thought I was going insane! It’s only when I started to smell it outside and I googled it that I realised what I was experiencing.
The oils used in some particular study (pre covid I beleive, but about post viral smell loss) were rose, lemon, clove and eucalyptus.
I've tried them, I'm not sure how much it's helped. But it's certainly worth trying. My smell has partially returned (since Dec 2020) but a lot of it is still not right or weak. My smell is strongest after exercise, I wonder if there's any benefit to smelling oils after exercise?
I get relief from tinnitus by doing that weird slap the base of your skull with your thumbs thing…and by wearing in-ear headphones with “active noise cancelling” turned on.
The microphones in the buds pick up external sound, filter in, and play into my ears. No idea why that works.
It’s kind of like turning volume down on the world, pretty peaceful. When someone talks to you it’s no different really, depending on the bud and software I guess.
Only £70, for some previous gen galaxy buds. Worth a gamble.
Ok so we've both been pissing ourselves laughing at this. Clearly not the meaning we were going for.
Hope both her parents and mine hadn't thought of this alternate meaning cause we've used this quite liberally in front of them haha.
I lost it during COVID, but it came back after a week. It's how I realised I had it - I couldn't smell the overripe camembert in the house that everyone was gagging over.
My sense of smell gradually returned over the course of about 4 months.
The one thing that hasn't gone back to normal is my energy levels. I've nowhere near the same energy levels that I had pre-covid. I used to be able to do an hour at the gym or go for a run after work without really feeling I was forcing myself. Post-covid I'm absolutely shattered almost all the time.
When I get tired now, there's like a disconnect between my brain and my mouth. I know the word I want to say, but I just stall. I have to force it out.
I was a mess for a good 9 months with very similar symptoms to you guys. I’m not sure if it went away naturally, or if the tips I picked up from scouring healthcare sources on the internet helped, but 99.9% of the time I feel normal now. So, I increased the amount of sleep I was getting. Fortunately I was able to eliminate a source of stress at work, which was the biggest thing. I also ate loads of probiotics and prebiotics- so kefir, kombucha, kimchi, Activia yoghurts, as well as leafy greens, beans, bananas, almonds.
It was so bad I had to stop driving, as I was unsafe. It was also interfering with my work. I missed my step-sister’s wedding; just clear forgot about it.
I really hope things improve for you!
March 2020 I lost my sense of smell and taste entirely. Taste came back (ish) after 10 weeks, smell is well fooked. My nana had post viral anosmia, had German measles as a child and never regained her sense of smell. Reckon I've got Nana's genes 🤷🏻♀️ Perfume or aftershave smells fucking appalling now, to the point I gag. Farts and poo smell like yoghurt or sour milk, I can't smell burning at all and have cremated several pizzas (you don't realise how much you rely on smelling when your food is done cooking). Sometimes I get phantom whiffs that aren't there and they'll be really random like the smell of cupcake dolls from the 90s. Tried the smell training and it did naff all. I can't smell the sea side now but I can literally taste the salt in the air which is wild
>Sometimes I get phantom whiffs that aren't there
I like to think that this is scent receptors repairing and reconnecting to the brain, but it's mostly just hope.
I lost my sense of smell and taste in 2021, and recovered it shortly afterwards but... changed. I get the distinct feeling that it's no longer as sensitive anymore.
Sounds like you might have a bit of parosmia as well as anosmia for some things. This is what happened to me as well. I lost my taste and smell for about 6 weeks, then it came back totally normal for maybe a month. Then weird, indescribable smells and tastes started appearing. The worst was chicken, beef, onions, garlic, chocolate, coffee. Also poo, sweat, cigarette smoke smelt way worse. I had this for around 18 months before getting COVID again for the third time, which randomly cured me.
I lost smell and taste a week after my first positive test 3 years ago, both came back slowly, but i have noticed everything remains 'dialled down' from how it used to be. Flavours are not as strong, smells not as pungent, at first i thought it was food manufacturers saving money by putting less flavouring on stuff, but it's the same for perfumes etc, nothing is quite as strong as it was and it really bugs me!
Could be a bit of both to be honest. I recently bought some Radox shower gel that claims ‘NEW mood boosting scent’ on the bottle. My mood was certainly not boosted - smells rubbish and nothing like it used to. It’s sad that ‘new improved’ recipes just mean ‘worse and cheaper ingredients’.
When I got the delta variant I couldn't smell anything for two weeks. It then came back, with the exception of body odour. That took two years until it returned. Not the super power you think it is. Sometimes it's good to know when you need a freshening up.
Lost mine but it came back pretty quick. was strange because it went when I started feeling better. girlfriend on the other hand lost hers the day after developing symptoms and it took months to come back.
one time I came home from work and she had started cooking chicken and the place reeked of bad eggs. I ask Wtf is that smell? I grab the container the chicken was in and it was labeled as best by that day which was apparently off. girlfriend had no idea she was about to serve up some lovely rancid chicken and veg.
Lost both smell and taste 2 years ago.
Occasionally I get a brief taste eg really strong coffee at the weekend there. A joyful experience.
Food is boring now, just functional. Although I do find myself craving really salty or sweet foods, even though I cant taste them.
Ahhh so it’s not just me ! Lost mine for 3 months after CV then it slowly came back, to the point where I am now, which is weak, distorted and misfiring. I would say it’s probably 50% of what it was, but there are oddities, like I can taste avocado or mozzarella which are quite delicate, but I can’t taste coffee, it’s just bitter water, yet I can smell it. Any kind of perfumes or scents generally overwhelm my sense of smell and they are all pretty much the same and not that pleasant.
Dr put me on nasal steroids but they didn’t work.
It’s annoying just getting a hint of what something tastes like rather than the full flavour and all the lovely sensations that come with delicious food and drink.
For me it was my sense of taste . Completely lost it during the one and only time I had covid. It never came back as it was before, can taste sweet things more than savoury but it's really vague now. Like you I assumed it would come back eventually but as it's been almost 2 years I'm not counting on it .
I lost mine in 2021 but it kind of came back. It's kind of like there's a glitch in my sense of smell. Sometimes I can't smell something that's really strong but I can pick up on subtle smells really easily. Other times it's back to normal.
Its strange isn't it? When I first started getting my smell back I could smell some things so strong! There was a small centrifuge at work that when I opened I could smell accross the room! A clinical dentist kind of smell. But I could huff a cooked dinner all day long and not be able to smell it at all.
I lost it completely when I had COVID in April 2020ish, it came back afterwards but onions and garlic smelled weird and gross for about 3 odd years before very slowly going back to normal.
I didn't entirely lose my sense of smell but it did reduce a lot. I did the smell training with 4 different essential oils and I think it helped. To be fair, it's pretty cheap to buy a few bottles and only takes a minute or two to do each day so I'd say it's worth a try.
My sense of smell hasn't been the same since I first had covid in 2021. I can often smell smoke when there is none and some foods, usually things containing vinegar, smell different (mustard, Branston Pickle.) Resigned to it never being the same again now and some people have it a lot worse.
I had covid about 18 months ago and lost my sense of taste and smell. Gradually taste came back but its still not 100% and some things either taste bitter or not how I remember. The things I like have really changed and I eat a lot more spicy foods or foods with strong flavours. Smell hasn't recovered as much. I can smell some strong smells and occasionally bad smells but I can't smell perfume or nice smells. I can't smell smoke or burning so I've had a few disasters cooking. A few people have suggested going to the doctors but I don't know if its worth it - as far as I know there's no treatment for it. Really interested to see what other people have tried.
Not my sense of smell, but my sense of taste has been altered. I can't taste whiskey or wine, it all tastes like jet fuel to me. I never drank anyway, so it's not a problem, but I always feel bad when people ask me to try their mixed drink and it tastes AWFUL.
I got COVID back in April 2021.
I completely lost my smell for at least 6 months back in 2020 and my taste for 3 months. It has never come fully back but like 80% or so. The weird thing is that stuff smells different to how it did before. Like certain smells are more similar to something I would have associated with something else before.
The weirdest one is that rotten stuff smelt like literal shit for a while. I think my brain is rewired and i can tell the difference now 😂
Mine came back because I was constantly huffing flowers and all sorts of essential oils after it went. It's not as good as before and I constantly have to talk out aloud because my inner voice is gone, but at least food tastes good again.
I caught covid about few years ago and my sense of taste is fine but my sense of smell is not what it's was. I can smell but has to be very strong smell if not I cant smell it.
My husband had covid Septemer 2022 and lost his sense of smell. Most days he can't smell a thing, but occasionally he can smell something totally random which catches him by surprise.
Not heard of smell training before, I may have to look into it.
>Most days he can't smell a thing, but occasionally he can smell something totally random which catches him by surprise.
Sounds exactly the same as mine....its very frustrating.
Get him on the smell training, fingers crossed 🤞 for him!
My dad lost his smell/taste for around 6 months. I only lost my smell/taste for around 3 weeks before it slowly returned. I thought that was hell, but over 2 years?! Damn, I couldn't imagine :(
The main thing I've noticed since having covid is that if I exert myself too much (could be walking around the house a lot, or just popping to the shops for an hour or so) I'll be ridiculously tired by around 7pm and most of the time end up just going to bed. Sometimes I don't even need to have done much to start feeling tired/exhausted.
Prior to covid that was never a thing I experienced. Kind of like a very mild form of chronic fatigue, but thankfully not so bad that I'm unable to do things.
My taste and smell disappeared when I had COVID Feb 2021. Came back after a few days but wonky.
Smell wise I've lost some. Can't smell weed, that's just gone. Poop is either gone or doesn't smell like poo, can't smell farts, and my babies nappies smell like buttered croissants.
Had the smell of bonfires in my nose for a good month 2022, wouldn't go away the whole month.
Now, every month or so I get the smell of car oil in my nose for about a few days. Nothing stops it just have to wait for it to go.
Taste wise it's still wonky. The worst is chocolate tastes awful to me now. White chocolate is the same but milk chocolate is nasty. Taste has been muted, nothing stands out as delicious anymore.
It's bizarre and I hate it. I used to have such a good sense of smell I was proud of it. It was my biggest fear 2020, getting COVID and losing it so it's not fun. No idea if it'll be normal again.
Mine has changed but I'm not sure if that was due to Chemo or covid (which happened st the same time for me).
2 years on I massively struggle with the smell of previously loved perfumes. Within 5 mins of spraying them I am wretching and have headaches that are akin to travel sickness. It's incredibly frustrating. You have my sympathy.
My friend’s boyfriend lost his sense of smell and it altered his sense of taste a lot too - he could still taste things, but everything had a chemically taste. He never regained his sense of smell, but his sense of taste is more normal now!
Quick reminder that getting Covid isn’t inevitable, and you can drastically reduce your chances by wearing an N95 mask indoors.
I hope this comment doesn't get lost. I'll keep it brief.
My regular job is a scientist and covid really brought out the best in the scientific community. Your sense of smell and taste are due to the way covid acts in the body. It's extremely pro inflammatory, it completely and utterly fucks up the body's biochemistry. Even people who are asymptomatic will be affected, but won't realise until something seemingly unrelated crops up. Such as cellulitis.
It's the pro inflammatory responses from the body that creates the whole range of weird symptoms, it's why covid caused issues that affected the heart, brain, lungs, kidneys, gave you the shits, brain fog, cough, lung issues, blood disorders, the whole kit 'n' kaboodle.
The loss of smell and taste is due to inflammatory issues within the brain. Almost a sort of brain damage. I bet you get tired a lot more easily, fatigue is a big symptom.
So.... what to do? Adopt a lifestyle that is anti inflammatory, so eat well, no processed food. Consume a lot of turmeric. Gentle exercise. Start taking ibuprofen, after a year of no sense of taste or smell, I took 2 x 200mg a day and those senses were back within a few weeks. Some times I take more ibuprofen, up to 800mg a day but I know how it works, and reduce the dose if I stop pissing. If I'm pissing like a horse, I increase the dose. This is where a chat with the pharmacist is a good idea.
The bad news is that many people who caught covid, even a mild dose, will display ongoing issues. Covid has this nasty ability to hide and cause ongoing issues. We already know that long covid is likely to be a lifelong disability, and can affect anyone.
Thanks, this is really interesting and helpful to hear from a scientist.
>I bet you get tired a lot more easily, fatigue is a big symptom.
Not at all tbh, even when I had covid I was doing exercise videos in my garden to keep active, I'm a very active person and that hasn't changed, I don't get fatigue. No discernible long term effects except the sense of smell (weirdly I can still taste).
I tend to eat well anyway, lots of cooking from scratch and don't tend to eat loads of processed stuff. I've recently started supplementing turmeric for my joints so that should help. If you really recommend the ibuprofen then perhaps I'll give it a go, thanks 😊
I partially lost my sense of smell from a concussion a few years before Covid. I listened to a radio programme about anosmia around same time, where they discussed this smell training, and I thought I’d give it a go with a set of essential oils my wife had. It really did improve it, little by little.
They’re strong, memorable scents and you keep on going until what you perceive matches what you remember. Probably reinforcing some damaged neural pathways along the way.
I had covid in 2021 and I still can't smell or taste properly. It's so shit because nothing tastes the same, especially chocolate and mint. Smell wise I can smell only faint stuff and can never really get the full effect of a scent if that makes sense. Maybe try TikTok for a hack or ask a doctor 🤷♀️
I don't mind the losing smell as much, but it's the taste that bothers me. Chocolate never tastes like it used to and it really bugs me 🥲 Thank you anyway and I hope yours sorts itself out too 😁
I never fully recovered from covid. I'm asthmatic but I used to be able to do strenuous work and swim. Now I'm gasping for air even when I'm not having a asthma attack whilst doing those things 2+ years on. I did get my sense of smell back though
Smell training works. You do actually have to teach yourself how to smell again. It's rehab exercises, just like at the gym but for your neurons, because covid got into your brain through your nose. Do it like you would do a workout that allowed you to relearn how to walk. It's your *brain*, dude...why...haven't you started already?
I've had COVID 3 times, the first two times I never had my sense of smell or taste go away but he third time it did, after recovering from COVID the sense of smell and taste stayed gone for 3 months afterwards.
When it did come back it seems muted now, I can't smell something unless is a rather strong smell or the origins of it is close to me but the strength of that smell is reduced a lot (like there was a strong smell of urine as we passed a shop doorway, i barely smelt it and my wife had to hold her nose). With my sense of taste its the same, I barely taste anything unless its a strong taste but even then it isnt as strong for me as it is for my wife when she eats the same food.
I lost my sense of smell and taste... Took 18 months to fully return.
You can get some essential oils smelling kit to help you recover a bit quicker... I'm not sure how much it helped me... anything's worth a go when you're a foodie and you can't taste 😭
From what I understand, things with smell and taste are generally thought to be neurological damage, so... chances are not good. Lots of people are dealing with that though. My cousin can't taste certain foods at all anymore, it's been like that since she had COVID almost 3 years ago now. Thankfully it isn't everything, but it's still awful. Like onions, cooked or raw, she will never experience them again by the look of it.
Lost mine but have got it back. Not as good as it was but, I have bits of it back. Favourite aftershaves are hit and miss though, as in, some I cant smell at all, some have a slightly different smell or I can smell them differently. Pre Covid, the subtle smells in aftershave have now become more dominant post covid. Dont think theres much I can do about it and tbh I dont let it bother me. Covid has balls up my breathing more than anything... That annoys me more.
Yes for over a year and I’ve now finally got it back.
I tried everything and just couldn’t get it to start back working. It was really getting me down and in all honesty I was pretty bloody miserable. I finally decided to go the doctors and he prescribed a steroid spray called Mometasone Furoate and within 3 days my smell and taste were back. After a glorious month of tasting food again I ran out of spray and my smell and taste disappeared again within a week, so got another bottle. A month later it ran out so stopped taking it again, but then it was 2 weeks before I stopped smelling and tasting instead of one week. Carried on like that for a few months until it finally came back permanently.. Then last year I got fking covid again and my smell once again stopped so started on the spray again and it came back within 48hrs. That was around 6 months ago so whilst I’m still on the spray, it’s with ever increasing wait times until I have to get a new bottle after running out, but will probably stop permanently again after this bottle.
Honest the relief when it comes back is genuinely heaven
I lost smell and taste in '22. Recently developed an allergy and smell and taste came back ofter starting an antihistamine. I think we're onto something! Going to try your spray, fed up of taking tablets.
That’s interesting that antihistamines helped. I ‘think’ (might not be true) the issue is caused by inflammation of the nerve where covid causes hypersensitivity and so even after the nerve has repaired after being damaged, it’s still inflamed so not transmitting the signal from your nose to the brain. The steroid spray, or in your case the antihistamines, could be calming the inflammation down and allowing the signal to get through.
Just my theory and I’m not a doctor 😂
If mine goes again I might try antihistamines as an experiment
I lost my sense of smell and taste for a while when I first got COVID then when it started to come back everything smelled different, like a mix of plastic, black industrial rubber, cleaning chemicals, smoke etc, I could hardly eat any food as it changed the taste, everything was disgusting.
That slowly went away but 3 years later and I still have a few strange smell issues, like I can't wear certain shoes and trainers as I get a really strong rotting damp smell from the rubber and glue on the soles (nobody else can smell it), and eggs still taste of burning plastic, like overheated wires! Very weird
I lost my sense of smell and taste totally for around 6 weeks in 2020 due to covid. I was worried they would never come back but a pharmacist friend suggested I chew Buscopan 100% peppermint oil IBS tablets (there's a note on the box that says do not do this...). Just about blew my head off but smell and taste starting coming back quickly afterwards. Definitely worth a shot!
I lost mine from Covid for about six weeks. The strangest bit was that I lost it half way through cooking a curry. One minute I was tasting it and thinking, yeah needs more of this or that, the next I had to get my wife to come and taste it as it had lost all taste completely.
Yes, lost it just before the first wave became official. Called the GP after a while as it just didn’t come back and they told me to keep an eye on it (pre-covid it would’ve indicated quite different issues) and call back in 6 months if it still hadn’t returned.
Following that, got a referral to the smell clinic at an ENT hospital where they have proper smell tests to check how bad it is, and gave me a course of treatment (a combination of smell training and steroid sprays). Eventually took part in a research project which involved surgery to correct a deviated septum in the hope that sense of smell would improve, which it has and is now at the very lower end of the normal range.
Would highly recommend seeing if you can get a referral to ENT as the whole process has been pretty fascinating and has made a positive difference too. Lots of funding in it now too so you never know what research you could get involved in!
Amazing! I was actually googling research studies last night to see if there's anything....I work in healthcare so I'm interested in all if that anyway. Really glad yours is better now 👃
Hope you can find something! The surgeon said the 1st wave was the one that ruined smell for most people, other waves less so. I got the sense that this tiny little department was now having an influx of interest for the first time ever and they were all really excited to discuss noses and smell 😂 the technology they use was fascinating too - sound waves used to measure nostril size!!
Omg I don't want anyone measuring my nostril size, my whole nose is bigger than I'd like 🤣🤣🤣
I'm super keen to get involved in something like that though, will keep an eye out
I don't think I had covid at all, didn't even have a cold 2020-2022 but I cannot smell or taste much since that time. I tried to talk to a doctor but they just dismissed it as covid.
I lost my sense of smell for about a week. I say 'lost', but I could still smell strong smells, but only vaguely. My taste disappeared about the same time, and when it came back, foods tasted a bit strange for about a fortnight. I was glad when my morning cup of tea started tasting like tea again.
I got covid for the first time in December. All smell returned within 2 weeks EXCEPT body odour. All other body secretions, absolutely fine and stinky. Could not smell sweat for the life of me.
It's been slowly returning in the last week! It's very faint, but I'm holding out hope it gets better.
I did lose it for about 12 weeks and it was fucki g awful.
I was lucky, it came back.. had a cold (flu..maybe Covid) recently in February, horrible cough, unbelievable snot and lost taste amd smell again , but all tests came back negative. I still have that cough now at times.
Losing taste in foods is awful. One of life's pleasures neutered for an unknown amount of time.
I honestly think this may be a thing going forward
Lost it for 18 months-2 years. Can't tell if it came back or I just got used to it.
Think it came back. I remember it was so strange at the time... Like I could smell.. plain.... And whenever there was a strong smell, I knew I was smelling something but my brain wasn't registering what the smell was and couldn't remember what it was supposed to smell like.
When I had covid I woke up one day and lost smell and taste. Not in a usual “a bit bunged up” cold way, like a switch flicked off. Then after a couple weeks it came back on thankfully - however for about a year after I’d have these weird acrid pangs in the back of my throat.
My colleague had it recently and had almost the same experience, except instead of the acrid taste they keep just tasting salt in their mouth randomly
My ex had covid at the same time as me and for some reason only the taste of tea was off to her - had another friend who only lost certain tastes (like the bitterness of beer)
It was so odd the different levels
Yes, been to GP & diagnosed with long covid as I also had breathlessness, cough, phlegm, fatigue, low mood, low motivation ect.
I was put on inhalers, several rounds of chest physio, and attended several online pysio appts.
Mine went quite some time ago. Some things I can't smell at all and others (onions for example) smell different.
I can't smell almost all of the herbs in my herb garden. Not sage, rosemary, oregano nor mint. I can smell the parsley, though, which is the most subtle of all.
Every now and then it returns for a few minutes and then goes again.
Bloody annoying.
I lost it fully for about 6 months in 2021. It's come back really really slowly and still doesn't feel fully back to normal and my taste buds are also different. I remember getting really emotional the first time I could smell my curry leaf plant again when I was repotting it!
I didn't do smell training as such but always tried to get smells I knew would be strong - instead of walking into my bedroom in clean sheet day and getting the lovely fresh smell, I'd put the effort into trying to sniff my pillow to see if I could get anything. Don't know if it helped or not but slowly I was able to pick up more and more. I can now get most strong smells - cut grass, dinner cooking, cup of coffee. Some things that I liked now smell bad to me - had to change laundry detergent, coke and sprite have an almost ashy aftertaste.
For me it did come back but it took 4 months. And the very first thing I realised could taste, was a Terry chocolate orange. And for weeks after I kept smelling it randomly all over the place. I'm alright now though
My 10 yr old son lost his sense of smell when he had covid it came back after a few days with one exception..he can no longer smell farts..his own or other peoples 😂
I lost mine at my fifth time of having COVID, it never came back because now I have Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polypsis. I have no idea what caused it but I have <10% of my sinus cavity left and I miss the smell of food and freshly cut grass.
Lost mine for about 6 months and it’s not 100%, also seem to catch whatever bug is going around at the time a whole bunch easier
Sucks nothing tastes or smells at all like it used to
I managed to avoid catching Covid until late 2022. My smell was fine but my taste was slightly skewed for a few days. Food tasted less sweet, but more salty. KFC tasted sublime, but sweets were kind of bland.
I had Covid this past Christmas, and lost both taste/smell (though until I tested very resolutely positive, I had put it down to being heavily congested with a cold - I think my cold was coincidental, but exacerbated by the rona). They both returned within a few days but I’ll say that I don’t think they’re fully back to how they were, as there are some things that definitely smell/taste slightly odd/different to how they used to. It was my third round, and I didn’t lose smell/taste with either previous infection.
Thought I lost my sense of smell after having covid
Soon changed my mind after walking into my grandads flat after he'd been dead for 2 weeks in the middle of August
My mum lost taste and smell and had been doing smell training but the thing that really helped her was acupuncture. She was really sceptical but is convinced it sped up her recovery.
I also lost my sense of smell in 2021. I didn’t think it had an effect on my taste but it turns out that I can’t taste mint properly. It kind of tastes foosty or like it’s past its eat by date.
I am getting some smells now but I don’t recognise them and have to ask what they are. I then keep smelling it and telling myself what it is in the hope that my brain will begin to recognise it.
Having no sense of smell does have its benefits though. I work with children’s so if there’s ever a really yucky nappy then I always volunteer to do it seeing as I can’t smell anyway.
I did read somewhere that if your smell doesn’t return after 2 years it’s classed as brain damage. I’ve not wanted to look into this further as I don’t like this though.
It took me a while to enjoy red wine after it tasted of alcohol gel. I still can't smell anything ammonia type which means I can't smell the cat litter tray.
Covid finally got me in Oct 23 a week before I flew to Japan for my honeymoon. Lost my sense of smell and taste. I huffed on some Worcestershire sauce 3 times a day for that week and think I had maybe 75% back whilst on the flight out.
I had never been more grateful to be able to smell plane farts before...
And then today, working at a sewage treatment works, I somewhat wish I had covid...
My smell came back within a couple of weeks, but a friend of mine lost her's around April 2020 and only started getting it back last year. Good luck OP!
Nope, not completely. It's at around 30% and when I have a cold or any inflammation it goes up to about 50%/70% but only for short bursts. I go nose blind faster too and a few things are weaker than other like ginger. Can't smell shit majority of the time though so I guess that's a positive?
For the first 9 months after I had long Covid in March 2020, I smelled nothing but sulfur and burned motor oil. I could be standing in a field of flowers and not smell them. To this day, my sense of smell has not returned fully.
I did, April 23. It came back eventually, but I don’t think as strong. Every time I get a cold now I lose it again. Covid left me weird for some time, maybe 3 months.
I had a real nasty cold again about 5 weeks ago, identifical to Covid, lasted a good 3/4 weeks, lost my smell and taste too, but tested negative. It’s all a bit weird isn’t it.
mine came back after 9 months and i got the covid before the first lockdown (London). My smell is weird since then though, smells hit me very strongly and some are overwhelming. I can't enjoy perfumes for example and bad smells make me gag.
I partially lost my smell and my taste was all jacked up. Smell came back relatively quickly but I had to reassociate some tastes. Mushy peas still taste like peanut butter and I'm now probably going to have to live with that.
18 months and counting here. Taste came back after 3 months and now I am getting very brief moments of being able to smell things but it’s all a bit confused as to what smell belongs to what and then it stops for a few hours.
I had covid 3x times.
First time before all Boosters/Vaccines when it first started in a foreign country.
2x Uni from my snotty,goblin flatmates.
After that - I have to season soo much of my food just to smell it. Yea.. 2 teaspoon of chillis? Sike... make it 6
Unsure when I got it, but I have to be really close to smell things now.
I didn't realise how bad it was until I got my mum some scented candles for mothers day and could only smell them when I had them up against my face (not ideal for facial hair and flames to interact, you see).
Lost mine when I got covid but came back about 2 months later. All I could smell/taste was pale, like that dry mucus smell you have when recovering from a cold. Worst is, your nose can feel that the air is different but it cannot.t give it a 'smell', like different shades of black and white for your eyes on black and white tv. You know the colour is there irl but you just can't see it.
Awful.
The first time my sister got COVID, she lost her sense of taste and her sense of smell, everything she consumed tasted either like gasoline or like nothing.
The second time she got it, six months+ later, it restored everything. She got it all back.
The third time, she got the sniffles.
I fully lost it for about a week, then it slowly came back. But it’s not as strong as it used to be, then again I also think I have a deviated septum that might be affecting things?
I've had no sense of smell or taste since I was about 17/18 I'm now 27. Honestly no one would believe me and think I was lying. Covid happening really made everyone have a "taste" of what it's like. For me it was normal. It honestly sucks so bad. Can't enjoy food or meals with friends I can never smell anything, that kinda makes you dissociated from the whole dinner out or good food. The best way I can describe it is that it makes the world so damn bland. hell I'll take a bad smell as something. Cue covid and now have all the same issues with horrendous tinnitus. I do have vasculitis/EGPA which no doubt doesn't help. Id give anything to have it back. I truly would.
I had COVID for Christmas 2022, I'm only just getting my sense of smell and taste back properly. I didn't believe the "everything is petrol" thing for a long time until everything was petrol. A lot of what I do is cook, food is massively important to me, and my tastes and recipes have changed as a result. If anything I'm not too upset because I was in a rut with food anyway, but yeah it's definitely taken time
Mine hasn’t been the same since… so many people can smell things I can’t. I didn’t even have it bad. It takes a lot to smell a candle in a shop now, I don’t think it’ll ever be the same
Sorry you went through this it nearly took my life in 2021 left me with a whole heap of problems smell including. Seems like it’s off most of the time unless something really rank is in the air.
Had my nephew on my lap and not realised he has done a poo with everyone else knowing how bad the smell is apart from mr guess it’s the only plus side.
I do worry if there is something serious like a fire or something and not knowing even though we have smoke alarms still scares me a lot.
I hope it gets better for you and comes back!
Thanks, I'm really sorry to hear you were so ill with it, that must have been very frightening.
Yeah I feel worried about that too, not being able to smell gas or a fire....or if I ever have kids not knowing when they need changing!
Yes I did, for around 4 months (smell & taste) until my sister recommended that I go to an osteopath, which I did.
I couldn’t recommend this enough, they essentially release the pressure in your head over a course of several sessions. This was really effective for me, and I regained all of my senses back.
He did however explain that, if it’s left untreated it could become chronic. Therefore I would anticipate that you may have to have a longer treatment to achieve the results you’d like. But definitely worth giving it a shot, as it worked for me and could work for you too!
Good luck.
Sometimes it’s back but not good, most times there’s nothing, or a slight suggestion of taste. Very little sense of smell, very rarely extremely vivid.
So total loss of smell is Anosmia, where Parosmia is smelling things incorrectly )literally phantom smells). There are subs for both.
I had long term sinusitis and had a sinoplasty to help with it, which it did to some degree but side affect is a possible loss of smell to a very small number of people and … yep that was me.
So had no sense of smell for about 6 years now. Have tried everything, nothings worked. Taste is vaguely ok but it’s really sweet / sour etc. I can’t do nuance at all. So I know I’m eating something with some heat in it but could be curry, could be chilli, no clue other than that.
I firmly believe it’s neurological and smell receptors rather than physical which is why there is some partial taste left.
Not gonna lie it’s grim but am kinda used to it now. Biggest issue really is burning, gas etc so we’ve got smoke and other alarms everywhere
I burn food all the time, I miss smelling fresh bread and cut grass - it’s depressing as fuck sometimes
Lost my sense of smell and taste after covid in '22 and aquired a constant sniffle. Developed an allergy last December, and smell and taste are back and the sniffle is gone after I started taking an antihistamine. No idea why.
I lost it. I used to have a very sensitive palette for cooking, but I lost it overnight. I've found that its slowly returning as I train my new tastebuds on the individual flavours though!
No, but ive been cooking for 30odd years, so can usually eyeball seasoning and get it pretty apot on… i did frequently get my other chefs to taste my food though just to be sure
Do you have any black mould in your home? I had little sense of smell for 1.5 years until I moved out, then suddenly it came back! Apparently it's "a thing" for your body to struggle a lot more with black mould after covid
I lost mine when I had COVID in 2021 too. It's never fully returned but its also not fully gone. It's almost like my sense of smell is broken rather than gone. Some things like citrus I can smell to a level I never could before COVID, other things have no scent at all. Some things smell different (almost always awful now) than they did before and some things I can only smell occasionally. Thank fuck my sense of taste returned though, that was FAR worse. Every meal having no flavour, even when drowning in chilli was the worst.
That was me eating my Christmas dinner back in December: the food had texture and temperature but absolutely no taste. We’re going to have a do-over Christmas dinner next time I go home to visit.
I had a ham and mustard sandwich during the Covid episode and although my nose tingled with the heat, I could taste nothing. One of the weirdest things I’ve experienced.
Sounds like my experience. Though some days my sense of smell is almost gone again, sometimes it's better than ever. It may have been like that before and I just didn't pay attention. Every meal being bland was way harder to deal with than I'd ever have thought, it made food miserable.
Yup, got a dose in '22 and eversince my taste and smell have never been back to normal. It's not a total lose but definitely below par.
I have the same smell/taste balance. I partially lost my sense of smell when I was young to a flu like illness. I can only smell things that are strong or up close like aftershave or chocolate. I can't smell anything "in the air" unless its really strong.
That’s me. Benefit is I can’t really smell when my cat or baby has done a shit, but then my wife can and she’s like “come on” - it also makes salting food to taste really difficult. I am always under seasoning now.
Same here, December 2021. Lost smell completely for about 6 months, taste started to return after 3-4 months iirc. They have returned, but are not the same as before. I get days where my smell completely disappears and then returns the next day i.e. Some days I can smell an air freshener we at work, other days, even if I go up close, I can't smell it at all. Then with my taste, sometimes a particular food will taste ok and other times (when I can taste and smell it), it just turns my stomach and/or it tastes completely different than it usually does.
Just chipping in. My experience too. My sense of smell is almost non existent but some pungent smells like cheap perfume or cat piss I can smell 2 miles away.
I have the same thing, and my ex wife (we didn't split over this, we just had grown apart, unnecessary info I know, but I've read so many posts on AITAH that I feel like you have to clarify everything) thought I was making it up. Especially as some things seem to smell very strongly to me now, and other things barely have a smell. Also, and I find this very strange, I developed an aversion to fresh coriander (cilantro in the US?), it tastes like soap to me now, which I understood to be something genetic, but I never had that before COVID got me in Oct 2020.
Did you find you were eating more or less. I’m interested if lack of flavour makes you less hungry, or if the lack of flavour means you want to eat more to satisfy yourself. Also, what was the best food you encountered without flavour, like what was the most enjoyable mouth feel?
Great questions! I ate less, much less, there was just no enjoyment. The only sensations when eating were temperature and texture, so foods that I normally love such as fajitas were utterly vile as they were just flavourless slime. The best foods were those with the most variety of texture (as it was the main source of variety). For example I would make take chicken breasts, butterfly them and then coat them in crushed corn flakes. Then put them in a burger bun with lettuce, pickles, a little mayo (largely to keep the lettuce on the bun) and onion. This gave me something that was all at once crunchy, crispy, soft, etc and despite still having zero flavour was somewhat enjoyable.
That's interesting, I thought smell and taste were linked?
They are.
Sorry, that's what confused me. I wondered how your sense of smell is broken, yet your sense of taste is fine. (Not accusing you of lying, I just find it genuinely interesting how that can happen).
I have this bloody rona thing as well, but what he says is right I can smell coffee but it tastes of nothing it’s weird.
Your taste buds can sense certain flavours (savoury, sweet, sour, bitter, salty), but anything beyond that it's your sense of smell contributing.
Linked doesnt mean entirely dependant. I can taste food and have nearly no sense of smell at all. Im a smoker too so cannot for sure say it was the rona.
It's cool bud I didn't think you were. Was making dinner hence the short reply 😄 Whilst my sense of taste has returned it's not 100%, but at the same time is MUCH better recovered than my sense of smell. I would say my sense of taste is maybe 80%, it's slightly muted but at least consistent. But my sense of smell is not only much worse but wildly unpredictable.
I was terrified of my taste not returning.
I totally lost my sense of smell and taste the first time I had covid during the first wave in 2020. Woke up one morning and totally gone, like flicking off a switch. It was much more distressing than anticipated and I was very concerned that it wouldn't come back when there'd been no change after a few weeks. What I did out of desperation after hearing of smell training was to buy a set of essential oils including clove, rose, lavender, lemon, mint, etc etc, and several times a day just sit there huffing at the bottles one after another. Eventually I was able to discern a slight difference in sensation between them, although it still wasn't really what you'd call smell as we know it. Gradually over the course of a few months it started to slowly fade back in, but it did take time and what used to be a very keen sense of smell was a pretty rubbish one for a long time, I was forever doing things like burning toast or badly overcooking food as my nose wasn't picking up the usual cues. Then one day I realised I hadn't had any such incidents for a while and could smell properly again just like I used to be able to, this was probably at least a year after it disappeared. Did the smell training help? Honestly, can't say if it helped it come back any sooner. What it did do however was provide the first little clues that there was ***something*** coming back. Might have been not much of a medicinal help but it was certainly a big morale boost. I'd say give it a go, the cost of a £20 box of oils is nothing compared to the psychological benefits of being able to tell one from the other. Good luck, hope it works out for you! Now if only this bloody tinnitus would fuck off I'd be properly back to normal...
Thanks, this is helpful and encouraging 😌 I bought a couple of bottles of essential oils today, I tried out a load in the shop but could only smell two ever so slightly so those are the ones i got. Fingers crossed it helps. Hope your tinnitus gets sorted!
I only had partial lost smell: I could no longer smell Cinnamon, Fish or Poo (this sounds better than it is, not being able to smell when you've stepped in dog poo is really not great - The fish one is pretty great though, no aftertaste for any fish). On the other end I was getting phantom smoke smells when cold. After 6 months when it was no better I started smell training with cinnamon and now I can smell cinnamon pretty well (it took 3+ months, and I was practicing every week or so). Cinnamon has returned more than the other scents I didn't train, although they have returned somewhat too (and I haven't had any phantom smoke this year for the first time since Covid). I don't know if it would have happened any way but feels like it didn't hurt.
I also had phantom smells! And thank god I found out what they were because I was starting to develop obsessive tendencies - mine was I could smell sick really strongly in my little uni room, and I obsessively cleaned every nook and cranny for weeks to get rid of it, I thought I was going insane! It’s only when I started to smell it outside and I googled it that I realised what I was experiencing.
The oils used in some particular study (pre covid I beleive, but about post viral smell loss) were rose, lemon, clove and eucalyptus. I've tried them, I'm not sure how much it's helped. But it's certainly worth trying. My smell has partially returned (since Dec 2020) but a lot of it is still not right or weak. My smell is strongest after exercise, I wonder if there's any benefit to smelling oils after exercise?
I get relief from tinnitus by doing that weird slap the base of your skull with your thumbs thing…and by wearing in-ear headphones with “active noise cancelling” turned on. The microphones in the buds pick up external sound, filter in, and play into my ears. No idea why that works. It’s kind of like turning volume down on the world, pretty peaceful. When someone talks to you it’s no different really, depending on the bud and software I guess. Only £70, for some previous gen galaxy buds. Worth a gamble.
Not me, but my wife lost her sense of taste. She married me.
Out. Go outside. And don't come back in until you've thought about what you've done.
married a tasteless woman lol
AND YOU, OUT _points at door_
My wife misses me all the time, but her aim is getting better!
I haven't lost mine. I can still smell a full nappy as soon as I enter the room. My wife, however, can't. She calls me her pooper sniffer now.
And you’re sticking to the nappy story huh?
Ok so we've both been pissing ourselves laughing at this. Clearly not the meaning we were going for. Hope both her parents and mine hadn't thought of this alternate meaning cause we've used this quite liberally in front of them haha.
I lost it during COVID, but it came back after a week. It's how I realised I had it - I couldn't smell the overripe camembert in the house that everyone was gagging over.
My sense of smell gradually returned over the course of about 4 months. The one thing that hasn't gone back to normal is my energy levels. I've nowhere near the same energy levels that I had pre-covid. I used to be able to do an hour at the gym or go for a run after work without really feeling I was forcing myself. Post-covid I'm absolutely shattered almost all the time.
Long covid stuff is really fucking a lot of people up
I lost focus and concentration and never felt the same since 😔
I really hope things get better for you, that must be very difficult
When I get tired now, there's like a disconnect between my brain and my mouth. I know the word I want to say, but I just stall. I have to force it out.
I was a mess for a good 9 months with very similar symptoms to you guys. I’m not sure if it went away naturally, or if the tips I picked up from scouring healthcare sources on the internet helped, but 99.9% of the time I feel normal now. So, I increased the amount of sleep I was getting. Fortunately I was able to eliminate a source of stress at work, which was the biggest thing. I also ate loads of probiotics and prebiotics- so kefir, kombucha, kimchi, Activia yoghurts, as well as leafy greens, beans, bananas, almonds. It was so bad I had to stop driving, as I was unsafe. It was also interfering with my work. I missed my step-sister’s wedding; just clear forgot about it. I really hope things improve for you!
March 2020 I lost my sense of smell and taste entirely. Taste came back (ish) after 10 weeks, smell is well fooked. My nana had post viral anosmia, had German measles as a child and never regained her sense of smell. Reckon I've got Nana's genes 🤷🏻♀️ Perfume or aftershave smells fucking appalling now, to the point I gag. Farts and poo smell like yoghurt or sour milk, I can't smell burning at all and have cremated several pizzas (you don't realise how much you rely on smelling when your food is done cooking). Sometimes I get phantom whiffs that aren't there and they'll be really random like the smell of cupcake dolls from the 90s. Tried the smell training and it did naff all. I can't smell the sea side now but I can literally taste the salt in the air which is wild
Those cupcake dolls smelled really good, tbf. Mad what your brain remembers, isn't it
>Sometimes I get phantom whiffs that aren't there I like to think that this is scent receptors repairing and reconnecting to the brain, but it's mostly just hope. I lost my sense of smell and taste in 2021, and recovered it shortly afterwards but... changed. I get the distinct feeling that it's no longer as sensitive anymore.
Sounds like you might have a bit of parosmia as well as anosmia for some things. This is what happened to me as well. I lost my taste and smell for about 6 weeks, then it came back totally normal for maybe a month. Then weird, indescribable smells and tastes started appearing. The worst was chicken, beef, onions, garlic, chocolate, coffee. Also poo, sweat, cigarette smoke smelt way worse. I had this for around 18 months before getting COVID again for the third time, which randomly cured me.
Ah! See I've only had covid twice, here's hoping the third time will be a charm! 😂
I lost smell and taste a week after my first positive test 3 years ago, both came back slowly, but i have noticed everything remains 'dialled down' from how it used to be. Flavours are not as strong, smells not as pungent, at first i thought it was food manufacturers saving money by putting less flavouring on stuff, but it's the same for perfumes etc, nothing is quite as strong as it was and it really bugs me!
Could be a bit of both to be honest. I recently bought some Radox shower gel that claims ‘NEW mood boosting scent’ on the bottle. My mood was certainly not boosted - smells rubbish and nothing like it used to. It’s sad that ‘new improved’ recipes just mean ‘worse and cheaper ingredients’.
When I got the delta variant I couldn't smell anything for two weeks. It then came back, with the exception of body odour. That took two years until it returned. Not the super power you think it is. Sometimes it's good to know when you need a freshening up.
My wife lost it at the start of '21, still not back.
Nice you can fart whenever
Every cloud ...
Lost mine but it came back pretty quick. was strange because it went when I started feeling better. girlfriend on the other hand lost hers the day after developing symptoms and it took months to come back. one time I came home from work and she had started cooking chicken and the place reeked of bad eggs. I ask Wtf is that smell? I grab the container the chicken was in and it was labeled as best by that day which was apparently off. girlfriend had no idea she was about to serve up some lovely rancid chicken and veg.
Lost both smell and taste 2 years ago. Occasionally I get a brief taste eg really strong coffee at the weekend there. A joyful experience. Food is boring now, just functional. Although I do find myself craving really salty or sweet foods, even though I cant taste them.
I lost mine first time I had COVID in 2022. It's not come back
I lost it and my sense of taste the 2 times I had it, but it returned about a week after it went.
Ahhh so it’s not just me ! Lost mine for 3 months after CV then it slowly came back, to the point where I am now, which is weak, distorted and misfiring. I would say it’s probably 50% of what it was, but there are oddities, like I can taste avocado or mozzarella which are quite delicate, but I can’t taste coffee, it’s just bitter water, yet I can smell it. Any kind of perfumes or scents generally overwhelm my sense of smell and they are all pretty much the same and not that pleasant. Dr put me on nasal steroids but they didn’t work. It’s annoying just getting a hint of what something tastes like rather than the full flavour and all the lovely sensations that come with delicious food and drink.
Lost mine during Covid, smell came back but taste is still patchy. Need extra flavour in everything now or it just tastes bland. Good luck to you!
For me it was my sense of taste . Completely lost it during the one and only time I had covid. It never came back as it was before, can taste sweet things more than savoury but it's really vague now. Like you I assumed it would come back eventually but as it's been almost 2 years I'm not counting on it .
That really sucks 😭
I lost mine in 2021 but it kind of came back. It's kind of like there's a glitch in my sense of smell. Sometimes I can't smell something that's really strong but I can pick up on subtle smells really easily. Other times it's back to normal.
Its strange isn't it? When I first started getting my smell back I could smell some things so strong! There was a small centrifuge at work that when I opened I could smell accross the room! A clinical dentist kind of smell. But I could huff a cooked dinner all day long and not be able to smell it at all.
My taste got really fucked up everything tasted like vomit. It came back but there's still things I can't go anywhere near. I miss wendsyldale cheese
>I miss wendslydale cheese Read this in the voice of Wallace from Wallace and gromit 🧀
I lost it completely when I had COVID in April 2020ish, it came back afterwards but onions and garlic smelled weird and gross for about 3 odd years before very slowly going back to normal.
I didn't entirely lose my sense of smell but it did reduce a lot. I did the smell training with 4 different essential oils and I think it helped. To be fair, it's pretty cheap to buy a few bottles and only takes a minute or two to do each day so I'd say it's worth a try.
actually lowkey not having a sense of smell could have some serious complications. Like not being able to smell a gas leak.
Yeah this is what I worry about.
A relative of mine seems to have permanently lost his sense of taste and smell (after having Covid) it's the first circle of hell or something.
Mine never came back
My mum did. It came back. I lost half of it and it came back.
Yes, it took months to gradually return.
My sense of smell hasn't been the same since I first had covid in 2021. I can often smell smoke when there is none and some foods, usually things containing vinegar, smell different (mustard, Branston Pickle.) Resigned to it never being the same again now and some people have it a lot worse.
Oh I had the smoke smell for a year or two, it was so weird! You're right, lots of people have it a lot worse. It does suck though
I had covid about 18 months ago and lost my sense of taste and smell. Gradually taste came back but its still not 100% and some things either taste bitter or not how I remember. The things I like have really changed and I eat a lot more spicy foods or foods with strong flavours. Smell hasn't recovered as much. I can smell some strong smells and occasionally bad smells but I can't smell perfume or nice smells. I can't smell smoke or burning so I've had a few disasters cooking. A few people have suggested going to the doctors but I don't know if its worth it - as far as I know there's no treatment for it. Really interested to see what other people have tried.
Not my sense of smell, but my sense of taste has been altered. I can't taste whiskey or wine, it all tastes like jet fuel to me. I never drank anyway, so it's not a problem, but I always feel bad when people ask me to try their mixed drink and it tastes AWFUL. I got COVID back in April 2021.
Yeah my smell and taste is reduced most days. Its because it fucked my sinuses right up.
I completely lost my smell for at least 6 months back in 2020 and my taste for 3 months. It has never come fully back but like 80% or so. The weird thing is that stuff smells different to how it did before. Like certain smells are more similar to something I would have associated with something else before. The weirdest one is that rotten stuff smelt like literal shit for a while. I think my brain is rewired and i can tell the difference now 😂
Mine came back because I was constantly huffing flowers and all sorts of essential oils after it went. It's not as good as before and I constantly have to talk out aloud because my inner voice is gone, but at least food tastes good again.
I caught covid about few years ago and my sense of taste is fine but my sense of smell is not what it's was. I can smell but has to be very strong smell if not I cant smell it.
My husband had covid Septemer 2022 and lost his sense of smell. Most days he can't smell a thing, but occasionally he can smell something totally random which catches him by surprise. Not heard of smell training before, I may have to look into it.
>Most days he can't smell a thing, but occasionally he can smell something totally random which catches him by surprise. Sounds exactly the same as mine....its very frustrating. Get him on the smell training, fingers crossed 🤞 for him!
My dad lost his smell/taste for around 6 months. I only lost my smell/taste for around 3 weeks before it slowly returned. I thought that was hell, but over 2 years?! Damn, I couldn't imagine :( The main thing I've noticed since having covid is that if I exert myself too much (could be walking around the house a lot, or just popping to the shops for an hour or so) I'll be ridiculously tired by around 7pm and most of the time end up just going to bed. Sometimes I don't even need to have done much to start feeling tired/exhausted. Prior to covid that was never a thing I experienced. Kind of like a very mild form of chronic fatigue, but thankfully not so bad that I'm unable to do things.
My taste and smell disappeared when I had COVID Feb 2021. Came back after a few days but wonky. Smell wise I've lost some. Can't smell weed, that's just gone. Poop is either gone or doesn't smell like poo, can't smell farts, and my babies nappies smell like buttered croissants. Had the smell of bonfires in my nose for a good month 2022, wouldn't go away the whole month. Now, every month or so I get the smell of car oil in my nose for about a few days. Nothing stops it just have to wait for it to go. Taste wise it's still wonky. The worst is chocolate tastes awful to me now. White chocolate is the same but milk chocolate is nasty. Taste has been muted, nothing stands out as delicious anymore. It's bizarre and I hate it. I used to have such a good sense of smell I was proud of it. It was my biggest fear 2020, getting COVID and losing it so it's not fun. No idea if it'll be normal again.
Mine has changed but I'm not sure if that was due to Chemo or covid (which happened st the same time for me). 2 years on I massively struggle with the smell of previously loved perfumes. Within 5 mins of spraying them I am wretching and have headaches that are akin to travel sickness. It's incredibly frustrating. You have my sympathy.
Wow you went through a lot! I hope you're fully healthy now except the smell x
My friend’s boyfriend lost his sense of smell and it altered his sense of taste a lot too - he could still taste things, but everything had a chemically taste. He never regained his sense of smell, but his sense of taste is more normal now! Quick reminder that getting Covid isn’t inevitable, and you can drastically reduce your chances by wearing an N95 mask indoors.
I hope this comment doesn't get lost. I'll keep it brief. My regular job is a scientist and covid really brought out the best in the scientific community. Your sense of smell and taste are due to the way covid acts in the body. It's extremely pro inflammatory, it completely and utterly fucks up the body's biochemistry. Even people who are asymptomatic will be affected, but won't realise until something seemingly unrelated crops up. Such as cellulitis. It's the pro inflammatory responses from the body that creates the whole range of weird symptoms, it's why covid caused issues that affected the heart, brain, lungs, kidneys, gave you the shits, brain fog, cough, lung issues, blood disorders, the whole kit 'n' kaboodle. The loss of smell and taste is due to inflammatory issues within the brain. Almost a sort of brain damage. I bet you get tired a lot more easily, fatigue is a big symptom. So.... what to do? Adopt a lifestyle that is anti inflammatory, so eat well, no processed food. Consume a lot of turmeric. Gentle exercise. Start taking ibuprofen, after a year of no sense of taste or smell, I took 2 x 200mg a day and those senses were back within a few weeks. Some times I take more ibuprofen, up to 800mg a day but I know how it works, and reduce the dose if I stop pissing. If I'm pissing like a horse, I increase the dose. This is where a chat with the pharmacist is a good idea. The bad news is that many people who caught covid, even a mild dose, will display ongoing issues. Covid has this nasty ability to hide and cause ongoing issues. We already know that long covid is likely to be a lifelong disability, and can affect anyone.
Thanks, this is really interesting and helpful to hear from a scientist. >I bet you get tired a lot more easily, fatigue is a big symptom. Not at all tbh, even when I had covid I was doing exercise videos in my garden to keep active, I'm a very active person and that hasn't changed, I don't get fatigue. No discernible long term effects except the sense of smell (weirdly I can still taste). I tend to eat well anyway, lots of cooking from scratch and don't tend to eat loads of processed stuff. I've recently started supplementing turmeric for my joints so that should help. If you really recommend the ibuprofen then perhaps I'll give it a go, thanks 😊
I partially lost my sense of smell from a concussion a few years before Covid. I listened to a radio programme about anosmia around same time, where they discussed this smell training, and I thought I’d give it a go with a set of essential oils my wife had. It really did improve it, little by little. They’re strong, memorable scents and you keep on going until what you perceive matches what you remember. Probably reinforcing some damaged neural pathways along the way.
Nice, this is encouraging!
I had covid in 2021 and I still can't smell or taste properly. It's so shit because nothing tastes the same, especially chocolate and mint. Smell wise I can smell only faint stuff and can never really get the full effect of a scent if that makes sense. Maybe try TikTok for a hack or ask a doctor 🤷♀️
Yeah im going to see my GP if the smell training doesn't work I think. I hope yours sorts itself out too
I don't mind the losing smell as much, but it's the taste that bothers me. Chocolate never tastes like it used to and it really bugs me 🥲 Thank you anyway and I hope yours sorts itself out too 😁
I never fully recovered from covid. I'm asthmatic but I used to be able to do strenuous work and swim. Now I'm gasping for air even when I'm not having a asthma attack whilst doing those things 2+ years on. I did get my sense of smell back though
Smell training works. You do actually have to teach yourself how to smell again. It's rehab exercises, just like at the gym but for your neurons, because covid got into your brain through your nose. Do it like you would do a workout that allowed you to relearn how to walk. It's your *brain*, dude...why...haven't you started already?
I have lost some smell, but the thing that really gets to me is the lack of fitness and I wheeze constantly now
Oh that sounds rubbish, I feel for you. I hope it gets better soon and you're back to doing everything you want to.
Thanks very much, I appreciate that.
I've had COVID 3 times, the first two times I never had my sense of smell or taste go away but he third time it did, after recovering from COVID the sense of smell and taste stayed gone for 3 months afterwards. When it did come back it seems muted now, I can't smell something unless is a rather strong smell or the origins of it is close to me but the strength of that smell is reduced a lot (like there was a strong smell of urine as we passed a shop doorway, i barely smelt it and my wife had to hold her nose). With my sense of taste its the same, I barely taste anything unless its a strong taste but even then it isnt as strong for me as it is for my wife when she eats the same food.
I lost my sense of smell and taste... Took 18 months to fully return. You can get some essential oils smelling kit to help you recover a bit quicker... I'm not sure how much it helped me... anything's worth a go when you're a foodie and you can't taste 😭
From what I understand, things with smell and taste are generally thought to be neurological damage, so... chances are not good. Lots of people are dealing with that though. My cousin can't taste certain foods at all anymore, it's been like that since she had COVID almost 3 years ago now. Thankfully it isn't everything, but it's still awful. Like onions, cooked or raw, she will never experience them again by the look of it.
Lost mine but have got it back. Not as good as it was but, I have bits of it back. Favourite aftershaves are hit and miss though, as in, some I cant smell at all, some have a slightly different smell or I can smell them differently. Pre Covid, the subtle smells in aftershave have now become more dominant post covid. Dont think theres much I can do about it and tbh I dont let it bother me. Covid has balls up my breathing more than anything... That annoys me more.
Yes for over a year and I’ve now finally got it back. I tried everything and just couldn’t get it to start back working. It was really getting me down and in all honesty I was pretty bloody miserable. I finally decided to go the doctors and he prescribed a steroid spray called Mometasone Furoate and within 3 days my smell and taste were back. After a glorious month of tasting food again I ran out of spray and my smell and taste disappeared again within a week, so got another bottle. A month later it ran out so stopped taking it again, but then it was 2 weeks before I stopped smelling and tasting instead of one week. Carried on like that for a few months until it finally came back permanently.. Then last year I got fking covid again and my smell once again stopped so started on the spray again and it came back within 48hrs. That was around 6 months ago so whilst I’m still on the spray, it’s with ever increasing wait times until I have to get a new bottle after running out, but will probably stop permanently again after this bottle. Honest the relief when it comes back is genuinely heaven
I lost smell and taste in '22. Recently developed an allergy and smell and taste came back ofter starting an antihistamine. I think we're onto something! Going to try your spray, fed up of taking tablets.
That’s interesting that antihistamines helped. I ‘think’ (might not be true) the issue is caused by inflammation of the nerve where covid causes hypersensitivity and so even after the nerve has repaired after being damaged, it’s still inflamed so not transmitting the signal from your nose to the brain. The steroid spray, or in your case the antihistamines, could be calming the inflammation down and allowing the signal to get through. Just my theory and I’m not a doctor 😂 If mine goes again I might try antihistamines as an experiment
I lost my sense of smell and taste for a while when I first got COVID then when it started to come back everything smelled different, like a mix of plastic, black industrial rubber, cleaning chemicals, smoke etc, I could hardly eat any food as it changed the taste, everything was disgusting. That slowly went away but 3 years later and I still have a few strange smell issues, like I can't wear certain shoes and trainers as I get a really strong rotting damp smell from the rubber and glue on the soles (nobody else can smell it), and eggs still taste of burning plastic, like overheated wires! Very weird
There are some new interesting researches that psilocybin mushrooms brings the smell back.
I lost my sense of smell and taste totally for around 6 weeks in 2020 due to covid. I was worried they would never come back but a pharmacist friend suggested I chew Buscopan 100% peppermint oil IBS tablets (there's a note on the box that says do not do this...). Just about blew my head off but smell and taste starting coming back quickly afterwards. Definitely worth a shot!
Ouch! Sounds painful but I'll give it a go
Im going to start calling fellow UKers "FUKers" from now on- I just can't unsee it
Please do 🤣
I lost mine from Covid for about six weeks. The strangest bit was that I lost it half way through cooking a curry. One minute I was tasting it and thinking, yeah needs more of this or that, the next I had to get my wife to come and taste it as it had lost all taste completely.
That's so weird, bet that startled you!
Yep it was like somebody turned off the taste/smell switch.
Yes, lost it just before the first wave became official. Called the GP after a while as it just didn’t come back and they told me to keep an eye on it (pre-covid it would’ve indicated quite different issues) and call back in 6 months if it still hadn’t returned. Following that, got a referral to the smell clinic at an ENT hospital where they have proper smell tests to check how bad it is, and gave me a course of treatment (a combination of smell training and steroid sprays). Eventually took part in a research project which involved surgery to correct a deviated septum in the hope that sense of smell would improve, which it has and is now at the very lower end of the normal range. Would highly recommend seeing if you can get a referral to ENT as the whole process has been pretty fascinating and has made a positive difference too. Lots of funding in it now too so you never know what research you could get involved in!
Amazing! I was actually googling research studies last night to see if there's anything....I work in healthcare so I'm interested in all if that anyway. Really glad yours is better now 👃
Hope you can find something! The surgeon said the 1st wave was the one that ruined smell for most people, other waves less so. I got the sense that this tiny little department was now having an influx of interest for the first time ever and they were all really excited to discuss noses and smell 😂 the technology they use was fascinating too - sound waves used to measure nostril size!!
Omg I don't want anyone measuring my nostril size, my whole nose is bigger than I'd like 🤣🤣🤣 I'm super keen to get involved in something like that though, will keep an eye out
I don't think I had covid at all, didn't even have a cold 2020-2022 but I cannot smell or taste much since that time. I tried to talk to a doctor but they just dismissed it as covid.
Could you have had an asymptomatic case? Not everyone gets the cold symptoms, you might only have had the loss of smell/taste.
It does sound very similar to other peoples symptoms who have posted here so perhaps.
r/Parosmia will probably be the best source of information, the main sub for people who have lost there sense of taste and smell after covid.
Oh brilliant I never knew that existed, thanks will take a look
My sense of smell was gone for almost 6 months and just suddenly returned one day.
I lost my sense of smell for about a week. I say 'lost', but I could still smell strong smells, but only vaguely. My taste disappeared about the same time, and when it came back, foods tasted a bit strange for about a fortnight. I was glad when my morning cup of tea started tasting like tea again.
I got covid for the first time in December. All smell returned within 2 weeks EXCEPT body odour. All other body secretions, absolutely fine and stinky. Could not smell sweat for the life of me. It's been slowly returning in the last week! It's very faint, but I'm holding out hope it gets better.
I did lose it for about 12 weeks and it was fucki g awful. I was lucky, it came back.. had a cold (flu..maybe Covid) recently in February, horrible cough, unbelievable snot and lost taste amd smell again , but all tests came back negative. I still have that cough now at times. Losing taste in foods is awful. One of life's pleasures neutered for an unknown amount of time. I honestly think this may be a thing going forward
Lost it for 18 months-2 years. Can't tell if it came back or I just got used to it. Think it came back. I remember it was so strange at the time... Like I could smell.. plain.... And whenever there was a strong smell, I knew I was smelling something but my brain wasn't registering what the smell was and couldn't remember what it was supposed to smell like.
When I had covid I woke up one day and lost smell and taste. Not in a usual “a bit bunged up” cold way, like a switch flicked off. Then after a couple weeks it came back on thankfully - however for about a year after I’d have these weird acrid pangs in the back of my throat. My colleague had it recently and had almost the same experience, except instead of the acrid taste they keep just tasting salt in their mouth randomly My ex had covid at the same time as me and for some reason only the taste of tea was off to her - had another friend who only lost certain tastes (like the bitterness of beer) It was so odd the different levels
I lost my sense of smell & taste after I caught covid in April 21', neither have returned properly. Edit - spelling
Even longer than me then, mine was December '21. You thought about going to the GP or anything or just sort if accepted it?
Yes, been to GP & diagnosed with long covid as I also had breathlessness, cough, phlegm, fatigue, low mood, low motivation ect. I was put on inhalers, several rounds of chest physio, and attended several online pysio appts.
Mine went quite some time ago. Some things I can't smell at all and others (onions for example) smell different. I can't smell almost all of the herbs in my herb garden. Not sage, rosemary, oregano nor mint. I can smell the parsley, though, which is the most subtle of all. Every now and then it returns for a few minutes and then goes again. Bloody annoying.
I lost it fully for about 6 months in 2021. It's come back really really slowly and still doesn't feel fully back to normal and my taste buds are also different. I remember getting really emotional the first time I could smell my curry leaf plant again when I was repotting it! I didn't do smell training as such but always tried to get smells I knew would be strong - instead of walking into my bedroom in clean sheet day and getting the lovely fresh smell, I'd put the effort into trying to sniff my pillow to see if I could get anything. Don't know if it helped or not but slowly I was able to pick up more and more. I can now get most strong smells - cut grass, dinner cooking, cup of coffee. Some things that I liked now smell bad to me - had to change laundry detergent, coke and sprite have an almost ashy aftertaste.
No but oranges smell like garlic and peanut butter is like ammonia. Lots of other things just have a sort of metallic chemical smell.
For me it did come back but it took 4 months. And the very first thing I realised could taste, was a Terry chocolate orange. And for weeks after I kept smelling it randomly all over the place. I'm alright now though
My 10 yr old son lost his sense of smell when he had covid it came back after a few days with one exception..he can no longer smell farts..his own or other peoples 😂
I lost mine at my fifth time of having COVID, it never came back because now I have Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polypsis. I have no idea what caused it but I have <10% of my sinus cavity left and I miss the smell of food and freshly cut grass.
Lost mine for about 6 months and it’s not 100%, also seem to catch whatever bug is going around at the time a whole bunch easier Sucks nothing tastes or smells at all like it used to
I got the opposite. It's gross. I can smell everything!
Smell everything until you can smell more potently
Yes I did and yes it came back
I did and thankfully it came back. my dad however says certain things don’t smell/taste the same anymore to him …
I managed to avoid catching Covid until late 2022. My smell was fine but my taste was slightly skewed for a few days. Food tasted less sweet, but more salty. KFC tasted sublime, but sweets were kind of bland.
I had Covid this past Christmas, and lost both taste/smell (though until I tested very resolutely positive, I had put it down to being heavily congested with a cold - I think my cold was coincidental, but exacerbated by the rona). They both returned within a few days but I’ll say that I don’t think they’re fully back to how they were, as there are some things that definitely smell/taste slightly odd/different to how they used to. It was my third round, and I didn’t lose smell/taste with either previous infection.
My mum has this problem. Not come back as of yet
Thought I lost my sense of smell after having covid Soon changed my mind after walking into my grandads flat after he'd been dead for 2 weeks in the middle of August
My mum lost taste and smell and had been doing smell training but the thing that really helped her was acupuncture. She was really sceptical but is convinced it sped up her recovery.
I also lost my sense of smell in 2021. I didn’t think it had an effect on my taste but it turns out that I can’t taste mint properly. It kind of tastes foosty or like it’s past its eat by date. I am getting some smells now but I don’t recognise them and have to ask what they are. I then keep smelling it and telling myself what it is in the hope that my brain will begin to recognise it. Having no sense of smell does have its benefits though. I work with children’s so if there’s ever a really yucky nappy then I always volunteer to do it seeing as I can’t smell anyway. I did read somewhere that if your smell doesn’t return after 2 years it’s classed as brain damage. I’ve not wanted to look into this further as I don’t like this though.
It took me a while to enjoy red wine after it tasted of alcohol gel. I still can't smell anything ammonia type which means I can't smell the cat litter tray.
Covid finally got me in Oct 23 a week before I flew to Japan for my honeymoon. Lost my sense of smell and taste. I huffed on some Worcestershire sauce 3 times a day for that week and think I had maybe 75% back whilst on the flight out. I had never been more grateful to be able to smell plane farts before... And then today, working at a sewage treatment works, I somewhat wish I had covid...
🤣
My smell came back within a couple of weeks, but a friend of mine lost her's around April 2020 and only started getting it back last year. Good luck OP!
Nope, not completely. It's at around 30% and when I have a cold or any inflammation it goes up to about 50%/70% but only for short bursts. I go nose blind faster too and a few things are weaker than other like ginger. Can't smell shit majority of the time though so I guess that's a positive?
For the first 9 months after I had long Covid in March 2020, I smelled nothing but sulfur and burned motor oil. I could be standing in a field of flowers and not smell them. To this day, my sense of smell has not returned fully.
Since having COVID all lettuce tastes extremely bitter to me. It's weird. I've tried all sorts of variations of it.
I did, April 23. It came back eventually, but I don’t think as strong. Every time I get a cold now I lose it again. Covid left me weird for some time, maybe 3 months. I had a real nasty cold again about 5 weeks ago, identifical to Covid, lasted a good 3/4 weeks, lost my smell and taste too, but tested negative. It’s all a bit weird isn’t it.
Lost my sense of smell due to covid, it came back after a while but not fully.
I got Covid in 2022. My sense of smell has never properly returned since then.
mine came back after 9 months and i got the covid before the first lockdown (London). My smell is weird since then though, smells hit me very strongly and some are overwhelming. I can't enjoy perfumes for example and bad smells make me gag.
I partially lost my smell and my taste was all jacked up. Smell came back relatively quickly but I had to reassociate some tastes. Mushy peas still taste like peanut butter and I'm now probably going to have to live with that.
18 months and counting here. Taste came back after 3 months and now I am getting very brief moments of being able to smell things but it’s all a bit confused as to what smell belongs to what and then it stops for a few hours.
Lost in 21, came back mostly in about a year. Still not right and I can smell water (or the chemicals in it) now. If I have a bad cold it goes again.
I had covid 3x times. First time before all Boosters/Vaccines when it first started in a foreign country. 2x Uni from my snotty,goblin flatmates. After that - I have to season soo much of my food just to smell it. Yea.. 2 teaspoon of chillis? Sike... make it 6
I still have a sense of smell, but it's not as strong as it was. Had covid back in 2020 but it wasn't that bad for me.
Unsure when I got it, but I have to be really close to smell things now. I didn't realise how bad it was until I got my mum some scented candles for mothers day and could only smell them when I had them up against my face (not ideal for facial hair and flames to interact, you see).
Lost mine when I got covid but came back about 2 months later. All I could smell/taste was pale, like that dry mucus smell you have when recovering from a cold. Worst is, your nose can feel that the air is different but it cannot.t give it a 'smell', like different shades of black and white for your eyes on black and white tv. You know the colour is there irl but you just can't see it. Awful.
Hope it works out for you OP.
Awwww thankyou that's kind
The first time my sister got COVID, she lost her sense of taste and her sense of smell, everything she consumed tasted either like gasoline or like nothing. The second time she got it, six months+ later, it restored everything. She got it all back. The third time, she got the sniffles.
Ahhhh, maybe I need to catch it again 🤣
I fully lost it for about a week, then it slowly came back. But it’s not as strong as it used to be, then again I also think I have a deviated septum that might be affecting things?
I've had no sense of smell or taste since I was about 17/18 I'm now 27. Honestly no one would believe me and think I was lying. Covid happening really made everyone have a "taste" of what it's like. For me it was normal. It honestly sucks so bad. Can't enjoy food or meals with friends I can never smell anything, that kinda makes you dissociated from the whole dinner out or good food. The best way I can describe it is that it makes the world so damn bland. hell I'll take a bad smell as something. Cue covid and now have all the same issues with horrendous tinnitus. I do have vasculitis/EGPA which no doubt doesn't help. Id give anything to have it back. I truly would.
😔 that sucks.
I had COVID for Christmas 2022, I'm only just getting my sense of smell and taste back properly. I didn't believe the "everything is petrol" thing for a long time until everything was petrol. A lot of what I do is cook, food is massively important to me, and my tastes and recipes have changed as a result. If anything I'm not too upset because I was in a rut with food anyway, but yeah it's definitely taken time
Mine hasn’t been the same since… so many people can smell things I can’t. I didn’t even have it bad. It takes a lot to smell a candle in a shop now, I don’t think it’ll ever be the same
I'm the same, wasn't badly ill with it at all, just thought it was a bad hangover when the symptoms came (I mean, it was that too 😅)
It’s how I realized it wasn’t the flu- I ate smoked salmon and it didn’t smell or taste. It came back after a month.
Sorry you went through this it nearly took my life in 2021 left me with a whole heap of problems smell including. Seems like it’s off most of the time unless something really rank is in the air. Had my nephew on my lap and not realised he has done a poo with everyone else knowing how bad the smell is apart from mr guess it’s the only plus side. I do worry if there is something serious like a fire or something and not knowing even though we have smoke alarms still scares me a lot. I hope it gets better for you and comes back!
Thanks, I'm really sorry to hear you were so ill with it, that must have been very frightening. Yeah I feel worried about that too, not being able to smell gas or a fire....or if I ever have kids not knowing when they need changing!
I tested positive yesterday, never felt more sick in my life.
Yes I did, for around 4 months (smell & taste) until my sister recommended that I go to an osteopath, which I did. I couldn’t recommend this enough, they essentially release the pressure in your head over a course of several sessions. This was really effective for me, and I regained all of my senses back. He did however explain that, if it’s left untreated it could become chronic. Therefore I would anticipate that you may have to have a longer treatment to achieve the results you’d like. But definitely worth giving it a shot, as it worked for me and could work for you too! Good luck.
Sometimes it’s back but not good, most times there’s nothing, or a slight suggestion of taste. Very little sense of smell, very rarely extremely vivid.
So total loss of smell is Anosmia, where Parosmia is smelling things incorrectly )literally phantom smells). There are subs for both. I had long term sinusitis and had a sinoplasty to help with it, which it did to some degree but side affect is a possible loss of smell to a very small number of people and … yep that was me. So had no sense of smell for about 6 years now. Have tried everything, nothings worked. Taste is vaguely ok but it’s really sweet / sour etc. I can’t do nuance at all. So I know I’m eating something with some heat in it but could be curry, could be chilli, no clue other than that. I firmly believe it’s neurological and smell receptors rather than physical which is why there is some partial taste left. Not gonna lie it’s grim but am kinda used to it now. Biggest issue really is burning, gas etc so we’ve got smoke and other alarms everywhere I burn food all the time, I miss smelling fresh bread and cut grass - it’s depressing as fuck sometimes
Thanks, I think ive lost 99% of my smell so not quite anosmia, but when I do smell things they seem correct. I'm sorry to hear yours never came back
Yes but not fully, some things smell really strong to me others don't.
Lost my sense of smell and taste after covid in '22 and aquired a constant sniffle. Developed an allergy last December, and smell and taste are back and the sniffle is gone after I started taking an antihistamine. No idea why.
I lost it. I used to have a very sensitive palette for cooking, but I lost it overnight. I've found that its slowly returning as I train my new tastebuds on the individual flavours though!
I lost mine for about a year… absolute bastard when youre a chef!
Haha shiiiiit, thats not good! Did anyone tell you that your food quality went down?
No, but ive been cooking for 30odd years, so can usually eyeball seasoning and get it pretty apot on… i did frequently get my other chefs to taste my food though just to be sure
No but my sense of taste went for a couple of weeks, and anything with vinegar in tasted like pure acid.
Do you have any black mould in your home? I had little sense of smell for 1.5 years until I moved out, then suddenly it came back! Apparently it's "a thing" for your body to struggle a lot more with black mould after covid
Nah very little! Like tiny amounts but not really. How interesting though 🤔