4 ms·

Yeah. I had complete loss of smell and taste, which came back about 90% over the next six weeks. It was fine for a month and then it went wonky. Probably 30%

Yeah. I had complete loss of smell and taste, which came back about 90% over the next six weeks. It was fine for a month and then it went wonky. Probably 30% of my "scent spectrum" has now been replaced with the same burnt meat smell/taste. Everything from chocolate to feces to hamburgers now has the same core odor. It really, really sucks.

ganzuul 5y ago
How old are you? Were you completely healthy before?
- causality0 5y ago
  30. Overweight but no actual medical problems. Not prescribed any medications. Not a drug, cigarette, or alcohol user.
  - brigandish 5y ago
    I don't mean be invidious, but being overweight is an actual medical problem, one that's been strongly linked[1][2][3] with susceptibility and severity of the disease. I can't recommend reading the World Obesity Atlas pdf enough as it provides possible explanations for the disparities in cases and deaths we've seen in different societies. [1] https://www.worldobesity.org/resources/resource-library/covid-19-and-obesity-the-2021-atlas https://www.worldobesity.org/resources/resource-library/covi... [2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excess-weight-and-covid-19-insights-from-new-evidence https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excess-weight-and... [3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32788355/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32788355/
    - 0x737368 5y ago
      Lol at parent comment being downvoted - being overweight is absolutely a medical problem, people need to stop normalising it.
- Jill_the_Pill 5y ago
  My 21-yo daughter was previously completely healthy and fit, and she has now experienced a year of long covid. Already skinny, she lost 16 pounds because food didn't register as food (messed up smell and taste) and she couldn't choke it down. She had a couple of weeks where she could tolerate almost no foods but almonds and miso soup. So much fatigue last summer that she couldn't even sit up for very long. New and persistent depression, sensitivity to noise. Please don't try to minimize this illness by blaming it on people's existing health conditions.
  - ganzuul 5y ago
    I'm not blaming. I'm trying to gather data because I'm having a serious problem with trust.
muststopmyths 5y ago
Did getting vaccinated change anything ? I've heard that vaccinations helped people with long COVID. Hope you recover fully. Edit: since someone asked for citations, here is a CNN link https://us.cnn.com/2021/04/03/health/long-haulers-vaccine-wellness/index.html https://us.cnn.com/2021/04/03/health/long-haulers-vaccine-we... I follow the "This week in virology" podcast and they have discussed this extensively as well. Dr Daniel Griffin, cited in the CNN article is a weekly contributor on this podcast, and has mentioned the effect in question multiple times.
- causality0 5y ago
  Unfortunately not. The change in smell happened a few days before my first shot. That's lucky though, as there's no telling what I'd believe if I'd been fine and then thought the shot ruined my taste.
- seaman1921 5y ago
  please stop with comments starting with 'i've heard that' - there is enough misinformation already. Please. add. citations.
  - ysavir 5y ago
    They're literally asking for someone to weigh in with first-hand experience on something they heard but are not sure about. It's a valid question that I would also like to hear about. Citations are more relevant for when people are making a claim than for when they are investigating a claim.
- takeda 5y ago
  Unfortunately the vaccine helps only in about 20% of the cases.
- incrudible 5y ago
  Fatigue and rapid heartbeat being cured by a vaccine sounds like psychosomatic long COVID. This is a hot button topic that few professionals will bother examining in a critical fashion. Loss of sense of smell is not psychosomatic. Unfortunately, viral infections can cause sometimes permanent loss.
dboreham 5y ago
My cousin (20s) lost his sense of taste and hasn't recovered it months later. Son (teen) lost his for a week then recovered it. Reports however that he has pernanently lost his sense of thurst. Ymmv.
- SkyMarshal 5y ago
  > Reports however that he has pernanently lost his sense of thurst. Wow that is weird, hadn’t heard of that one yet, and seems kind of dangerous. Is he taking extra precautions to stay hydrated?
kace91 5y ago
Don't lose hope. I got in October, similar effects, and I've been recovering a lot of my smell and taste, veery slowly and in "bursts". Nowadays I'm almost fully ok, the only smells I haven't recovered are body odor (which I can smell, it's just really different) and feces and trash, which for some reason smell in a very particular sweet way, kinda like rotten meat. That last one, for some reason, seems to be really common, since several friends that also lost smell have had the same exact change.
- causality0 5y ago
  Yeah, the first time I recovered my smell feces took the longest to come back. Since I already recovered and didn't catch covid again, I can't help but think my current problem arises from some kind of incorrect healing. Like a nerve pathway is connecting to the wrong thing somehow.
  - drclau 5y ago
    This is probably the first time I read about these side effects. Are you certain it's your perception that has changed (ie. neurological changes), as opposed to the actual smell? I would not be surprised at all if Covid has an impact on the gut flora.
    - colordrops 5y ago
      According to a Harvard article I read, it's caused by damage to the sensors in the nose, rather than brain damage. I have the problem myself and it's definitely not changes to the smells themselves.
      - 411111111111111 5y ago
        The effect isn't unique to covid-19 either. I heard from several people when that 2017 flu went around that they had the same issue. One of them was complaining for over a year until smell/taste finally got better/normal again. (Not trying to downplay covid-19. Just pointing out that it's not an unknown side effect from this type of disease)
morsch 5y ago
I heard on a cooking podcast (probably this episode of cooking issues[1]) that smell training has helped some people with anosmia. I have no idea if it helps with loss of smell related to covid. Have any of you tried it? Here's an example (no affiliation, just the ones with the best SEO, I am not a doctor): https://abscent.org/learn-us/smell-training https://abscent.org/learn-us/smell-training [1] https://heritageradionetwork.org/episode/live-datta-lab-feat-sandeep-robert-datta-arielle-johnson-harold-mcgee https://heritageradionetwork.org/episode/live-datta-lab-feat...
xenospn 5y ago
My social media manager had the exact same reaction. She says it’s getting better very slowly - she can still only stomach eating rice and bread, though. Everything else makes her throw up immediately.
- londons_explore 5y ago
  Who are you that you can't operate social media yourself?

ganzuul 5y ago

How old are you? Were you completely healthy before?

causality0 5y ago
30. Overweight but no actual medical problems. Not prescribed any medications. Not a drug, cigarette, or alcohol user.
- brigandish 5y ago
  I don't mean be invidious, but being overweight is an actual medical problem, one that's been strongly linked[1][2][3] with susceptibility and severity of the disease. I can't recommend reading the World Obesity Atlas pdf enough as it provides possible explanations for the disparities in cases and deaths we've seen in different societies. [1] https://www.worldobesity.org/resources/resource-library/covid-19-and-obesity-the-2021-atlas https://www.worldobesity.org/resources/resource-library/covi... [2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excess-weight-and-covid-19-insights-from-new-evidence https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excess-weight-and... [3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32788355/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32788355/
  - 0x737368 5y ago
    Lol at parent comment being downvoted - being overweight is absolutely a medical problem, people need to stop normalising it.
Jill_the_Pill 5y ago
My 21-yo daughter was previously completely healthy and fit, and she has now experienced a year of long covid. Already skinny, she lost 16 pounds because food didn't register as food (messed up smell and taste) and she couldn't choke it down. She had a couple of weeks where she could tolerate almost no foods but almonds and miso soup. So much fatigue last summer that she couldn't even sit up for very long. New and persistent depression, sensitivity to noise. Please don't try to minimize this illness by blaming it on people's existing health conditions.
- ganzuul 5y ago
  I'm not blaming. I'm trying to gather data because I'm having a serious problem with trust.

muststopmyths 5y ago

Did getting vaccinated change anything ? I've heard that vaccinations helped people with long COVID. Hope you recover fully. Edit: since someone asked for citations, here is a CNN link https://us.cnn.com/2021/04/03/health/long-haulers-vaccine-wellness/index.html https://us.cnn.com/2021/04/03/health/long-haulers-vaccine-we... I follow the "This week in virology" podcast and they have discussed this extensively as well. Dr Daniel Griffin, cited in the CNN article is a weekly contributor on this podcast, and has mentioned the effect in question multiple times.

causality0 5y ago
Unfortunately not. The change in smell happened a few days before my first shot. That's lucky though, as there's no telling what I'd believe if I'd been fine and then thought the shot ruined my taste.
seaman1921 5y ago
please stop with comments starting with 'i've heard that' - there is enough misinformation already. Please. add. citations.
- ysavir 5y ago
  They're literally asking for someone to weigh in with first-hand experience on something they heard but are not sure about. It's a valid question that I would also like to hear about. Citations are more relevant for when people are making a claim than for when they are investigating a claim.
takeda 5y ago
Unfortunately the vaccine helps only in about 20% of the cases.
incrudible 5y ago
Fatigue and rapid heartbeat being cured by a vaccine sounds like psychosomatic long COVID. This is a hot button topic that few professionals will bother examining in a critical fashion. Loss of sense of smell is not psychosomatic. Unfortunately, viral infections can cause sometimes permanent loss.

dboreham 5y ago

My cousin (20s) lost his sense of taste and hasn't recovered it months later. Son (teen) lost his for a week then recovered it. Reports however that he has pernanently lost his sense of thurst. Ymmv.

SkyMarshal 5y ago
> Reports however that he has pernanently lost his sense of thurst. Wow that is weird, hadn’t heard of that one yet, and seems kind of dangerous. Is he taking extra precautions to stay hydrated?

kace91 5y ago

Don't lose hope. I got in October, similar effects, and I've been recovering a lot of my smell and taste, veery slowly and in "bursts". Nowadays I'm almost fully ok, the only smells I haven't recovered are body odor (which I can smell, it's just really different) and feces and trash, which for some reason smell in a very particular sweet way, kinda like rotten meat. That last one, for some reason, seems to be really common, since several friends that also lost smell have had the same exact change.

causality0 5y ago
Yeah, the first time I recovered my smell feces took the longest to come back. Since I already recovered and didn't catch covid again, I can't help but think my current problem arises from some kind of incorrect healing. Like a nerve pathway is connecting to the wrong thing somehow.
- drclau 5y ago
  This is probably the first time I read about these side effects. Are you certain it's your perception that has changed (ie. neurological changes), as opposed to the actual smell? I would not be surprised at all if Covid has an impact on the gut flora.
  - colordrops 5y ago
    According to a Harvard article I read, it's caused by damage to the sensors in the nose, rather than brain damage. I have the problem myself and it's definitely not changes to the smells themselves.
    - 411111111111111 5y ago
      The effect isn't unique to covid-19 either. I heard from several people when that 2017 flu went around that they had the same issue. One of them was complaining for over a year until smell/taste finally got better/normal again. (Not trying to downplay covid-19. Just pointing out that it's not an unknown side effect from this type of disease)

morsch 5y ago

I heard on a cooking podcast (probably this episode of cooking issues[1]) that smell training has helped some people with anosmia. I have no idea if it helps with loss of smell related to covid. Have any of you tried it? Here's an example (no affiliation, just the ones with the best SEO, I am not a doctor): https://abscent.org/learn-us/smell-training https://abscent.org/learn-us/smell-training [1] https://heritageradionetwork.org/episode/live-datta-lab-feat-sandeep-robert-datta-arielle-johnson-harold-mcgee https://heritageradionetwork.org/episode/live-datta-lab-feat...

xenospn 5y ago

My social media manager had the exact same reaction. She says it’s getting better very slowly - she can still only stomach eating rice and bread, though. Everything else makes her throw up immediately.

londons_explore 5y ago
Who are you that you can't operate social media yourself?