4 ms·

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 ful

by 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)
thoughtpeddler 5y ago
Wow, very similar experience here, except the sweetness I smell isn't likable to rotten meet, but rather sort of like aging strawberries/fruit. I smell this semi-sweet fruit-like smell particularly strongly with anything alcoholic, including hand sanitizer. I had covid anosmia for about 6 weeks during December-January '20, but this sweet smelling parosmia has only been around the last 2 months or so. Such a mystery to me.
- kace91 5y ago
  Yup, now that you mention it, aging strawberries is a nice description. Funny that it's universal. I wonder if we have special "wiring" for enhancing human-produced smells? Kinda like how the brain is capable of distinguishing human faces by small details that we don't see that well for other species. I do miss those odors, to be honest...
  - thoughtpeddler 5y ago
    Interesting! Yes, I believe there's a genetic component here to how covid impacts sense of smell/taste long-term. What I'm just surprised by is how my smell totally recovered after 6 weeks, but then months later this semi-sweet aging strawberries smell kicked in (with many things, but mainly ethanol-containing products). My covid experience itself thankfully was fairly benign too. If my olfactory neurons repaired themselves, then what triggered disrepair months later? To be clear, I've been on the keto diet since January, and that definitely can produce fruity alcohol breath as a natural byproduct, so when I ran this concern with my GP, they said it's very likely not covid, and more likely my diet. But that didn't quite sit well with me, and now that you and others on here mention your experience, I'm more convinced this is some kind of odd post-covid long-term effect. TBD!

by kace91 5y ago

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)

thoughtpeddler 5y ago

Wow, very similar experience here, except the sweetness I smell isn't likable to rotten meet, but rather sort of like aging strawberries/fruit. I smell this semi-sweet fruit-like smell particularly strongly with anything alcoholic, including hand sanitizer. I had covid anosmia for about 6 weeks during December-January '20, but this sweet smelling parosmia has only been around the last 2 months or so. Such a mystery to me.

kace91 5y ago
Yup, now that you mention it, aging strawberries is a nice description. Funny that it's universal. I wonder if we have special "wiring" for enhancing human-produced smells? Kinda like how the brain is capable of distinguishing human faces by small details that we don't see that well for other species. I do miss those odors, to be honest...
- thoughtpeddler 5y ago
  Interesting! Yes, I believe there's a genetic component here to how covid impacts sense of smell/taste long-term. What I'm just surprised by is how my smell totally recovered after 6 weeks, but then months later this semi-sweet aging strawberries smell kicked in (with many things, but mainly ethanol-containing products). My covid experience itself thankfully was fairly benign too. If my olfactory neurons repaired themselves, then what triggered disrepair months later? To be clear, I've been on the keto diet since January, and that definitely can produce fruity alcohol breath as a natural byproduct, so when I ran this concern with my GP, they said it's very likely not covid, and more likely my diet. But that didn't quite sit well with me, and now that you and others on here mention your experience, I'm more convinced this is some kind of odd post-covid long-term effect. TBD!