7 ms·

Oooh yes yes - this is such wonderful news! Literally weeks before the world changed my boyfriends dad had begun to explore the world of cooking; he was so happ

Oooh yes yes - this is such wonderful news! Literally weeks before the world changed my boyfriends dad had begun to explore the world of cooking; he was so happy when we would bring him to niche little grocers to try things he had never known about before and trying all the food - but after his infection, and for the last 2 years - nothing. No taste. No smell. We try to make up for it by encouraging him to make stuff with varied textures and components but he's been really depressed about it since. His pinterest recipe board he would share with us hasn't been updated in years and his meals typically consist of protein/starch/veggie with no seasoning as it doesn't register. I am so hopeful for something that can bring him his sense of smell and taste back; so far his medical teams have kinda just been bouncing him around to various specialties - he even had a small surgery in an attempt but no dice.

Podgajski 3y ago
It might interest you that zinc, just like Ensitrelvir, is a 3c like Protease inhibitor. You might have a try at getting his serum and RBC zinc tested. https://www.jbc.org/article/S0021-9258(20)32476-5/fulltext https://www.jbc.org/article/S0021-9258(20)32476-5/fulltext
oweiler 3y ago
When I caught Covid I had very high fever and was in constant pain, but nothing was as bad as losing my taste. Can totally relate.
- Ajay-p 3y ago
  The saddest burrito in my life was when I had COVID. My doctor said I should take Zinc but that did not make it come back any faster.
  - kilbuz 3y ago
    I was cooking tacos for my family knowing I had COVID (we all had it at the time). I remember not smelling the seasoning, and threw a small handful of chopped raw onions in my mouth to confirm the bad news... Luckily it came back in about a week. Beer and wine tasted awful for a few weeks, and I am a fan of both. Luckily a year on, and all seems well for now.
    - smcl 3y ago
      Yeah I had a dram or so of cask strength (60% iirc?) whisky per day when I had no taste just because I wanted to have some kind of taste-adjacent feeling even if that was just a bit of burning. I was so happy when I realised it was coming back slowly every day. Nose is still not 100% but I am fine with that, I can enjoy food and drink so I'm lucky and thankful
    - sevensor 3y ago
      Years later, I'm still registering new scents that I haven't smelled since before my first COVID infection. For a hearing analogy, it's not like the volume is turned down, it's like some frequencies are missing entirely. And then one day, suddenly, it's back. Freshly ground coffee is an especially rich source of new odors. It turns out coffee isn't just one smell, it must be dozens.
  - joecool1029 3y ago
    Weird, I remember when there was an epidemic of anosmia caused by zinc containing nasal sprays/gels: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16467707/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16467707/ Guess oral supplementation is ok?
    - Ajay-p 3y ago
      No.. I got Zinc toxicity from taking it. I do not know its efficacy but it made me vomit when I got too high of levels and stopped.
  - fsckboy 3y ago
    I hate zinc! I wish God had never made this cursed element! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1iCZpFMYd0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1iCZpFMYd0
- LtWorf 3y ago
  I could only taste salt. I had very salty food for a while.
pjot 3y ago
Around 15 years ago I broke my nose which eventually led to a loss of taste and smell. Around 8 months ago I had surgery on the internal structures of my nose which in addition to allowing me to breath again, I can also taste and smell. The experience has been completely mind blowing. On the flip side I can no longer order the spiciest of spicy Thai and Indian food from my usual restaurants. The owners poke fun at me now.
- smith7018 3y ago
  That's fascinating because it implies that our ability to feel/respond to spicy food is all psychological. I would have figured that you would have felt at least some pain build while eating really spicy food but I guess not.
  - dekhn 3y ago
    The response to spicy food is not all psychological. It's due to activation of heat receptors by capsaicin. Note: many factors affect the subjective experience of taste sensation.
    - Supermancho 3y ago
      I have been put into atrial fibrillation by the aggravation caused by spicy food from a popular indian restaurant in north Seattle. I had to get cardioverted. Was it due to stress? Was it due to the sustained rise in blood pressure? Was it caused by GI? It doesn't matter. I have to avoid it now, for safety.
      - lwhalen 3y ago
        I, too, have dined at Taste Of India, and paid the price. I'll do it again too!
  - HelloMcFly 3y ago
    My mouth can handle the spiciest food one can order. Unfortunately, my GI system isn't quite so tough.
canucker2016 3y ago
this is one of the plot lines in the 1994 Taiwanese film "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eat_Drink_Man_Woman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eat_Drink_Man_Woman , though the father/chef character lost his sense of smell due to another reason.
ouiouibaguette 3y ago
[dead]
hinkley 3y ago
One of the rarer side effects of using Zicam nasal spray is loss of sense of smell. Somebody experiencing this reported that they accidentally restored their sense of smell by being exposed to pepper spray. There are nasal decongestants out there that are essentially dilute capsaicin in suspension in saline (as a sufferer of sinus infections I have tried most things at this point). It's not pleasant, but it's less unpleasant than eating food that's way too spicy, and nowhere near as bad as getting wasabi fumes up your nose. If memory serves there are several other ways that capsaicin can unstick the nervous system. Might be worth a try.
- MrDrMcCoy 3y ago
  Something like this? https://sinusplumber.com/ https://sinusplumber.com/
- treprinum 3y ago
  Try a nasal spray with lactoferrin - that one breaks down bacterial biofilm, getting to places where other sprays can't.
  - raylad 3y ago
    Lactoferrin is also able to kill SARS-CoV-2. In 2020 I had lactoferrin on fabric tested by a university laboratory for a potential product. The product didn't go anywhere after that, but it was conclusively shown that lactoferrin did inactivate the virus by about 92% instantly and 98% in a minute. If you want to use it as a mouthwash, the product Salivea (a quite pleasant product with a horrible name) has lactoferrin as one of the ingredients.
- autoexec 3y ago
  "Mace your boyfriend's dad" wasn't the medical advice I was expecting to see here, but I guess I can't blame anyone for being willing to try it. Not being able to taste anything for years would be terrible. I'm not confident that it works, but either way I look forward to seeing the videos if this 'one weird trick' catches on.
Angostura 3y ago
I feel for him. About 20 years ago, I had a bad bout of flu which nixed my sense of smell fro about 6 months. Eating was quite simply a chore. I didn't know whether I was drinking tea or coffee. Then one day someone made me a cup of tea and I rhapsodised about it being the best, most flavoursome cup of tea ever and I realised I had my sense of smell back. I wish him a full recovery.
- 8note 3y ago
  Oh man, The good part of my family dog dying was that suddenly I could smell and taste things. Switching from bland to flavour at 18 was crazy

Podgajski 3y ago

It might interest you that zinc, just like Ensitrelvir, is a 3c like Protease inhibitor. You might have a try at getting his serum and RBC zinc tested. https://www.jbc.org/article/S0021-9258(20)32476-5/fulltext https://www.jbc.org/article/S0021-9258(20)32476-5/fulltext

oweiler 3y ago

When I caught Covid I had very high fever and was in constant pain, but nothing was as bad as losing my taste. Can totally relate.

Ajay-p 3y ago
The saddest burrito in my life was when I had COVID. My doctor said I should take Zinc but that did not make it come back any faster.
- kilbuz 3y ago
  I was cooking tacos for my family knowing I had COVID (we all had it at the time). I remember not smelling the seasoning, and threw a small handful of chopped raw onions in my mouth to confirm the bad news... Luckily it came back in about a week. Beer and wine tasted awful for a few weeks, and I am a fan of both. Luckily a year on, and all seems well for now.
  - smcl 3y ago
    Yeah I had a dram or so of cask strength (60% iirc?) whisky per day when I had no taste just because I wanted to have some kind of taste-adjacent feeling even if that was just a bit of burning. I was so happy when I realised it was coming back slowly every day. Nose is still not 100% but I am fine with that, I can enjoy food and drink so I'm lucky and thankful
  - sevensor 3y ago
    Years later, I'm still registering new scents that I haven't smelled since before my first COVID infection. For a hearing analogy, it's not like the volume is turned down, it's like some frequencies are missing entirely. And then one day, suddenly, it's back. Freshly ground coffee is an especially rich source of new odors. It turns out coffee isn't just one smell, it must be dozens.
- joecool1029 3y ago
  Weird, I remember when there was an epidemic of anosmia caused by zinc containing nasal sprays/gels: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16467707/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16467707/ Guess oral supplementation is ok?
  - Ajay-p 3y ago
    No.. I got Zinc toxicity from taking it. I do not know its efficacy but it made me vomit when I got too high of levels and stopped.
- fsckboy 3y ago
  I hate zinc! I wish God had never made this cursed element! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1iCZpFMYd0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1iCZpFMYd0
LtWorf 3y ago
I could only taste salt. I had very salty food for a while.

pjot 3y ago

Around 15 years ago I broke my nose which eventually led to a loss of taste and smell. Around 8 months ago I had surgery on the internal structures of my nose which in addition to allowing me to breath again, I can also taste and smell. The experience has been completely mind blowing. On the flip side I can no longer order the spiciest of spicy Thai and Indian food from my usual restaurants. The owners poke fun at me now.

smith7018 3y ago
That's fascinating because it implies that our ability to feel/respond to spicy food is all psychological. I would have figured that you would have felt at least some pain build while eating really spicy food but I guess not.
- dekhn 3y ago
  The response to spicy food is not all psychological. It's due to activation of heat receptors by capsaicin. Note: many factors affect the subjective experience of taste sensation.
  - Supermancho 3y ago
    I have been put into atrial fibrillation by the aggravation caused by spicy food from a popular indian restaurant in north Seattle. I had to get cardioverted. Was it due to stress? Was it due to the sustained rise in blood pressure? Was it caused by GI? It doesn't matter. I have to avoid it now, for safety.
    - lwhalen 3y ago
      I, too, have dined at Taste Of India, and paid the price. I'll do it again too!
- HelloMcFly 3y ago
  My mouth can handle the spiciest food one can order. Unfortunately, my GI system isn't quite so tough.

canucker2016 3y ago

this is one of the plot lines in the 1994 Taiwanese film "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eat_Drink_Man_Woman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eat_Drink_Man_Woman , though the father/chef character lost his sense of smell due to another reason.

ouiouibaguette 3y ago

[dead]

hinkley 3y ago

One of the rarer side effects of using Zicam nasal spray is loss of sense of smell. Somebody experiencing this reported that they accidentally restored their sense of smell by being exposed to pepper spray. There are nasal decongestants out there that are essentially dilute capsaicin in suspension in saline (as a sufferer of sinus infections I have tried most things at this point). It's not pleasant, but it's less unpleasant than eating food that's way too spicy, and nowhere near as bad as getting wasabi fumes up your nose. If memory serves there are several other ways that capsaicin can unstick the nervous system. Might be worth a try.

MrDrMcCoy 3y ago
Something like this? https://sinusplumber.com/ https://sinusplumber.com/
treprinum 3y ago
Try a nasal spray with lactoferrin - that one breaks down bacterial biofilm, getting to places where other sprays can't.
- raylad 3y ago
  Lactoferrin is also able to kill SARS-CoV-2. In 2020 I had lactoferrin on fabric tested by a university laboratory for a potential product. The product didn't go anywhere after that, but it was conclusively shown that lactoferrin did inactivate the virus by about 92% instantly and 98% in a minute. If you want to use it as a mouthwash, the product Salivea (a quite pleasant product with a horrible name) has lactoferrin as one of the ingredients.
autoexec 3y ago
"Mace your boyfriend's dad" wasn't the medical advice I was expecting to see here, but I guess I can't blame anyone for being willing to try it. Not being able to taste anything for years would be terrible. I'm not confident that it works, but either way I look forward to seeing the videos if this 'one weird trick' catches on.

Angostura 3y ago

I feel for him. About 20 years ago, I had a bad bout of flu which nixed my sense of smell fro about 6 months. Eating was quite simply a chore. I didn't know whether I was drinking tea or coffee. Then one day someone made me a cup of tea and I rhapsodised about it being the best, most flavoursome cup of tea ever and I realised I had my sense of smell back. I wish him a full recovery.

8note 3y ago
Oh man, The good part of my family dog dying was that suddenly I could smell and taste things. Switching from bland to flavour at 18 was crazy