Covid 19 smell/taste loss question

[Coreymacc]

First of all, I'm not asking this in hopes of any sympathy or to have this tread be about vaccinations or anything like that, this is just for information purposes and I have a question. Happily, I just recovered from Covid and I had lost my sense of smell and taste, I had other symptoms also but for sake of this thread I will limit this to smell/taste. It started last Tuesday while i was eating a sandwich at work, I ate half the sammy that i could taste and by the time I got to the other half my taste/smell was completely gone, almost like someone flipped a switch and my senses were gone, fast forward to Saturday evening when I got them back, (approx 4 1/2 days) it was the same type of thing, they just appeared like a switch being turned back on.

If your willing to share your experiences regarding taste and smell with regard to Covid. I am curious about what happened ? I have asked a few people I know who had this symptom and most people say it went away slowly and came back slowly, some lost it completely, while others partially. My experience seemed very strange the way it disappeared and returned so abruptly, has anybody else had this?

As I said this is by no means meant to trivialize this virus or diminish its seriousness and I have nothing but sympathy for folks who have had it more severe than myself or payed the ultimate price. I am strictly wanting to keep this an an informative thread as I'm always interested in learning ,and if you are willing to share any insights I appreciate that, if this thread goes no where I'm ok with that also.

Thank You
Corey

 

[Displaced Texan]

Developed anosmia April 24, 2020. Started getting smell/taste back April 28, 2020. Took a couple weeks for everything to come back to 100%.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Yeah, seems as it’s all over the board with all people. The doctors can’t even really explain why.
That said I’ve had Covid twice. First time over a year ago. Lost my smell/taste for about 8 months. I was getting concerned as most had gotten it back by 6 months, then just over about two days in the eighth month my taste and smell returned. Then just about 2 months after that I lost it again. I did not have any symptoms or felt bad at all other than smell and taste. It came back in about one week that time and I’ve been smelling myself ever since, there were benefits to not smelling, but man not tasting was hard to cope with.

 

[Coreymacc]

Yeah, seems as it’s all over the board with all people. The doctors can’t even really explain why.
That said I’ve had Covid twice. First time over a year ago. Lost my smell/taste for about 8 months. I was getting concerned as most had gotten it back by 6 months, then just over about two days in the eighth month my taste and smell returned. Then just about 2 months after that I lost it again. I did not have any symptoms or felt bad at all other than smell and taste. It came back in about one week that time and I’ve been smelling myself ever since, there were benefits to not smelling, but man not tasting was hard to cope with.

I can't imagine loosing my taste for that long, mine was gone for 4 days and I was starting to get a bit edgy, I'm glad my wife was supportive. Don't know how I would handle that.

Corey

 

[noboundaries]

My wife and I both had Covid and neither completely lost our sense of smell or taste. I had short periods of diminished smell/taste, and she had the exact opposite, especially smell.

We both have other cyclic issues associated with the virus. They follow a recognizable pattern.

 

[Nefarious]

Wife and I both had covid and neither of us lost taste. Wife said she had reduced smell, I lost none.

 

[xbubblehead]

I lost some taste and smell; could taste apple juice but not an apple or V8 juice, could not taste a tuna sandwich but could taste cereal with milk. This frankenvirus is really weird. Yesterday in a flash, I mean it was almost explosive like clearing sinuses, my sense of smell reappeared as did some taste and today both are improving.

 

[jcam222]

My wife had it in November and lost it on about day 3. Took several weeks for hers to return I had it in December and didn’t lose it at all nor did my brother who had it bad a year ago. My best friend lost his and it was not right for near 6 months. I have a colleague who’s daughter lost hers and when it returned it was “confused”. Some foods she loved make her nauseous as they smell putrid to her. Right now she only can tolerate the smell and taste of about a half dozen items. Most other things make her sick

 

[Ringer]

My wife and I currently have it and neither of us have lost any sense of smell or taste. I pray it stays that way. We are on days 3 and 4 respectively.

 

[SmokinEdge]

My wife had it in November and lost it on about day 3. Took several weeks for hers to return I had it in December and didn’t lose it at all nor did my brother who had it bad a year ago. My best friend lost his and it was not right for near 6 months. I have a colleague who’s daughter lost hers and when it returned it was “confused”. Some foods she loved make her nauseous as they smell putrid to her. Right now she only can tolerate the smell and taste of about a half dozen items. Most other things make her sick

I actually had to kind of relearn some smells. Deeper smells that should be there like with salami or aged meats.

 

[DougE]

I have a colleague who’s daughter lost hers and when it returned it was “confused”. Some foods she loved make her nauseous as they smell putrid to her.

My wife went through that, but it didn't last too long. One thing I remember right off the bat is just the thought of having her usual couple cups of coffee in the morning made her nauseous for at least a couple weeks. She is fine now, and back to having her morning coffee.

 

[Nate52]

I lost it on day 3 after my positive test. No idea when I was exposed.

On day 2, we had a 30" snow storm. After several hours if snow blowing and shoveling the next day with a lot of breaks, I came in and had a well earned swig of bourbon. I could feel the burn, but there was nothing else. Used one of those dissolving Vicks tabs in the shower. Nothing.

I was able to taste saltiness and bitterness, but no real flavor. That was December 17th of last year. On Christmas eve, I was walking across the living room and had a little gas passing event. I said "That was a smelly one!" I stopped in my tracks, shocked It was the most exciting fart I've ever had! I ran over and opened a bag of coffee and could faintly smell it. About ten minutes later, I could smell the bacon we cooked that morning.

My senses came back in stages. I could smell and taste certain things but not others. I still have no idea if my Christmas prime rib was any good. Just tasted salty to me.

Not being able to taste or smell anything was a lot more depressing than I expected. I think we underestimate how important these senses really are in our lives.

 

[Nate52]

I lost it on day 3 after my positive test. No idea when I was exposed.

On day 2, we had a 30" snow storm. After several hours if snow blowing and shoveling the next day with a lot of breaks, I came in and had a well earned swig of bourbon. I could feel the burn, but there was nothing else. Used one of those dissolving Vicks tabs in the shower. Nothing.

I was able to taste saltiness and bitterness, but no real flavor. That was December 17th of last year. On Christmas eve, I was walking across the living room and had a little gas passing event. I said "That was a smelly one!" I stopped in my tracks, shocked It was the most exciting fart I've ever had! I ran over and opened a bag of coffee and could faintly smell it. About ten minutes later, I could smell the bacon we cooked that morning.

My senses came back in stages. I could smell and taste certain things but not others. I still have no idea if my Christmas prime rib was any good. Just tasted salty to me.

Not being able to taste or smell anything was a lot more depressing than I expected. I think we underestimate how important these senses really are in our lives.

I could still taste olives though. I despise olives.

Buy my wife thought I should eat one, since I wouldn't taste it. Nope. Still gross.

 

[DougE]

My granddaughter could only taste salty stuff

 

[BurntWeenie]

Smell and taste disorders in COVID-19: From pathogenesis to clinical features and outcomes - PubMed

Patients with COVID-19 often complain of smell and taste disorders (STD). STD emerge early in the course of the disease, seem to be more common in SARS-CoV-2 infection than in other upper respiratory tract infections, and could in some cases persist for long after resolution of respiratory...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Brokenhandle]

Can't say for sure if we've ever had it, wife's been exposed a couple times at work but always negative tests. Had a friend had it...said he could just as well eat cardboard with no sense of smell or taste. Sometimes with our almost 3 year old Dobie crop dusting us the loss of smell could be a blessing!

Ryan

 

[DougE]

Sometimes with our almost 3 year old Dobie crop dusting us the loss of smell could be a blessing!

As someone who has done a ton of pesticide application to trees, there comes a point where your sense of smell becomes immune to the smell of the chemicals you routinely spray.

 

[slavikborisov]

Lost my smell 10 months ago its just finally coming back.. tried like hell to do
Smell training with essential oils and eventually just gave up on it as it wasn’t getting any better then out of the blue it started getting better. Everything either ha; a foul smell or none at all
for a good 7 months it was miserable I just ate stuff hoping someday I’d smell
what I was eating. To this day my smell is still not 100% of what it used to be probably like 80-85% but it’s better than it was.

 

[pc farmer]

I tested positive a couple months ago. Never had symptoms other then a head cold. Never lost taste or smell. Bourbon still taste the same.

 

[Bearcarver]

This probably doesn't have any connection, but as for length of times:
I lost my sense of taste after Open-heart surgery in December of 2012.
I got most of it back 8 months later, but I still don't enjoy any Beer or Coffee, of which I used to drink a lot of, especially the Beer.

So far I haven't had Covid---Knock on Wood!

Bear