Have you ever lost your sense of smell/taste?

[Glitterbiscuits]

I’m looking for anecdotes or advice. I had a horrible cold 6 weeks ago. After 10 days I got some antibiotics from the GP as it was likely sinus infection. No idea if it was Covid as I didn’t test.
My sense of smell and taste disappeared entirely. It hasn’t really come back properly. I can only smell things faintly if they are right under my nose. I used to have a great sense of smell! Nothing has much taste.
I can’t smell if the baby has a dirty nappy or if the cat has peed on something. Both strong scents! I don’t know if food has gone off, or if clothes need a freshen up.

I have bought a kit of essential oils and i am trying to smell them daily in an attempt at ‘smell training’ but they need to almost touching my nose!

Things have just plateaued. I’m not making any improvements.

yeah bloody Covid, it went for about 18 months, came back slowly, it has been 4 years now and I still cannot taste bacon, coffee smells of shit and occasionally I still get the horrid burning smell for no reason

Likely it was COVID - the same thing happened to me earlier this year and I tested. I tried using sterimar or similar to wash out my nose. I don't know if it helped but gradually my sense of smell came back. It was faint at first, so the fact that you can slightly smell things is a good sign. I hope it returns for you soon, it was disconcerting to not smell stuff and sad not to be able to taste food

I heard on a podcast about waking up the sense of smell with strong aromas
Possible given something more pungent a go - smelling salts?

I did after Covid, it's still not as sharp as it was. It was awful and I found it really disturbing. I also used the oils and I think they helped.

Only when I’ve had a really stinking cold. However all the ABs I was on, for a nasty dose of pneumonia and pleurisy, made everything taste weird or horrible, which wasn’t altogether a bad thing, since after 3 weeks in hospital I’d lost over 5 kg. 🙂

I can't smell certain things since having Covid in 2020. I can smell perfume and floral scents but can't smell "earthy" scents like poop or toilet smells. I don't think it's ever coming back.

Yes sounds like Covid - that happened to me, total loss of smell and taste for 2 weeks then they started coming back. However 3 years later my sense of taste is still distorted and there are foods I can't eat now or don't eat much because they just don't taste right. Smell is weird, I can get smells 'stuck' and keep smelling the same thing in places where I know it can't be. It's annoying!

Yes, I lost my sense of smell after Covid. I only noticed about 3 weeks after as I was in a shop smelling scented candles and I couldn’t smell a thing. I did ‘smell training’ and after about 2 months it gradually came back. Just before it came back though, I started getting phantom smells - it was like a slight burning tinted with orange. I woke up once in the middle of the night and it was so strong I went round the house checking plugs and sockets for smouldering. That eventually passed too and now everything is fine.

Keep up the smell training!

My sister got Covid in early 2020 and has never regained taste or smell. It’s called anosmia. She’s tried scent training under doctor supervision but to no effect sadly.

I’ve had no sense of smell since being a teenager!
saddest thing is I could never smell my children….clean or dirty!
I really wouldn’t know if the gas was left on or the house was on fire
having no sense of smell means I have no taste either unless food is covered in Tabasco or multiple strong chillies.
Funnily enough I can remember how horses and roses smell….was a keen rider as a child so maybe my brain resting happy smells!
I truly hope the posters smell will return with time….i wish them well!

Yes, for nearly a year due to Covid. I got some phantom smells when my sense of smell was recovering and things tasted disgusting for a while. Still not 100% four years on.

Not covid related but I lost my sense of smell about 20 years ago.
it’s miserable. I’ve had a couple of close calls with old gas hob when I caught it whilst cleaning but didn’t smell the gas. New hob has safety feature.
I can’t smell or taste garlic, coffee, fresh bread. Can’t taste much either. Hate spicy food as I only get the burn and not the flavour.
I hope the smell training works.

Yes, recently with Covid. Had absolutely no taste or smell for around six days before it gradually started to come back. All back to normal now.

I did after I had the flu, it lasted about 3 weeks. On the plus side I lost a load of weight as I lost my appetite since everything tasted like cardboard

https://abscent.org.uk/learn-us/smell-training/how-smell-train/ have you looked at this website?

Exact same experience. Don’t see it changing now given it’s been nearly 5 years.

I did with Covid end of 2021. They came back over a year to about 80%. Then last year went to a retreat and fasted for 5 days and after that smell and taste were back to full power.

I couldn't smell for a while after Covid and though most of my sense of smell came back I couldn't smell rose - which is one of my favourite scents – for about 2 years. I thought a rose perfume DH had bought me had gone off as it smelled so revolting. then one day we were in a big park and I could smell the roses. tried the perfume on later and it smelled good again. Very weird.

As well as 'smell training' with strong essential oils, try inhaling steam and using nasal sprays as keeping your nose hydrated helps apparently.

That's interesting. Fasting helped?

COVID is doing the rounds at the minute. My mum has it and my pharmacist relative has noticed an increase in cases. She sold 11 test kits 2 days ago which is a big increase on previous days and weeks.

I lost mine in March 2022 with Covid (had avoided it until then!) and it came back in July the same year. I had a few close calls around the house - my DP often works away and per pp I had a gas incident, and also gave myself food poisoning because I couldn’t tell chicken was bad (thanks, Hello Fresh). I did my own version of scent training with essential oils from the chemist which I think helped.

Unlike pp I actually gained weight as I was desperate to taste something so ate everything! Crisps were my real downfall as while I couldn’t taste them, I did get satisfaction from the crunch. (Should have eaten celery…)

My sense of smell hasn’t been the same since covid. My ex used to joke that I was like a bloodhound, I could smell what he’d had for lunch when he came home. Now its just ok, but some things I still struggle with.

As a baker that can be difficult as I rely on smell and taste for my work, but can not stand the smell of unsalted butter, sour cream or yogurt, they make me feel sick, like a rancid off smell. Salted butter is fine, and normal milk is ok, but those 3 things can absolutely ruin a meal for me, whereas I’d have happily eaten them all before. I also struggle to smell if chicken is off, as it always smells eggy and rancid to me, even if others say it smells fine. I threw away so much chicken before I thought to check, as it seemed like every week the in-date produce was off!

I also did the scent training to try and get it back, but I’m probably only at about 80% power. You don’t realise how distressing it is until its gone do you.

@ZumbadorDid you just have water? Please can you elaborate? I’ll give anything a try! Thanks

I’m also a former super smeller! My sense of smell increased when I was pregnant and it stayed sharp.
Its such a small problem in the great big scheme of things but I’m so upset. I’m lucky this is my only issue. I really know.
Im also eating too much as I’m chasing flavours!

Im currently trying steroid nasal spray.

Yes same for my partner. No taste or smell at all for 5 years.