Loss of smell and taste, how do I get it back?

[EauDeChlorine]

^^
That’s it really. I lost all smell and taste back in March. I had a mild temperature for a few days and felt exhausted for weeks afterwards. I’m fine now but still can’t smell or taste much. I was wondering if anyone else got their smell back after such a long time. I don’t want to bother my GP with this tbh. Any hints and tips greatly appreciated. Thank you.

That's really worrying. I've recently lost all smell too. Has it really not returned for you at all?

I read something about using different essential oils for smell training but not sure how much it grlps

I guess you would need to know why it's disappeared in the first place in order to fix it. My husband has lost his, so I am invested in this because he's miserable about it too!

I’ve lost mine with covid too, although it’s only been 10 days. I have a history of losing it with illness, I was referred to the hospital ENT after losing it for 4 months with sinusitis. I had a steroid treatment at home that did the trick. I am hoping that I don’t have to go down that route again as with the referral then treatment time it took 7 months to get it back.

I had a short flu like illness in March. I was fine after a few days except that I was getting out of breath quickly I/e simply going up the stairs felt like I had been for a run. It was only after I had recovered from the flu like virus that I noticed I had lost my taste because I “overdosed” on Tabasco on a bowl of pasta and still couldn’t taste a thing. At the time of the illness I didn’t think it was the virus because I never had a cough. Taste and smell was not on the list of symptoms back in March. I still can’t smell a thing. Nothing at all. My taste has come back but not like it used to. Some things o used to really like just don’t taste the same anymore. It’s really odd. I have heard of others who lost smell but I have not spoken to anyone who lost these senses for 6+ months.

A friend has only just regained her sense of smell since suspected covid in March. She read about and tried smell ‘training’, which she said involved sniffing various essential oils. Whether it helped or she recovered spontaneously, I’m not sure, but worth a try.

My friend also did the smell training and said it worked for her. Think it’s worth a try. You get a kit of essential oils I think.

Wow. Mine has been gone 2 weeks so far. I had a positive covid test. I hope it comes back.

Hi, I'm just copying and pasting something I posted on another similar thread:

Please watch the following video from ENT UK regarding loss of smell:

www.entuk.org/loss-smell-video-interview-professor-claire-hopkins

Also look at the following links:

www.Fifthsense.org.uk

www.abscent.org

Hope you feel better soon x

I had an illness which could have been Covid in The first week of April It came back slowly, but even now it isn’t right. Lots of things taste and smell completely different (and not very pleasant), although it is improving. I had phantom smells for quite a long time, but that’s rare now. One smelt like slightly off onions and the other like burnt sugar but less sweet and I could smell them at any time. I’m hoping it’ll gradually right itself.

I did read somewhere about zinc supplements helping, might be worth looking into

Sounds terrifying, I hope you get it sorted

Have you had blood tests? If potassium is low, for example, that would account for it. Post viral syndrome can go on for so long.

Loss of smell can be a symptom of zinc deficiency, and fighting a virus can deplete your zinc levels further, so consider taking a zinc supplement, or eating zinc rich foods like red meat, organ meats like liver and shellfish. Eat lots of colourful fruit and veg and drink green tea, which contain compounds which help transport the zinc through the cell membrane.

@Sweetnhappy1. Thank you for that link. I enjoyed watching the interview. She seems like such a down to earth lovely woman. Which, I guess, is an odd thingy to say really, but her observation may have saved many lives.

She says that smelling strong 'ordinary' things works (obviously be very careful what you choose) and scent training. So using different things & recognising them

Personally I'd use vicks as a starting point.

Plus most people lose 'smell' not taste, but we confuse the two. Can you differentiate between salty, sweet, sour etc?

@MJMG2015 in my case I seem to struggle tasting salty and bitter tastes, which distorts the flavour profile of lots of things. I’m hoping it’ll continue to improve, as salty seems to be coming back to me (I can taste Marmite almost normally now).

I lost my sense of smell after allergic rhinitis and after 6 months I went to the GP. They prescribed budesonide steroid spray which did bring it back though it took a REALLY long time to be reliably back.
I also did smell training - google abscent Facebook page for info about it and other tips

Husband had suspected Covid in March. Lost taste and smell senses for 2 weeks.

He now has random weird smells... hard to explain. But certain things smell of a horrible chemical smell. To him they all smell the same but obviously to me they don’t(they smell normal).
His list is: Mint, a particular men’s shower gel, meat cooking, Rocket leaves (weirdly...) etc...

His sense of smell isn’t as good as it was. He’s not enjoying the ‘chemical” smell situation but I think it’s lessening as time goes on. :(

@cardibach

I had an illness which could have been Covid in The first week of April It came back slowly, but even now it isn’t right. Lots of things taste and smell completely different (and not very pleasant), although it is improving. I had phantom smells for quite a long time, but that’s rare now. One smelt like slightly off onions and the other like burnt sugar but less sweet and I could smell them at any time. I’m hoping it’ll gradually right itself.

You've pretty much discribed whats happening to me. I had Covid in May, now smells still aren't right. Some things smell like onions, meat smells like it's rotten. They come to me randomly, like when driving. I could smell strong coffee Dh said there wasn't any smell at all. Hoping it comes right soon.

[quote cardibach]@MJMG2015 in my case I seem to struggle tasting salty and bitter tastes, which distorts the flavour profile of lots of things. I’m hoping it’ll continue to improve, as salty seems to be coming back to me (I can taste Marmite almost normally now).[/quote]
Thank god for that. A marmite free world would be dreadful!!

Hopefully the rest will follow!