Total loss of taste and smell. Fed up.

[PollyPepper]

Obviously I know compared to others I am incredibly lucky. We have lost people close to us to Covid and in the shadow of that, this is nothing.

DH and I on day 6 of isolation, both positive on PCR and LFT's. Our taste and smell has completely gone and it is pretty horrible. One of the only things I had to look forward to and enjoy during isolation and feeling so crappy is now no more! Everything just tastes like cardboard. I just took a huge bite out of a raw onion just to TASTE something and.....Nothing.

It's starting to get me down, I'm so envious of those who can still taste.

Does anyone have any words of advice/tips/encouragement?? I'm so worried I'm going to be one of the many who say they still have no taste or smell months and months down the line.

I'm about to burn an orange and mix it with brown sugar. What has become of me.

I've just lost my taste pretty much. I can still smell strong things. Waiting for PCR result. I don't see what else it could be though as my only symptoms are a bad headache and this.

Does sound like covid @SonnetForSpring

I read somewhere (on Twitter most likely) that someone who lost their sense of smell and taste for several weeks had taken a vitamin/iron supplement for a few days (Floradix I think) and it had returned. Could of course be entirely coincidental but maybe worth a try?

Thanks @fadingfast I'll try anything!

@Rabblesthecat

I got mine back after about 9 months of it being back every now and again

Sadly onions and garlic now taste and smell like a rotting corpse

Which is bad when you are a chef

I think the most worrying thing about that is that as a chef you know what a rotting corpse smells and tastes like!

My taste and smell (never fully lost smell) came back gradually about 3 weeks after losing them. But the weird unidentifiable smells or the burning smell that then came and tagged along lasted much much longer.

8 months post covid and suddenly cannot bear the smell of eggs or onions. Can't eat either, not even in any part of a meal however small. They don't smell like eggs or onions, either. I gag when I smell their new 'smells'. I can't even describe the smell. Walking though city centres also is horrific, as cigarette smoke smells like death. Garlic being cooked is also a no.

It is all so very weird!

I'm really hoping to avoid the burning smell stage some people have listed and also hoping nothing I love becomes unpalatable!

And that my loss of smell and taste is temporary, days rather than weeks or months!

Day 11 for me and some taste seems to have returned tonight.
I turned a corner on Wed and now feel pretty much back to normal.
Self isolation ends tonight, so looking forward to leaving house tomorrow.

It is a really horrible stage, but it does improve eventually. My tips would be avoid foods which are now unpleasant eg bananas and chicken were horrible for me. Use temperature / moisture as substitutes for taste. Eg comforting warm food, cool juicy food. I found that helped in the early days.

Hi!

I have lost my taste and most of my smell now for 12 days.

I am so depressed I am struggling! I have tried everything to can think of! I am eating raw onion, ginger and garlic and nothing! I feel like my head is congested as I'm talking nasaly but there's nothing there when I blow my nose, I feel like I need to cough to clear my throat and there's mucus sitting in my throat and it's all gravelly but I'm not coughing up anything.

I've always enjoyed my food and now I get no enjoyment from one of the only things that keeps me going! I am so worried I never get it back as most forums I've read are people saying they haven't got taste or smell back and only by a small amount when they do.

Has anyone who posted at the beginning of this thread for their taste and smell back fully yet?

Day 6 from testing positive here. Lost mine on Monday (day 3). Still nothing. Partner had covid the week before me and got his back after 5 days. Hoping I’m not one of the unlucky ones. I miss smelling my 6mo baby x

@Lockdownbaby2021 Aww it's so hard! This is my 13th day, most people that get it back have by now, folk say it usually lasts a week. I really think mines will never come back now. Hope you start to see an improvement soon! X

I know it’s so hard as the majority of forums/ articles say it can take people months. It’s not even like it’s a rare occurrence.

It sounds ridiculous but it’s affecting the bond I have with my baby and getting me really down.
I’m hoping it comes back in the next week for you x

I think I’ve been lucky. I lost my sense of taste and smell completely, but only for a couple of days. A few days on from that and I would say it’s not 100% back, but probably 80%. Just to give hope to some that it isn’t always weeks and weeks to come back.

Both my taste and smell completely disappeared about 5 days ago. It’s so disorienting. I’m about to cook a roast dinner, first day I’ve felt able to cook, but I know I won’t be able to taste a thing. Really sucks the joy out of eating.

My smell and taste came back within the 10 days. It was quite miserable and I didn’t really feel like eating tbh.
Still got the ringing ears and headaches weeks on hope you’re better soon op, it’s horrible I know we are/were better off than some but it’s still quite horrid

Oh gosh, I’m panicking reading this thread. Lost my sense of taste and smell yesterday and it’s already driving me crackers. On the plus side, I’m hoping I will loose a shit load of weight as there is no point eating now! 😩

I had covid mid July and completely lost my sense of smell and taste, I would say it is 70% back to normal now, but was pretty miserable to begin with. I also had the constant taste of chocolate in my mouth, I don't know if anyone else had some similar. Interesting to read about the bonfire smell though, I've been thinking for the past few evenings that I can smell a fire, hadn't occurred to me that might be why.

*My taste went almost completely - what was left was around the edges.. I could taste very sweet, or salty or umami but there was no flavour.

I now almost have it back, there is still some subtlety missing, so I drink coffee and it's still lore bitter than flavourful but it improves with each cup.

A week ago I tasted some coffee and spat it out, all I could taste was bitterness.

I stuck to salty food, very sugary food and things which gave me any manner of sugar rush such as pasta or bread*

This is so interesting Dd and DH had Covid a month ago, Dd demanded sweeties, DH went mental when the online shop was missing marmite..

I'm over two weeks now, can smell very faintly certain things when up at my nose but can't taste a single thing! I've been really tired the last couple of days and all I want to do is sleep! I've been getting a really dry mouth as well. When will this end!? I just want to feel better and have my senses back! My mental health is so so so low!!

@hopefulsunshine11 I’m on day 6 of no smell/ taste now. I can smell strong things when right under nose and taste I can taste some things very bland but not right at all. When I breathe my upper nose stings and smells / tastes of blood. Hoping it will improve for us both xx

Day 24. I am now able to smell really strong scents like coffee, lavender and mint. My taste is weird though in that I can make out if something is sweet but nothing more. My appetite has returned which has made it all the more frustrating. I've gone rather overboard on the spices in cooking this week in the hope it will hurry my taste along but the only outcome has been DHs eyes watering and nose running - he normally likes a hot curry so I'm guessing it must have been exceptionally so! Textures are what's seeing me through this... nuts, cereals, crisps, crunchy apples. I also keep getting a dry mouth just as someone earlier mentioned.

I tested positive on Wednesday after symptoms starting on the Monday, which puts me day 5ish I think. I have had mild symptoms, just a thick head for a couple of days, a bit of a cough, sinus pain. Yesterday my sense of smell disappeared and I think my taste is rapidly following it. I can taste sweet, salty, spicy but that it, no nuance at all. I am glad the vaccine seems to be working but I did hope to dodge the taste/smell thing, hey ho!

So day 7 here of no taste / smell. Day 10 since positive result.
I’d say smell has come back 30% so far and taste around 40%. So grateful for something and hoping it continues to improve. Some things don’t taste right though I have found. How is everyone else doing ?xx

I had Covid over Christmas. Smell and taste are now more or less back but many things taste and smell slightly different and I’ve resigned myself to that not getting better now. Coffee smells really weird to me and tastes slightly different