How has it been getting your smell back?

[Mamaonion]

I would love to hear how this is been for you as I don’t know anyone else who has this symptom for so long. It’s so weird and a bit of a journey and I don’t want to bore people in real life banging on about it 😂

I had Covid in July, I’d had one vaccine and was pretty ill for about 10 days. I totally - I mean totally - lost my smell.

After about a month the odd hint of a smell would come and go for a second, first it was coffee and gradually a few other pleasant smells crept in. I started to get sweet smells like perfume and clean laundry.

I smell most smells a bit now but lots of unpleasant smells I still miss - bleach, gas, dirty nappies, burning…

Recently I have a new thing where everything smells different to how it used to and smells of this strange new smell I can’t relate to anything!

I am happy it seems to be returning and hopefully I’m on track but I’d love to hear if anyone’s experiences are similar?

I'd love to know too, as I've just lost mine and really miss it. How long does it take to come back? The only positive is that I can't smell the litter tray when I'm cleaning it.

I miss it too… I miss smelling my baby and my partner

How long have you been without it sootybear?

Mine came back fairly quickly but i have a new thing where I can smell cigarette smoke when there is none. I'm trying to figure it out but I think that if I actually smell it early on in the day then it lingers with me all day. Its annoying not only because I hate the smell but also I subconsciously breathe shallowly whenever I smell it. Then I realise what I'm doing and have to force myself to breathe deeply. I really hope this is temporary. Been about 2 months now.

I had covid a year ago and unfortunately my sense of taste and smell still isn't fully back. I can't smell strong things like cooking chillies and garlic. Sweet and salty has returned but my taste is still dull compared to how it was.

Oh no @Badabingbadabum a whole year 😔
@Bawdrip that’s annoying. I keep smelling this strange smell that’s not there and this has affected my taste. But 2 weeks ago it was a different phantom smell… I guess it’s to do with neural reorganisation or something

I came on to say I smell cigarette smoke too 😫 it’s so gross. I caught Covid in July this year and lost my smell but it came back after about 2 weeks but I started to smell cigarette smoke on and off through the day and some things also don’t smell like they use to. My husband also got it in July and said nothing smells the same anymore he also can smell and taste chemicals but he said he can’t describe the taste. My poor brother had Covid in April 2020 and still hasn’t got his taste or smell back and said he can only smell and taste a chemical smell he can’t compare to anything.

Oh wow @YouDoIDo obviously this smelling stuff that’s not there is quite common then. I so relate to it being a strange smell that’s not identifiable

And also your poor brother over a year ago - I’m worried mine won’t be the same and I had a really good sense of smell before

I know it’s scary stuff. I know quite a few people who have had Covid and it seems the chemical taste/smell is really common (don’t tell the conspiracists 😉).

Mine's still faulty 10 months later.

It was gone completely for about a week. Then I got phantom smells, burning etc. Some smells came back but faint. Other things smell different to before, onions and garlic smell vile.

The weird smells also effect my taste, so food in general in less enjoyable. I'm sort of used to eating things that smell and taste weird now though

It's only been a couple of days for me so far @Mamaonion . I really hope it comes back quickly, but it does seem it affects everyone differently. Eating does feel a bit boring now.

I had covid in March 2020 and my sense of smell is still very odd. This evening in particular a very pungent smell filled the car. I didn’t recognise the smell at all but it was so strong and bad. I wondered if it was smoke from the engine. I’ve still no idea what it was. For a long time all bad smells smelt like onions. They still do, but not as strong. I can smell some nice smells but everything is different from before. Perfumes don’t smell “nice”. They aren’t unpleasant but I can’t really understand what they smell of. I did think it was getting back to normal but then I was hit by this awful smell this evening and I couldn’t identify it at all. So strange!

Thanks so much for sharing this has made me understand my experience a bit but also is worrying- I wonder if there is any research about helping people get their smell back

I lost my smell and taste completely, but they came back within about a week (thank god!) I really feel for those of you without them for longer!

I'd like to the positive person for a change who says mine was gone completely for about a week, started returning slowly in week two, and now both taste and smell are pretty much normal (tested positive on 24th August). The worst thing for me was the post viral fatigue but that suddenly improved about two weeks ago.

I am three weeks post Covid (double vaccinated) I still have a horrible metallic taste in my mouth and I have what can only be described as a ‘strong’ smell in my nose the whole time. I have some taste and smell back but it’s definitely odd. I can taste very sweet and salt but not much in between. It’s horrible!