Covid - taste distortion

[92Evie]

I tested positive for Covid on Monday and had a few days of feeling achy, shivery, nasal congestion but have been feeling significantly better since yesterday.

Yesterday evening when eating dinner I noticed a chemically taste to some salad dressing but just put it down to not being very nice. Today this seems to be the case for anything with a strong vinegar content- mayo, salt and vinegar crisps. It’s hard to describe the smell but it makes me retch and is just a horrible chemical type smell. Sitting down to this evenings dinner this also seems to have kicked in for chicken.

I’ve looks up lots online about taste distortion and parosmia but this seems to be in people that lost their sense of smell and much further into their Covid journey not a day 5 type thing.

Has anyone else experienced this so early on? What foods have you found helped?

My assumption is I just need to find things I can eat and hope it passes quickly and doesn’t linger for months, but obviously know that these things are impacting people so differently no one really knows…

I have actual parosmia & it’s bloody miserable! I’m 6 months post covid. Hopefully yours will be a blip but if it seems to linger, the best thing I’ve done is 1) smell training, religiously 3x a day & 2) eating through it. Even if it tastes grim, keep going & see if the normal flavour eventually comes back! I find after 4/5 bites & if I think really hard about what something should taste like, I can sometimes get the regular flavour! 🥴

So sorry to hear you’ve been dealing with this for months.

Thanks for the tips - shall definitely bear this in mind if it continues.

I did wonder if I should just try eat through it and whether I was convincing myself extra things tasted odd/ are smelling gross as I was thinking about it so much.

@92Evie I know this is a few weeks old now but I’ve currently got exactly this.. day 8 of covid and weird chemical vinegar taste/smell. It’s like I’ve snorted up some vinegar and can’t taste anything else. Wondered how long this lasted for you and if it got any worse. Hope you’re all recovered now

Tested positive yesterday and apart from a dry cough I have no symptoms. However, I am drinking wine and it tastes off although it isn't.

I've still got some issues with taste and smell nearly 6 months after having covid too. I haven't done the smell training yet though. Wine just tastes bitter and various other things.

I had this but it resolved a few days later.

Hey folks! I found this thread whilst searching for connections between Covid and a change in taste perception of items containing acetic acid. I have Covid, & today discovered that all the foods & drinks that suddenly taste toxic to me have this ingredient in common. The other odd thing I found is that acetic acid is a stabiliser in the Moderna vaccine. Just wondering - had you all had the Moderna vaccine? Or is this just a crazy coincidence? Moderna was the last jab I had, back in October.
And how are you all doing now - back to normal, or not?
Thanks!

Luckily for me my sense of taste and smell is all fine now, think it lasted about a month in total so definitely just a blip for me, unlike some of the others.

I did have Moderna as my 3rd vaccine in Dec-21.

Ues had Moderna. Can't drink red wine, or eat tinned chicken soup. It hasn't changed in over a year. Also ham is horrible too.

Interesting, I'm on roughly day 5 and despite having seemingly got through the worst, the metallic taste appeared just this afternoon.

I got covid early December and first symptom was metallic taste. Covid went eventually, but left me with a taste of metal in my mouth. From the minute I wake up till I go to bed at night.

All good/drinks taste vile. Ruined Christmas dinner and all the lovely Christmas booze. Really hoping it goes away!!! 😩

I had covid just over a year ago & when I got my appetite back I realised loads of things tasted vile. I thought it was chemical additives at first, then realised it's refined and/or cooked oils. They taste like they've gone rancid. Crisps are especially disgusting. I noticed a few months ago that meat, fish, dairy etc has also started to taste distinctly "off", also nuts & seeds if they aren't very fresh/long dated. IDK if I've had covid again over the summer, or what, but I've basically gone vegan now (which I've been planning & trying to do for ages) & it's helped me give up pretty much all junk/refined food.

I've not had any other ongoing symptoms.

I had the AZ vaccine twice & then Moderna.

I have had a very similar experience. I can only describe the taste as like eating cardboard that has been coated with a mild bleach. I hope it disappears, or I can find something to alleviate it.