Constantly smelling woodsmoke

[MyDarlingWhatIfYouFly]

I caught Covid in November of last year and my sense of smell and taste were definitely dulled for a few months. Lately both seem to have recovered, but I'm now constantly smelling woodsmoke whenever I go.

We do have a pellet boiler in our house, but I've never smelled it before (it's well sealed) and I'm still smelling it in the car, at work and when I'm outside so I'm sure it's not a smell lingering on my clothes or hair.

It's very weird and I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this - I think phantom smells can be a sign of something neurological so I probably need to mention to the GP - not sure how worried I need to be.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/4431697-Olefactory-hallucinations-with-covid?msgid=113507519
Sorry, I'm in a bit of a rush OP, but this thread might be of interest. BTW, I'm fine now.

I almost had a breakdown because of this symptom. Had covid December 2020, sense of smell went for months. In March 2021 I started to smell smoke, cigarette smoke, wood burning smoke, etc. Googled it and convinced myself I had a brain tumour ( I have anxiety) One day I became so distressed ,as had been smelling smoke all day combined with a horrible headache, I called up the doctor and broke down. She called me in, gave me a thorough check up and prescribed anti anxiety medication. As I was leaving she said “ I see you had covid, did you lose your sense of smell until recently?” I said yes and she said “that explains it then, I bet your sense of smell comes back in the next couple of weeks it’s really common as your smell comes back

So sorry to hear that so many others have this - it's really unpleasant.

@Iamsodonewith2020 I have anxiety too and so of course I am thinking that it's something serious - so glad you could get reassurance from the GP, I think I'll give them a call.

I had exactly the same thing , I had Covid before Christmas and lost my sense of smell and taste but when they came back all I could smell was burning which was really wierd . It's gone now and my smell is back to normal now but it did take a while 😊

Yes exactly the same, it's quite common I think.
Had covid August and fully recovered sense of smell and taste. Then in December had a mild cold, not covid, and developed phantom woodsmoke smells. It lasted continuously for about 2 months but I still get it occasionally.

It stopped as soon as my smell and taste came back around day 10 but in the days leading up to it i could smell cigarette smoke on everything! Like an ashtray on clothes.

Yes!! I had covid in December and today even certain things smell like woodsmoke. My face cream and perfume especially just smell like charred wood. It's not unpleasant, but it's strange!

No idea if I've had covid (never had symptoms), but I've had what you are describing above for the last 12 months or so. It's not constant but occurs frequently. I'm just ignoring it .

I had Covid a couple of weeks ago and I did wake up last night convinced I could smell woodsmoke
It was very weird

I had exactly the same thing after having Covid in December 2020. I had about 6-8 weeks of not being able to smell or taste at all, then another 3 months or so of constantly smelling smoke. My GP said it is becoming clear this is quite a common symptom. I was advised to 'retrain' my senses by regularly smelling strong smells (lavendar, olbas oil, menthol, etc) and gradually my 'normal' sense of smell and taste did come back.

i get this too. i had covid last summer. it's worse when i'm tired for some
reason.

Me too, exactly the same. A smell of burning that had me checking plugs etc.

Hopefully it means that my sense of smell is going to switch back to normal soon.

Yeah I had this too in January with covid. Its cleared up now. Faded in and out for a while, not had it for about a month now.

Had had the smell of fresh cigarette smoke everywhere. It lasted a few months then faded slowly away finally leaving my (I think slightly dulled) sense of smell.

I get this and I've never had Covid

Yes.I had Covid Dec 2020 and lost my sense of taste and smell for a couple of weeks …only recently I have had this problem with smelling burning wood ! It just comes and lasts for a few minutes! I really thought I was going mad TBH .

I had the same thing a week after I lost my taste and smell, burning smell and everything tasted like burnt popcorn, put me off eating! I now have covid for a second time and praying it doesn't happen again

Yes I kept smelling a stale fag smoke smell for a while after covid.

@Missushbb

i get this too. i had covid last summer. it's worse when i'm tired for some reason.

Me too - it's most noticeable when I'm trying to get to sleep at night.

I've been saying to my DH for a few days that I'm convinced our neighbour has become a heavy smoker ... in my office it just feels so smokey/musty and now I know why. I'm only a few days out of having had covid. I didn't necessarily lose my sense of taste but I realised food wasn't tasting as good and yoghurt tasted horrible. Am hoping that all fixes itself over time. Will try the training with stronger smells and see if that helps.