How long does altered taste last? Autistic child refusing all food and drink

[RubiksMoose]

My child who has ASD has tested positive. He’s quite poorly with a very bad cough and lethargy. He’s not eating or drinking as he says it doesn’t taste the same. How long will this last? I’m
not so worried about the eating, it’s more the drinking. He’s a poor drinker at the best of times and I’m worried he will become dehydrated.

I'm really sorry, but there's no way to tell.

I git off lightly, about half a day of food tasting of next to nothing (first bite gave a shadow of usual, nothing after that). But I know that for others it's gone on for days

Varies hugely. DS1 had it last week and lost his sense of taste but only for 24 hours. I had it last year (Delta) and lost it for weeks.

Perhaps get him to try different drinks to what he usually likes as he won't recognise if they taste different?
Also I lost my appetite even before I lost sense of taste so it could be as much that he's not hungry?

Ice pops go down well in my house.

It could be days or months, it’s different for everyone.

DS and I partially lost taste for a few days, tea and coffee were horrible. We got a takeaway pizza delivered which came with a bottle of tango, that was really nice and I drank it all over a couple of days. I got some various ice creams and lollies as I craved sweet things and although I couldn’t taste them very much, the sweetness was still there.

I hope your DS gets his taste back soon.

DH has just had Covid again and had about a day of altered taste. I had it in 2020 and had about 3+ weeks of it, but I think that newer variants are less likely to have it.

We've had success at trying drinks at different temperatures, with bubbles/without bubbles and also from bottles/straws/installed insulated cups etc.

Hope it passes soon

My dad (ASD) had it last week and the taste thing only lasted 3 days, you might find some things taste ok and others don’t so try him with different things, orange juice may taste better than squash because of the acidity, or maybe cranberry juice (I often drink this when ill), also agree with ice lollies and Ice cream. My taste has been a bit off all week but again some things taste fine and others taste like cardboard (biscuits have no taste at all and squash tastes a bit iffy), I have been drinking smoothies, they seem to taste ok.

Dd, not dad 😬

Ice lollies are a good idea. Thank you. I let him have some Pepsi which he has never had before and drank that. I’m not worried about food.

Jelly is also a good for hydration

@RubiksMoose

Ice lollies are a good idea. Thank you. I let him have some Pepsi which he has never had before and drank that. I’m not worried about food.

Pepsi is actually really good if he’s dehydrated as it contains sugar and salt so I wouldn’t worry about him having that when he’s poorly. I remember my mum only letting me have fizzy drinks when I was unwell.

Jelly? That's mostly water.

I had covid back in September and only started getting my taste back around Christmas. I now have completely different likes and dislikes which is a PITA 🤦‍♀️

Covid in January and my taste is still affected. Hoping it goes soon as it's pretty unpleasant.

I'm afraid there's no way to tell - could be anywhere from a few days to months, to years (it's a Long Covid symptom). I'm just getting my taste back now fully (hopefully) around 6 months after Covid.

For now if he's really not taking fluids, I'd speak to 111 or GP early as obviously that could be quite dangerous and he might need IV fluids.

Beyond that, you can order smell rehabilitation kits on line, usually something like 5 smells - pine, lavender, citrus, cloves, mint. You sniff them a few times a day and try to recall the taste, and feel. It is supposed to help your brain rewire correctly (otherwise you might find when the smells eventually come back you get weird smells, or start cooking disgusting combinations).

ASD DS had altered taste after testing positive last year. It took approximately 6 months. It was very difficult as all his trusted foods tasted wrong.

What helped was salt. He started using salt on his food where he hadn't used it before. I believe it counteracted the horrible taste.

I did post on another thread and I believe the OP had some success with gravy for their DC.

Oops, just realised you said you weren't worried about food.