Nasty smells that aren’t real - post covid

[vxa2]

I had Covid about a month ago. I lost my sense of taste and smell completely but gradually they are returning. The problem is that just about all the time I have an unpleasant background smell. It smells a bit like egg or drains. I am also occasionally experiencing a smoky taste, a bit like cigarette smoke.

Did anyone experience this and how long did it last? It’s driving me mad!

Ds had it... Parosmia. Took 9 months to improve. Found some really helpful
Support groups on Facebook

8 months later I still smell phantom cigarette smoke. It was all day every day, but now it's occasional wafts.

I didn't have Covid, but my sense of smell and taste are shot.

Onions and cigarette smoke and a faint taste of garlic or onions with everything I eat.

The smoke smell makes me feel ill enough to put me off my food.

I still have covid but not feeling ill any more, just a bit bunged up. I've had a weird change to my sense of smell which only seems to effect vinegar. Pickle, tomato ketchup and actual vinegar smells so sharp and medicinal now!

Same. I lost my smell at the very beginning, it cam back after a month, but some things smelt different than before, usually worse (like coffee). It came back to normal recently apart from that awful phantom cigarette smell (and sometimes fried fish).

Swimming pools (chlorine) and bleach now smell like BO. Totally gutted every Time I clean the house or want to swim (regular swimmer) I feel sick.

I have the eggy/drain smell and also cat shit constantly (although to be fair that may just be my cats!) It’s awful. Coffee doesn’t smell delicious any more, it has a weird slightly eggy slightly chemical smell, but I’m persevering as it tastes slightly better than it smells!! So annoying isn’t it.

Almost a year later, rocket tastes like perfume. Aussie shampoo & conditioner smells like sick! Some other random things too. V weird.

14 months and counting. Particularly if I bend over to pick something up. Yes to cat shit smell.

I had the smells thing, seems to have resolved now. I had it in June

I'm over two years on and still no improvement. Cooking smells, especially if including onions and garlic, smell like bins/drains/sick. Peach is revolting. Sweat no longer smells of sweat, but like cat shit. Unneutered tomcat pee smells like wet dog (the one thing that's actually a slight improvement). I'm resigned to being like this forever.

This is my experience too, although I'm just under a year on. I can't eat Branston pickle any more, it tastes revolting now.
Sweat smells like rotten onions to me.
Onions used to be one of my 5 desert island foods - now they just smell rotten. I'm persevering with eating onion because I know I love them, it's just my brain being weird. It's not really working though

I have this, too, though it is not constant any longer (thank god!) I find that it returns and gets worse when something else is wrong with me, such as going down with a cold or stomach bug, or recovering from one, or when my sleep is even worse than usual for whatever reason. Insomnia is the main feature of Long Covid for me, and when it's particularly bad the nasty parosmia gets worse as well.

I had it at the beginning of December very severely and was hospitalised. Sense of smell still not fully recovered - some perfumes and aftershaves smell like rotting rubbish. I don't wear perfume myself so it's not a major issue but everywhere I go, someone smells of rotting rubbish and in a crowd it can be overwhelming!

I also can't smell my baby's poos in her nappy anymore and my 3 year old tells me instead! Every cloud....

I was convinced the inside of my car stunk, kind of like stale milk, but none of my kids could smell it. It was really weird.

Yes mine was mainly smoke. It's still happening at times now and I had covid about 9 months ago! It's just a random smoke smell at times but a lot things smell smoky too! Like my dogs food, crisps, body odour, toilet after my kids use it, anything toasted amongst other things all smell the exact same!! I couldn't distinguish between them all blindfolded - but other things spell perfectly fine.

another example is that I'll be walking through town and you have bakeries, cafes, chip shops, greasy spoons etc all around and they all smell like burnt bacon!

taste is absolutely fine though! Even if things smell funny, they taste okay. It's very bizarre.

I've come to the conclusion I have this, too, even though I have never had symptomatic Covid. I have encountered the virus however, and had antibodies to it for over a year later. About 3-4 months after being infected (but not knowing at the time) I began noticing some foods tasted 'off' - even though my DP said there was nothing unusual about them. I also noticed changes with my sense of smell. 2 years on and I still have this issue. It's really annoying as I can eat a plate of food and one item tastes horrible and that spoils the whole meal for me. Or some nasty smells just linger for ages in my nose - a couple of weeks in one case, or smells that didn't use to bother me now are distinctly horrible.

I also notice I have a particular body odour I didn't have before, but again, DP says he can't smell anything. All this makes me think it's come from encountering the virus, as I believe you can get alterations to smell/taste even if you don't have Covid symptoms, and it can start months later. Very weird.