Loss of smell

[MaggieDragon]

I’ve had covid twice and my sense of smell has been badly affected. It’s still accurate but very weak- I pretty much have to shove things up my nose in order to smell them. Eg frying onions I can’t smell a thing unless I get my head down to the level of the pan.

I’ve tried the various exercises I’ve found online about practising smelling things (different herbs etc) and I can do them all as long as whatever it is is right next to my nose. But anything further away is completely scentless.

This has been the case for 6m with no improvement. Just wondered if anyone had experienced the same and had any ideas to help restore it?

I know I’m resurrecting an old post, but just wondering if you’re still around @MaggieDragon and if things got better for you on the smell/taste front?

I’m having the exact same issue post covid and I’m beginning to lose the plot about it, it’s more distressing that I could have imagined. I’m only just over a week into this loss now, so nothing compared to some people. I am trying to be hopeful that it’s a transient thing that will sort itself out, but feeling very miserable and anxious about it.

How are you getting on? And, anyone else in the same position?

The one show did an item on ‘smell training’ post covid the other day. I can’t find a link for the programme, it just gives twitter links & I’m not on twitter.

seemingly it can be quite successful. It sounds really miserable to be suffering in that way. Good luck.

I got covid in august 2021, I remember not being able to taste much at Christmas dinner that year, and I kept getting the smell of burning. I would say it took a year to fully come back but there are some things that are still off. I can't drink coffee any more, it tastes like metal and I need a lot more salt in my food which isn't ideal.

Just to update this thread in case anyone else finds it helpful - in my third week my smell and taste began to return and is now very much on the mend after 4 weeks. Not quite perfect yet for some things but getting there. So I’m relieved.

To anyone panicking (as I was) about this, please remember that the overwhelming majority of people full recover in a matter of weeks. Yes it can take many months for some, but those are the ones who feel motivated to post about it online, so are the worst affected and the ones you are likely to read about and begin to be hopeless and fearful. Most other people just get better and don’t bother posting about it.

So it’s very very likely to come back, it will just take some time. Smell training has helped me immensely. Also steaming helped my sinuses which were very dry and weird feeling.

@MaggieDragon @WilsonMilson

I know this is a very old thread but came across it while panic-Googling and thought I'd check whether either of you are still around to update...

I tested positive for COVID yesterday, though I think I've probably had it for about six days. For the last 4/5 days I've noticed a significant reduction in my sense of smell - as you describe, it's not a complete absence, as I can smell strong smells if I'm right up close to them, but I can't smell any ambient smells (eg different house smells, scented candle burning in a room). During this last 5 days my sense of smell has been at about the same level every day, no real change. I think I'm getting stressed because I had covid before and lost my smell entirely for about 2 days, but then it came back rapidly. This time the loss isn't complete, but it also feels like there's no change over time.

Was this your experience? Did you find that your sense of smell eventually went back to normal? I'm still testing positive so I probably just need to be patient and stop worrying 24/7!!