? For Those Of You Who Lost Taste And/Or Smell...

Fryowa

Fryowa

Administrator
I got the 'Rona a few days ago, and I'm through the worst of the physical part. Day one and two sucked big time, day 3 was better, and today is better yet. For me it was equivalent to a bad cold that I've had multiple times.

However...

Most of you probably know that I like to cook and eat food, and I have a pretty diverse palette. I also lost almost all of my taste and 100% of my smell. Here's my situation in detail:

Taste:

-I can sense some sweet tastes. I can't really differentiate between what's what, but I can tell it's sweet. If I'm eating a brownie I know it's got sugar in it but that's about it. I can't make out chocolate, etc.

-Meat, cheese, bread, spice, vinegar (dill pickles, etc) I have absolutely nothing. I tried hot Cheetos and got the sting from the spice, but zero flavor. Anything savory ain't there at all. It's like I'm eating some weird kind of textured soy product with literally no discernable taste sensation.

-I can pick up the salt on Ritz crackers a tiny bit so that's pretty much what I've been eating.

- Liquids are weird. Gatorade is almost non-existent other than I can sense it's sweet, and all flavors taste identical, which is like VERY watered down KoolAid. Cola flavored drinks just tastes like watered down flat versions. Like if you drink a fountain Coke that's gone flat and all the ice has melted watering it down. Lemon Lime flavored drinks like Sprite or 7Up are somewhat close to the original, which is weird. Now get this...Minute Maid peach punch from the carton...tastes EXACTLY like it did before. On one hand it's fucking glorious because it's the one thing I can actually enjoy, but on the other hand it's pretty much straight up sugar and flavoring so I can't just drink that for the next month. But, whatever they put in that shit at the factory defeats the 'Rona taste gremlins.

Smell:

-It's just fuckin' gone. Zero, zilch, nada. As in literally nothing.

-I stuck my nose right in a bottle of rubbing alcohol and inhaled, and got zero. I did get a faint burn from the alcohol, but no smell telling me it was alcohol whatsoever.

-Tried fresh cut onion, the strongest horseradish my buddy could find, deodorant right on my nose, you name it. There's just nothing there whatsoever.

Anyway, here's my question for those of you who lost your taste and/or smell...

How long did it take to come back (if it did), and what was your experience?

This is hell. I'm physically fine now, but because I love to cook and smell and eat food of many different varieties, you could say it's a very important part of life for me. What I have going on now is like watching Avatar in black and white with earmuffs on.
 
Fryowa said:
I got the 'Rona a few days ago, and I'm through the worst of the physical part. Day one and two sucked big time, day 3 was better, and today is better yet. For me it was equivalent to a bad cold that I've had multiple times.

However...

Most of you probably know that I like to cook and eat food, and I have a pretty diverse palette. I also lost almost all of my taste and 100% of my smell. Here's my situation in detail:

Taste:

-I can sense some sweet tastes. I can't really differentiate between what's what, but I can tell it's sweet. If I'm eating a brownie I know it's got sugar in it but that's about it. I can't make out chocolate, etc.

-Meat, cheese, bread, spice, vinegar (dill pickles, etc) I have absolutely nothing. I tried hot Cheetos and got the sting from the spice, but zero flavor. Anything savory ain't there at all. It's like I'm eating some weird kind of textured soy product with literally no discernable taste sensation.

-I can pick up the salt on Ritz crackers a tiny bit so that's pretty much what I've been eating.

- Liquids are weird. Gatorade is almost non-existent other than I can sense it's sweet, and all flavors taste identical, which is like VERY watered down KoolAid. Cola flavored drinks just tastes like watered down flat versions. Like if you drink a fountain Coke that's gone flat and all the ice has melted watering it down. Lemon Lime flavored drinks like Sprite or 7Up are somewhat close to the original, which is weird. Now get this...Minute Maid peach punch from the carton...tastes EXACTLY like it did before. On one hand it's fucking glorious because it's the one thing I can actually enjoy, but on the other hand it's pretty much straight up sugar and flavoring so I can't just drink that for the next month. But, whatever they put in that shit at the factory defeats the 'Rona taste gremlins.

Smell:

-It's just fuckin' gone. Zero, zilch, nada. As in literally nothing.

-I stuck my nose right in a bottle of rubbing alcohol and inhaled, and got zero. I did get a faint burn from the alcohol, but no smell telling me it was alcohol whatsoever.

-Tried fresh cut onion, the strongest horseradish my buddy could find, deodorant right on my nose, you name it. There's just nothing there whatsoever.

Anyway, here's my question for those of you who lost your taste and/or smell...

How long did it take to come back (if it did), and what was your experience?

This is hell. I'm physically fine now, but because I love to cook and smell and eat food of many different varieties, you could say it's a very important part of life for me. What I have going on now is like watching Avatar in black and white with earmuffs on.
Click to expand...

This is right out weird and kind of scary. Not having smell can be dangerous.

The real question is..........................how does your bluegill taste?

Good luck with getting it back. I have heard different reports from different people on the time aspect. It seems pretty random.
 
Fryowa said:
I got the 'Rona a few days ago, and I'm through the worst of the physical part. Day one and two sucked big time, day 3 was better, and today is better yet. For me it was equivalent to a bad cold that I've had multiple times.

However...

Most of you probably know that I like to cook and eat food, and I have a pretty diverse palette. I also lost almost all of my taste and 100% of my smell. Here's my situation in detail:

Taste:

-I can sense some sweet tastes. I can't really differentiate between what's what, but I can tell it's sweet. If I'm eating a brownie I know it's got sugar in it but that's about it. I can't make out chocolate, etc.

-Meat, cheese, bread, spice, vinegar (dill pickles, etc) I have absolutely nothing. I tried hot Cheetos and got the sting from the spice, but zero flavor. Anything savory ain't there at all. It's like I'm eating some weird kind of textured soy product with literally no discernable taste sensation.

-I can pick up the salt on Ritz crackers a tiny bit so that's pretty much what I've been eating.

- Liquids are weird. Gatorade is almost non-existent other than I can sense it's sweet, and all flavors taste identical, which is like VERY watered down KoolAid. Cola flavored drinks just tastes like watered down flat versions. Like if you drink a fountain Coke that's gone flat and all the ice has melted watering it down. Lemon Lime flavored drinks like Sprite or 7Up are somewhat close to the original, which is weird. Now get this...Minute Maid peach punch from the carton...tastes EXACTLY like it did before. On one hand it's fucking glorious because it's the one thing I can actually enjoy, but on the other hand it's pretty much straight up sugar and flavoring so I can't just drink that for the next month. But, whatever they put in that shit at the factory defeats the 'Rona taste gremlins.

Smell:

-It's just fuckin' gone. Zero, zilch, nada. As in literally nothing.

-I stuck my nose right in a bottle of rubbing alcohol and inhaled, and got zero. I did get a faint burn from the alcohol, but no smell telling me it was alcohol whatsoever.

-Tried fresh cut onion, the strongest horseradish my buddy could find, deodorant right on my nose, you name it. There's just nothing there whatsoever.

Anyway, here's my question for those of you who lost your taste and/or smell...

How long did it take to come back (if it did), and what was your experience?

This is hell. I'm physically fine now, but because I love to cook and smell and eat food of many different varieties, you could say it's a very important part of life for me. What I have going on now is like watching Avatar in black and white with earmuffs on.
Click to expand...
Here’s to a quick recovery, Fry. Wow. That is really a tough one! I have several contacts who went through your experience and all were fine after, max, a month or two. Get well soon, partner.
 
MelroseHawkins said:
This is right out weird and kind of scary. Not having smell can be dangerous.

The real question is..........................how does your bluegill taste?

Good luck with getting it back. I have heard different reports from different people on the time aspect. It seems pretty random.
Click to expand...
HuckFinn said:
Here’s to a quick recovery, Fry. Wow. That is really a tough one! I have several contacts who went through your experience and all were fine after, max, a month or two. Get well soon, partner.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the well wishes, physically I’m good to go, just a slight cough left after 4 days and one ear is plugged.

But this taste/smell deal is a sick ass joke.
 
It took me about 10 days to slowly start coming back… thankfully it did. I know others that haven’t fully gotten it back and/or things they use to like taste different and they can’t have it anymore (brother-in-law can’t drink coffee now). It sucks just hang in there and here’s to hoping you get it back. Weirdest damn thing!
 
Have a friend a year plus later still not smelling.

Had a rough go in Feb and a July positive test with almost no symptoms. Never lost smell or taste w either.

Worst symptom in Feb was back pain. Got it taking care of deathly ill person who didn't want hospitalized that did survive. Got in wreck west of Denver..first ever real one...not my fault but I was likely not as sharp as usual.
 
I tend to do fairly thorough research, and it looks like the most comprehensive study so far, and the one most cited so far (that I've seen) is an aggregation of 18 studies with a total of 4,180 patients. There is one larger study but it's not larger by much and it hasn't finished peer review yet.

According to this one, between 4.4% and 5.6% of patients who report loss of smell and taste develop long-lasting dysfunction which was defined as longer than 2 weeks after testing covid negative. Of that population, at 30, 60, 90, and 180 days, respectively, 74%, 86%, 90%, and 96% reported smell recovery, and 79%, 88%, 90%, and 98% reported taste recovery. Men have a greater statistical chance of recovering both taste and smell.

So, mathematically it's a very, very small chance that I won't get it back, just a matter of when. If you guys are interested I'll post smell updates as I go along. This morning I tried a jar of really strong horseradish, an unused stick of deodorant, and rubbing alcohol. Got zero on any of it. Taste is more complicated and I'll just post general updates. You can see what I mean by complicated in my post above.

At night when I'd normally be eating supper I admit this pisses me off. For those of you who've never experienced a total loss of taste/smell, you don't realize how much enjoyment you get throughout your day from eating and smelling food and other things. If this happened to end up permanent It would be pretty depressing because it would ruin some of my favorite social interactions. I love to cook, I love to cook for other people, I enjoy eating food, and I enjoy sharing that food with other people. Another side issue is that until this is over I can't smell smoke, natural gas, or ozone which are all somewhat of a safety issue, and I can't tell if food is rotten or not (which isn't really an issue).

I also appreciate the well wishes, I feel good this morning. Throat pain is gone, cough is very reduced, and I walked a couple miles this morning before work. Have not had a fever the entire time, and it never got into my chest at all. HR and BP are the same as before.

In summary for this morning (Day 5):

Horseradish: 0

Deodorant: 0

Rubbing alcohol: 0 - I can get some very, VERY slight burn in the lungs with the rubbing alcohol, but none of the "alcohol sensation." In other words, there is nothing that will tell me it's rubbing alcohol.
 
Fryowa said:
I tend to do fairly thorough research, and it looks like the most comprehensive study so far, and the one most cited so far (that I've seen) is an aggregation of 18 studies with a total of 4,180 patients. There is one larger study but it's not larger by much and it hasn't finished peer review yet.

According to this one, between 4.4% and 5.6% of patients who report loss of smell and taste develop long-lasting dysfunction which was defined as longer than 2 weeks after testing covid negative. Of that population, at 30, 60, 90, and 180 days, respectively, 74%, 86%, 90%, and 96% reported smell recovery, and 79%, 88%, 90%, and 98% reported taste recovery. Men have a greater statistical chance of recovering both taste and smell.

So, mathematically it's a very, very small chance that I won't get it back, just a matter of when. If you guys are interested I'll post smell updates as I go along. This morning I tried a jar of really strong horseradish, an unused stick of deodorant, and rubbing alcohol. Got zero on any of it. Taste is more complicated and I'll just post general updates. You can see what I mean by complicated in my post above.

At night when I'd normally be eating supper I admit this pisses me off. For those of you who've never experienced a total loss of taste/smell, you don't realize how much enjoyment you get throughout your day from eating and smelling food and other things. If this happened to end up permanent It would be pretty depressing because it would ruin some of my favorite social interactions. I love to cook, I love to cook for other people, I enjoy eating food, and I enjoy sharing that food with other people. Another side issue is that until this is over I can't smell smoke, natural gas, or ozone which are all somewhat of a safety issue, and I can't tell if food is rotten or not (which isn't really an issue).

I also appreciate the well wishes, I feel good this morning. Throat pain is gone, cough is very reduced, and I walked a couple miles this morning before work. Have not had a fever the entire time, and it never got into my chest at all. HR and BP are the same as before.

In summary for this morning (Day 5):

Horseradish: 0

Deodorant: 0

Rubbing alcohol: 0 - I can get some very, VERY slight burn in the lungs with the rubbing alcohol, but none of the "alcohol sensation." In other words, there is nothing that will tell me it's rubbing alcohol.
Click to expand...

I think you should take a huge sniff of ammonia than report back to us the results!

Did you try tasting gasoline?
 
Dude I remember it like yesterday… I was eating fried rice when all of a sudden I realized I could slightly taste flavor again! It was glorious. I could also tell if something was sweet or not and getting frustrated not being able to taste it. Let it happen naturally… quit sniffing nasty random shit lol
 
vegashawki said:
Dude I remember it like yesterday… I was eating fried rice when all of a sudden I realized I could slightly taste flavor again! It was glorious. I could also tell if something was sweet or not and getting frustrated not being able to taste it. Let it happen naturally… quit sniffing nasty random shit lol
Click to expand...
Hey, keep this PG. Take it to the off topic open thread dude!
 
vegashawki said:
Dude I remember it like yesterday… I was eating fried rice when all of a sudden I realized I could slightly taste flavor again! It was glorious. I could also tell if something was sweet or not and getting frustrated not being able to taste it. Let it happen naturally… quit sniffing nasty random shit lol
Click to expand...

Did you get it back to 100% and how much time did it take?
 
Now you know what you can look forward to in your 90s -- according to some old-timers I know who've lost much of their taste and smell. Weird tho, for sure. Glad your chest is in good shape, and hoping your recovery in every way comes sooner rather than later.
 
Grady said:
Now you know what you can look forward to in your 90s -- according to some old-timers I know who've lost much of their taste and smell. Weird tho, for sure. Glad your chest is in good shape, and hoping your recovery in every way comes sooner rather than later.
Click to expand...
No chance I make it to 90. If I get to 60 I’m good, that’s par for the course for males on both sides of my family. I’d like to taste food till I hit 60 though.
 
Fryowa said:
No chance I make it to 90. If I get to 60 I’m good, that’s par for the course for males on both sides of my family. I’d like to taste food till I hit 60 though.
Click to expand...

If you get rid of your gut/love handles and don't eat too much bad shit you should make it to at least 72 or so.
 
Day 6

Horseradish: 0

Deodorant: I may be imagining things, but I thought this morning that I could make out a faint hint of it. Like if I had to rate it it would be a .5 on a scale from 1-10.

Rubbing alcohol: Same as above. I'll give it another day or two before I get my hopes up.
 
Fryowa said:
Day 6

Horseradish: 0

Deodorant: I may be imagining things, but I thought this morning that I could make out a faint hint of it. Like if I had to rate it it would be a .5 on a scale from 1-10.

Rubbing alcohol: Same as above. I'll give it another day or two before I get my hopes up.
Click to expand...

Did you try tasting the deodorant?
 
MelroseHawkins said:
Did you try tasting the deodorant?
Click to expand...
I'm at the point now that if I could taste it, I'd eat it.

I can see how someone would get suicidal if it was permanent. Before it happened to me I thought, "Man, that would suck."

Now that I've gone most of a week, it doesn't just suck, it's frickin' torture.

If it does happen to be permanent I'll probably just start buying Ensure or something like it in bulk and try to find some other hobby and social activity.
 
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