Did you lose your sense of smell during C19?

If you did, has it come back?

I'm asking out of curiosity. I didn't lose mine but I know a LOT of people did. My question this morning was promoted by the linked article which included this:

Scientists have long known that the loss of olfactory capacity, or ability to smell, can predict development of nearly 70 neurological and psychiatric diseases. These include Alzheimer's and other dementias, Parkinson's, schizophrenia and alcoholism. Evidence is emerging about a link between smell loss due to COVID and ensuing cognitive decrease.

I lost my sense of smell, but it seems to have returned over time. I can't tell if it's 100% of what it was, but I believe it's close.

First round - no.  Second round - yes.  It came back.  I can smell when the dog farts when we're sitting on the couch, so I'm good. 

I have friends that did, and both bosses.  I didn't.  As far as I know they've all come back, but I know the bosses complain about things being different now.

One of my friends was an early victim, and got hit super hard.  Like almost died, and spent more than a year dealing with major problems.  Healthy, fit, young-ish (early 30s) but man she had it rough.

Wife's is still coming back slowly. That was December '21. Affected her sense of taste more. 

We had COVID in November '21.

I lost my smell for a few days, but I'm not convinced it came back to more than about 85-90%.
 

DW lost hers for a few weeks, but hers seems to have come back closer to normal.

I did not. But I also barely noticed I was sick. If I hadn't been trying to keep it from running through the entire company and shutting us down, I'd have probably worked through it. As it is, I did a fair amount of work from home. 

The fiance did the 2nd time she got it, but it came back. I don't think as well as before. 

I never caught it, or if I did, I was asymptomatic. 

I had it twice. 

1st time: Yes. Lost it for about a month. Taste was gone for about a month as well, and when it came back, it was altered. Many things tasted like pennies after that or had weird aftertastes, including coffee and soda (especially cola and Dr. Pepper). That didn't go back to normal for over a year. The fatigue and brain fog was the worst though; I felt lethargic and tired for months and months before getting close to normal again. 

2nd time: I could smell and taste everything fine. In fact, I didn't feel sick at all. Very odd. More of an inconvenience than anything else. 

I think I lost it for a little bit during one of the times I had it, but I also remember being really stuffed up.

I do seem to have a cough, however, that I've never quite been able to shake since I had it.

In reply to Tony Sestito :

Mine was similar. First round everything was "off". Like Doritos (my fave) tasted wrong. After round two I lost for maybe a day or two but came back to pre-first round normal. 

Had it very early (first outbreak in CA) and Delta.  No loss of smell or taste (no long fatigue or fog) in either but it did hit me pretty good in both cases (bad flu level).

The loss of smell or taste has always seemed like a bit of a freaky side affect to me.  It pretty much means it's somehow affecting your nervous system or brain, so it does not surprise me that it might indicate later side affects.  The fact that it seems to affect different people in almost random ways is also rather disturbing and I have to say rather irritating that no one seems to have a clue why this is! (although I did hear they identified a possible genetic corelation)

Obviously you loose smell and some taste with a cold, but that is clearly the result of a clogged nose, not some neurological blockage.

Tony Sestito said:

I had it twice. 

1st time: Yes. Lost it for about a month. Taste was gone for about a month as well, and when it came back, it was altered. Many things tasted like pennies after that or had weird aftertastes, including coffee and soda (especially cola and Dr. Pepper). That didn't go back to normal for over a year. The fatigue and brain fog was the worst though; I felt lethargic and tired for months and months before getting close to normal again. 

2nd time: I could smell and taste everything fine. In fact, I didn't feel sick at all. Very odd. More of an inconvenience than anything else. 

The fatigue was the real deal. Mine only lasted a couple of weeks instead of months, but it certainly did floor a lot of people. 

It sucked when I had it during the Omicron wave back in September, it completely rearranged what foods I enjoy now, and I notice textures a lot more.

1988RedT2 said:

Quite the contrary, all during the pandemic, I could detect the strong stench of government overreach.

"You should probably stay home for a week or whatever and watch Tiger King." = government overreach, got it.  

I had my first, and thus far only, bout earlier this year and it rocked me pretty good for a few days. No loss of taste or smell though and I bounced back pretty quickly afterwards. I did have some of the lingering altered taste thing going on for a few weeks afterwards. Coffee and beer seemed to be particularly affected, had to power through the coffee anyway to avoid caffeine withdrawal but I don't think I touched  a beer for a solid 2-3 weeks(!)

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

(redacted)

Lost sense of smell and taste when I had it in May 2020. They mostly came back towards the end of the summer of '21. Some things still don't smell or taste right. I stil get occasions dizzy spells though less frequently than I was.  

In reply to aircooled :

I wasn't sure I had it at the time because I had no respiratory issues, and there wasn't much known about other symptoms and the time. I had the loss of smell/taste, fatigue, and severe dizziness to the point sometimes I'd have to sit on my lawn walking from the house to car. I only found out I had it a couple months later when my doctor did bloodwork. 

In reply to aircooled :

I deleted my comment upon reading your post.  I admit I was overcome by a spontaneous impulse to make what I felt was a funny observation.

Wally (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to aircooled :

I wasn't sure I had it at the time because I had no respiratory issues, and there wasn't much known about other symptoms and the time. I had the loss of smell/taste, fatigue, and severe dizziness to the point sometimes I'd have to sit on my lawn walking from the house to car. I only found out I had it a couple months later when my doctor did bloodwork. 

That was my first in early '20. Didn't know until I had bloodwork done in June that I had it. IIRC, at the time I did have it (March 2020) we the public were being told it's not here yet except for a few cases here and there etc. I had no idea I had it but the fatigue and what the wife called "covid brain" were real. I worked from home most of that and my lunches were literally lying down on the futon behind the computer and sleeping. 

1988RedT2 said:

In reply to aircooled :

I deleted my comment upon reading your post.  I admit I was overcome by a spontaneous impulse to make what I felt was a funny observation.

It was funny.  Sometimes people get offended by obvious humor.  Demanding censorship to control what others think and say is never good.  I don't like seeing people intimidated into silence either.  None of that helped during COVID which is why good information is still hard to find, hence this thread in the first place.  

I was lucky. Single incident, January 2021. Tested because I had a sore throat, and was limited to the sore throat and subsequent runny nose and sneezing. No fever, no loss of smell or fatigue.

I still take it seriously, still mask at work. A 42 year old friend of mine died on Sunday, so the tally continues. 

988RedT2 said:

Quite the contrary, all during the pandemic, I could detect the strong stench of government overreach.

That's hilarious. Thanks for the laugh.  

In reply to AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) :

Oh, for F's sake!   Who was offended?  It was clearly an unintentionally political joke.  Guess what is not allowed here?  Yes, even with the 1st amendment!  (Which you have clearly stated you have an obviously incorrect understanding of)

Guess what will not allow this subject to be discussed here?  Political comments / jokes. (Which has likely already derailed this thread). Thus my comment. 

   I *think* I had it in February of '20 but, it was during range week while I was in the IDOC academy and we were told it was influenza C. I was the sickest I've been in recent memory but, I still shot 245 out of 250 and got the best score in my class. (It's the little things that make me happy) No loss of taste or smell.


   I was double vaxxed and boosted during the pandemic and didn't get it again until May of '23 (either from someone at my gym or a grocery store, I don't really go anywhere else), again with no loss of taste and smell along with very mild symptoms. I didn't take a test in '20 because we didn't have them but, in May of '23 I tested positive. Lots of the people I worked with from January of '20 through April of '23 got it and lost their senses of taste and smell. Two died and two nearly died; one of the guys that nearly died is a severe diabetic with lots of other comorbidities and the other is a former professional fighter with no chronic illnesses at all.


   It's wild how the symptoms and severity of the sickness varied so wildly from case to case.