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For those who had Covid how long did it take to get your sense of smell back?

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https://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/320601935/m/6840008594

October 27, 2022, 12:15 PM
WaterburyBob
For those who had Covid how long did it take to get your sense of smell back?
I had it the week after Christmas, so that's 10 months ago. I still can't smell things anywhere near like I used to.
I guess there is an upside to it - I could barely smell the odor when my dog got skunked and I can't smell dog shit at all.



"If Gun Control worked, Chicago would look like Mayberry, not Thunderdome" - Cam Edwards
October 27, 2022, 12:15 PM
DoctorSolo
I've had it twice and my sense of smell and taste seem to be permanently dulled. Nothing tastes as vivid as before and it doesn't seem to be improving.

Kind of sucks. Why can't they make a useful drug that fixes that!?
October 27, 2022, 12:32 PM
P220 Smudge
quote:
Originally posted by MikeinNC:
quote:
Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
About six months from my last go-round in February when I was asymptomatic, but just happened to have my sense of go totally out of whack. Everything smelled wrong, tasted wrong, I kept smelling what I can only describe as stale cigarette smoke. I'm still not 100%, and I've had to accept that I probably never will be.


I had the cigarette smoke thing too! I quit in 99. Went on for about a week six months out from C19. every breath was smoke, uggghh. I’ve had it return for a few hours three or four times since then


Yeah, I quit coming up on twelve years ago. Maybe it's a scent memory thing, I dunno. It comes and goes for me also now that you mention it - I had it happening for a bit a few weeks ago.


______________________________________________
"If the truth shall kill them, let them die.”

Endeavoring to master the subtle art of the grapefruit spoon.
October 27, 2022, 12:36 PM
6guns
I had it last January. Actually, got sick just before Christmas and it lasted pretty bad for two weeks. After another two weeks I was pretty back to normal except for lack of taste and smell. It started coming back in dribs and drabs after about four months, but even now, nine months later, some tastes are still lacking. I suspect it'll always be like this.




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October 27, 2022, 01:46 PM
Captain Morgan
Luckily I havent had it but I know people the have and lost their smell. They went to an acupuncture place and they got their smell back.



Let all Men know thee, but no man know thee thoroughly: Men freely ford that see the shallows.
Benjamin Franklin
October 27, 2022, 01:50 PM
ZSMICHAEL
Mayo is doing a study so must have some legitimacy. Recruiting subjects.

https://www.mayo.edu/research/...-trials/cls-20517580
October 27, 2022, 02:51 PM
Lwt16
I had two hospital admissions with C19 double pneumonia with ground glass opacities. I lost all taste and smell for a few weeks and still have smell distortions a year later. Bathroom related odors are the main ones I still can’t smell and any products that are alcohol based. Perfumes, colognes, whiskey are all odorless to me.

I quit drinking years ago so it’s not a big deal to me. Coffee was my biggest impact but I’m getting to where I can smell it better. Smoke was a no-go for a year but I’m starting to re-gain the ability to smell hickory at bbq restaurants and occasionally, I’ll pass a smoker or someone vaping and get a faint whiff.

I’ll take it though as they thought I would have scarring and be on oxygen for a long time. I weaned off it pretty fast and was hiking within a few weeks of hospitalization. For me, it was vital to get up and stay moving…..no matter how taxing it was.

I came real close to going to high flow and a ventilator. My hospitalist said to keep out of the bed and do what I could to stay moving. His advice made an enormous difference in my recovery.
October 27, 2022, 03:25 PM
mark60
quote:
Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
quote:
Originally posted by MikeinNC:
quote:
Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
About six months from my last go-round in February when I was asymptomatic, but just happened to have my sense of go totally out of whack. Everything smelled wrong, tasted wrong, I kept smelling what I can only describe as stale cigarette smoke. I'm still not 100%, and I've had to accept that I probably never will be.


I had the cigarette smoke thing too! I quit in 99. Went on for about a week six months out from C19. every breath was smoke, uggghh. I’ve had it return for a few hours three or four times since then


Yeah, I quit coming up on twelve years ago. Maybe it's a scent memory thing, I dunno. It comes and goes for me also now that you mention it - I had it happening for a bit a few weeks ago.


Add me to the list. It was about 5 months before I started to get my sense of smell back but then I kept smelling cigarette smoke and still do a year later.
October 27, 2022, 04:21 PM
RogueJSK
I've been comparatively lucky. I've had Covid twice.

One time, I never lost my taste/smell.

The other time, I lost both senses suddenly (over the course of about an hour from normal to nothing), was totally without it for about 3 days, and then it came back gradually over the following week until it was back to normal.

So only about 10 days total of no/dull senses.
October 27, 2022, 04:30 PM
BigCity
It has been almost 2 years for my son. He still has not gotten any better.


John

The key to enforcement is to punish the violator, not an inanimate object. The punishment of inanimate objects for the commission of a crime or carelessness is an affront to stupidity.

October 27, 2022, 04:38 PM
Shifferbrains
I got it July 2nd, lost all smell and most of taste. Started taking 250mg Niacin and had most everything back in four weeks.

Now Niacin can pack a punch with flushing, so if you do take it, be prepared for a flushing episode. My episodes usually last no more than 40 minutes.

What the Niacin does is help strip away dead cells and help promote new cell growth. Worked for me.
October 27, 2022, 04:42 PM
GrumpyBiker
2 years , 6 months , 23 days & counting!
(April 4, 2020)
Not returned yet.
Hasn’t stopped me from eating or buying & consuming adult beverages as the cravings for things I used to love persist but it’s either nothing or it’s disgusting.

PITA , all the cravings but zero satisfaction.




U.S.M.C.
VFW-8054
III%

"Never let a Wishbone grow where a Backbone should be "



October 27, 2022, 04:44 PM
ArtieS
The Beautiful Girl lost her sense of smell, and doesn't completely have it back after 18 months or so, but she is a 3 time flyer with COV-19. (Vaccinated, too, and boosted. At least she's alive.)

I lost mine, with the my second bout, but seem to have it back completely.



"I vowed to myself to fight against evil more completely and more wholeheartedly than I ever did before. . . . That’s the only way to pay back part of that vast debt, to live up to and try to fulfill that tremendous obligation."

Alfred Hornik, Sunday, December 2, 1945 to his family, on his continuing duty to others for surviving WW II.
October 27, 2022, 05:24 PM
AKSuperDually
Never really did.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The trouble with our Liberal friends...is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." Ronald Reagan, 1964
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Arguing with some people is like playing chess with a pigeon. It doesn't matter how good I am at chess, the pigeon will just take a shit on the board, strut around knocking over all the pieces and act like it won.. and in some cases it will insult you at the same time." DevlDogs55, 2014 Big Grin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 27, 2022, 06:32 PM
71 TRUCK
Thanks everyone.

This seems to be a little more wide spread than I thought. I knew people lost sense of smell but id did not realize for how long it would last.

I also did not realize how wide spread the altered sense of odor would be.

I had my major case of Covid back in July/August of 2021 and I think I may have had a very very mild case a few months ago(I never tested for it) however my sense of smell did not change if I did have the second case.

I hope everyone affected by this gets back to normal soon.




The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

As ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State



NRA Life Member
October 27, 2022, 06:36 PM
Nismo
I got it at the end of July and lost my taste and smell about 4-5 days into it. It came back pretty much completely after about 3 weeks or so.
October 27, 2022, 06:36 PM
amals
Had Covid in January 2022. Mild symptoms other than fatigue, which was extreme. No loss of taste or smell.
October 27, 2022, 06:42 PM
Minnow
13 months since recovering from a near death episode with that C-word. Parosmia is still an issue with a lot of smells. Taste is broken to a degree that has me putting hot sauce and/or a ton of seasonings on anything I want to enjoy eating. I never knew how much anchovies or sardines can add to a meal. It seems like anything I really enjoyed eating has a bad smell/taste. It is interesting what they did to us with it.




"Prepared in mind and resources"
October 27, 2022, 06:52 PM
mark123
I didn't lose my sense of smell. Everything tasted like I was eating pure salt though. Everything tasted salty. Lasted about two weeks after the 11 day bout of hard breathing and coughing up blood.
October 27, 2022, 07:01 PM
cas
In 2020 when I had it, I lost my sense of smell/taste for about two hours. That was it.

After that I went well over a year without a cold. (I'm usually good for two a year)

After that I had the opposite, I started a thread about it. I'd have cold symptoms for a week, week and a half, then it would go away for two, two to three weeks. Then come back. I had tis cycle for 6 months or more? During that time, every once in a while I'd get a whiff of something, not really an external smell, but in my sinuses, "It's smells like a cold". It would fleeting, a one time odor.
Eventually I got some antibiotics and it went away seemingly for good.


quote:
Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
I can only describe as stale cigarette smoke.


I just went through this. For several weeks, constantly smelling cigarette smoke. Looking into it, I found there are SEVERAL things that can cause this. (A couple of which I have. lol)
I couldn't take it anymore. I had an idea, went to Wal-Mart and bought one of those cheap self water boarding kits. Big Grin
A nasal saline flush kit. No small step for me to take, always absolutely hating getting water in my nose. But I did it. Wasn't enjoyable, but not nearly as bad as I expected. And the next day the phantom cigarette smell was gone and hasn't returned. Been a few weeks now.