Covid Taste & Smell Recovery

[PiperCalvinist]

I posted a question about recovering from Covid induced sensory loss in another thread, that yielded a couple good suggestions, so I just thought I’d post my own thread and see what other advice it might yield.

Anyone experience any successful Covid hacks that helped you regain your smell & taste? The first time I got Covid I didn’t feel sick, but lost my taste for several months and smell for about a year. Well, it has returned in a most unwelcome fashion, as I was just honing in certain tobacco blends that I’ve come to enjoy. Pretty discouraging, as every taste is muted and smoking any blend tastes like ash now…

 

[OzPiper]

@Choatecav started a recent (4th Aug 2024) thread "Post Covid Taste Change" which may have answers to some of your questions

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

@Choatecav started a recent (4th Aug 2024) thread "Post Covid Taste Change" which may have answers to some of your questions

Yep, that's the one he was referencing. Seemed to cover the waterfront pretty well already, not seeing the need for another but there it is.

No fun, been there, mine came back when it came back.

One of the oft made recommendations is to avoid tobacco!

 

[dottlejockey]

I've had it 3x, a few weeks ago being the most recent. Lost smell/taste for a day on one occasion and two days the other 2x. The only long-lasting symptoms that get me is the damn cough that lasts for weeks afterwards, sporadically. But everyone's definitely different on this one. I know a Scotch buddy that lost his taste for 6 months! That was rough as he is one of those rare super-taster types. Bummer. Hope you recover soon!

 

[sablebrush52]

I just got over my first bout with Covid, a gift from the asshole sitting next to me and my guest at a performance of Much Ado About Nothing at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He was hacking and coughing through the whole performance. A few days later I got what I thought was a cold or flu. Nothing too serious though unpleasant, no loss of taste or smell, but my guest had a much worse case and went on Paxlovid, which knocked it out. When I heard this I took a test and, yep, tested positive. I'd kept up with my vaccinations and she did not. Still, the severity can differ greatly from person to person, so who knows. Fortunately, my son, who lives with me, did not catch it from me.

Loss of taste and/or smell will dissipate when they dissipate.

 

[kcghost]

The only thing that seems to work is just wait for it to return. Most those who lost their sense of smell and taste got it back within a year.

 

[BrightDarkEyes]

I used several essential oils recommended on some website to smell a few times a day. I can’t say if it really sped my recovery because my sense of taste and smell was only completely gone a few days.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Might sound like a funny recovery strategy for your sense of smell but doing cardio helps all bodily tissue recover faster from injury (high blood flow = more oxygen to cells = faster recovery).

That and if I just wanted to improve my sensitivity to smell then spending time outside in fresh air will reset your perception of "normal", so going for a walk in the woods is a two for one in this case.

 

[Sigmund]

There are suggestions to exercise your sense of smell. LIke said above...essential oil sniffs...try one, move to another, then another. Not for prolonged periods...just to get the nerves working. A trip to the spice rack works too (dont sniff them up your nose). Cinnamon, cummin, herbs etc...

All that said, I have no idea if it does anything other than occupy you and let you think you are doing something to help. Regardless, its free, easy and harms nothing.

 

[BingBong]

I have used flavoursome tobacco to rehab my taste buds, it was Skiff last time, blessed is the Skiff. Maybe pulling the most repulsive aro out if the back of the cellar would work too? Something over the top, to shake things up.