Ask Lemmy

Didn't lose my smell or taste but after the initial flu-like stage of my infection was over I didn't really get any better. And my doctor made it worse by telling me to power through and start working again. Nowadays I can only leave the bed to go to the toilet.

I'm about to participate in a study with some experimental treatments. Stupid thing is that I have to do an exercise test at the beginning so that they can measure the effectiveness. I took a shower last week and that's left me in pain that will persist over the next few weeks. I shudder to think about what that exercise test will do.

But Portal taught me to do everything for science.

Just a reminder that not only is covid not over, but in many places infections are on the rise again and people are still dying, while vaccines become less and less accessible, no other official measures taken (like recommending masks on public transport), and more and more long term effects of infection come to light.

As a vulnerable person, the fact that people talk about it like it's in the past scares the shit out of me.

I never fully lost my taste (maybe 80% lost during active infection) but it only partially came back. It feels like there's a "section" or "zone" of flavor I can't taste anymore. Like a blind spot. I am extremely saddened by it and have an even more complicated relationship with food now.

It also rewired my taste and some smell so some things taste really different. For example, coffee tastes like stagnant mildewy mop water and smells like a recently used litterbox. Only minor variations for brand, at home drip vs. barista, etc.

Going into a coffee shop smells like venturing into a crazy cat lady's condemned home.

Had it in 2021, taste was gone for only three days. Afterwards some things tasted off for a few weeks, chocolate tasted like ammonium. That's gone now. Endurance was mostly gone afterwards, and I stil have trouble remembering names, even of people I've known a long time.

Smell and taste took maybe 3 weeks to come back fully, as far as I can tell.

I found that making myself smell strong things seemed helpful, whether placebo or not. Like whiffs of essential oils and stuff.

The fatigue was the worst part. That took at least a month to get over the hump.

I got it towards the end of 2020 and was hospitalized for a week with pneumonia and a collapsed lung. The acute infection had me sick for a month. My last day with a fever was exactly 4 weeks after the first day I felt symptoms. I had lingering symptoms for about 6 months after.

As far as taste, I got that back quickly. I lost my taste within the first 2-3 days. I heard from someone that spicy food helps so I ate the spiciest food I could find. My lips were burning, my hair was tingling and I was sweating so I knew it was hot. I could almost feel like I was tasting spice, but the sensation would quickly go away. The next day I was able to taste a little bit and within 24-48 it was mostly back. By the time I was hospitalized, I had fully regained taste. I didn’t get my sense of smell back for probably another 3 weeks after that.

I lost what little faith I had left in our current arrangement of society and our capacity to cooperate within this context. My worst fears were realised as it became apparent just how many people, entire governments even, are more than willing to abandon the vulnerable to the capitalist machine. The fact that at one point people were trying to argue that death is actually not that bad and not being able to go to bars and cafes was actually the real injustice. I'd say that's a pretty long term consequence for me personally.

My sense of smell still sucks, and it's been almost two years since I had COVID. It's marginally better than it was, but is still substantially worse than it was pre-infection.

EDIT: Okay, this is a bit of an exaggeration. My sense of smell has mostly returned, but for example, nuances in the taste of food seem to have become permanently dulled, and it sucks tbh. Something, as subtle as it is, has changed.

When I had COVID, certain food or sauces were tasteless or even awful. For example, beef burger and mayonaise - they became awful in taste for me.

Took almost A year to get the taste back.

My father had COVID when there was no vaccinates yet and he still hasn’t got his taste back on certain things like coffee.

ETA: Forgot to say his smell is 50/50 as well. He sometimes does smell things and sometimes not.

No long-term side effects from getting covid twice, my endurance didn't really change after I got better but it was kind of depressed for a week or so afterwards, and my sense of taste was gone for about 3 or 4 days.

Other than that, my dad got it once and now he's not alive anymore, so get your booster shots and mask if you want to.

My sense of taste was dulled and my sense of smell was totally 100% gone(I'm certain I could've been sprayed directly by a skunk and still smelt nothing at all) for about a month, with them slowly going back to normal over the course of another month or so. I also developed minor brain fog, which still hasn't fully left over 3 years later.

No pb with taste and smell. However, I experience difficulties staying focused when I talk, finding words, finishing sentences, especially at work

I had COVID at the beginning of 2021, I've lost smell, even when I got out of it for a few months soft drinks like Coke, sprite or tonic tested like paint thinner, raw onion and my own sweat smelled like rotten eggs, fortunately after some time it stopped, drinks sooner than onion though