Food smells are making me feel nauseous - any advice?

[RaspberryRed]

I was diagnosed with an ILD about a year ago. I now have ambulatory oxygen around the house and take low dose morphine to help with breathlessness and cough.

About 2 - 3 weeks ago cooking smells started making me feel a bit nauseous. This is now getting worse, I’ve become very sensitive to food smells and it’s affecting my appetite. I find the smell of toast or e.g. bacon horrible.

I don’t know why this is happening or how to overcome it. Can anyone offer any advice on how to overcome this as I already have a low appetite and this is making it worse.

[MoyB]

Have you, by any chance, had COVID recently?

I ask because I have had the same problem with hot food since I had COVID in October. I've now been referred to ENT but doubt there will be much they can do.

My niece also has the same problem since having COVID and I have read that it can be an unwanted side effect of it.

My own sense of smell and taste have been distorted. The smell of some hot food - especially meat - makes me want to gag. However, the smell I get is the same, regardless of what the food is eg eggs smell the same as roast meat! I now regularly hold my head away from the plate, take a breath and then hold it while I chew and swallow. I guess you may find this rather difficult and so I don't know what else to suggest.

I find I can eat and enjoy sweet things eg cake! I can also enjoy spicy food, although it doesn't taste the same as it used to. I am very sad that milk chocolate now has an odd taste to it and I don't enjoy it any more.

All this is better for the waist line (excluding the cake!) but blooming miserable when we go out to eat and the food on my husband's plate makes me recoil!

My niece has been told that certain receptors in her nostrils have been wiped out by the COVID and this affects the smell of hot food. She is better with cold food, and so am I. She has also been told that things should eventually come right again!

I don't know if anything I've written will be of any real help to you, but at least you know you're not alone with the dilemma!

I hope you can find a way to get around the issue as it is very unpleasant and, of course, it's not really an option to avoid eating, so it's hard to get away from the smells.

I'll keep an eye on any further replies as I'll be interested to know if anyone else is similarly affected and, if so, how they deal with it.

xx Moy

[Alberta56]

You poor thing. I hope somebody comes up with an answer. xxx

[Nula2]

Sorry I can't help but hope you are able to find out the cause and overcome it. You don't need that if you have a poor appetite anyway. Good luck and keep us posted ❤️xxx

[peege]

Hi RaspberryRed, I think if I were you I'd head to the GP to get checked out.Personally I'm finding I still can't smell or taste much since testing positive for covid a couple of weeks ago. I hope you get to the bottom of what's going on. Best, P