Hi, I have been diagnosed with a viral infection. Day 17 of no taste or smell, completely lost my senses. Has anyone else been through this? If so, I am looking on how you got on. It’s horrible not being able to smell or taste. I am still coughing. When I bend down I feel a whole load of heavy gunge at the top of my nose.
loss of senses : Hi, I have been diagnosed with a viral... - NRAS
loss of senses
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HamHammy
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Hi HH
Yes, I have been through this when I had Covid last year! My taste came back fairly quickly but not my smell it was just coming back after about 6 months when I got Covid again 🙄
You don't say if it was Covid you had..but a cold, flu etc can cause you to lose your smell/taste when you are blocked up with mucus etc. I found losing my smell horrible..I did go to the GP after about a month and she said it would take time, try steam inhalation and she gave me a steroid nose spray which helped.
I am sure it will be back soon for you once your virus clears., I was advised to try and stimulate my sense of smell with strong smelling scents like, lemon, coffee, peppermint etc. when I could smell my husbands coffee he was making it was the best thing..even though I don't drink it!
Best wishes x
Thank you so much for replying. Have tested using the lateral flow tests a good number of times and it doesn’t come up with Covid. I was violently sick 6 days before my loss of senses started, I put it down to a horrid sick bug but thinking it must be related. Have bought scene oil, eucalyptus, lemon, rose, clove, can smell none of them. I miss smelling coffee. How long was it when you could taste?
Norovirus is doing the rounds, my daughter has been quite unwell with this over the last week., so many nasty bugs and virus around at the moment. My taste came back fairly quickly..after about 2 weeks or so but my smell took much longer, it did come back after about a month but very slowly and I still couldn't smell strong smells like bleach, paint etc 7 months later, I was advised when I first went to the GP that I may need a referral to ENT if it didn't fully come back. I did googling it (never a great idea!) and it can take a while for the senses to repair themselves. It sounds like you're congested still so still early days yet ..but maybe a visit to your GP would he beneficial. I hope it improves for you soon x
I had Covid a year ago & still have no taste/smell.
ENT say it will either come back…..or it won’t!
Yes, this is what I was told and that it is a waiting game! It hasn't returned fully YET!
I don’t know about you, but it’s not really about eating it’s not being able to smell my perfume.
I’m terrified I will go out smelling like a perfume shop…..and being referred to as “that old lady who uses too much scent ! 😘
😂😂 oh yes..I understand that one! I've also got a bit heady from using too much bleach as I couldn't smell it!
😟eeek. That’s frustrating but I suppose it’s trying not to get down with it.
Oh no AC you poor thing 🥺 I thought it was bad enough having to wait 3-4 months for my sense of taste to return. Still not fully after 8 months but good enough.
It helps to hear how you have got one. Thank you for all your replies. Agedcrone, a year??? I’m OMG, you poor thing.
tbh at first I thought I had forgotten how to cook …I couldn’t smell that lovely aroma of the slow cooker as you walk into the kitchen .l was adding garlic & Worcester sauce to everything..but it finally dawned it was another little Covid gift!
Did you show positive when you did a Covid test?
I showed positive for Covid both times I lost my smell, my smell/taste went about 4 days after testing positive. My recent Covid infection I lost my smell again for about 5 days it did come back quite quickly but only to the levels I had before with my first Covid bout. I didn't lose my taste with Covid this 2nd time though. I have dogs and it sounds weird but I miss their "smell" I've not been able to smell when they need a bath etc 😔 lucky for them!
This Covid is something else. Strangely I am not showing positive 🤧
I had COVID just after New Year, I lost both smell and taste, I first tested negative then two days later positive was put on antiviral as on methotrexate and a biologic
Did you test Covid positive through lateral flow tests?
Yes on the third one
Mmm yeah question is has time elapsed now and covid won’t show.
Yes when I had covid. It has taken about 4 weeks to recover.strangely I was also sick a few days before I tested positive .I just rested and had some short walks.My sinuses were the worse, I had some pain in my jaw and face from it. I hope you feel better soon.
Thank you. Coming from a chocolate fanatic, this is torture 😫
hello , I lost my taste and smell 3 years ago .
Been under ENT have steroid nose spray & nasal irrigation but no success . You clearly have an illness going on so give it time ., if you don’t regain your senses you too should get referred to ENT to see if they can help ! Good luck.
thank you. Do you get any enjoyment out of eating? 😟
After I had chemo my taste and smell vanished, it’s been like that for years now. I did read about sniffing essential oils which I have recently purchased. Honestly it’s amazing as I can smell, peppermint and the zesty ones. I’m doing this a few times a day and can honestly say it’s starting to work a little. I could smell a pot of soup n the kitchen when I walked in. This sounds silly, but to be able to smell anything is a bonus. Worth a try.
I have started with clove oil, rose oil, eucalyptus and lemon oil. Can’t smell a thing
I still haven’t fully recovered my smell and taste after having Covid two and a half years ago. The Abscent Network has been a useful support.
Is that the smelling tests with the use of oils. I started that over the weekend. What did you do?
I tried the smell training for 4 months - not with much success. Then I just started to try to smell everything- when I was cooking, out walking, everywhere. I have some faint smells now and some things have a smell but not how they smelt before. And eating is now more about texture and how appealing things look than the taste. The best bit about the AbScent Network was hearing other people’s stories and tips. The network is still there but in a reduced form because of funding issues. If you Google it you will get their website. Hope it helps. And fingers crossed that your smell and taste loss is only short lived.
Sounds like the covid I had last year. Keep drinking and stay warm 💐🌈
Thank u for your wishes
Have you tried Friars Balsam? Put boiling water in a bowl add a teaspoon of balsam put a tea towel over your head and over the bowl and smell the vapour. 600 years of meds can’t be wrong… it does work for sinus issues 🤔
Thank you, I will be trying that. I have just been using menthol crystals so far
Same derivative as incence
Yes it is terrible having not being able to taste or smell. I am in my 17 month still no taste or smell after a serious case of covid Sept 2022. I was told it was either the paxlovid or the strain of Covid. I eat the same thing most todays by texture which is one fried chicken tender,radishes,celery. It is the strangest and most frustrating thing I have gone through in my 72 years not enjoying eating. I lost 30 lbs to (159)and was not much over weight. It’s boring to eat but my bride of 50 years needs to enjoy life so I go to restaurants and ask the waitress to deep fry my grouper which she can’t beleive I can’t taste. I have tried eating a bowl of hot peppers or wasabi sauce spread over my fish with no effect. I was told that 3% with this will go 1 year however after 18 months it may not come back which is not good. I am fortunate to be healthy with only taking Alleve for my back which my ER doctor was impressed to see that at my age. Anyway,I hope your senses comes back because it is hard to deal with everyday because people around you don’t understand it and how you cope with it. I tell them you take it for granted until this happens!
Wish you all the best and get well soon!
awww that sounds truely horrid. I am still at work and wonder should I be at home resting, looking after myself. However staying at home can have effects of lack of purpose etc when my hubbie and friends are all at work. I am absolutely loaded with what feels like one hell of a cold, very sore throat, ears are a little different, I sound very nasally.
Hi HamHammy,
I lost my sense of smell in March 2020 during a very bad bout of Covid. My smell has only just returned, close to 4 years later, but it is still only faint.
It returned just before Christmas 2023, 2 days after my GP gave me a steroid injection in my hip for pain relief. I immediately emailed my ENT surgeon and asked him if the hip steroid injection had anything to do with my smell retuning and he emailed me straight back telling me it was, because steroid injections reduce inflammation and not just in the part of the body which received the injection. I was over the moon!
Although I can still smell certain things faintly, it has not remained as strong as it was immediately after my injection.
FYI….I have tried many prescribed nasal steroid sprays, had my polyps removed, had my deviated septum operated on, all to no avail to my sense of smell. My nose operations were done in 2022. My surgeon told me at the time of my operation that he hoped my sense of smell returned but there is no guarantee and I must be prepared for it to never return. All of this began during my first bout of COVID, (of which I had many but none to the extent of the first), the first bout being simply awful with none stop coughing for weeks on end, breathlessness, lack of energy, etc, etc.
I hope you are fortunate enough to get your sense of smell back. If not….ask for a joint injection…..! 😁
Best wishes, T57
good tip, will remember that. 😊Thank you for your wishes
no, i will now
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