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.

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

Hola. For me, I started getting a cough and feeling under the weather. I came home from work on that Friday and I hadn't eaten at all that day, was super hungry. It was Friday! I'm going to treat myself to some Mediterranean from this delish local place. Got my food, took a bite, bland af. Couldn't taste anything. Finished eating and fell asleep watching the simpsons on the couch like I tend to do when I'm not feeling well.

Woke up the next day and couldn't smell or taste anything. Immediately took a home test which came back positive. Made a appointment for a test through my doc on Monday which of course came back positive.

Things got worse, brutal cough for at least a month. Complete brain fog for over a week, couldn't put thoughts together, which made it so i struggled to complete regular day to day things. Super fatigue for a could of weeks. After maybe 10 days my sense of smell and taste came back.

I never lost taste/smell. But, I lost everything else. I can't work anymore because of covid. It fucked me in the worst way. I'm an American and our disability system is fucked too. So I've been without pay for 2 years. I'm out of money. I don't know what to do tbh.

I had it 4 times that I'm sure of. Long term effects saw me bed ridden for the larger part of a year with my stamina and immune system still heavily affected to this day.

Smell and taste are back to 75% I'd say, could all be in my head but I swear stuff had a stronger taste/smell 2 years ago.

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.

I got it at the end of 2020, before any vaccinations. It fcked me up good, made me struggle to cycle 2 minutes to the supermarket in the following weeks. At some point I mostly recovered, but not totally. My nose was almost completely closed, which also caused ear problems and a sore throat. I had a surgery done, which did open it up somewhat but didn't fully solve the issue. I'm still having issues now. My nose is almost always very dry, sometimes painful, and also quite often not as open as I'd like. This also still causes ear and throat issues regularly, especially with cold dry air. Luckily my second run-in with covid (after vaccination) was only a temporary pain in the ass and went away without any issues after suffering for a week.

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.

My wife and I had very different experiences. I had one bad day in bed and was fine after. She was sick for at least a week and lost her since of smell (and much of taste) for about 6 months with another 6 months recovering.

Caught it in the first wave, bed ridden for 7 days. Lost both taste and smell for about 3 weeks then they both came back. I consider myself lucky.

I had OG covid just after Xmas 2020. Didn't eat for 3-4 days, and was so excited for the first time I felt up to eating. That's when I discovered I had no sense of smell. The basic tastes were there, salty, sweet, etc, but no nuance to it. With just the texture to go off, my basic white-bread-and-ham sandwich was like eating a wet sponge. It stayed that way for about 2 weeks, I think (the brain fog was real, too, don't remember much of January 2021).

Started to come back slowly, and was normal by the end of March. Nothing much long term to report. Smell might be a little more sensitive now, if anything. We have cats, and I'm always the first to know when the box needs cleaning.

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

A family member has lost their taste and smell 3 times now. They got it back the first time but barely did the second. Can't say for sure on the third time though as they have not got it back yet.

It varies, sometimes comes back within 1 year but different than before, so stuff that one tasted good now tastes bad. I will look for some saved links about this when I get a chance, but of course you can also try web search.

I was at an immediate care clinic this morning for a non-Covid sinus infection and I was asked three times if I had lost taste and smell. Apparently they are looking for that as a primary symptom of long Covid.

Totally lost my sense of smell but it was fully back within a few weeks.

My wife lost them for 3 weeks. Had she not been vaccinated, it probably would have taken longer.

Lost my sense of smell and taste for about three weeks but then it went back to normal.

I didn't have any other symptoms and didn't realize I had COVID until I tried smelling some freshly blended horseradish and couldn't smell anything, but man did it still burn the nostrils. Would not recommend.

I have a friend that also had it and lost smell and taste for a month or two and it's mostly come back, but coffee tastes disgusting to him now.

The first time I didn’t lose my taste it just made a few things taste slightly weird, most of it didn’t last too long but orange juice tasted a bit different for a few weeks. I’m pretty sure I had it again over Christmas as I literally had no taste when I woke up on the morning of the 27th, but it slowly came back throughout the day. Again orange juice tasted slightly weird for a few days after but now I think it tastes normal? Or at least more normal than it did last week

i didn't lose my taste, but my brother did. he ended up getting it back after a few days.

long term effects of the pandemic? working from home is normalized and i love it

Had COVID in 2022. Lost sense of taste and smell. I can say I didn't lose it permanently since it has come back. Whether in part or fully, I don't know. I smelled anything with a strong and recognisable smell to try retraining my nose. Perfume, Vicks, even newspapers.

I didn't get COVID during the peak in 2020 but my mental health has taken a massive hit. The NHS has taken a massive downturn since the pandemic, and I don't see it getting any better.

Lost the ability to smell and taste. Both slowly started to come back over a few months, in the end I want to say it took at least 8. It doesn't seem quite as good as before but it's mostly back to normal.

As for other long term effects, I seem to have been mostly spared except that whenever I get a viral infection, I usually have terrible joint pain.

I got the extreme end of the stick. It fucked up my heart AND lungs.

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 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.

It was about 45 days for me before my taste and smell came back, I got it the first round in 2020 and I felt like death for about a week then I felt fine but couldn't taste or smell anything for 6 weeks.

My only symptom during Covid was that I slept very poorly for 2 days. I only took a test because I'm an avid runner, and after a run on the second day, my watch dropped my VO2 max by 10%, which was highly unusual.

Since then, however, I noticed a certain aversion to alcohol. I can't get a buzz from drinking anymore, but I get a headache a few hours after even a single drink. I've been already down to a drink per week, thanks to no social life during Covid lockdowns, so this is not a big loss.

I had things taste a little like chlorine, or something, for about 3 days. It sucked.

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.

Yep, brainfog and I partially lost taste, only to spicy food!

So I spiced stuff up anormally for like 6-9 months then less and like at 1.5 years it just came back just like before and spicy things are super duper spicy again.

I lost my job, does that count?

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.

Got covid at least 3 times, maybe more. All 3 were pretty minor. Was pretty much couch ridden for 5 days during one of the illnesses, but could still talk and cook and clean and whatever. It was just hard. The other 2 could have been mistaken for minor colds.

Other than that, no long term effects. My girlfriend also had it and she states her eyesight has taken a nosedive since. Possibly related, possibly not.

I've got the first 2 mandatory (for work) vaccines in Canada, but nothing since.