I had never had COVID. Saturday before last, I came down suddenly with what I thought was the flu. Headache, sore throat, coughing, expelling snot and phlegm, but no nasal congestion and never a hint of difficulty breathing.
On Wednesday I lost my sense of smell.
On Saturday I got it back again - for a couple of hours. Appeared and vanished again on Sunday.
Currently, sore throat and headache are gone, but still producing huge amounts of snot and phlegm, and still no sense of smell.
Honestly it feels like the damn virus is trolling me, giving me back something and snatching it away again.
Anybody ever hear of something like that?? It’s as if the front lines are advancing and retreating in some great, invisible battle.
Such an event is not uncommon, especially with or after an apparent viral upper respiratory infection.
Some basic stats:
- Nearly 1 in 4 Americans (or 23%) over the age of 40 reports some alteration in their sense of smell.
- Rates increase in older populations and are highest for those over 80 years old, at 32%.
- Risk factors include sinonasal symptoms (of the nose and sinuses), heavy drinking, previous loss of consciousness from head injury, poverty, and dry mouth.
It’s also not unusual for the sense of smell to come and go in those situations. Hopefully in your case, your sense will return fully.
More info here: Quick Statistics About Taste and Smell | NIDCD
I had covid in August and September of this year. Whether it was 2 separate infections or a continuation of the first one I have no idea.
Sore throat, cough, sneezing, slight fever, malaise but no problems with breathing. But lots of ever present mucous.
I totally lost my sense of taste and smell for about a week. Things gradually improved to the point where I was about 70 per cent improved.
Since then I have noticed I experience random loss of taste and smell which is not as serious as the initial phase but significant enough to be troublesome. Or I experience strange episodes of altered taste and smell. Nothing is like it used to be.
I purchased all new spices and have become a fan of Penzey’s pepper. It goes on everything. I never used pepper before and the stuff I had was probably from the early 2000s. It feels good to be able to taste something.
This week my sense of taste is reduced. It feels like there is a veil on my senses. Not totally gone but distant.
I also get frequent episodes of what feels like a sinus infection or upper respiratory situation. I’ve been taking sudafed/benadryl/zyrtek/flonase and whatever else I can to alleviate the symptoms.
I have extra kleenex scattered throughout the house and car and my office.
On top of that I still struggle with fatigue and anhedonia in varying amounts.
Medical providers have been no help so I guess we fight this on our own.
Hopefully we will recover in time.
Ok. I admit i had to look up “anhedonia”
I did read it won’t get better on it’s on.
Seek medical care and stress this problem. Stomp your feet if you must.
Reveal it to your partner. Or close friend.
And explain what it means to you and your health.
The virus eventually goes away. But the after effects can hang around for a long time.
Good luck.
I really should change this name, it doesn’t reflect who I am at all. My inspiration for the name was a sci-fi short story I read in an anthology and it really had nothing to do with my mental state.