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973741 tn?1342342773

I lost my smell and want it back, covid!

I had covid over a year ago.  It was a nasty case of it and I had a second round of it a few months ago again.  Blah. I lost all smell and taste. It's since come back to some extent but isn't the same.  Things smell very weird, off, faint or not at all and lots of things taste really bad (like bug spray). So, I got something to try and wanted to know if anyone else has heard of this.  I listened to a radio program about it and it is retraining your smell. I purchased a smell training kit online.  Pretty cheap. But it has four scents and I'm supposed to expose myself to them for a few seconds twice a day. What exactly this will do, I have no idea.  ha.  I'm charting it.Lemon is very faint.  Rose is strange. Anyway, hoping this helps as it is being recommended by doctors for those who have long term loss of scent from covid 19
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Avatar universal
I had a few acupuncture treatments (3-5 I think) and my sense of smell and taste returned.  I've heard you could try supplementing with zinc.  I recommend zinc picolinate, only because some of the other forms make me nauseous.
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Avatar universal
My husband and I had COVID in early Jan. and Feb. of 2020. I just got my full sense of taste back. So little is yet known about this virus. I would consult a new doctor. Sweet things used to be all I could smell. Now I’m back to normal.
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2 Comments
Wow, Jeannie, that's a long time to wait for it to come back. You're right that so little is yet known about this virus, why it hits some people and not others, why it hits some people harder, and what the long-term implications are. Obviously when a virus is new to the human population, it will take years for every implication to be discovered. Frustrating for the people who are waiting it out with long Covid issues.
Thanks JeannieKatherine.  My covid was in January of 2021 when I lost my smell. Two years for you!  Did it slowly come back?  
134578 tn?1693250592
Sounds interesting. Rose is a difficult scent for perfumers to get right at the best of times: I remember someone telling me once that only Avon had a rose-smelling thing that actually smelled like roses.

Hope the kit works!
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6 Comments
"it is being recommended by doctors for..." Are these doctors affiliated with the product? If not, then perhaps you should get someone who can smell properly (you didn't say who determined the rose is strange)  to determine if the artificial scent is rose-like or a poor resemblance, in which case maybe you should start buying real roses.
I'm all for an excuse to buy real roses! At this time of year, though, the hothouse roses smell more like bug spray than roses. lol
No, doctors aren't affiliated.  They are doctors at NYU Langone hospital of different specialties trying to address the long standing issue of scent issues post covid. They didn't recommend any particular kit.  I got one off of amazon, just random.  I don't think it is so much to get the 'right' scent but to sharpen your sense of smell.  Strengthen it.
annibrooke, rose smell is not my favorite unless it is fresh roses. Agree.  Reminds me of a grandma's closet (more than moth balls).  This is not particularly good smelling but I think I'm trying to bring that nerve back to life.
Roses can have a variety of scents - at least to me.  Some, like bright red roses, tend to be strongly sweet and sickening (again, to me - but that could be a psychological issue on my part).  Yellow/white roses have more subtle scent, but some are almost spicy.  

I’m with Annie in regards to buying real fresh roses.  

So the kit has lemon and rose scents.  What others are included and do they smell pretty close to what you remember?  

I have an older sister who lost her sense of smell years ago (long before COVID) and she misses out on a lot of good things - except when something goes bad in the fridge, she can’t smell it so it’s likely  to be penicillin by the time it gets tossed out.   I can certainly sympathize with your not being able to smell.  
I do love fresh rose scent. And lemon. BUT, the point of this is training.  Not necessarily the scent but strengthening the nerve so it will work better. Covid for some odd reason affects the nerve involved with smell and damages it.  The idea of smelling 4 different scents two times a day somehow is supposed to stimulate and retrain that nerve.  From webMD on the subject :  "Smell training involves sniffing at least four different odors twice a day every day for several months. "It aims to help recovery based on neuroplasticity -- the brain's ability to reorganize itself to compensate for a change or injury," Philpott said."  https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20201201/smell-training-might-speed-the-senses-return-after-covid#:~:text=Smell%20training%20involves%20sniffing%20at,%2C%22%20Philpott%20said.

I guess I'm mostly retraining my brain also to recognize different smells.  https://www.bbc.com/news/health-56865129

The other scents besides rose and lemon are clove and eucalyptus  (yuck).
207091 tn?1337709493
Wow, still not back? :(

I hope this works.
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
Thanks.  Pain, right?
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