Nowadays I'm almost fully ok, the only smells I haven't recovered are body odor (which I can smell, it's just really different) and feces and trash, which for some reason smell in a very particular sweet way, kinda like rotten meat.
That last one, for some reason, seems to be really common, since several friends that also lost smell have had the same exact change.
(Not trying to downplay covid-19. Just pointing out that it's not an unknown side effect from this type of disease)
I wonder if we have special "wiring" for enhancing human-produced smells? Kinda like how the brain is capable of distinguishing human faces by small details that we don't see that well for other species.
I do miss those odors, to be honest...
What I'm just surprised by is how my smell totally recovered after 6 weeks, but then months later this semi-sweet aging strawberries smell kicked in (with many things, but mainly ethanol-containing products). My covid experience itself thankfully was fairly benign too.
If my olfactory neurons repaired themselves, then what triggered disrepair months later?
To be clear, I've been on the keto diet since January, and that definitely can produce fruity alcohol breath as a natural byproduct, so when I ran this concern with my GP, they said it's very likely not covid, and more likely my diet. But that didn't quite sit well with me, and now that you and others on here mention your experience, I'm more convinced this is some kind of odd post-covid long-term effect. TBD!
Wow that is weird, hadn’t heard of that one yet, and seems kind of dangerous. Is he taking extra precautions to stay hydrated?
Here's an example (no affiliation, just the ones with the best SEO, I am not a doctor): https://abscent.org/learn-us/smell-training
[1] https://heritageradionetwork.org/episode/live-datta-lab-feat...
Hope you recover fully.
Edit: since someone asked for citations, here is a CNN link
https://us.cnn.com/2021/04/03/health/long-haulers-vaccine-we...
I follow the "This week in virology" podcast and they have discussed this extensively as well. Dr Daniel Griffin, cited in the CNN article is a weekly contributor on this podcast, and has mentioned the effect in question multiple times.
Loss of sense of smell is not psychosomatic. Unfortunately, viral infections can cause sometimes permanent loss.
Please. add. citations.
Citations are more relevant for when people are making a claim than for when they are investigating a claim.
I can't recommend reading the World Obesity Atlas pdf enough as it provides possible explanations for the disparities in cases and deaths we've seen in different societies.
[1] https://www.worldobesity.org/resources/resource-library/covi...
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excess-weight-and...
It really, really sucks.