Anyone else can't smell?

[adelle]

Hi, I'm new. I collect fragrances, it started out with diffusing essential oils but lately I've been into collecting perfume.

I have a huge problem where I got COVID and I haven't been able to smell ANYTHING for almost a week now.
I put my head on my pillow at night and can't smell that pillow smell that I normally don't even notice and I get sad.
I can't smell strong essential oils or perfumes at all. I can hold a bottle of nail polish under my nose, and feel nothing but burning at the back of my throat.

It's making me really sad, my closet is full of bottles that smell like nothing to me. It hasn't bothered my family members as much, but for me I constantly feel like something is missing unless I distract myself.

Did anyone else get COVID and lose their sense of smell?
I'm listening to a lot more music than usual to keep my mind off of it. I hope my smell comes back soon.

[Gilturko]

Hi Adelle,

it happens. It's one of the symptoms, probably you have lost the sense of taste too, or it's less strong than before. But don't worry, your sense of smell (and taste) will be back soon, normally this goes on for a week/ten days, then gradually you'll recover and everything will be fine. It's not permanent, don't worry!
Take care!

[Diamond Joe]

There have been at least a couple of threads about this, I'll see if I can find them.

The long and short of it is, you are in a place full of people who highly value their sense of smell. People who have more than just a passing interest in pleasure derived from beautiful smells. It is therefore even more devastating to such people to lose their sense of smell, even for a brief time. However, it IS a very well documented, and common, symptom of COVID and the important thing to focus on, is it IS NOT PERMANENT. You WILL recover it.

Maybe look at it this way - I've read several times how it's important to "reset" your smell receptors, by going fragrance-free for a period of time, a few days or a week. People who do this say that when they return to fragrances, they are sharper, stronger, they need less, and they notice nuances they had not before. Try to look at it as a forced "reset" and when your sense of smell comes back, it will be better than ever!

Also - if you have COVID and losing your sense of smell is the worst symptom you have, well.. consider yourself very very lucky. A LOT of people have had it a lot worse.

edit: here's a thread with a few replies, and people who had covid smell/taste loss, and recovered:
https://www.basenotes.net/threads/48...ue-to-COVID-19

[hednic]

Hi, I'm new. I collect fragrances, it started out with diffusing essential oils but lately I've been into collecting perfume.

I have a huge problem where I got COVID and I haven't been able to smell ANYTHING for almost a week now.
I put my head on my pillow at night and can't smell that pillow smell that I normally don't even notice and I get sad.
I can't smell strong essential oils or perfumes at all. I can hold a bottle of nail polish under my nose, and feel nothing but burning at the back of my throat.

It's making me really sad, my closet is full of bottles that smell like nothing to me. It hasn't bothered my family members as much, but for me I constantly feel like something is missing unless I distract myself.

Did anyone else get COVID and lose their sense of smell?
I'm listening to a lot more music than usual to keep my mind off of it. I hope my smell comes back soon.

Very sorry to hear this. Here's hoping that your sense of smell returns real soon.

[Blitzkrieg]

Yea......I feel ya on this, but fortunately it improves, even if it does so more slowly than you'd like.

I had it and was sick for 3-4 weeks. It was like a body-flu in my case without nausea or fever. My wife had the symptoms I didn't. Very strange.

My sense of smell dulled. Nothing smells as strong as I remember it to smell. I can differentiate smells, notes, etc.....but it's almost like olfactory fatigue without doing anything to exhaust my sense of smell.

Over the last week, THAT has improved just enough for me to notice the improvement. It seems a return to normal will happen, albeit slowly.

[sjg3839]

Hearing a lot of this lately.

[Diddy]

I had COVID at the beginning of July, my senses of smell and taste returned 2.5 weeks after the other symptoms were gone. My wife had made some red beans and I tasted the hot sauce! Was one of the happiest moments of my life. It seems common for it to return within 1-4 weeks, so don’t worry. Best wishes.

[Buysblind]

I had Covid recently and the first symptom that really alerted me was that my fragrances smelled nothing like they normally do. To begin, I could barely smell them—even the very strong ones—but furthermore, what I could smell wasn’t even remotely close to how I recalled them. It lasted about two weeks. And with the exception of two non-consecutive days where everything smelled like intense cigarette smoke all day long, everything has been fine since. But I’ve heard effects can linger gor months after. I have a friend who caught it in March and she still gets short of breath every morning walking up the stairs at work.

[Ken_Russell]

Best wishes for speedy recovery.

Also adding that so far did not experience any reduced sense of smell-even less so as a symptom and/or side effect of any pathology as well as its required medication, in fact have been so far blessed to perceive most if not all (both scent related and non fragrance) scents around me with a renewed and/or increased intensity.

[Rüssel]

Pretty sure I had Covid but luckily didn't experience that or didn't notice, instead it seemed to affect my ears.

You'll be back to normal soon. Hang in there!

[Wil5on]

I had Covid in August and sadly my sense of smell still hasn't full returned.

I also get a lot of crackling in my ears.

Some days are better than others and I find a steroid spray helps

[RedRaider430]

Pretty sure I had Covid but luckily didn't experience that or didn't notice, instead it seemed to affect my ears.

How so? Do you mean they feel stopped up, you can't hear as well, or both?

[PrinceRF]

Try to look at it as a forced "reset" and when your sense of smell comes back, it will be better than ever!

There's a way to look at it.

[cazaubon]

Pretty sure I had Covid but luckily didn't experience that or didn't notice, instead it seemed to affect my ears.

You'll be back to normal soon. Hang in there!

I have had the same thing with my ears for months, it just went away in the last 10 days since I had a mild case of Covid in early April. Fortunately never got the anosmia symptom. I had fullness in the ears, crackling, vertigo and nausea, which would increase and decrease in intensity since April.

[hednic]

I had Covid in August and sadly my sense of smell still hasn't full returned.

I also get a lot of crackling in my ears.

Some days are better than others and I find a steroid spray helps

Sorry to hear that. Hope things turn around for you soon.

[Ruffdiamond]

I had Covid in August and sadly my sense of smell still hasn't full returned.

I also get a lot of crackling in my ears.

Some days are better than others and I find a steroid spray helps

My brother had it in April/May. Took him about 6 weeks before he felt anything like his usual self. Minimum amount of exertion during then would wipe him out.

His sense of taste and smell both took a lot longer though to return to anything like normal. However, over the last two months both of those senses have worsened to the point where most drinks, aside from water, taste foul along with a few foods including bread. Fragrances and deodorants now smell awful to him and he can't currently stand to wear them.

[Diamond Joe]

I really hate when someone comes here, makes a thread asking a question, and then - never checks back in again. Its rude.

If you start a thread, participate in that thread! or at the very least, read the responses!!

[Beck]

I really hate when someone comes here, makes a thread asking a question, and then - never checks back in again. Its rude.

If you start a thread, participate in that thread! or at the very least, read the responses!!

Hahaha! I suspect it was just a person curious to know about other people who also got COVID and how their sense of smell reacted. There’s no place better than this to ask such a thing.
But yeah, sometimes it’s very strange this behavior you are talking about.

[FragFrog]

At least it's an interesting topic.

And not one of those hundreds of "How is fragrance xy?" or "What do you prefer, fragrance a or fragrance b?" threads, which some guys open up every now and then and never reply if they had tested or bought it.