[bodono]

I had a mild case of covid and the loss of smell and taste was unlike anything similar I've ever experienced. It's not like having a stuffed nose or just being less sensitive to smell. For me I could breathe just fine but could not smell or taste anything, literally zero. Even very strong smelling things did nothing for me, and food had zero taste. It's a very unusual experience and I think a dead giveaway that you had the virus (it appears near the end of an infection typically).

[aPoCoMiLogin]

My girlfriend had that symptoms for few days, so I've told her to make the test, she got back and told me that the test was positive and we've got 2 weeks quarantine, it was august 26th.

The very next day I got really painful arthralgia (august 27th). The next day was fever that lasted till the thursday (august 29th). On the next day (30th august) I was feeling good, though that that was the end. Oh boy how I was wrong. Later on the same day I've had issues with breathing, friday night was nightmare with short shallow breathing and fever, that scared me a lot, never feel that way. I've gad few times pneumonia when I was a kid, but this was next level. The next day was better, so I didn't call an ambulance as they were already overwhelmed, but got to the hospital by myself and did the test with positive result. On the monday (september 2nd) I started coughing a lot, but the next day was much worse. With tuesday I started having headaches, dizziness and ear ache.. Coughing, headaches and dizziness lasted more than a week, with better and worse days.

It was the worst experience of the last few years, and it started with loss of smell an taste.

[jhardy54]

arthralgia = joint pain

[econcon]

Here's what happend to me:

Day 1: Fever, chills. I slept under 2 blanket and after 4 hours I started sweating so I threw off all the blankets.

Day 2: Took the test and came out positive but I started feeling good.

Day 3: I completely recovered. Got back to normal just like I was before

Day 4: fever back, wtf?

Day 5: cough started, lost taste

Day 6: Breathing difficulty, feeling pressure on chest

Day 7: joint pain started

Day 8: everything back to normal

Day 9-15: normal

I never lost my sense of smell. I am so sure about it because I was working on a DIY project at home where I was smelling distillate.

I had flu worse than this, if severe flus I experienced in paste were 90/100 then this would be at best 10/100 in severity, pain, discomfort.

I managed to work at home on my projects from my list and ate a lot and drink tons of water and slept peacefully.

[Zardoz84]

lucky I don't experience respiratory problems but I got a false recovery like you, this last Tuesday. Before I had some fever and headaches for four days.

I had some fever this two last days. and I'm experiencing weird tastes with a few good ingredients. Today, I don't had fever but nearly all day I feel a lot of sluggishnes.

[varrock]

How are you feeling now? I hope you are doing better. It's hard to read your experience. These are very unfortunate times.

[vecinu]

If you don't mind sharing, how old are you and did you have any pre-existing conditions? (You mentioned having pneumonia when you were younger).

[lordnacho]

My wife was ill earlier during the first wave. She literally gargled TCP (the chemical, not the protocol. Handshakes are illegal.) and couldn't taste it. If you've ever been around this chemical you know how strong it smells, people can smell it across the house. That's when we suspected Covid. Couldn't get a test until months later, and it was negative. But still suspect it.

[dekhn]

Why would you gargle TCP? [edit: this was a confusion between an antiseptic whose name is TCP, and a chemical which is acronymmed as TCP. The former is mostly phenol (which I wouldn't recommend drinking, but apparently has been approved for that), the latter is a dangerous industrial solvent which you should not drink.

[exabrial]

Same thing here. Very mild case. I had a .5 degree fever for a day (normally I'm 97.5 in the morning and 98.4 in the evening). I coughed like three times. But the sense of smell was completely removed for 4ish days. I have some eucalyptus/tea tree/menthol shampoo that smells _very very_ strongly. When I couldn't smell that anymore it was the craziest sensation. No other symptoms to really speak of. This also appeared later.

[ljf]

A test months later would be negative (if it was a swab) they are only accurate in the first week or so.

The antibody tests are fraught with issues, and if you fight the virus with your T cells rather than B cells, the antibody test won't pick that up and you'll show as negative.

[disiplus]

i too had a mild case at the end of august. the smell is still not back. i have a small baby and cannot smell when the diaper needs changing.

[fivre]

i saw this and, echoing many of the other commenters, thought it was a _different_ TCP chemical, in this case, a relatively obscure drug similar to PCP https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenocyclidine

i was VERY confused for a second

[secondcoming]

> Handshakes are illegal

Ha!

[pertymcpert]

She took an anti-gen test?

[qz2]

Same taste outcome here. Coffee and Coke Zero became very disappointing. I was swabbed and confirmed diagnosed with it.

It really did me in and I’m not sure I completely recovered form it yet. Took me 3 months after it was over to be able to run more than 30 seconds again. I could do a 5km run easily before. It’s a struggle now. But I’m in my 40’s so I expected a longer recovery cycle.

[Negitivefrags]

Coke Zero doesn’t need caronavirus to be disappointing. It stopped tasting good years ago.

[carlmr]

I had that exact experience for 12 days after a fever and a light cough in March. I couldn't even smell Thai fish sauce.

They wouldn't test me because it wasn't on their list of symptoms in Germany, even though South Korea, UK and China were already reporting it as a strong indicator for Corona.

[philippoi]

I had some symptoms in mid-March as well, and actually on my birthday noticed I couldn't smell or taste nearly as well as normal. It was very apparent because I work as a barista, so naturally I rely on my sense of smell quite a lot, and I had really enjoyed the same green tea the day before and the day of my smell loss; it just tasted incredibly flat. My birthday meal and birthday wine were just a waste on me. My wife and I were tested for antibodies about 6 weeks later, when our son was born, and neither of us was found to have antibodies. It wasn't until around the first week of April that I first heard loss of your sense of smell was a symptom of COVID19. In spite of the antibody test, I suspect I had the virus. About how quickly does the antibody count drop if you develop specific antibodies to COVID19? I read somewhere that some people recovered from their infections without developing antibodies tailored to COVID19 and it was thought that these individuals overcame the virus due to their body's already existing store of antibodies for other types of Corona virus. I can't remember where I read that article now.

[ed25519FUUU]

I really wish they would get in gear and start rolling out widespread serologic testing. Many people have similar stories to you. For a lot of people symptoms were before there was any testing available.

With widespread serologic testing, we can at least get some waypoint data, and for people like you some peace of mind.

[pps]

I have something like that right now (started exactly week ago), I can't smell or taste and I can easily breath through the nose, but I also feel some pressure, like it would be a little bit swollen inside. It's cold outside and breating through the nose is mildly painful when I go out. Looks more like sinus infection without typical symptoms. I wonder if you felt it like that or the loss of smell was the only indicator of illness.

[Herodotus38]

What you have is exactly how my experience with Covid was, I recommend getting tested.

[autokad]

I was sick with something like that at the end of nov 2019 - end of dec 2019. normally cold air is relaxing to my lungs, but then cold air stung. no loss of taste though, does the pain feel like stinging or something else?

[remote_phone]

This sounds like a sinus infection. Go to your doctor and ask her to prescribe medication and a covid test.

[takeda]

> (it appears near the end of an infection typically)

Hmm doesn't that contradict the article? Of it is at the end of the infection, then it feels like it isn't good as a warning to others that you got the virus, and more of an indicator that you had the virus

[bodono]

For me it was at the end of very mild flu-like symptoms (general malaise, sleeping a lot etc.). It's possible I was still contagious when I lost my smell and taste so people should probably self-isolate if they experience the same. Though my guess from personal experience is that this is a lagging indicator and possibly anyone with this has already been infectious for a while.

[Rainymood]

Same happened to me. No cold, runny nose, or any problems with airways. But my smell was just gone. I literally ground up basil and garlic and stuck it up my nose... nothing.

[kbrisso]

Back around 2010 I had this happen to me, It was so bizarre. Someone told me it was do to a sinus infection but I never had to go on antibiotics for one and no pain. I was sick that year with other things not related to the nose and it took a long time to get my sense of smell back. It never fully recovered to what it was. One thing I remember is it was like a filter and some things smelled awful and some things like nothing at all. Onions smelled like ammonia is what I remember most. I had lots of test done and never found out why. It wasn't a pleasant experience and freaked me out a little.

[DhxLgt]

In February of 2019 I flew to SF for a business trip, and a few days after my return my wife became sick with an unknown illness -- she was complaining of shortness of breath, had a cough, lightheaded feeling and migraines.

Her breathing continued to get worse over a period of days to the point where she was waking up with blue lips and would become totally winded when walking a few feet.

Eventually she decided she needed to see a dr so we went to an urgent care -- due to the fact we had no car (we were living downtown Denver at the time) we walked and only a few blocks from the house she nearly collapsed -- I had to hold her up while we walked very slowly the rest of the way to the urgent care -- once we arrived she was immediately put on oxygen and given an IV.

later that night she was sent home, but in the morning her condition was worse, so we went to the ER but she was sent home again this time with asthma medication including an emergency inhaler.

Her breathing was labored for months and she continued to use the emergency inhaler during this time.

In August of 2019 she completely lost her sense of taste and smell.

In October 2019 she got exponentially worse so we went back to the ER and this time they checked her in.

They ran loads of tests on her, checked for cancer, HIV etc. -- eventually they gave her a bronchoscopy and found lots of very thick stringy mucus all in her lungs and found that she had a collapsed lung.

During this time they treated her with oxygen and antibiotics.

All of the tests they ran came back negative -- she remained in the hospital for a week and eventually recovered. I was in close contact with her during this time I even laid next to her in the hospital bed but did not contract her illness.

After 7 days the doctors concluded that she must have developed asthma and sent her home with an inhaler which she relied on daily until around February.

She is now able to exercise on a treadmill without ill effects. However if I cook things on the stove and it produces smoke this seems to trigger mild issues, and occasionally she has a stuffy nose that seems like allergies.

I'm not saying she had covid-19 but she had many of the symptoms. She had no fever during this time.

[dTal]

I'm sorry to hear your wife has been ill.

>I'm not saying she had covid-19 but she had many of the symptoms.

What are you trying to say? If she got ill in Feb 2019 it's definitely not covid-19.

[randycupertino]

Have you guys gotten antibody tests?

[kstrauser]

Did that include tongue-based tastes, too, like sweet / salty / sour / bitter / umami, or just olfactory ones? Like, if you ate an orange would it be sweet and sour at all?

[arronax]

I had experienced loss both of smell (completely, kitty litter smelled like nothing) and taste (not completely). You still sense if something's salty, for example, but it's very remote. As an anecdote, the aubergine paste, which is usually off-putting and bitter to my taste (but smells nice) started tasting like nothing, really, so I happily ate my wife's supply. Soy sauce also seemed far less salty than usual. Taste remains, but very far, and smell is just lost. Very bizarre experience, would not recommend.

[thedrbrian]

For me yes. Couldn’t taste anything for about a week so I just ate soup and toast. After that the sweet , salt ,fatty etc came back so I swapped to lasagna and cannelloni as it was the most normal tasting food.

Couldn’t even smell the alcohol in a bottle of whiskey.

Only symptom I had.

[kstrauser]

It's too late to edit the above comment to clarify it, but could the downvoters please explain why I was downvoted? I'm genuinely curious: what does "loss of taste" mean here? I'd like to know in case I encounter it.

For instance, if I have sinus congestion so that I can't breathe through my nose, I can't experience the olfactory component of tastes. If you gave me orange juice and lemon juice, I'd be able to tell that both were sweet and sour but might not be able to distinguish between the flavors.

So when I've read about losing taste, I've wondered if this was like all the prior times when I've lost the sense of smell, or if this was something new and my taste buds would also stop working so that I couldn't experience "salty" anymore.

When people discuss taste, it's not always clear whether they mean the sensation you experience in your tongue or in your nose.

[pps]

Good question, I'm also interested. In my case (more covid-like symptoms than anything else, but no confirmation) I can feel difference between lemon and banana. But the sourness doesn't bother me at all. Also onion doesn't work anymore, normally I would cry like crazy, now I can keep it under my nose and feel only a little bit of pain inside the nose.

[zobzu]

This has happened to me countless times with the flu where i can't smell or taste anything at all.

[Red_Leaves_Flyy]

I've suffered reduced smell and taste from colds, though I've never entirely lost either. Even with the worst colds I could still clearly identify the acrid smell of smoke from idling diesels from 50 yards away at work.

[john4532452]

> I had a mild case of covid and the loss of smell and taste was unlike anything similar I've ever experienced.

Very much true. Usually when you bite a lemon you feel a strong sour taste followed by involuntary movement of hands tightening towards the chest and shivering briefly.

With covid's loss of taste, i felt no taste at all when biting a lemon, but the body wants to shiver which i could control easily but was very confusing experience i never felt before. Very unique experience.

Also realized the appetite falls rapidly. Without taste i had to force feed myself. During normal illness your are tired and don't want to eat, but this is very different experience.

[ctdonath]

That was how I knew. Had a vague sense of coming down with something; smelled a scented candle which I KNEW i could smell (normally), didn’t sense it at all. Test followed.

Strange that this was known early, yet never was considered an indicator easily tested.

[baryphonic]

Thank you for posting this. I've never been able to tell what "loss" meant in media reports. I've had instances where I don't have much of a sense of smell, but I can still smell certain strong odors.

[disillusioned]

This was my exact presentation of the virus. A deeply profound loss of smell and taste, with an otherwise clear nose. I did develop some significant fatigue and fogginess and a slight cough, but the complete loss of smell and taste was upsetting. The early articles about this connection back in March is what prompted us to get tested. In our cases, though, this symptom appeared almost immediately and stuck with us throughout the infection, so I don't think it's fair to generalize about when anosmia is likely within the course of the virus.

[danso]

How long did it take to recover your senses, and do you feel that their recovery has been 100%?

Edit: nm, I see it was answered: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24665323

[rindalir]

When this happened to me I recovered my senses within about two weeks, but coffee smelt like a combo of burning plastic and rotting flesh for several weeks after. To this day (six months later), certain things smell different than they did before: low tide, poop, some foods when heated. [edit: and they all smell like the same thing]

[gdsdfe]

I have the same questions ... I heard reports of people that didn't recover their senses weeks after recovery

[rodolphoarruda]

In my case the symptom lasted for 3 days. In my wife's case, 1 week. In both cases the recovery was 100%.

[sparkie]

I had an almost complete loss of smell, unlike anything I've experienced before, but could still smell some aerosols like air freshener. My sense of smell was back to normal in about 3 days.

[thomasahle]

I had covid three weeks ago, but I never noticed a lack of smell and taste.

I had all the other symptoms, including some of the post effects, but not this particular one.

[whoisburbansky]

Did this apply to everything? Could you taste spiciness, for instance, from really hot peppers?

[kyleashipley]

I currently have this symptom. I ordered extremely spicy Thai food last week. I could feel the heat, but not taste anything at all.

After about 4 days, I regained some ability to differentiate between salty/sour/sweet, but it’s been in and out for the last 2-3 days. I accidentally poured too much mustard on a sandwich at lunch today and could not have told you there was any mustard on it at all in a blind test.

[deadmetheny]

I mostly ate spicy food during my time with it due to the fact the physical sensation of spiciness being one of the only things that made food interesting. Same with saltiness. I actually ate a lot less during that period due to not having much drive to do so with a lack of taste.

[exabrial]

I could still "taste" the burning sensation, but the "flavor" (savoriness?) was gone. Hard to explain.

[bodono]

Not sure, I don't recall trying spicy food. I had sensation in my tongue so any physical harm I would feel no problem, just no taste.

[Lich]

Did your sense of smell and taste come back? How long did it take to recover?

[bromuro]

To me it lasted 3 days. I felt so happy when I could smell again. It was a bit scary.

[autokad]

how did that effect your eating? were you able to eat much?

[bodono]

I ate a little less, mostly because the lack of taste made it less interesting. I felt fine otherwise and my smell was back in about 4-5 days.

[8note]

Whole growing up, we had a dog that I was allergic too, and I could barely smell/taste anything

It made for a very picky eater, since all that I cared about was the texture

[mderazon]

How much time did it take to gain it back ?

[adventured]

With a mostly mild case, it took me three weeks approximately, for my full sense of smell to return.

I lost maybe 85% of my sense of smell, and 1/2 the sense of taste. I could no longer smell anything in the air, atmospheric scents. Like if you walk into a restaurant you might be able to smell food broadly in the air; I couldn't smell what was cooking on the stove six feet away. I could only smell something if it was right under my nose (within ~20-30cm). A lot of people seem to totally lose the sense of smell, I didn't reach that level (and it still took most of a month to return).

[deadmetheny]

For me, it started to return a bit over a week after it was first lost, and recovered to mostly normal after about three weeks.

[bodono]

It took about a week to be back fully.

[saturn_vk]

I wonder if that loss of taste is at least a good way of quitting something like sugary foods

[fn1]

When you're sick you should take care of yourself, not push yourself harder.

[cft]

Did it come back? How soon?

[raducu]

I probably had decreased smell, and it felt like I was tasting with the sides of my tongue and cheeks(2 weeks later the middle of my tongue peeled off almost looked like I was getting a snake tongue).

I did test multiple times and I could still smell and taste, though it felt like maaaybe my smell was decreasing, but every article I read said completely gone smell and taste.

I realises my smell was reduced when I was in the hospital and I suddenly could smell how stinky the room and I were, then it hit me "yeah, my smelling was probably bad untill now.

My wife "realised" she lost her smell and taste right after her test came back positive. But she most likely lied for the attention(I know this sounds harsh, but I have goos reasons to think so).

So I wouldn't call this reliable.

[dustinmoris]

Same here, although I also had a cough and fever. My wife is a doctor and got infected at work, she suffered only a mild illness with mild fever on day one and then a cough for the rest of the week. After 7 days she went back to work (according with gov guidelines) and was never unwell again. When she was self isolating at home I looked after her and must have been exposed to huge viral loads as I was obviously in very close contact and didn’t change my behaviour at all. I was just there as if she had a normal flu or cold, so warm hugging her at night, still giving her kisses and going normally about life. 5 days into her isolation I got a fever as well and I had a very high fever for the first two days. Then it disappeared like it normally would and I just had a cough left for the week and felt a bit tired obviously. After roughly 10 days I felt like I was all good again and even started to go for runs in the park again and to work out at home again. Weirdly we lost our sense of taste and smell entirely towards the end of the first 7 days and it lasted for about 5 days in total despite all other symptoms having disappeared. It was a complete loss, like nothing I had ever had before. All in all the loss of smell and taste was literally the most annoying about it, otherwise it felt like an extremely mild flu like not even worth talking about. Luckily smell and taste came fully back, just suddenly one day it was back and that was the end of story. This happened in early April in the UK. Since then we felt great, no lasting symptoms whatsoever. I’m not a super athlete or anything, but I do enjoy sports and I have maintained a great condition and actually even feel a lot stronger than before. Probably because due to the extra work outs I get from all the extra time. This virus is just a regular respiratory illness and it’s honestly so mild I cannot believe how the world is going bonkers over this. I actually hope that the more people get it hopefully they will realise like me that this whole reaction to COVID is massively over the top. There will always be some people with complications and some who die. But that is literally just like with other viruses which we don’t care about. If you’re in normal health, are not fat and not end of life, then there’s nothing to worry about.

EDIT: I’m 33 and my wife is 32 btw.

[underwater]

You can't take two cases and extrapolate any meaningful conclusions from it.

On top of that, hand waving away the death of people because they are fat or elderly is both incorrect and pretty fucking callous.