Has anyone had any recent experiences with Covid and loss of smell? I caught it for what I believe is the first time this week. Cold symptoms, congestion, and a mild fever for about three days. I noticed more specifically on the third day that I couldn’t smell anything. I still have mild cold symptoms today and congestion but the fever is done I believe, still no smell.
I am probably pulling the cart before the horse here a bit, but the idea of losing my sense of smell or taste for any prolonged period of time, terrifies me.
I was initially looking forward to opening some nice bottles with the coming holidays, but at the current moment that seems pretty wasteful.
I lost my sense of smell for about a week, and it came back just fine. Definitely don’t open any good bottles for a bit until you’re confident it’s back. The experience really showed me that 90% of enjoying wine is olfactory in nature.
I wouldn’t worry too much - it’ll come back very quickly, probably in time for Christmas. In my case, I was able to enjoy (with and without " "!) some rather OTT Rolland-made Bordeaux as part of my recovery - it was totally Covid-proof!
Took about 1 month for mine to fully recover when this happened to me last fall. It was “mostly” back after a week but I didn’t feel fully confident for a few weeks after that. And agree that 90% of enjoying wine is olfactory. Texture doesn’t cut it on its own!
At the height of covid, I came down with a horrific flu/sinus infection combo that 1) wasn’t covid, but 2) destroyed my senses of smell and taste for about 5 weeks. I didn’t just have diminished smell/taste, I had no sense of smell/taste. I was as worried then as you are now, @JLuch. But it all came back! I write this to reassure you, not to scare you, since my illness seems to have been much more severe than what you’re experiencing. Even if this does affect holiday tastings, and I hope it doesn’t, your palate will return.
Just asked my adult daughter about her loss of her sense of smell (we both had COVID back in 2022) and she let me know it took about two months for it to fully return. Out initial “cold” symptoms resolved in about a week or ten days, but regaining her sense of smell ws a gradual process.
Was your experience more recent? I had been reading smell loss being less common in current variants. I just tried to smell spearmint, eucalyptus, lemon, and orange essential oils my wife had. Nothing registered. I could somewhat tell with the spearmint and eucalyptus because of how I felt smelling it, but couldn’t make out the actual scents, if that makes sense.
When I caught Covid I actually only had the loss of smell. Really no other symptoms at all. Without the loss of smell I wouldn’t have even tested. Either I feel bad all the time or I got lucky :). I assume mine was very mild because my smell/taste was back within 5 days. About a week after I would say it was fully back. I have heard it ranges from 3-5 days to 2-3 months depending on the variant. I do think you are correct that the current variant does not seem to have the “long covid” affects of earlier variants. I wish you the best! Get well!
Thank you. It does seem that folks with more mild symptoms tend to be the ones who experience some smell loss. I’d consider my experience to be on the more mild side as I worked throughout the duration of the illness (remotely).
I had a bout in october? with partial anosmia, then the super duper taste of paxlovid. was back to normal in 2-3 weeks tops. I don’t know what variant, but change in smell/taste perception was a very early signal of onset
I used toothpaste as my initial measure. I would keep track of whether or not I could smell toothpaste. Once I could, I started moving back to seeing if I could catch more subtle things and it took several weeks…with an in between time of when you think your sense is back, but your palate is gonna give you all sorts of random off impressions. It’s not the wine, it’s you, and you just gotta wait.
I did the same. I am able to work from home as well. Glad to hear it wasn’t too bad for you. I am confident your smell/taste will be back in time for the holiday season. Or, at minimum, hopeful.
@Anton_D - I did the same thing. I used toothpaste and then peanut butter to see if the more subtle tastes and smells came back
No the last time was 18 months ago. I quite understand how you feel - I was devastated the first time. But honestly it didn’t last long and thanks to that rather fruity wine I was back on track sooner than I expected. I’m sure you will be too.
I got COVID for the first time (that I know of) at the end of August. On day 4 or 5 after the onset of symptoms, I lost my sense of smell completely. I was was super bummed because we were leaving for a vacation to Scotland in three weeks, and I had visions of not being able to taste haggis, and whisky, and all the other fun stuff there was to taste.
Luckily, my sense of smell started to come back about three days after it disappeared. Three or four days after that, my sense of smell and taste was back to normal.
I know it’s scary—at least it was for me—but try not to panic quite yet. With luck, you’ll be able to open that special bottle on Christmas Day, and enjoy it too.
Got Covid last winter. When I felt much better (though the test result is still positive) I opened a Royal Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos. Everything was there. It was roughly 2 weeks after I was first tested positive.
I had it a few months ago and lost my sense of smell completely. It started coming back in about three or four days and was completely back a few days after that. Maybe a week total.
