How long did it take to come back? Lost mine this last weekend. I cook and bake as a hobby and it sucks not being able to enjoy the food I make.

Side note. My sense of smell isn't completely gone, just very diminished. I can taste the food I eat but it is just very bland no matter how much I season it.

Mine was gone for 3.5 weeks.

Lost it 1 week after exposure. Got it back 2.5 weeks after exposure.

Only lost taste for about a week, maybe close to two weeks.

Still no smell - almost 5 months.

Some never get it back. I might add that if you have slight taste you will probably get it back eventually.

Y'all are depressing me.

I only had "allergy-like" symptoms two weeks ago and didn't realize it was COVID till I lost smell by around in the evening of day 5. It came back Day 7. I had taste the whole time although it was slightly more muted when I couldn't smell. I had Pfizer shots in April.

About three weeks for some things to get back to normal; 6-ish weeks for most everything to come back.

Certain foods (wine in particular) tasted bad for longer after my senses returned.

And they didn't come back 100% right away. It was a gradual process that waxed and waned. Some days my ability to taste and smell would be stronger than others.

Everything seems fine now, and has for a while (I was positive back in early December).

My sense of taste is there. I can taste sour things like lemons and limes but lack the ability to distinguish between the two. I can smell the citrus scent of a lemon but don't smell the "lemon-ness" of it. I can smell the fruitiness and sweetness of candy but all the flavors taste the same. I can taste the saltiness of French fries and bacon but not the "fried potato-ness" or "bacon-ness" of them. It's weird.

I experienced the exact same thing as my senses started to return. Some days were better than other. Sometimes, I'd only be able to taste the first couple of bites of something, and then the remaining bites would have no taste at all. I agree, it was weird. But, I'm fully back to normal (as far as I can tell).

My taste and smell started to come back after about 10 days and fully restored after about two weeks. Definitely the worst part of the whole deal for me.

5 days

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My taste and smell started to come back after about 10 days and fully restored after about two weeks. Definitely the worst part of the whole deal for me.

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The worst for me as well. My only other symptoms were some sinus congestion for a couple of days last week. The most frustrating thing is not knowing when (or if) it will return.

I had Covid mid December 2020. I still have issues with taste and smell. I can usually taste sweet, salty and spicy but can't detect flavors or distinguish things. Most foods are bland/blah. Smell is still highly deminished. I can sometimes smell things for a few 20-30 seconds then they are gone. It comes and goes. Very disheartening.

Lost mine for 1 day. But a friend (who gave me covid) still doesn't have his back 8 months later.

hrcapers said:

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Lost mine for 1 day. But a friend (who gave me covid) still doesn't have his back 8 months later.

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Honest question...does this person drink alcohol? If so, how does that work? Any reason to drink high end vs low end stuff? I assume some burn still but just no taste? So strange.....

It was about a month for me, taste came back first then smell. You will begin smelling certain things earlier.I distinctly remember being able to smell chopped garlic before I could smell other things.

It was a sad day when I opened my first bottle of scotch, took a big whiff.and nothing.

I lost mine Monday. Taste has somewhat returned. It's muted. No smell for me.

Wife lost her smell on Sunday though it's coming back. Her taste was never that bad.

One thing I've noticed today is inside my nose has been tingly. I hope that means the nerves are starting to recover.

I lost taste/smell for about a week. Now I have a SUPER sensitive sense of smell. Regular smells in the home are pretty overwhelming- it's like smelling every bottle in Bath & Body Works all at the same time.

planoaggie123 said:

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hrcapers said:

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Lost mine for 1 day. But a friend (who gave me covid) still doesn't have his back 8 months later.

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Honest question...does this person drink alcohol? If so, how does that work? Any reason to drink high end vs low end stuff? I assume some burn still but just no taste? So strange.....

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I had no desire to eat or drink much of anything. Eating really loses its appeal when you can't taste anything. I kind of had to force myself, and I ate really bland foods.

No motivation to drink, either, especially in the period where wine kind of tasted like vinegar.

I had covid December 2020, minimal to mild symptoms. Husband and I both loss smell/taste.

Smell still affected. Very attenuated (used to be very sensitive, could smell things way sooner than others). Also I habituate to smells very quickly.

TMI related story - one dog had intestinal difficulties while we were gone. I didn't notice anything amiss at all, husband found the living room accident. Took care of the nasty poop (easier to clean, didn't smell anything the whole time). Spent a normal evening watching tv. hours later time for dogs to go to bed, that one refused to get in her kennel. Turns out she had an accident in there as well overnight the previous night. We went ALL DAY without knowing that. To this day I am still reluctant to have anyone visit because really I have no idea what my house smells like....

Also discovered that tears from onions don't depend on smell. I was happy to cut onions without smelling them, but turns out the oil is what causes the tears, no smell needed.

I still can't smell the cat litter like I used to. Again, reluctant to have people in the house.

My nephew and niece had it last November. Nephews has never come back. Niece came back but she says now sweet taste like sour and sour taste like sweet and she can't taste salt. Plum weird. Nephews doc in Dallas said he has quite a few patients it has not returned at all but many are fine. Nephew also now has mild Parkinson's symptoms. He is 39 and WAS in good health before Covid.
He and niece have not had shots.
Good luck sir. Will send prayers up. It can't beat a Marine! SF

Started losing taste on Wednesday, fully gone today.

Had it in February. Lost taste and smell for about 3 weeks. It's heavily muted to this day. I can taste about 50% of what I could pre covid, and that has been consistent for the last several months.

Also don't really like certain things I liked before. Red wine is the biggest difference. Also don't really care for beer post covid.

Taste - 2-3 days
Smell - Similar

I found myself eating less due to only eating based off hunger vs being enticed by my senses.

AgLiving06 said:

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I lost mine Monday. Taste has somewhat returned. It's muted. No smell for me.

Wife lost her smell on Sunday though it's coming back. Her taste was never that bad.

One thing I've noticed today is inside my nose has been tingly. I hope that means the nerves are starting to recover.

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Give an update that I've doing a daily check of whether I can smell essential oils or not.

Today for the first time, I was able to smell several of them. Not strong and I probably couldn't tell you what they were supposed to be, but the smell was there.

My wife has most of her smell back.

For my daughter-in-law it's been over six months, but when she was over the other day she mentioned that it was finally coming back. It actually brightened her day as she was really worried that it was a forever thing.

Taste within a week

Smell is back but all jacked up. I smell what seems like a burning skillet on a stove, or a soldering iron odor all the time. Been 8 months.

Re-train with essential oils or herbs. Smell 2x a day. It's something I've read and known people who were told this by a doctor. Can't hurt to try.

Slowly coming back. It's been a week for me. I can smell pretty much anything if my nose is right up against it. But it's just muted. One bright spot is that scooping my cats litter box is a lot more tolerable.

DZac85 said:

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Re-train with essential oils or herbs. Smell 2x a day. It's something I've read and known people who were told this by a doctor. Can't hurt to try.

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Specifically, rose, lemon, eucalyptus, and clove

88planoAg said:

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DZac85 said:

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Re-train with essential oils or herbs. Smell 2x a day. It's something I've read and known people who were told this by a doctor. Can't hurt to try.

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Specifically, rose, lemon, eucalyptus, and clove

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Interesting. The wife and I will try. I have kind of liked not having to worry about morning breath though. Really nice.

I had no sense of smell for about a month, then it gradually started to return. Right now I'm a year down the road and it is still not back to 100%

I guess I should feel lucky. I lost both taste and smell for about 6 days but then suddenly it all came back like the flip of a switch.