Anecdote from my second COVID infection: Lost my sense of smell (anosmia) for about 2 weeks. That also killed my sense of taste.

The heat sensation from capsaicin was unaffected. I was eating a lot of vegetable bowls at the time. Adding spiciness was the only that kept them palatable.

There were a few tastes that I could dully perceive but, stupidly, I didn't make notes about what they were.

I can recall one thing that I didn't like: I tried peanut butter, which I typically find delicious, and found it a horrifyingly disgusting soulless paste. It made me wretch. It was awhile, even after I got my sense of smell back, before I could eat it.

I don't believe my sense of smell has recovered to my pre-COVID capability. This story is very interesting to me.

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jotato 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Interesting. I lost 100% of taste and smell months. I never found anything I could taste. Spicy has zero effect. I could cut onions with no tears. Literally nothing with any food

The only “sensation” I had eas texture which I found very gross without flavor.

It was like that for about 2 months and it slowly came back over another 5 maybe 6. Salty was the first thing I noticed.

5 years later and I still don’t smell coffee, gas or a few other things. It’s weird walking down the coffee isle at the store and not smelling it at sll

	▲	EvanAnderson an hour ago \| parent [-]
		> The only “sensation” I had eas texture which I found very gross without flavor. It's powerfully off-putting, isn't it? I had no idea tasteless texture would be so upsetting. I hope this treatment becomes something I can partake of personally. I find that I'm using a lot more salt than I used to trying to make up for lack of taste. I switched to a potassium salt substitute to try to reduce my sodium intake.