For those who got COVID, how did you deal with loss of taste?

[MrConbon210]

So I was tested positive today for COVID after developing symptoms yesterday. Outside of a headache and cough, my only real issue is that I can't smell or taste.

I tried eating earlier today but it freaked me out how I was acutely aware of the texture but there was nothing else to go along with it. On top of that I haven't been hungry at all which makes eating that much more difficult.

If anyone on here had COVID, what foods did you eat if you lost your sense of taste? Would something super spicy taste better since my pallete is numbed?

 

[DarkSora]

I'm going through it right now and am surprised by the lack of appetite it has given me.

 

[LycanXIII]

At first, I thought my pizza rolls just tasted different because they were off brand, but I realized it was my taste when the strawberry kool-aid I made didn't have a taste. The next morning I had a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch, but there was only crunch.
Thanksgiving dinner was a bummer.
I could taste the acidity of ketchup.
Really made me lose my appetite for a week.

 

[wisdom0wl]

I got covid like 2 weeks ago but I don't think I completely lost taste. It's severely diminished but the basic sweet/salty/sour I was still able to taste in my food. But yeah, I was definitely way more aware of the texture. Smell has been slow to come back. I think I got over covid about 5ish days ago now. I'd put my smell at 30% of what it used to be and unless you shove whatever in my nose I can't really smell it. My taste is like 50-60%, certain nuances in food are gone, like all coffee tastes the same to me right now.

 

[photonblack]

I had Rona but my appetite never really went away. I lost taste and smell but I stayed hungry.

 

[MrConbon210]

Was curious and I went to go smell a bottle of Vodka, literally smells like water to me lol.

 

[LycanXIII]

Even water was just a liquid texture to drink.

 

[Deleted member 21709]

I regained mine for most of it, though taste/smell is significantly more dull.
My wife is another story, she can't taste/smell a lot anymore.

This is six months after recovery.

 

[Platy]

A friend had this and he said that one day like a month later he made a simple breakfast and suddenly he was like "i am the best chef in the entire world this shit is DELICIOUS" and then he realise his taste had come back =P

 

[Ocean Panda]

I didn't have much of an appetite while I was sick, and I also had a lot of stomach problems with it, so I wasn't eating much.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend spicy food. If diarrhea shows up as a symptom at some point, spicy food will make that more unpleasant.

 

[Baccus]

This is the one thing that really scares me about COVID besides accidentally killing someone else's grandma.

I regained mine for most of it, though taste/smell is significantly more dull.
My wife is another story, she can't taste/smell a lot anymore.

This is six months after recovery.

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Ooh man so sorry

Fuuuuck that

 

[MrConbon210]

I didn't have much of an appetite while I was sick, and I also had a lot of stomach problems with it, so I wasn't eating much.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend spicy food. If diarrhea shows up as a symptom at some point, spicy food will make that more unpleasant.

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I wouldn't say I have stomach problems but I do have a throbbing pain every once in a while on my lower abdomen and back. Could be that I'm just laying in bed a lot though.

 

[StrangerDanger]

My mom recently got COVID, and the only symptom she had was loss of taste and smell. However she knows she has to eat to feed her body, but she says its hard because when it tastes like nothing your appetite just goes away

 

[TaySan]

I went through it for a couple of days and it disappeared. Hopefully, yours will be gone in due time. :( Get feeling better!

 

[Brass Body Dave]

Lost about 10 lbs from no desire to eat plus complete and utter exhaustion. It sucked, but it wasn't the end of the world. The end of the world was fighting for breath every morning. Try to hang in there. It's hard.

 

[Tatsu91]

So I was tested positive today for COVID after developing symptoms yesterday. Outside of a headache and cough, my only real issue is that I can't smell or taste.

I tried eating earlier today but it freaked me out how I was acutely aware of the texture but there was nothing else to go along with it. On top of that I haven't been hungry at all which makes eating that much more difficult.

If anyone on here had COVID, what foods did you eat if you lost your sense of taste? Would something super spicy taste better since my pallete is numbed?

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i honestly thought i was just sick and did not feel up to eating as it was prior to knowing it was covid as oddly around the same time everyone in our office got sick and more people called off than usual my Sup had to even have his lungs drained.

 

[Ocean Panda]

I wouldn't say I have stomach problems but I do have a throbbing pain every once in a while on my lower abdomen and back. Could be that I'm just laying in bed a lot though.

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You can go through phases of symptoms, so it's possible stomach problems show up later. I'm just saying spicy food could make that more unpleasant if it happens. Personally I wouldn't risk it just to kinda taste food while I'm sick. Take it easy, take care of yourself, drink water, eat bland food, get better.

 

[SpankyDoodle]

I don't have Covid but I lost my sense of taste (and smell) back when I was like 13-14 and it's taken me like... 15+ years to get used to it. Yeah food becomes WAY more about texture when taste is gone. Anything that's squishy or slimy is a no-go for me. Eggplant? No way. I feel like if I hadn't liked spaghetti as a kid I would detest it now so thank god that's not the case. Weirdly I get my sense of taste back when I get stoned but the sense of smell is gone forever so once the high passes... no more taste again :\

My advice is to figure out what food texture you enjoy and build from there. People with Covid who lose their sense of taste eventually get it back after recovery, right? If so then yeah, it's gonna suck for a while, but you'll get by with a limited diet. You just gotta try and either avoid the uncomfortable food textures or power through them.

 

[BLEEN]

right

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Too soon to know lol

 

[maxxpower]

That shit is scary. I typically lose taste and smell when I get colds because it typically turns into a sinus infection. But with covid, knowing that it's because it affects your neurological system is scary as shit.

 

[SpankyDoodle]

Too soon to know lol

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Millions of people have been catching and recovering from Covid since February, there's no consensus 11 months later if people get their sense of taste back or they're all still living without it?

 

[BLEEN]

People have been catching and recovering from Covid since February, there's no condenses 11 months later if people get their sense of taste back or they're all still living without it?

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My bad. Yeah, some people never got it back is what I mean.

Others did.

It's up in the air.

 

[PIMPBYBLUD]

When I lost taste and smell it was only for three days so wasn't too bad for me.

 

[SpankyDoodle]

My bad. Yeah, some people never got it back is what I mean.

Others did.

It's up in the air.

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Fuuuck D:

Well, shit. Same advice then I guess, figure out what food textures you like, build out from there, as you get more used to eating based on texture over taste you'll be able to expand to other less appealing textures and just... cross your fingers your sense of taste comes back. (though even for me almost 2 decades later there's still some food textures that I just can't stand.) Might depend on if you enjoyed the foods before losing your sense of taste, too.

Eventually you get used to it but hopefully it's temporary for everyone, even those still struggling with it months and months later ):

 

[BLEEN]

Fuuuck D:

Well, shit. Same advice then I guess, figure out what food textures you like, build out from there, as you get more used to eating based on texture over taste you'll be able to expand to other less appealing textures and just... cross your fingers your sense of taste comes back. (though even for me almost 2 decades later there's still some food textures that I just can't stand.) Might depend on if you enjoyed the foods before losing your sense of taste, too.

Eventually you get used to it but hopefully it's temporary for everyone, even those still struggling with it months and months later ):

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I remember getting a bad cold a few times, couldn't taste or smell for shit.

Salt + MSG were godsends. And soup lol

 

[Jazar]

My friend got Covid 6 months ago and she has not regained her sense of smell. :(

 

[studknckl]

I lost 100% of my sense of smell for several days but interestingly I could still taste stuff. I assume my taste was diminished but it never impacted my appetite. Losing a sense is pretty wild though. My mind would sometimes make me think I was smelling things that weren't there. I woke up one morning to the awesome smell of bacon. Went to the kitchen only to find that I was the only one in the house awake and there was no bacon to be found.

 

[Jersa]

I can't smell anything (going on 10 days of it) but kept my taste. Even so, my appetite has been totally wiped.

 

[CanUKlehead]

I regained mine for most of it, though taste/smell is significantly more dull.
My wife is another story, she can't taste/smell a lot anymore.

This is six months after recovery.

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Jayzus.

 

[onyx]

My sister still can't taste most food or smell and she caught back in May. She still has breathing problems too.

 

[SpankyDoodle]

I remember getting a bad cold a few times, couldn't taste or smell for shit.

Salt + MSG were godsends. And soup lol

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Yes! That's a good point. I don't know how it is for people dealing with Covid but my doctor said that even though I'd lost my finer sense of taste (couldn't differentiate between Coke and 7Up) that everyone has ~5 hardwired senses of taste that never really go away - sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and... spicy? So like for me when I'm not high chocolate tastes like shit because the bitterness can be overpowering, triscuits and chips are delicious because they're salty, etc. Do people with Covid lose those too? Or just the finer thing like "This chicken noodle soup and this shrimp ramen taste the same but are both salty"

 

[laoni]

I lost my sense of taste and hunger when I was going through chemo, I haven't had COVID but, these were my dietician's recommendations at the time for taste alteration. Some of these obviously won't be applicable to COVID, but, they at least got me through the hard times

- Make sure the food is very seasoned, some seasonings like salt, or heat from spiciness would come through even if the rest of the food tasted like nothing.
- Use plastic cutlery instead of metal, as metal cutlery can affect the taste (I'm pretty sure this is more a cancer/chemo thing, though)
- Eat around 6 small meals a day, regardless of if you're hungry or not. Because I didn't get the cues from my body to eat, I had to schedule alarms to do this.
- Stay away from textures you found problematic, a lot of people had that complaint about mushrooms, as an example
- Try to stay away from eating too much of your favourite foods. She was coming into it with the concern that having and not enjoying your favourite foods would impact on whether or not you'd like them when things started to come back.

FWIW, my sense of taste came back, but, the sensation of hunger's still pretty foreign to me

 

[overcast]

I just ate things that were satisfying in a primal way (meats, veggies). Stuff that filled me up and had decent texture.

it lasted about 1.5-2 weeks? It sucks for sure.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

I'm going through it right now and am surprised by the lack of appetite it has given me.

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This. Loss of taste/smell was a mystery at the time. Caught it back in march. I turned my gas on from the stove and knew something was wrong when I couldn't smell anything.

Just ate whatever and had no desire to eat much of anything outside of the basics.

 

[Ctrl Alt Del]

My GF had it but I didn't notice any lack of appetite. She did say it was terrible to eat stuff that tasted like nothing, though. Nothing she could do until it came back like a month later.

 

[Snoshado]

My only real issue is that it's been nearly 4 months since I've recovered from Covid and still have very limited smell. It's weird because there are a few things I can smell really strongly (dog food, for example), but most everything else has no scent to me anymore. Not being able to smell isn't as bad as you'd think, until you actually realize things should have a scent, "wow, I can't smell the morning coffee. This food smells like nothing. Why can't I smell these flowers?"

 

[djplaeskool]

My dad got it but had very mild symptoms. He still had his senses of smell and taste, but he noted a marked loss of appetite.

 

[Audere Est Facere]

I'm going through it right now and am surprised by the lack of appetite it has given me.

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This. I went almost 2 weeks barley eating (jello,soup) so by the time i was over feeling sick i had already gotten a bit of my taste back.

 

[DeathyG]

At first, I thought my pizza rolls just tasted different because they were off brand, but I realized it was my taste when the strawberry kool-aid I made didn't have a taste. The next morning I had a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch, but there was only crunch.
Thanksgiving dinner was a bummer.
I could taste the acidity of ketchup.
Really made me lose my appetite for a week.

Click to shrink...

Had the same experience. Ketchup and hot sauce tasted sooo disgusting. Like pure ammonia.

 

[Futureman]

I don't have Covid but I lost my sense of taste (and smell) back when I was like 13-14 and it's taken me like... 15+ years to get used to it. Yeah food becomes WAY more about texture when taste is gone. Anything that's squishy or slimy is a no-go for me. Eggplant? No way. I feel like if I hadn't liked spaghetti as a kid I would detest it now so thank god that's not the case. Weirdly I get my sense of taste back when I get stoned but the sense of smell is gone forever so once the high passes... no more taste again :\

My advice is to figure out what food texture you enjoy and build from there. People with Covid who lose their sense of taste eventually get it back after recovery, right? If so then yeah, it's gonna suck for a while, but you'll get by with a limited diet. You just gotta try and either avoid the uncomfortable food textures or power through them.

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when I get high and eat, the flavors are just CRAZY. Like taste overload.

so when you get high, is it crazy taste that comes back, or just back to normal? That's really interesting... how did you lose your taste/smell?

 

[BubbaKrumpz]

I only lost taste for a few days. I've always had a bad sense of smell/ taste so idk if it became worse after. Only lingering things I have now are feeling weak and random chest pains.

 

[MrConbon210]

when I get high and eat, the flavors are just CRAZY. Like taste overload.

so when you get high, is it crazy taste that comes back, or just back to normal? That's really interesting... how did you lose your taste/smell?

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That's a very good point I'm debating getting some weed just so I could have an appetite and maybe the possibility of food tasting like something again.

 

[Ra]

I lost 20 pounds. I guess that was okay.

 

[Deleted member 21709]

That's a very good point I'm debating getting some weed just so I could have an appetite and maybe the possibility of food tasting like something again.

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You probably shouldn't get high whilst you have covid.

 

[aznpxdd]

Anyone with Covid tried using weed to help with taste buds? Does it do anything at all?

 

[MrConbon210]

You probably shouldn't get high whilst you have covid.

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Smoking would clearly be a bad idea but I wonder if edibles could help with anything.

 

[BLEEN]

This. I went almost 2 weeks barley eating (jello,soup) so by the time i was over feeling sick i had already gotten a bit of my taste back.

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Barely jello sounds terrible. Barley soup? Oh yeah!

 

[GeekyDad]

I regained mine for most of it, though taste/smell is significantly more dull.
My wife is another story, she can't taste/smell a lot anymore.

This is six months after recovery.

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Wow, so you still have dulled taste/smell six months later? Yeesh.

 

[Majora85]

I got COVID about 2 weeks ago. After about 5 days my sense of taste and smell nearly completely disappeared. Some of it has come back but there are definitely still things I eat where I'm taken aback by how they taste of nothing.

At its worst I found that I could still taste very basic notes (salty, sweet, spicy, bitter) but nothing else. Texture became more important to me, so if something was crunchy for example that was more satisfying than eating something mushy even if I couldn't taste either.

I really hope it all comes back eventually, it's totally disarming eating something that tastes of nothing when you don't have a cold. At the moment I'm struggling with subtlety of flavour. In the past few days I've eaten chocolate orange cookies where I could detect no hint of orange and gingerbread cookies where I could detect no hint of ginger. They both just tasted very generically sweet.

 

[Deleted member 21709]

Wow, so you still have dulled taste/smell six months later? Yeesh.

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If you're unlucky. I feel lucky that it is dulled, my wife is less fortunate.

Smoking would clearly be a bad idea but I wonder if edibles could help with anything.

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I really wouldn't mess with that. No alcohol either. Your body needs to be able to fight back. And you need to always be aware of your own progress. I recommend buying a pulse oximeter to measure your blood oxygen, and keep record of your temperature when you develop a fever. It's good to keep a dated list of your progress handy.