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Author Topic: don't get covid (your sense of smell)  (Read 1486 times)

Offline fredthecat

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don't get covid (your sense of smell)
« on: February 18, 2022, 08:51:39 pm »
kind of ridiculous for me to have not gotten it until now that the pandemic is finally waning in north america.

sincerely homebrewers, avoid getting it as much as possible now that it may almost be over.

i have been largely symptom free (was distinctly sick for about 5 days - comparable to a flu for me) for 4 days. i can taste things pretty normally but my sense of smell has been reduced by about 70%, was maybe 90% at its worst. i assume it will slowly come back, as that whats people say, but it is not fun and it has messed up my desire to drink/enjoy homebrew.

if some of you are going to be judges, yeah.. don't know what to say but i was blindsided by this. i'd heard about it before but i didn't think of it until i realized i could not smell foods and drinks.

Offline BrewBama

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Re: don't get covid (your sense of smell)
« Reply #1 on: February 18, 2022, 09:24:37 pm »
My son said stuff still tastes weird to him several months later.

Offline majorvices

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Re: don't get covid (your sense of smell)
« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2022, 05:25:49 am »
i had it over the holidays. The first thing I noticed was that my coffee tasted weird. I'm a bigger coffee snob than I am a beer snob so I kept trying to make adjustments (water, roast, cleaning, grind, etc) until I figured I was starting to get sick. After I had full blown Covid my sense of taste was either completely gone or had a weird metallic flavor. The worst thing I tried to eat was oatmeal. It tasted simply like mush no matter how much cinnamon, salt or butter I put in.

My sense of taste and smell is back to 100% now though.

Offline Visor

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Re: don't get covid (your sense of smell)
« Reply #3 on: February 20, 2022, 10:46:46 am »
   I had it about a year and a half ago, was tuckered out for several days with loss of taste and smell. The senses came fully back once the bug was gone. I only posted this because last May just for the hell of it, I got the J&J shot and withing a couple weeks noticed that my senses of taste and smell were far keener than they've been in 30 years or more. A good friend had his lifelong affliction of hay fever disappear after getting vaxxed. I wonder how many other folks have had similar experiences.
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Offline Bob357

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Re: don't get covid (your sense of smell)
« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2022, 01:54:12 pm »
I doubt many people would choose better sense of taste and smell, knowing they might get blood clots in their lungs like one of my daughters did. She also contracted COVID after being vaccinated. Not a good tradeoff IMO.
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Offline majorvices

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Re: don't get covid (your sense of smell)
« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2022, 04:53:45 pm »
I doubt many people would choose better sense of taste and smell, knowing they might get blood clots in their lungs like one of my daughters did. She also contracted COVID after being vaccinated. Not a good tradeoff IMO.

Sorry that happened to your daughter. Statistically your chances of dying or getting seriously ill from the shot are far, far, far lower than actually contacting Covid. And it is common knowledge that, just like the flu, getting the vaccine doesn't mean you won't catch covid. Only that you have a much better chance of not getting seriously ill.

I am double vaccinated and I caught covid over the holidays. My wife was double vaxxed and boosted and she did not catch it. I have chronic asthma and I'm in my 50s so I am glad I took precautions and got vaxxed. I know of people who have died from it.

Offline fredthecat

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Re: don't get covid (your sense of smell)
« Reply #6 on: February 20, 2022, 09:30:08 pm »
Hey, I read all the replies. Sorry to hear that Bob. It's a scary thing on both sides. to clarify i've gotten 2 doses of vaccine. But i was highly reticent to have my daughter done.

We both had it, we both got through covid anyway.

I saw a twitter post in the news I will simply paraphrase (not even making a judgement claim that anyone who replied believes a certain viewpoint):

After these 2 years of hell for everyone, people with all different perspectives need to try hard to accept that it was a difficult and unprecedented time in our recent human history and both accept others' viewpoints and cut people slack, and simply move on.



As well, my sense of smell is improving a bit each day.

Offline ttash

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Re: don't get covid (your sense of smell)
« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2022, 10:59:58 pm »
I contracted Covid in September 2020 and after the initial sickness the worst was the loss of taste and smell. It was severe in my case and only now am I regaining some of it. The sensation on my tongue was like having burned it from eating pizza that was too hot but without the pain, very weird.

Offline Visor

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Re: don't get covid (your sense of smell)
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2022, 08:08:44 am »
  I mentioned the substantial improvement in my senses of taste and smell to find out if others have had similar experiences, not to recommend that others get vaxed. I'm sure my friend who was "cured" of hay fever and me with long term improvement of senses can't be the only people who have had unexpected benefits from Covid vaccines, the odds of that happening are a bit too long.
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Re: don't get covid (your sense of smell)
« Reply #9 on: February 21, 2022, 12:17:50 pm »
My friend got it in early 2020 and almost 2 years later, his smell/taste is only about 90%.  Said he couldn't eat onions for over a year.  Sure there are worse things in life (dying?  Being tortured?) but that doesn't mean this also isn't bad.  It's not a competition of misery.

Offline Ron756

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Re: don't get covid (your sense of smell)
« Reply #10 on: February 25, 2022, 04:12:00 pm »
Hey, I read all the replies. Sorry to hear that Bob. It's a scary thing on both sides. to clarify i've gotten 2 doses of vaccine. But i was highly reticent to have my daughter done.

We both had it, we both got through covid anyway.

I saw a twitter post in the news I will simply paraphrase (not even making a judgement claim that anyone who replied believes a certain viewpoint):

After these 2 years of hell for everyone, people with all different perspectives need to try hard to accept that it was a difficult and unprecedented time in our recent human history and both accept others' viewpoints and cut people slack, and simply move on.



As well, my sense of smell is improving a bit each day.

Saw a great meme for the COVID test - woman cracks open a beer, smells it - she can smell it, tastes it - she can taste it, and verifies she didn't have COVID.  After 19 consecutive tests that night, all negative, she woke up with a headache - and had to do another COVID test just to check the headache wasn't COVID. 
All kidding aside, glad you are feeling better.  100% echo on everyone needing to sit back, relax, have a beer, and respect that not everyone will agree with your opinion.  I told my wife I wanted to open a bar here in the DC area - "The Civil Discourse" with the biggest Marine Corps sergeants I can find as bouncers.  Goal is to invite people to come in, have a drink, talk to someone they don't know about all the banned topics - sex, religion, politics, COVID, but if they become un-civil, out they go.  My wife didn't like the idea though, she doesn't think I know anything about running a bar. :)

Offline fredthecat

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Re: don't get covid (your sense of smell)
« Reply #11 on: February 26, 2022, 09:50:29 am »


All kidding aside, glad you are feeling better.  100% echo on everyone needing to sit back, relax, have a beer, and respect that not everyone will agree with your opinion.  I told my wife I wanted to open a bar here in the DC area - "The Civil Discourse" with the biggest Marine Corps sergeants I can find as bouncers.  Goal is to invite people to come in, have a drink, talk to someone they don't know about all the banned topics - sex, religion, politics, COVID, but if they become un-civil, out they go.  My wife didn't like the idea though, she doesn't think I know anything about running a bar. :)

thanks, im currently at maybe ~80% smell back.

i think that is a great idea. i don't go out because the way they have bars set up now is simply to maximize profit: arranged for groups of people to sit separately, focus on ordering expensive food, dealing with a waitress rather than just a bartender etc.

its hard to find a place where you can just chat to someone. let alone talk about something controversial


Offline Village Taphouse

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Re: don't get covid (your sense of smell)
« Reply #12 on: February 27, 2022, 08:46:35 am »
I tested positive for The Rona in December.  I'm pretty sure that was the Delta variant.  My symptoms were mild (very cold-like) and I was still able to work, do some home projects, etc. without much issue.  But my sense of taste and smell seemed like they were 100% out and get this... that went on for a good 4 weeks.  Maybe longer.  It was the weirdest symptom of the ones I had.  I also had a runny nose and nagging cough but sense of taste and smell were real downers. 
Ken from Chicago. 
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Offline fredthecat

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Re: don't get covid (your sense of smell)
« Reply #13 on: February 27, 2022, 10:22:57 am »
morning after some diamond lagers. yes, because its so subjective, especially trying to compare "i used to be able to smell _____ much" a month ago vs how i smell now, i still feel like im "missing something" but not sure what when im smelling my own beers. its disappointing

Offline Village Taphouse

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Re: don't get covid (your sense of smell)
« Reply #14 on: February 27, 2022, 11:00:57 am »
morning after some diamond lagers. yes, because its so subjective, especially trying to compare "i used to be able to smell _____ much" a month ago vs how i smell now, i still feel like im "missing something" but not sure what when im smelling my own beers. its disappointing
Agreed that the sense of taste and smell do not all come back at once.  At some point I could "taste" and "smell" and I was overjoyed but it was not 100%.  My son and his girlfriend actually tested positive in December of 2020 so about 14 months ago.  I asked him about his sense of taste and smell and he said it was out for 4-6 weeks.  I'm not sure if this is a genetics-based thing or a virus/variant-based thing but it sucks.  If my house were on fire I wouldn't be able to smell the smoke.  If you had some deli turkey or something in your fridge and you wondered if it were safe to eat you might give it the sniff test except the sniff test wouldn't work.  You don't realize how much you rely on it.
Ken from Chicago. 
A day without beer is like... just kidding, I have no idea.