The taste and smell have not fully returned to her in 1,5 years. “Cola tasted like kerosene”

Wioletta is one of the thousands of convalescents who suffer from long covid. He is experiencing complications from COVID-19 that doctors are still unable to address. He has been suffering from an olfactory and taste disturbance for a year and a half. «I visited a lot of ENT specialists. I was able to pay any money to feel something »- he says. “The first time I tasted strawberry jam, I ate it for three days until I felt sick – I was so happy” – he adds.

1. Wioletta suffered from COVID-19 in November 2020. She was then in the fifth month of twin pregnancy
2. The infection manifested as anosmia and tastelessness, joint pain, and general weakness
3. The woman felt a complete lack of taste and smell for four consecutive months. – I could literally put anything under my nose, I was completely indifferent to what I ate and drank – he says
4. Tastes and smells returned by leaps and bounds, and the only breakthrough was the purchase of a simple over-the-counter medicine
5. Smell and taste disorders are one of the most common complications after COVID-19 and the one from which patients are the most difficult to recover – doctors do not know how they occur or how to reverse the process
6. More information can be found on the Onet homepage

The course of COVID-19 is mild, but the complications are severe

The first year of the pandemic was difficult for Wioletta in two ways. And it is literally. During the summerwhen Poland took a breath after the first wave of coronavirus infections and the difficult time of lockdown, found out she is in twin pregnancy. She wasn’t worried about COVID-19 – she was sure she was behind heralthough at that time, in February 2020, no infections were officially recorded in the country.

– I had all the symptoms: excruciating fatigue, but such that I only shuffled my legs, increased temperature, breathing problems leading to slight breathlessness, such lack of breath. I thought it was seasonal flu, but when the pandemic was announced, I was no longer convinced of that diagnosis.

At that time, Wioletta did not confirm the infection, because no one has tested for COVID-19 yet. However, in November, when she was infected, she did the examination. The result was positive.

This time the symptoms turned out to be much milder, but also “typical”: lack of smell and taste, joint pain, weakness. Her first symptom troubled her the most. – Actually, until the very birth, I felt nothing. I could literally put anything under my nose, I was completely indifferent to what I ate and drank. I distinguished only the consistency and basic flavors: spicy, bitter, sour, salty, sweet. Only some time after cesarean the first flashes appeared, but it was not intense, just the smell of a leather sofa – he says.

Though the lack was nagging, as the senses began to return, a new problem arose: the sense of smell and taste were disturbed. – To this day, I remember when I had a Coke. It tasted like kerosene – he says.

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The rest of the text below the video.

The breakthrough came in three days

Wioletta visited all possible ENT specialists in the area – both privately and at the National Health Fund. – I was willing to pay any money to feel something, but no one could help me. Everyone referred to a neurologist, arguing that COVID-19 apparently damaged the part of the brain responsible for the sense of smell and taste that neurons have lost connectivity, he admits, adding that no doctor paid attention to one characteristic symptom.

The woman not only suffered from an olfactory and taste disturbance, but also had very dry nasal mucosa. – A friend told me to buy a regular nasal spray with a moisturizing effect. Which, I thought, was harmful to me. I went to the pharmacy, I literally got the first spray, I started using it and after three days I felt a huge difference. I still remember the first flavor that came back. It was strawberry jam. I ate it for three days until I felt sick – I was so happy. Later, other flavors came back, mainly fruit and vegetables – he says.

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The taste of meat has also returned, but Wioletta – once, as she described herself, a real carnivore – is unable to eat it. – He’s rejecting me, I just have a gag reflex. Even the chicken will pass, but other meat or cold cuts absolutely not, I feel sick from the smell.

Soon one and a half years will pass from COVID-19. To this day, a woman does not feel the taste or smell of citrus and many other products. She is still waiting to see a neurologist – she signed up last spring. Lead time: 18 months. In the meantime, he tries to deal with his taste and smell disorders on his own. – It’s a sniffing exercise. I take out various intense-scented things – spices, essential oils, perfumes – and smell them one by one. It helps a little, he says.

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The most difficult complication of COVID-19 to treat

People with impaired smell and taste are in the group of 10-20 percent. long covid patients whom doctors are often unable to help. Dr. Michał Chudzik, MD, explained in an interview with Medonet, it happens that olfactory rehabilitation brings results, but there are many cases where it ends in failure.

– Almost a year has passed and these patients report that they have not actually noticed any major improvement. The brain is an extremely complex organ, made up of millions of cells. These people evidently developed serious disturbances, as if the nerve impulses were not traveling in the path they should. You have to put it all back on track, make your senses harmonize with what your brain tells you, the doctor explained.

Unfortunately, this process cannot be accomplished with treatments or medications. “There are suggestions to treat patients with high-dose vitamins, but so far there is no medical evidence that this really helps. At the moment, we are helpless in the face of this type of ailments – he added.

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We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time we devote it to the problems of the perineum – a part of the body just like any other. And although it concerns all of us, it is still a taboo subject that we are often ashamed to talk about. What do hormonal changes and natural births change? How not to harm the pelvic floor muscles and how to care for them? How do we talk about perineal problems with our daughters? About this and many other aspects of the problem in a new episode of the podcast.

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