Horrible Taste and Smell (burning garbage) post COVID: Anyone else?

Does he see a gastroenterologist? I would start there. Worse comes to worse, they can insert a feeding tube and then remove it when he recovers. I have no problems with smell but foods tastes different (not good) then it used to. I’ve lost 35 lbs.

Is there any update?

Let me first start off by saying how sorry I am for what he’s going through. I have a similar story…I lost my taste and smell in Decemnber of 2022 after contracting a mild case of Covid. I only had an extremely stuffed up sinuses and my doctor’s office put me on Steroids for 10 days. No Paxlovid or any other antibiotics. I lost my taste and smell 2 days into the Covid infection. It is April of 2024 and still not much change. I have gone to our Northwestern Hospital in the city, their Pain Management Clinic where a procedure called a Stellate Ganglion Block injection was performed. It’s an injection of Lidocaine into your ganglion nerves in your neck. It’s suppose to block an area and unblock another. I don’t quite understand it, but it’s painless and I did get a slight increase in my smell, but still no tastes other than salty, sweet, sour. I’ve had 3 injections and with each one, those tastes I mentioned above, have increased slightly, but no flavors yet at all. I too have lost weight and on top of that, I also have food sensitivities. I had 18” of my sigmoid colon removed in April of 2022 due to severe diverticulitis. It seems I’ve gone down hill since then. If I were you, I’d want to explore everything to get my taste/smell back. I’d start with your big Hospital, wherever you live and talk to someone in the Pain Management Department about a Stellate Ganglion Block. It’s worth a try, as many people got theirs back by doing this. I wish you all the best in your health journey.

After covid in November 2020 I lost taste and smell. Now comes and goes. Also started smelling burning like wires or something. I called the gas company and they did a thorough check around my place and found nothing. When I smell the burning my heart races not knowing where it was coming from. Now comes and goes.

I have that too! Burning algae/garbage mixed with feet. I call it ‘hot COVID’. Comes and goes here too…if I smell it, I know a crash is coming.

It took me a year to find a doctor that diagnosed my particular issue. It was at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. However the ENT dept there does not diagnose. You might try another department your personal care doc may suggest. Or you can try the Cleveland Clinic. they have several locations here in Florida, Cleveland, Ohio of course, and perhaps other areas.
Good luck

I have multiple symptoms and was diagnosed with post covid syndrome. I was diagnosed by ENT at Duke with smell/taste disorder. I hadn’t realized how poor my smell was until I did so poorly on the smell tests.

I also had bouts of smelling fabric softener for a while. That has dissipated. My biggest and long lasting symptom is a constant bitter taste. I got it a couple of weeks after a mild case of covid in September of 2023.

The neurologist had no real suggestions after MRI and other tests were normal.

I have done my own scent retraining. I think it helped, but I still don’t smell and taste the way I used to before this happened. The constant bitter taste persists.

I have lost 75 pounds, but on purpose, as I work towards improved fitness and better health and nutrition with help of nutritionist. Still, I suspect it’s easier for me to stick with my tight diet, since food enjoyment is so reduced.

I have follow up scheduled with the ENT. Not sure what can be done.

I had COVID in October 2020
Lost all smell then things smelled like cigarettes all the time. 4 years later still smell cigarettes still in recovery still left with long haul symptoms
Best of luck in his recovery

Contact your local hospital’s pain management department. I’ve had 3 Stellate Ganglion Block injections and it brought back a little more salty, sweet, sour sensations on my tongue, but no flavors. I can smell something almost every day, but it’s fleeting. It can’t hurt to try because living the rest of your life without ever smelling or tasting anything is not fun!

I can still taste although sometimes everything tastes like fish. This always portends a relapse. Sometimes my smell is normal. For years, though, it was ‘hot COVID’ every day. My ENT did try to ‘retrain’ my smell with one of those kits and it made the problem ten times worse.