Hi Celia,

My experience is somewhat similar to yours in that while I’m slowly improving from Covid (tested positive on Dec. 4th) I had smell and taste issues too. My smell is vastly improved but the last couple weeks I’ve had this bizarre symptom of a feeling like I burned my tongue but it’s constant now, along with this bitter taste after any food I eat. It’s like it’s trying to repair itself but it doesn’t know how.

I’ve been using everything from smell retraining, cough drops, chlorhexidine mouthwash, Nystatin oral suspension rinse, drinking warm chamomile tea, saltwater rinses, vitamins you name it.

I’ve seen my dentist about it and he’s clueless because he says “it looks fine.”

Well, obviously it isn’t fine or I wouldn’t be here.

I saw my pcp and all she did was bloodwork which was within normal limits. I had to stronger her to do an oral swab (which they called and said didn’t show signs of any irregular bacterial overgrowth.)

So back to square one.

I’m going to schedule an appointment with an oral surgeon to see if he can do any further investigation and possibly a tongue scraping to check for thrush.

I’ve also made an appointment for a local Covid long hauler clinic here in Chicago but I can’t get in until February because of course. 😑

I’ve also been reading any peer reviewed journal articles I can get my hands on that mention Covid tongue and I did come across some infectious disease specialists that have been trying different approaches such as photobiomodulation therapy and stem cell therapy treatments (a current trial is going on at UC Davis.)

I’ve also joined a Covid long hauler Facebook group to connect with others who are going through similar issues in the hopes that maybe we can help each other figure things out since we’re kind of left on our own it seems.

This is not intended to be medical advice for your situation. I am a dentist and also a person who has had numerous medical issues including radiation induced neuropathy. . Taste and smell are all part of the olfactory nerve system. Although they are not sure how Covid affects this system, it would seem to be that the sooner one tries to mitigate the symptoms the better. Like a neuropathy. If it were me I would have asked to be placed on a low dose of Neurontin and Motrin. Neruontin seems to help surface/diabetice vs deep) neuropathy and pain. Retraining smell is smoke and mirrors to me. The sensory nerves got damaged due to the virus. The nerves need to be calmed down and hopefully regenerate or form secondary nerves. Don't give up hope. For the pain in the back of the tongue, it may be a good sign that something is still active. Most mouth washes have a lot of additives like citric acid or preservatives. Simple food grade glycerin rinse, coconut oil or slipper elm lozenges may help. Water down simple no dye Listerine to keep it clean. On the side, I have given patients an oral rinse of Dexamethasone no dyes( the doctor needs to look it up but it does exist) It does wonders for autoimmune oral burning due to Lichen Planus. You rinse, hold it in the back and you can swallow a small amount . Come to think of it , I might add a small dose of low dose of oral prednisone for a month or two. LOW dose ( not a med pack), 5 mg not more/day. This is what I would be asking for if it were me.
I hope this helps.