Sense of smell and taste returned after 3.5 years

Firemanmono... follow up questions would overload Mayo's web pages on LC: Did you change anything in your food intake? For example, did you change your diet in any way? Did you take any natural minerals, like zinc or family of D vitamins? In your lifetime did you ever have an autoimmune disease such as mononucleosis at an earlier age?

Congratulations!
Please tell me more. I lost my sense of smell and taste in March. I had actually lost it a year prior but got it back after 10 months. But lost it again when I got sick again. I’ve tried the olfactory training (smelling essential oils) but I’ve got nothing this time around. I’m also taking supplements but nothing. If you have any suggestions, anything you’ve done that you can share, I would greatly appreciate that. Thank you so much!

@lilal Hello! Sorry to hear you lost you senses again. I tried everything you mentioned. Since mine returned, one thing that seems to have helped is sitting in a sauna with peppermint oil heated over the rocks. Seems that improved my smell/taste senses more after they returned. I hope that helps. I tried everything for years and had zero luck. I believe whatever the mechanism was that caused me to lose my taste/smell corrected itself over time.

@pattig09 Hello Patti, sorry for the delayed response. I will try to answer the questions you asked. My med control doctor recommended vitamin d3/k2 at the start of covid. Ive been taking it daily ever since. Physicals show a normal range of d3..not high nor low. Diet, I follow a lower carbohydrate more natural type of eating habit. I try to stick to low ingredient natural foods. And I do splurge at times, or even have a good week of bad eating. But 90% of the time I eat clean. Workouts are daily weight training, peloton cycling, and evening jujitsu classes. And yes, funny you ask, maybe around the age of 8, I had mononeucleosis. I wish you the best, and Merry Christmas. If you have any questions feel free to ask. As of today my smell/taste are back about 100%. There are a few subtle things I've noticed..like when people say they smell skunk..for me it smells like hot asphalt on a summer day..few little things like that. I also mentioned in another post, since the return, I noticed sitting in my sauna with peppermint oil aroma therapy, it seemed to enhance the sense of smell of scents that returned but seemed diminished at the time. Merry Christmas

Peppermint aroma therapy

@firemanmono Your detail on 'smells' made me smile because when I lost taste and smell, the bad smells stayed with me, like sewer treatment facilities, etc. I'm on track with the added daily D3 & K2. I added daily zinc when I had Covid D and continue. Smell came back about 3 months ago after a 7mg pure nicotine patch program recommended by my dermatologist (she has Long Covid and it brought hers back). This worked for me as taste and smell are restored. As a bonus, when my smell and taste came back, I don't smell many bad smells now! I started a new mineral about 30 days ago, organic moringa, to assist with tongue inflammation and that is reducing the swelling. I began a weekly 50,000IU D2 to reduce tongue tenderness and that is working. I have been on a Mediterranean plan for most of my life, no red meats, no pork, no salt, no fried food, lots of fresh fruits and veggies which maintained my general health. I added a daily high dose of probiotics when I caught Covid and I continue this plan. Walking daily is my muse. Thanks for sharing as peppermint oil program is going to be added to my routine!

How wonderful for you!
I lost mine gradually about 20 years ago, likely due to severe allergies is what MDs think.
I can taste some things but not much.
I love to flower garden but can’t smell them - 😩

My sense of taste has evolved since 2023. Initially, extreme loss of sense of smell and a continuous metallic taste. Within 6 months the smell returned and the metallic taste turned to bitter taste. Now, 2 years later, the previous taste is now salty. I’m curious as to where this will go.

@pattig09 Hello, how long did you use the 7mg of nicotine patches for? I tried it for about 2 weeks and didnt notice anything. Any suggestions please.

I’m so happy for you! I’m still waiting for mine to return, but have done some treatments to regain. I tried to smell the cleaning product Pine Sol the other day and I couldn’t, but I could smell rubbing alcohol!🤷‍♀️. This virus is a tough nut to crack. There is no quick fix or a one size fits all fix. So you had no signs that your taste/smell were returning, it just came back one day? I can only hope for that!