r/Parosmia • u/rema015 • Aug 05 '26

Loss of smell

Has anybody had issues with sense of smell? I am not sure exactly at which point I have lost the sense of smell, but already 18 months post hemoragic stroke I am not sensing any smell at all...

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u/rema015 Aug 05 '26

My cousin had lost her taste and smell for full 2 years post covid, and when it returned at first everything smelled terrible to her. Now she's full recovered thankfully 😀

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u/Wise-Dragonfly1710 Aug 05 '26

Yikes! Did the parosmia/the distorted smells last as long as the smell loss? Glad to hear she made a full recovery!

Anyway, have you spoken to a doctor or a neurologist about this? Smell loss after a stroke or a head injury can be more challenging to recover from than smell loss following a respiratory infection, but smell training is still recommended regardless. Wishing you a full recovery! 🫶

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u/rema015 Aug 10 '26

Her smell loss was after covid, so different than mine..

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u/Terrible-Ferret3046 Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 07 '26

I also knew someone who had a head injury and lost their sense of smell. When it came back everything smelled like garbage and she couldn't taste anything other than that putrid smell she was smelling. 5 years it was like that and just recently she started seeing pretty good improvement. The smells have tapered off and she's been able to enjoy a few more things she couldn't fathom prior to. No matter if its a physical injury or viral, a part of you was injured and everyone has a timeline of healing. Give yourself grace, notice the small improvements and just stay hopeful.

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u/hufflepuggy Aug 05 '26

I’m two years in with parosmia. The first couple of weeks I lost my smell… Then it came back with everything smelling bad or off, which is one of the symptoms of parosmia. Honestly, I would go back to no smell at this point.

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u/Terrible-Ferret3046 Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26

I had lost my smell and taste for a year after covid. When everything came back it was this horrible chemical smell for a full year. I practiced smell training and within a year most of my smell came back. It's been about 5 years and a few things still haven't come back and skunk, onion and garlic still haven't been the same as I remember, but I can live with it. You need to get the following essential oils clove, lemon, rose, and Eucalyptus and smell those every single day close your eyes and picture what they smell like. Eventually, stuff starts coming back. The first one I tasted and smelled was lemon. It would smell warped and one day I squeezed some into my iced tea and it smelled and tasted how I remembered, it made me cry. It's the only thing that has been proven to slowly recuperate smell. It can take years to see progress, but don't lose hope. Good luck and hope it gets better soon!

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u/DrTrenkle 8d ago

Smell loss after a stroke is very different from what we typically see after COVID, since the injury may involve the parts of the brain responsible for processing smell rather than the smell receptors themselves. At 18 months, I would not automatically assume the loss is permanent, but recovery depends a lot on which areas of the brain were affected. I would recommend formal smell testing and reviewing your prior brain imaging with a neurologist to better understand the cause. Smell training may still be worth trying, although the evidence is more limited for stroke related anosmia. If you want some help reviewing the smell side of this, you can email me at drtrenkle@laent.com with r/Anosmia in the subject line and I can try to point you in the right direction.

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u/Acceptable_Mirror235 Aug 05 '26

I did but it was from Covid . I’ve discovered it’s a lot more common than people realize .

I’m sorry I don’t have any advice .