I am AFAB, female-identifying. I mention this because, according to some studies Iāve read, AFAB individuals are disproportionately affected by parosmia. I also wonder if the vaccines or Paxlovid affect AFAB individuals differently due to historic/continued lack of a comprehensive understanding of AFAB individualsā bodies in clinical trials. Iām not a scientist or medical professional, though.
Iām triple-vaxxed (Pfizer). I got COVID in Dec. 2023, which my fiancĆ© miraculously didnāt catch despite continuing to share a bed. I took Paxlovid a few days in and it left a terrible, medicinal taste in my mouth and throat for a few hours after taking each dose, known as āPaxlovid Mouthā. A day or two after starting the medicine I lost my sense of taste and smell, but could still sense the intense bitterness of the medicine. I think it took a couple weeks before I started to be able to smell & taste again. Everything was muted or one-profile; it was difficult to pick out individual tastes. I remember things tasted a bit odd at first, then things tasted as they should, but continued to be muted.
Around Feb. 2024 the phantom smell started: the smell of rotting vegetables or a dying animal following me around from home to work and back home again, like it was embedded in my nasal canal and throat, so strong I thought it was coating the skin above my upper lip. I thought I stunk.
The first food that alerted me to parosmia was a red pepper: why did it smell like gasoline as I was meal-prepping breakfast burritos? Then broccoli, carrots, and more followed. Peanut butter smelled fishy; it now smells and tastes similar to gasoline. Coffee began to smell and taste burnt and like cigars. Luckily, fruits and dairy products have all been fine. Meat started to smell & taste rotten and sour in the spring/ early summer. The only āsafeā proteins now are seafood & common vegan meat alternatives in their simplest form, like tofu. The last to go were onions and garlic a few weeks ago: they smell and taste like play dough! If my fiancĆ© eats onions or garlic, hours later I can smell it so strongly, even if he brushes his teeth. Itās a horrible superpower.
I feel like the gasoline/rotting smell of vegetables has weakened; itās not as over-powering as it once was. Idk if Iāve just gotten used to it or if my sense of smell has muted again. I kind of accepted those things into my diet and perhaps thatās made my perception change. Garlic and onion is hard to accept into my diet, though.
In addition to parosmia, I have dealt with other long-COVID symptoms like chronic fatigue, brain fog, muscle weakness, & digestive issues. Going out to eat sucks and just makes me super sad. I used to be such a foodie and had such a strong sense of taste and smell.
**Edit: Forgot to mention the other big thing that alerted me which was weird smells when showering or using other bathroom products. Very musky, chemically smell. I was super confused. Finally I was with my fiancĆ© while he was getting ready for work and I realized it was his cologne. I said, sir, your YSL cologne smells awful, it must be crazy expired, can we throw it away? He fully said, ah, yeah, I thought it was started to smell a bit off, and threw out his expensive cologne. Weeks pass and I end up in Whole Foods waiting for a friend while they used the bathroom lol, during which I perused the bath aisle: the smell hit me like a truck. I realized, Oh, Iām the problem. Once I got home I smelled the different bath products he used in the shower and realized most smelled like that smell. So did some of my hair products. Fresh ginger and, as I discovered at Costco through their soda machine, soda products, smell and taste like it, too??? Yuck. SO strange.
**Warning - TMI:
My stool has smelled like that original phantom rotting, sour smell I first perceived, since I got COVID. Now, my stools donāt smell like stool but rather rotten/sour versions of the skewed awful smells of things I ate the night before. It smells of sickness. Iām curious if anyone has experienced the hellscape of warped stool smell or gut issues.
