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OT: I can't smell

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bigboxes

Nebraska Legend
Sep 4, 2004
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Arlington, TX
Yup. I tested positive for COVID-19. I felt fatigued Monday morning. I thought I would just brush it off and headed off to work. As the morning progressed, so did my symptoms. I developed mild chills and aches in my hands, elbows and (most noticeably) my knees. About halfway through my work day, I decided to go see my doctor. I go to the VA Outpatient Clinic. Of course, it was MLK day and everyone was home and not answering the phone.

My only other option was to drive to the Dallas VA Medical Center in south Dallas and visit the ER. After a small wait, the nurse jammed the swab super far back in my nose to get a "proper sample". Said I they would call me with the results by 9am on Wednesday. Until then, I had to self-isolate.

No problem. I was feeling pretty good. The fatigue and aches were lighter. My eyes no longer hurt to move them from side to side. I figured that this was just something else and not the dreaded COVID-19.

They didn't call me at the scheduled time. I waited 30 minutes to make sure. Then I contacted someone at the ER. I'm fully expecting them to say I was negative. WRONG! I was informed that had indeed tested positive.

Yesterday, I realized that I could not really smell much of anything. Of course, that affects your taste. Great. Anyone know how long (on average) until I get my sense of smell (and taste) back? Sucks to be off from work and not able to enjoy food.
 
Sense of taste and smell go away for a large portion of those who come down with COVID. I was fortunate enough to keep mine, but I know people who lost theirs for as short as 3 - 4 weeks and some for months. I have heard that most come back in a matter of weeks and only a very small fraction have lost it for significantly longer.
 
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Yup. I tested positive for COVID-19. I felt fatigued Monday morning. I thought I would just brush it off and headed off to work. As the morning progressed, so did my symptoms. I developed mild chills and aches in my hands, elbows and (most noticeably) my knees. About halfway through my work day, I decided to go see my doctor. I go to the VA. Of course, it was MLK day and everyone was home and not answering the phone.

My only other option was to drive to the Dallas VA Medical Center in south Dallas and visit the ER. After a small wait, the nurse jammed the swab super far back in my nose to get a "proper sample". Said I they would call me with the results by 9am on Wednesday. Until then, I had to self-isolate.

No problem. I was feeling pretty good. The fatigue and aches were lighter. My eyes no longer hurt to move them from side to side. I figured that this was just something else and not the dreaded COVID-19.

They didn't call me at the scheduled time. I waited 30 minutes to make sure. Then I contacted someone at the ER. I'm fully expecting them to say I was negative. WRONG! I was informed that had indeed tested positive.

Yesterday, I realized that I could not really smell much of anything. Of course, that affects your taste. Great. Anyone know how long (on average) until I get my sense of smell (and taste) back? Sucks to be off from work and not able to enjoy food.

I went 4-5 weeks with smell and taste messed up. I would wake up one morning and it would kind of come back, then within an hour or so it was gone again.

It took almost 6 weeks for me to be able to work out again. Just had issues with getting air when ever I would try and do anything.
 
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I had it over thanksgiving, in Siesta Key on vacation.

I'm a 39yo male, 6'1" and 170lbs, healthy, don't smoke, don't drink much but when I do I go hard AF

No underlying conditions

8 of 12 of our group got it.

I had the most severe symptoms

low grade fever, loss of taste/smell (only 48 hrs), aches (back/hips), and fatigue

My symptoms lasted 4-5 days

Felt slight chest/sinus congestion for a couple weeks after (like a very mild sinus infection)

Others in the group barely had anything symptom-wise other than the loss of taste and smell. A few were older, some with underlying conditions.
 
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Same here.

You'll find when it does start coming back, if someone asks you if you can taste/smell something, it will "disappear" again after they ask you, it's weird like that.
 
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I felt fatigued Monday morning. I thought I would just brush it off and headed off to work. As the morning progressed, so did my symptoms. I developed mild chills and aches in my hands, elbows and (most noticeably) my knees. About halfway through my work day, I decided to go see my doctor.

Sorry you have the 'rona - hope you get better soon. And hopefully you work alone, or outdoors away from people since you decided to go to work when not feeling well.
 
I'm recovering from The Rona right now. Have had it full on for about two weeks and I'm almost back to normal. i had pretty much every symptom under the sun, but all were pretty mild. Was mostly annoyed by the fatigue. Feel like I've lost about 80% of my ability to taste and smell.
 
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Yup. I tested positive for COVID-19. I felt fatigued Monday morning. I thought I would just brush it off and headed off to work. As the morning progressed, so did my symptoms. I developed mild chills and aches in my hands, elbows and (most noticeably) my knees. About halfway through my work day, I decided to go see my doctor. I go to the VA Outpatient Clinic. Of course, it was MLK day and everyone was home and not answering the phone.

My only other option was to drive to the Dallas VA Medical Center in south Dallas and visit the ER. After a small wait, the nurse jammed the swab super far back in my nose to get a "proper sample". Said I they would call me with the results by 9am on Wednesday. Until then, I had to self-isolate.

No problem. I was feeling pretty good. The fatigue and aches were lighter. My eyes no longer hurt to move them from side to side. I figured that this was just something else and not the dreaded COVID-19.

They didn't call me at the scheduled time. I waited 30 minutes to make sure. Then I contacted someone at the ER. I'm fully expecting them to say I was negative. WRONG! I was informed that had indeed tested positive.

Yesterday, I realized that I could not really smell much of anything. Of course, that affects your taste. Great. Anyone know how long (on average) until I get my sense of smell (and taste) back? Sucks to be off from work and not able to enjoy food.
Yikes, people going to work right after they tested positive is what scares me. No wonder this crap is spreading so rapidly. That's one of the reasons driving me so hard to get vaccinated because infected people are out and about.
 
When I got it I had a fever for 11 days, breathing was an issue the last 4 or 5 days... once the fever broke, the breathing improved quickly. Smell was gone for a few weeks, then returned, although I’m not sure it is completely back.

Take care of yourself boxes, the second half for me was the worst. Hopefully yours won’t be.
 
Talked to a guy yesterday that had gotten it. Taste and smell took about 10 days to get back to normal. Bad headache for half a day then really felt pretty good except for the trots for 4-5 days. Blood type A+
 
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That's not what he said.
Well maybe I misread it (I hope) but didn't he say he went to work the next day after being tested positive for Covid? That didn't happen you're saying? I thought he posted:

"Yup. I tested positive for COVID-19. I felt fatigued Monday morning. I thought I would just brush it off and headed off to work. As the morning progressed, so did my symptoms."
 
Yikes, people going to work right after they tested positive is what scares me. No wonder this crap is spreading so rapidly. That's one of the reasons driving me so hard to get vaccinated because infected people are out and about.
You'd better stay home forever. It's just so scary out there. And you're not out of the woods yet after the "vaccine." You could still get it.
 
You'd better stay home forever. It's just so scary out there. And you're not out of the woods yet after the "vaccine." You could still get it.
It's a matter of the probabilities. Not getting vaccinated = a much higher risk of getting Covid than getting vaccinated = much lower risk of getting Covid or winding up in an ICU. Nothing in life is ever risk free, you just take the lower risk path if you can and if you want to survive as best you can. In other words, put the odds in your favor.

No wonder the casinos are so rich when people don't understand the concept of probability and odds. Laughing
 
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You'd better stay home forever. It's just so scary out there. And you're not out of the woods yet after the "vaccine." You could still get it.

Man, you have some really good takes and info. Resorting to hyperbole just weakens your argument.

Reading Caps post helps clear up what he thought. It was just a misunderstanding and he seems pretty middle of the road as far as vaccine and the whole virus.
 
Well maybe I misread it (I hope) but didn't he say he went to work the next day after being tested positive for Covid? That didn't happen you're saying? I thought he posted:

"Yup. I tested positive for COVID-19. I felt fatigued Monday morning. I thought I would just brush it off and headed off to work. As the morning progressed, so did my symptoms."
I think it was more of an intro... “ I tested positive for Covid.” Followed by a “here’s how it happened.” If that makes sense.
 
Maybe the OP himself could clarify it. But it is fact that this is a common way that it spreads. People are contagious for a time before they know they have it. It is why wearing masks and keeping appropriate distance is highly recommended by medical experts. It’s meant to slow down the spread to manageable levels until herd immunity is reached.

Good luck OP
 
Maybe the OP himself could clarify it. But it is fact that this is a common way that it spreads. People are contagious for a time before they know they have it. It is why wearing masks and keeping appropriate distance is highly recommended by medical experts. It’s meant to slow down the spread to manageable levels until herd immunity is reached.

Good luck OP
were Covid parties ever a thing? I'm surprised more people didn't decide to just get it over with.
 
I was at work. Feeling bad. Wasn't going away. I left mid-day. Got tested. Went home. Isolated. Got results. Took many naps. Wrote thread. Here we are.
OK, if you went home after you were tested and isolated, I apologize for misunderstanding your post. That's obviously what people need to do. Hope you get better fast!
 
Yup. Couldn't have said it better.
well, actually you could have in the first place. ;)

I was very similar to you. Felt a little off but carried on for a day or two. It just seemed like I was a bit tired or wore out.

Maybe it was denial, but the way it came on just didn't seem like I was "sick".

Once I lost my smell I went into hiding. Of course that was after I had already infected my entire family!

Hope you stay on the mild side. If it helps, I kept drinking whiskey. Just to see if my smell and taste came back. I don't think it helped at all, but seemed like a good excuse.
 
Had an Uber driver tell me she hasn't been able to smell anything since last October when she caught COVID. That was last week.
 
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First off, get well soon!!!

Secondly, to answer your question - I know a few people who have tested positive with varying degrees of length for the loss of smell and taste.
- My sister only lost her sense of smell and taste for a couple days - it was more of the bad headache and fatigue that impacted her most.
- A former coworker got it early on (wanna say April or so?) and he had pretty much all the symptoms. The loss of smell and taste took him about 4 months to get recover.
- The other person I know that got it had their sense of smell and taste return within a week but developed blood clots. I think the blood clots are something that don't get talked about as much but it actually occurs way more frequently than I realized. One study put it at around 20% of patients develop blood clots.

Anyways, get well soon, everyone stay safe!
 
Yup. I tested positive for COVID-19. I felt fatigued Monday morning. I thought I would just brush it off and headed off to work. As the morning progressed, so did my symptoms. I developed mild chills and aches in my hands, elbows and (most noticeably) my knees. About halfway through my work day, I decided to go see my doctor. I go to the VA Outpatient Clinic. Of course, it was MLK day and everyone was home and not answering the phone.

My only other option was to drive to the Dallas VA Medical Center in south Dallas and visit the ER. After a small wait, the nurse jammed the swab super far back in my nose to get a "proper sample". Said I they would call me with the results by 9am on Wednesday. Until then, I had to self-isolate.

No problem. I was feeling pretty good. The fatigue and aches were lighter. My eyes no longer hurt to move them from side to side. I figured that this was just something else and not the dreaded COVID-19.

They didn't call me at the scheduled time. I waited 30 minutes to make sure. Then I contacted someone at the ER. I'm fully expecting them to say I was negative. WRONG! I was informed that had indeed tested positive.

Yesterday, I realized that I could not really smell much of anything. Of course, that affects your taste. Great. Anyone know how long (on average) until I get my sense of smell (and taste) back? Sucks to be off from work and not able to enjoy food.

Get well!
 
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Had an Uber driver tell me she hasn't been able to smell anything since last October when she caught COVID. That was last week.

You're not making me feel any better.
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Yup. I tested positive for COVID-19. I felt fatigued Monday morning. I thought I would just brush it off and headed off to work. As the morning progressed, so did my symptoms. I developed mild chills and aches in my hands, elbows and (most noticeably) my knees. About halfway through my work day, I decided to go see my doctor. I go to the VA Outpatient Clinic. Of course, it was MLK day and everyone was home and not answering the phone.

My only other option was to drive to the Dallas VA Medical Center in south Dallas and visit the ER. After a small wait, the nurse jammed the swab super far back in my nose to get a "proper sample". Said I they would call me with the results by 9am on Wednesday. Until then, I had to self-isolate.

No problem. I was feeling pretty good. The fatigue and aches were lighter. My eyes no longer hurt to move them from side to side. I figured that this was just something else and not the dreaded COVID-19.

They didn't call me at the scheduled time. I waited 30 minutes to make sure. Then I contacted someone at the ER. I'm fully expecting them to say I was negative. WRONG! I was informed that had indeed tested positive.

Yesterday, I realized that I could not really smell much of anything. Of course, that affects your taste. Great. Anyone know how long (on average) until I get my sense of smell (and taste) back? Sucks to be off from work and not able to enjoy food.
Took my family 2 weeks to 2 months.
 
3-4 months for me and it’s not the same as it was prior to getting Covid or what ever it was I had back in March. In July when I was positive I never loss my smell or taste.
 
On a more serious note. I have a co-worker who has had COVID-19 for just over a month now. She is in a high risk group, being a cancer survivor. She recently had a benign tumor removed. Due to the nature of her cancer, she has been on a low-dose chemotherapy. This combination wrecks her immunity. While the rest of the family was over it in a couple of weeks, she's still been out since before Christmas.

Her name is Lissa. If anyone wants to pray for her, I'd appreciate it. She was there for me and my wife as she battled cancer that last year. Great lady.
 
I had it in June. High fever for seven days. No loss of taste or smell. Fatigue lasted for about three months after. I'm seventy and never took a nap in my life. For three months I needed an afternoon nap. Now I'm good. Back to normal.
Amazed how many doubters there were about CV19 back in June. Reality finally set in and it just isn't fiction as more people are infected or know someone infected by it.
 
I had it in June. High fever for seven days. No loss of taste or smell. Fatigue lasted for about three months after. I'm seventy and never took a nap in my life. For three months I needed an afternoon nap. Now I'm good. Back to normal.
Amazed how many doubters there were about CV19 back in June. Reality finally set in and it just isn't fiction as more people are infected or know someone infected by it.
I don’t believe anyone thought it was fiction. The issue was the severity of the disease, not if it existed or not.

There is so much in flux with covid, with no rhyme or reason to how it affects people. As I mentioned, I had the fever for 11 days, and difficulty breathing. Trots as well.

My wife and two daughters had a fever for a day. One daughter had severe headaches for a few days. That’s it.

I suspect hundreds of thousands have had it and been very mild or even asymptomatic. While others, like myself, have had it with more severe symptoms. Obviously, the worst has been those who have died from it.

It is very real. Just across the board how it affects people.
 
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I know a network of A LOT of people. I have a territory that goes from Virginia to Quebec and manage 50 accounts that employ anywhere from 15 to 500 people.

I live in a city of 60k and work for a company that employs 20k around this area. I manage a brand you may even own or know people that own and I design the product.

I know a lot of people that got COVID. I know of 0 that I interact with on a monthly basis that went to the hospital. Second handedly, I know of a few that went to the hospital and heard of others that I work with or know that knew some people that had it seriously, went on a ventilator or worse, died.

What's changed from Jan 2020 to Jan 2021? Well, now I'd say 70% or more of the public are fearful, hypochondriacs who have damaged psyches and may never recover from this. They view others as contaminated and unsafe to be around. They believe strapping a diaper to their healthy face is "normal".

People are at wits' end. We are majorly divided and trying to blame the other side for our irrational fears. I've personally lost friends because I think wearing a mask and not being scared senseless, is no way to go about life.

Just yesterday, as Biden took office, the WHO totally changed the way Covid is diagnosed. Less cycle count, no longer giving a positive test as a case, you have to have clinical symptoms and you have to pass additional tests.

I'm not a fan of progressive democrats, but got dam do they know how to win an election and how to manipulate the masses as an end to their means.

I won't bitch while this guy is in office. I also will pay him no mind. I will work, protect my family and remain aware of my current immediate situation.

Enjoy reading these discussions as they provide a nice pulse of how we are all managing the year that never got better.
 
Yup. I tested positive for COVID-19. I felt fatigued Monday morning. I thought I would just brush it off and headed off to work. As the morning progressed, so did my symptoms. I developed mild chills and aches in my hands, elbows and (most noticeably) my knees. About halfway through my work day, I decided to go see my doctor. I go to the VA Outpatient Clinic. Of course, it was MLK day and everyone was home and not answering the phone.

My only other option was to drive to the Dallas VA Medical Center in south Dallas and visit the ER. After a small wait, the nurse jammed the swab super far back in my nose to get a "proper sample". Said I they would call me with the results by 9am on Wednesday. Until then, I had to self-isolate.

No problem. I was feeling pretty good. The fatigue and aches were lighter. My eyes no longer hurt to move them from side to side. I figured that this was just something else and not the dreaded COVID-19.

They didn't call me at the scheduled time. I waited 30 minutes to make sure. Then I contacted someone at the ER. I'm fully expecting them to say I was negative. WRONG! I was informed that had indeed tested positive.

Yesterday, I realized that I could not really smell much of anything. Of course, that affects your taste. Great. Anyone know how long (on average) until I get my sense of smell (and taste) back? Sucks to be off from work and not able to enjoy food.
I'm so sorry, Boxes. Take care of yourself! I'm leaving in 15 min to get my 1st vaccine.
 
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