Summary of my parosmia story:

​My story started in May of 2019, when I was very sick with an upper respiratory virus. This was before anything with Covid has started.

I noticed that I couldn't smell or taste anything. I thought this was odd. Then some things started to smell strange and taste disgusting. I never experienced anything like this before.

​Over the next 3-4 months, I went to 3 different doctors, each with a different diagnosis and I had a CT scan which didn't show any problems. I was given no treatment plan from the doctors and I was told nothing could be done and it should get better on its own with time.

​After doing my own research online, I learned that I had anosmia, which is smell loss and later it developed into parosmia, a distorted sense of smell.

​Then Covid started in March of 2020. Some people who had Covid were saying that they were having the same symptoms of anosmia and parosmia.

In April of 2021, I still had parosmia but I felt like I lost my sense of smell again and then I tested positive for Covid. So, I started over again with anosmia and parosmia.

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What it is like living with parosmia:

Parosmia effects every part of your life. It is the loss of 2 of the 5 senses. So it could be considered an invisible disability.+

At first, I noticed it was mostly food that smelled really bad and tasted disgusting.

The worst foods for me are; coffee, Coke & Pepsi, peanut butter, chocolate, all citrus, eggs, garlic, onions, anything fried, greasy food, and most meat. Cooking meat in any manner (grilled, baked, fried...) smells disgusting. It's difficult for me to cook or even be in the same environment with food that is being cooked. Because of this, I'm limited in what I'm able to eat. Although, I do eat a lot of sugary and salty foods because I could always taste these basic tastes. So my diet is totally not healthy.

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Then, I noticed other things that started to smell wrong. Cleaning products like dish washing soap, laundry detergent and bath & body care products like hand soap, shampoo, lotion, perfume were all terrible. Unscented and fragrance free weren't any better. Even toothpaste smell and taste repulsive. It's just such a strange condition.

Boiling water has a smell, cold air has a smell, car exhaust smells wrong, the fast food drive-thru smell awful. Clean laundry smells bad. Hugging someone smells bad, either because of their clean clothes or their perfume. Shopping, restaurants, other people's houses are not enjoyable anymore.

It is difficult to explain the smells. Some people with this condition say things smell like something rotten or spoiled, sewage, sulfur, garbage, smoke, vomit and even decaying, dead bodies.

The rancid smells and tastes can be different for everyone and it's constantly changing. One week something will taste bad, the next week it might not be as bad and then it could get really bad again.

It is nauseating and at times gives me migraines that will last most of the day. Sometimes, I wake up with a headache just from breathing through my nose while sleeping.

It is very depressing and isolating. I can't go anywhere without the awful smells. Nobody can understand because it sounds so bizarre when I try to explain it. Even doctors don't know much about it. They say is should get better over time but it can last for many months or years. There is no cure at this time.