If you got COVID and lost the ability to taste things, did it ever come back? Otherwise, did you experience any other long term consequences from the pandemic in general?
Never heard any follow ups on the taste thing, so I need answers
4 years since 2020. Time really flies when a catastrophic global event hits you in the face
Just a reminder that not only is covid not over, but in many places infections are on the rise again and people are still dying, while vaccines become less and less accessible, no other official measures taken (like recommending masks on public transport), and more and more long term effects of infection come to light.
As a vulnerable person, the fact that people talk about it like it's in the past scares the shit out of me.
Same. I don’t even know how to respond to questions like this. It’s such a failure of our governments that people think loss of taste and smell from an infection years ago is the only lasting impact they’re experiencing. It’s a vascular disease that can damage every organ in the body and we’re being forced to experience repeat infections. Unfortunately most won’t realize what is happening until after it does, and there’s very few treatments and even little care for prevention.
I’m a disabled organizer focused on covid issues, and every day I hear constantly from people about the barriers covid has to their lives. Some are new barriers like new health conditions, increased precarity, and rising debt. Others are finding existing issues that were already hard to navigate become near insurmountable. Many of us haven’t had regular healthcare in years due to lack of covid safety or the system’s complete overwhelm. So many of us are fighting to just see a dentist without getting covid, and it’s nearly impossible.
And this is just from the folks who are aware of why covid should be avoided and what the current situation is, every day I talk to people who have long therm health issues from covid that now have to navigate a world they thought wouldn’t affect the. Covid has and will continue to impact every aspect of everyone’s life and it sucks seeing so many ignore it.
Edit to add- and yea, at least 7 million people died worldwide with over a million of that just in the US. The amount of people forever missing loved ones is hard to grapple with. A quarter of a million kids lost one or both parents, it’s had profound impact to their life trajectories that we’ll see for decades, and that’s not even accounting for the health implications they’ll endure along with the rest of society as we have continued repeat infections.
Others are finding existing issues that were already hard to navigate become near insurmountable. Many of us haven’t had regular healthcare in years due to lack of covid safety or the system’s complete overwhelm
I am part of this group, I was already struggling to get the kind of in-home care I actually need (because social services are direly and deliberately underfunded), now I won't even risk it because I know people won't/can't avoid bringing that shit in to my space. And that's just to name one of so many impacts it has had...
Otherwise I agree with everything else you've said, except that the government is failing, but only because I think they're doing exactly as they want and expect to do, we're (we being not only those already most vulnerable in society and to covid, but by extension the rest of the working class) just an after thought and acceptable collateral damage.
I've been meaning to share this on its own, but it definitely belongs here too:
Thanks for the link, it’s a good piece. And I definitely agree on it being an intentional path by our government not a failing per se. It’s not just the disabled that are and always have been afterthoughts, it’s everyone. Covid’s lasting damage is well-known, but that’s your problem not theirs, they have mitigations in place for themselves and the best care available if needed.
It’s very little but if you’re US based and want to remind your state officials that they’re killing people with their negligence, a group I organize with has a letter to send them about masking in healthcare. I really hope that this year we see actual progress on addressing covid instead of just ignoring it. We’re in the second highest ever surge currently, a lot of people are going to be sicker by November.
It’s not just the disabled that are and always have been afterthoughts, it’s everyone. Covid’s lasting damage is well-known, but that’s your problem not theirs, they have mitigations in place for themselves and the best care available if needed.
Well said. Accessibility and inclusion of disabled and vulnerable people has always benefitted society at large, but people are put under such pressure to "win", never mind just survive, that they've completely lost sight of that (like you say - to their own detriment).
Thank you too for the link, the fact that wearing masks in the healthcare sector is even up for debate, never mind something that needs to essentially be begged for, is enraging, though you'd be relieved? to know that here in the UK they aren't mandatory either.. And the infection and deaths numbers show it. We're also expecting potentially the largest wave yet https://donotpanic.substack.com/p/four-years-later-two-million-infections?publication.
There honestly are no words to express the frustration..
In the US Covid vaccines are available at any pharmacy for free. Accessibility isn’t the problem. People have just stopped getting revaccinated. The ant vac propaganda has been effective.
Of course it is if people don't know about it being available. or about the importance of having it (never mind the time and mental energy to get another task done when you're working 3 jobs and have kids to feed). Accessibility isn't just ramps. And the US isn't the only country in the world.
Yes, ant-vaxx propaganda is partly to blame, but this is a much bigger problem that is being deliberately neglected if not actively made worse by those in power for their own benefit.
And also, no they aren’t available at any pharmacy for free. They’re available at some pharmacies, if covered by insurance or you’ve applied through the bridge program, but still unlikely to be administered in a covid safe setting. If the vaccine is nearby and covered but I’ll get covid while there, that is not accessible. The existence of the vaccines is barely anything towards actually controlling covid and reducing its impact on society and the ability of people who don’t want to get it to access society.
And let’s remember, the vaccines help prevent the worst case scenario of hospitalization and death. They do not prevent infection, stop you from spreading the virus, or nullify the damage covid does to your body.
no they aren’t available at any pharmacy for free. They’re available at some pharmacies, if covered by insurance
"available at any pharmacy for free" definitely sounded too good to be true, especially considering it's the US we're talking about, thanks for confirming.
What do you mean by a Covid safe setting? Just wear a mask, you’re in and out in minutes. All the pharmacists wear masks too so just keep your distance from anyone else, or go when they aren’t busy, etc.
Thanks for asking. A covid safe setting is one where mitigations are in place to contain the spread of covid. This includes but is not limited to: universal masking in n95/kn95 masks, sufficient ventilation and filtration of the air to reduce the virus floating around, limited time indoors to reduce exposure, workers staying home when ill. So, pretty simple things that have together reduce ones chances of getting covid.
Most places have not achieved this, or stopped doing so if they did. I’m glad you and you’re pharmacists mask, but that is bare minimum and sadly not a universal experience. Many people live in places where there is no masking from others and any requests for it are denied, even though that’s illegal under ADA. Masks are also just one tool that can be used to stop spread and should not be the primary method used.
It also seems like most people think that if they are vaccinated they can ignore it entirely.
Vaccinated individuals still experience the first stages of infection and still develope a high enough viral load to be contagious. The vaccines are effective at decreasing the duration and severity of infection, but they can’t prevent it entirely.
People who know they were exposed should still isolate for a few days even if they are vaccinated.
Thanks for reminding me I need to start wearing masks again.
Yup, covid really did ramp up the ableism in society to a whole new level..
It's not only that people think that because they didn't feel that bad or have long term side-effects, covid simply isn't that bad or have serious long term side effects, so in their own minds they not only don't need to make any effort to protect themselves, never mind others (mostly already marginalised people they prefer to ignore in everyday life, so why not now), they also have a new (and constantly growing) group of people to scapegoat and gaslight and tell it isn't really that bad because it wasn't that bad for them, and that they should just "suck it up".
I won't even start on the part capitalism and the governments and media who uphold and serve it have played in making it this way, and how a desperate and divided population benefits them, which is why they're never going to do anything about it..
I never lost taste/smell. But, I lost everything else. I can’t work anymore because of covid. It fucked me in the worst way. I’m an American and our disability system is fucked too. So I’ve been without pay for 2 years. I’m out of money. I don’t know what to do tbh.
Why can’t you work anymore because of covid? Do you have a weakened immune system so you can’t risk being exposed to covid, or did you get covid and now have long covid symptoms? If it’s the second one, what long covid symptoms are preventing you from working? I believe you, but it’s just so vague that I’m not sure what you’re referencing
It’s actually both. I have some other health issues, so it’s not just the long covid, but covid was the last straw. From covid alone, I have heart issues, lung issues, GI issues, brain fog, extreme fatigue. And because of the heart issues, i currently cannot take any adhd meds, so my concentration is shit. I also experienced medical trauma during this time, so i have a bunch of mental health issues now too.
Basically, there is no part of my body that hasn’t been affected by covid. It is a terrible disease that i wouldn’t wish on anyone.
And yes, i am vaccinated and boosted, which i think is the only reason i didn’t die.
I had never fully lost smell or taste just kind of dulled it. However the brain fog is what killed me. It’s been 3 years and I’m just starting to feel a little better. lol or maybe I’m just more used to it.
Had it in 2021, taste was gone for only three days. Afterwards some things tasted off for a few weeks, chocolate tasted like ammonium. That's gone now. Endurance was mostly gone afterwards, and I stil have trouble remembering names, even of people I've known a long time.
I had the name thing before covid was even a thing (sorry not belittling your pain just had to be a smart alek. really though I have always been so bad with names and faces im not sure I would notice if covid made it worse.)
Don't worry, I get that reaction a lot. Also the "that's just aging" reaction regarding both the forgetting and the endurance (stamina?). But if you can't remember the names of people you speak every week, and who don't have forgettable face and demeanor, that's not normal for me. Also, if you suddenly are exhausted after walking a stair where this was no problem before, that's also not normal.
yeah I get its ot the same thing and if your memory was sharp as tack before its going to be massive. One thing I am thankful for being born in the modern world is that my coworkers names always appears in teams. I get into trouble when im speaking with my screens are covering teams as suddenly I can't get names quite right or tell who is speaking.
Lots of people do this. My work place displays last name - first name in Teams. My last name can also be a first name, and it happens more than once a week that somebody calls me by my last name.
Didn’t lose my smell or taste but after the initial flu-like stage of my infection was over I didn’t really get any better. And my doctor made it worse by telling me to power through and start working again. Nowadays I can only leave the bed to go to the toilet.
I’m about to participate in a study with some experimental treatments. Stupid thing is that I have to do an exercise test at the beginning so that they can measure the effectiveness. I took a shower last week and that’s left me in pain that will persist over the next few weeks. I shudder to think about what that exercise test will do.
But Portal taught me to do everything for science.
My sense of taste kind of came back, but severely muted for some things. Coffee never quite got back to the same level of flavor, for example. I've also noticed my ability to taste salt is pretty shot. I can, but I have to add stupid amounts of the stuff. For an example, I had to do a clear liquid diet about a week ago prior to a medical procedure, and drinking some broth with 748mg of sodium per serving just tasted like drinking greasy water to me.
In terms of long term effects, it's a bit harder to say. I got covid for the first time in August 2020 (yay for being an essential peasant!), and I was out of work until May 2021. I had to do months of PT because of what my primary doctor called a post-viral fatigue syndrome. At its worst, if I tried to walk more than a block away from my apartment and back, I would wake up the next day feeling sore from my neck down to my toes. I remember a day where I slept for 12 hours, woke up and made and ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and just doing that left me so tired I went back to sleep for another 6 hours or so.
Other stuff is less clear. It certainly started manifesting and presenting symptoms after I had COVID, but correlation and causation being what it is, it's hard to definitively say what might have just been low-level and not bothering me that much before and what could have been kicked off by COVID. I developed photophobia, Hashimoto's thyroiditis and some nerve damage after being ill for the first time, which are all fun.
I guess the photophobia is the easiest to manage, I just need to wear heavily tinted glasses at all times, as I get these awful migraines if I don't. Uncovered light bulbs, TVs, monitors, whatever can set them off. The thyroid condition I get to take a synthetic hormone basically for the rest of my life and get blood work done 4 times a year to see how it's working. The nerve damage I get to take another medication pretty much for forever as well, thanks to US insurance. Instead of a daily pill, my neurologist could give me an occipital nerve block every 3-4 months, but insurance doesn't want to pay for them unless it's done at a pain management clinic. For reasons I can't work out, every pain management clinic I looked at with my referral seemed to be out of network for everyone, so it'd run me like $700 for the initial visit and $400 every 3-4 months after that. I guess they know they've got you if the pain is bad enough? Anyway, my prescription has been working so far and it's the only thing I don't even need to pay for before hitting my deductible, so I have that going for me.
I've also noticed my ability to taste salt is pretty shot.
That's really interesting - for most people it is the nasal receptors that are included - lost of "taste" is actually lost of smell. I'm not sure I've head of someone losing salt, sweet, soutr or bitter.
Lost my sense of smell and taste for about three weeks but then it went back to normal.
I didn’t have any other symptoms and didn’t realize I had COVID until I tried smelling some freshly blended horseradish and couldn’t smell anything, but man did it still burn the nostrils. Would not recommend.
I have a friend that also had it and lost smell and taste for a month or two and it’s mostly come back, but coffee tastes disgusting to him now.
My only symptom during Covid was that I slept very poorly for 2 days. I only took a test because I’m an avid runner, and after a run on the second day, my watch dropped my VO2 max by 10%, which was highly unusual.
Since then, however, I noticed a certain aversion to alcohol. I can’t get a buzz from drinking anymore, but I get a headache a few hours after even a single drink. I’ve been already down to a drink per week, thanks to no social life during Covid lockdowns, so this is not a big loss.
Got covid at least 3 times, maybe more. All 3 were pretty minor. Was pretty much couch ridden for 5 days during one of the illnesses, but could still talk and cook and clean and whatever. It was just hard. The other 2 could have been mistaken for minor colds.
Other than that, no long term effects. My girlfriend also had it and she states her eyesight has taken a nosedive since. Possibly related, possibly not.
I’ve got the first 2 mandatory (for work) vaccines in Canada, but nothing since.
No long-term side effects from getting covid twice, my endurance didn't really change after I got better but it was kind of depressed for a week or so afterwards, and my sense of taste was gone for about 3 or 4 days.
Other than that, my dad got it once and now he's not alive anymore, so get your booster shots and mask if you want to.
My wife and I had very different experiences. I had one bad day in bed and was fine after. She was sick for at least a week and lost her since of smell (and much of taste) for about 6 months with another 6 months recovering.
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