The Mock Turtle

I have had a horrible cold since last Thursday evening, I did LFTs on Thursday, Friday and Saturday - all negative. Yesterday I realised that I had no sense of smell or taste, so I did another LFT this morning. Still negative

If it wasn't for the smell/taste thing, I'd feel safe assuming that it's a cold but it's just such a weird symptom. I don't feel as bad today as I did over the weekend but I now have a horrible cough. I'm WFH today and for the next few days but I'm due in the office on Thursday.

I'm also worried that my taste and smell won't come back

Ugh Sal. There seems to be a lot of Covid like things going round but people testing negative. I had an awful cough a few weeks ago and wore a mask in the office when I had to be in even though I was testing negative. I’ve heard that there are new strains of Covid that aren’t being picked up by LFTs but I don’t know whether that’s actually true.

Hope you feel better soon anyway x

Long before Covid appeared I had a nasty cold/cough/flu bug at Christmas 2017 when I lost my sense of smell/taste. I will always remember because when my parents gave me a load of Lush stuff as a present, they might as well have given me a bag of rocks for all I could smell them. Which for Lush is insane.

Like you I worried it wasn't coming back but it did. I hope you improve soon.

Yeah if you can't smell Lush stuff, there really is an issue

I do remember having a bad cold about 10 years actually, and losing my sense of taste. It was NYE and I had bought nice food which all tasted like cardboard.

I'd never had it before I had Covid the first time, but there must be other viruses out there that can cause it. Mine came back gradually, and nice smells seemed to come back faster which was quite weird (but appreciated )

Fingers crossed you feel better soon and get your sense of taste back in time for Easter eggs!

I had covid mid-Feb and lost the smell and taste too, it was the most distressing thing about the whole episode. It came back after about a week to ten days.

I don’t know if it’s anecdotal but one of the few things that I got any sort of satisfaction from eating whilst I had it was Marmite on toast, and I subsequently read that people have seen an improvement if they take /eat B12 and clearly Marmite is packed with the stuff. I don’t know if that did hasten the return of the senses or not, but if you have anything B12-y it couldn’t hurt making sure that you’re getting a good amount of that.

Funnily enough I never lost my sense of smell/taste the times I had Covid but I have a couple of times with a bad cold/flu. So I suspect you just have a garden variety cold Sal!

What is the status of Covid now in the UK? Over here it has been downscaled and lumped together with all other infectious illnesses. We no longer have to test and we can just go about our daily business as we would have done in the past with a cold or flu. There is no longer any situation that requires mask-wearing although of course you can wear one if you prefer. After 3 years of analysing every symptom and anxiously checking our stock of LFTs this feels rather unsettling.

Dutchie wrote: ↑Mon Apr 03, 2023 10:55 am What is the status of Covid now in the UK? Over here it has been downscaled and lumped together with all other infectious illnesses. We no longer have to test and we can just go about our daily business as we would have done in the past with a cold or flu.

Same in Ireland, though masks are still required in 'healthcare settings'.

overthehill wrote: ↑Mon Apr 03, 2023 8:47 pm

Dutchie wrote: ↑Mon Apr 03, 2023 10:55 am What is the status of Covid now in the UK? Over here it has been downscaled and lumped together with all other infectious illnesses. We no longer have to test and we can just go about our daily business as we would have done in the past with a cold or flu.

Same in Ireland, though masks are still required in 'healthcare settings'.

Yep, not the UK but that’s basically the state of things here. Work have asked us to stay at home in case of a positive test and you still see quite a few people wearing masks in public transport and shops but that’s about it. My hairdresser and her colleagues were all wearing them at the weekend, I offered to wear one too but was told not to bother

Having said that, my colleague, S, took her partner to Spain for a long weekend to celebrate his 70th, and - just to be on the safe side, as she has a 9-month old grandson - tested when she got back. She has no symptoms, but tested positive and is staying off work this week. So people are just doing what they belong to do, basically.

I’m on day 3 of covid for the first time, and I’ve just lost my sense of smell and most of my sense of taste.

I can almost taste marmite (cracker plus butter plus marmite is definitely saltier than cracker plus butter) and this morning’s strawberries did taste of something that was almost but not quite strawberry, but now most things taste of nothing. It’s really weird.

The rest of it is like a bad cold with added stomach issues and fatigue, but I’m mostly out of bed in the daytime now.

When I had Covid last year everything tasted of nail polish remover .
Glad you’re getting some energy back though.

I couldn’t drink any tea!

If you're eating then I would imagine that at least you through the worst of it.

It is definitely back in a big way and we haven't actually hit Autumn yet.

I think I’m through the worst of it; I don’t feel as ill as I did on Monday (fever, headache, general aches & chills mostly gone) but I’m much more breathless, and coughing a lot more.

I emailed the school where I was on holiday and everyone there is fine. So I think I caught it either in the crowded bakery where I stopped on the journey to the port on Saturday morning, or on the ferry.

Coincidentally I got a text from my GP today saying when I go for my flu jab (already booked for the first week in October) I would get a covid booster at the same time.

I seem to remember if you have had covid, you need to wait (3 months?) until having a booster? Makes sense as you’ll have the antibodies from having had covid.

Oh, I didn’t know. I’ll contact the GP and find out, thanks!

Get well soon, rosy.

Feel better soon rosy.

Marmite is the way to go rosy. I also ate that for breakfast every day when I had covid in the spring, as it was one of the few things I could get some sense of flavour from, and my sense of smell and taste returned after a week. I later found out that there’s anecdotal evidence that B vitamins tend to shorten the symptom duration, and of course Marmite is pretty good in that respect.