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[Vector]

Yeah, I didn't have mainstream training or any certificate. It isn't like wine tasting, I just had a job that required me to know 80+ kinds of tea very well and the kinds of snacks and porcelain that go well with them. And sometimes identifying based on smell or taste.

[EuchreJack]

Yeah, I didn't have mainstream training or any certificate. It isn't like wine tasting, I just had a job that required me to know 80+ kinds of tea very well and the kinds of snacks and porcelain that go well with them. And sometimes identifying based on smell or taste.

So you had BETTER training than commonly available, glad to hear it.

Arguably, nobody should call themselves a Tea Expert without spending a year in England and another year in Asia (Japan probably).

But....American Capitalism. If you can con people with money, you're an expert.

[Vector]

I strongly disagree on your choices of location. China or Taiwan and Kenya, probably. . .

[EuchreJack]

I strongly disagree on your choices of location. China or Taiwan and Kenya, probably. . .

I defer to the expert!

[Vector]

Progress update: I can smell my own sweat again, which is doing wonders for my peace of mind. I also smelled something in my environment before seeing it yesterday for the first time -- my housemate's dinner.

Really relieved. We're getting there.

[wierd]

Be advised, it is frequently reported that coffee tastes radically different after the loss of sense of smell post covid.

Neuroscientists believe it has to do with rewiring of the olfactory bulb. Sufferers just call it "New Coffee"

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43856-022-00112-9

[Vector]

So far coffee is fine, but I like the taste of sugar a lot less. My stomach is consistently having problems although not worse than I have had before due to PTSD side effects. Just need to pace myself and be prepared to be nauseated whenever I eat.

I'm feeling REAL EXCITED about having spaghetti with pesto and parmesan, so maybe that will be nice to chow on this evening.

[anewaname]

Consider limiting intake of sugars and "easy" carbohydrates for a while. I don't mean "stop", just mean "limit". So for pasta, instead of one large portion, split it into two portions to be eaten at least a couple hours apart.

It is about limiting blood sugar levels so your immune system does not need to respond to sudden growth spikes of yeasts and bacteria, so the immune system can focus on eliminating the covid and rebuilding.

[Vector]

Good idea. Thanks, I'm going to do that from now on.

[EuchreJack]

I wasn't able to eat much when I had COVID, so it wasn't necessary. I did eat a lot of homemade Rice/Vegitable soup, so I was inadvertently following this advice...

[Rolan7]

I was half-hoping that this would be a thread about a general lack of smell-sense.  I wish you a full recovery, of course!

My dad lost his entire sense of smell during (IIRC) a tonsils removal.  I grew up, for whatever reason, basically without the sense.  I've dealt with clogged nostrils and undiagnosed asthma a lot, and some people say that can prevent the sense from developing, but honestly I don't know what's up.

I can *maybe* smell strong-smelling things when people test me, and I take a deep wiff.  But I've NEVER had conclusive proof that I have any sense of smell, it's only been in situations where I was expected to smell.  Suggestion is powerful.

As senses go, it's certainly the one I'd choose to lose.  I still enjoy food, just... substantially differently than most people.  turns out pungent foods are tasty, and maybe a few of them even tantalize what little olfactory sense I have.

The only time I ever saw this mentioned, other than my dad, was a joke in Homestuck with one of the Dancestors.  But a few days ago a rando on Disqus linked the following explanation, and it hit me right in the "That's me!  That's how I live!" nerve:
https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/smell.html
(This is the guy who made PuTTY, BTW, and other awesome tools which were indispensable for me when I was in IT security)

I'm glad you can smell again, Vector!  I mean that, and I also honestly don't miss it.
though I probably do have *some* of that sense, considering how I get around sweaty guys
But the idea of smelling a gas leak, or detecting rotten food, or the truly insane concept of following a scent by my nose?  Completely beyond me.  I've adapted my life to being blind in that way.

Edit: Bizarrely, I do also enjoy inhaling hot tea, and hot food.  Perhaps I even catch some real data...?  But I treat it as mostly psychosomatic.  Primarily it "smells" like water vapor, which is often welcome.
I have never been in a situation which proved that I had a sense of smell whatsoever, and the power of suggestion is, uh, powerful.

[Vector]

This is by far a more interesting thread in terms of responses than I expected it to be, and in retrospect, because of that, losing my sense of smell temporarily has been kinda fun.

[Shazial]

I was half-hoping that this would be a thread about a general lack of smell-sense.  I wish you a full recovery, of course!

My dad lost his entire sense of smell during (IIRC) a tonsils removal.  I grew up, for whatever reason, basically without the sense.  I've dealt with clogged nostrils and undiagnosed asthma a lot, and some people say that can prevent the sense from developing, but honestly I don't know what's up.

I can *maybe* smell strong-smelling things when people test me, and I take a deep wiff.  But I've NEVER had conclusive proof that I have any sense of smell, it's only been in situations where I was expected to smell.  Suggestion is powerful.

As senses go, it's certainly the one I'd choose to lose.  I still enjoy food, just... substantially differently than most people.  turns out pungent foods are tasty, and maybe a few of them even tantalize what little olfactory sense I have.

The only time I ever saw this mentioned, other than my dad, was a joke in Homestuck with one of the Dancestors.  But a few days ago a rando on Disqus linked the following explanation, and it hit me right in the "That's me!  That's how I live!" nerve:
https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/smell.html
(This is the guy who made PuTTY, BTW, and other awesome tools which were indispensable for me when I was in IT security)

I'm glad you can smell again, Vector!  I mean that, and I also honestly don't miss it.
though I probably do have *some* of that sense, considering how I get around sweaty guys
But the idea of smelling a gas leak, or detecting rotten food, or the truly insane concept of following a scent by my nose?  Completely beyond me.  I've adapted my life to being blind in that way.

Edit: Bizarrely, I do also enjoy inhaling hot tea, and hot food.  Perhaps I even catch some real data...?  But I treat it as mostly psychosomatic.  Primarily it "smells" like water vapor, which is often welcome.
I have never been in a situation which proved that I had a sense of smell whatsoever, and the power of suggestion is, uh, powerful.

It's quite interesting to hear it from anosmic folks, especially the flavor and taste side of things. My hyposmia was a lot worse until my tonsils were removed when I was a kid. It's still weak, and I'm not sure if it's that I can't smell things, or that my brain just bring up the "There's a scent in the air" reaction. There are times I can sense there's a difference in the air, or there's a substance, cause the air feels different to breathe, but can't identify what it is.

Many scents for me are also just.. categories. Most flowers are just "This is a floral or a plant based scent", and I can't blindly just say whether what I'm smelling is a daffodil or coltsfoot. And it probably mixes with taste categories, e.g. like with the scent of a rose. When I smell a rose, my brain goes "There's a scent. It smells like plants, perfume, and sweetness. Oh, must be a rose. Could be any other flower with a sweet scent, but roses are common here, so rose?" Often I'll need to stop and think for a moment longer or identify the components a bit better to realize what it is that I'm smelling, especially if it's something I don't commonly run into. Certain scents that are more common have sort of been properly recorded, others are just.. "Oh, there's a scent of salt, baked wheat, and yeast. Do I pick up other notes? No? Probably bread or something bread adjacent?" . Most perfumes and deodorants are just "Chemicals and soap" to me, unless there's a heavy addition, like sweet or sour. The it's just.. chemicals and sweet. (Chemical is a weird category, most often it's more a flavor that comes onto my tongue than a scent I feel in the nose). That's also why I don't wear a lot of scented stuff 'cause I can't tell how much is too much, and if it's a pleasant scent to others or not.

Haven't really found out a logical connection on what the things are that my nose doesn't pick up, it often feels a bit random. Though it'd be curious to know how some of the things I cannot sense at all do smell like. I do once every blue moon get days or occasions where my sense of smell sort of goes into over drive and geez.. does the world always have so many scents? It feels really overwhelming. It once happened at a spice / pickle isle at a grocery store and holy hell was that a slap in the face to suddenly inhale.

[Robot Parade Leader]

I also also lost my sense of smell for a while there, probably after COVID. I could not smell a yankee candle at someone's house, which I always remember being able to.After probably a few months, I think I can smell again, kind of, but it is different. I do not know how to exactly describe the differences in smell and taste.

I can confirm the coffee thing is real though. It is not always bad, but it is very different. Never got too into coffee varieties, but French Vanilla now tastes awful after COVID. It was fine before.
Strangely, dark roast coffees now taste ok, where I did not personally like them before. Sugar was also weird at first, but I think I am mostly over that.

Beef Jerky tasted incredibly odd and I have no idea why. I don't know if it was the spices or how they preserve it or what.

I hope your sense of smell comes back fully.