How very odd, indeed… I told you back on December 21, 2020, how my taste buds had ceased to function, ‘just in time for the holidays’ and related the experience of my late, beloved step father and his mysterious encounter with the condition known as anosmia. And I promised to update you…
Gassy, headache, dizzy, can’t taste anything much…
Well, imagine my surprise earlier this week (this past Sunday, in fact) when I arose from a troubled sleep (which has become my norm) to realize that my taste buds had returned to normal. At least mostly to normal. A few symptoms still persist, but I can taste some things clearly, again, and that’s a lot better than nothing!
Prior to Sunday, all I could taste was ‘flat, metallic, sterile tastes and smells which reminded me of water that had been sitting in a filter jug too long’. These still predominate, but I now have a few familiar tastes back, including Peanut Butter (per the official COVID-19 taste bud testing regime), and some other very sweet or spicy flavours that should at least be detectable simply as a result of their boldness. But my acuity for the latter is still very poor.
I had a Fish Taco for breakfast this morning to test myself, and I found that many nuances of the left over Deep Fried Fish (Cod) were clearly detectable – though not as clearly as they should be. Ditto the base flavours of Hot Dogs, which are usually laced strongly with Sweet Paprika. The ones I had for supper last night definitely tasted right (though bland).
Other ‘symptoms’
My salivary glands are still working overtime, I imagine trying to flush the metallic flavours out of my mouth.
My urine odour still changes from day to day, I assume according to what I’m eating. And I have no idea what my effluents smell like to others. One day, the urine smells (to me) like overheated plastic. Another, it’s like a dairy barn at dawn (before it’s mucked out). Still other days, it smells like a Burger that’s just been cooked on a BBQ grill that badly needs cleaning (umami overload). I often get a metallic overtone to the urine odour-du-jour. No idea what that means. But it’s always vaguely in tune with the flavours (or non-flavours) I can detect on a given day.
One particular failing of my taste and smelling senses is that I still can’t enjoy a good cup of coffee anymore. Just tastes like a cup of warm, bitter liquid.
A curious experience
I had a curious experience yesterday morning…
I awoke to discover that I could really smell and taste the Cool Ranch essences from a bag of Corn Chips Erin had brought home the previous evening. I ate one. Then another. And another, and another… And before knew it, I had a case of cramps and gas and nausea that former U.S. President Donald Trump might have described as ‘worse than the worst ever experienced before in the history of snack food.’
I sat in the bathroom for about 45 minutes, just ‘out-gassing’ massively every few minutes with no signs of relief in sight. And received no respite from the nausea. When I finally arose from the ‘throne’, I went directly to bed and slept from 1:15 or so in the PM to about 4:45. Still feeling queezy and out-gassing excessively today. I’ve given up on wondering. On one hand, I’m pretty confident that it’s not COVID. On the other, I have no idea what it might be…
I’m embracing the fact that I’m finally able to smell and taste a little bit of what’s going by in my environment again, thankful for small mercies…
~ Maggie J.