Loss of taste from Covid and cigars...

[HopeUgood]

Im sure we are all sick of hearing about Covid so I apologize in advance. I caught it several months ago and my sense of taste has not fully returned.  I just recently started smoking cigars again, I have only had 4 or 5. Two were decent and the others I felt I couldn't taste or discern anything.  Curious if anyone else has experienced this?

Looking forward to the blind tasting contest, and comparing notes with others.  

[williamthewolf]

Sorry to hear that your sense of taste is gone but congrats on recovering!  Several friends reported loss of taste lingering for a couple months after as well. They have since regained it and enjoy drinking and eating again (they're not cigar people). I would bet you'll taste more in the coming month or so. Fingers crossed for you. Maybe in the mean time you need to find a stronger stick! 

[MrBirdman]

Very sorry to hear about your lingering loss of taste/smell, it’s obviously well documented and even anecdotally I know several people who’ve experience it.. In fact, loss of smell is now seen as the most reliable indicator of COVID infection (as opposed to fever, cough, etc). Suffice it to say that you are not alone  

Obviously research on COVID-induced anosmia are ongoing, but from what I’ve read the cause is damage to cells which support olfactory function. The good news is that olfactory nerves/neurons do not appear to be directly harmed by the virus (they lack the proper receptors); in other words it looks like the communication system is still intact. 

I’ve read about support groups/podcasts/website dedicated to helping people “retrain” their senses. I’ve included a link to a story on the subject below, but an online search will provide you a bunch of recommendations to sort through. 

I know you said loss of taste as opposed to smell, but they are of course closely related and I expect they’ll benefit from similar approaches.

Hope things continue to improve and return to normal soon.  

https://www.bcm.edu/news/relearning-to-smell-after-covid-19

[HopeUgood]

Cigars smoked 

Vegas Robaina - excellent and lots of strong flavors 

Punch short de punch - enjoyable, nutty , bread 

Upmann mag 46 - bread, nutty, light spice

Monte PE - nothing

Upman Royal Robusto - nothing, harshness ?

Cuaba Divino - nothing

[MrBirdman]

Just now, HopeUgood said:

Cigars smoked 

Vegas Robaina - excellent and lots of strong flavors 

Punch short de punch - enjoyable, nutty , bread 

Upmann mag 46 - bread, nutty, light spice

Monte PE - nothing

Upman Royal Robusto - nothing, harshness ?

Cuaba Divino - nothing

Sounds like you’re on your way. I’m curious - can you taste actual chocolate or coffee (what I get from Monte)?

[Bijan]

Anecdotally I've heard of people getting COVID and not being able to taste cigars but being about to smell and taste food and it took longer for cigars to recover.

[HopeUgood]

3 hours ago, MrBirdman said:

Sounds like you’re on your way. I’m curious - can you taste actual chocolate or coffee (what I get from Monte)?

Can def taste these things, and most things so I thought.  Monte is one of my favorite macras.  Hoping it was a poor example, time will tell. 

 

3 hours ago, Bijan said:

Anecdotally I've heard of people getting COVID and not being able to taste cigars but being about to smell and taste food and it took longer for cigars to recover.

That is interesting 

[TheDonTX]

I had covid and loss of taste and smell is what made me get tested. Literally everything smelled and tasted like nothing for awhile. 10 months later and its still coming back but its very minor now. Its crazy because I thought it “came back” but it really didn't. Stuff kept smelling better or I was tasting more. Especially with wine and cigars. I also found that different smells and tastes came back at different times. 

[MrBirdman]

27 minutes ago, Bijan said:

Anecdotally I've heard of people getting COVID and not being able to taste cigars but being about to smell and taste food and it took longer for cigars to recover.

Kinda makes sense - the flavors in cigars are primarily caused by volatile compounds, some of which do exist in foods like chocolate and coffee, but there they are only one of many different flavor compounds. 

If you are regaining taste of foods I would expect you’ll eventually regain it with cigars. Might take a little “training” though. One suggestion: retry cigars that tasted like nothing a few weeks later and try to identify any differences. 

[NSXCIGAR]

This loss of smell and taste symptom of Covid honestly was the thing I feared the most about getting it. I want to travel, but otherwise I probably wouldn't have gotten the vaccine if not for the fear of losing smell and taste. That is something that I did not want to take any chances with. 

One of my smoking buddies got Covid around July 20 and he indeed lost smell and taste and has yet to recover either. Very scary, and I feel horrible for the guy. 

27 minutes ago, Bijan said:

Anecdotally I've heard of people getting COVID and not being able to taste cigars but being about to smell and taste food and it took longer for cigars to recover.

That happens to me when I get a cold. I lose most smell and some taste for a few days but it takes at least 7-10 days more for me to taste cigars properly. They taste like acrid wet cardboard until it clears up. Thank goodness I haven't had a cold for 4 years. 

[HopeUgood]

15 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

This loss of smell and taste symptom of Covid honestly was the thing I feared the most about getting it. I want to travel, but otherwise I probably wouldn't have gotten the vaccine if not for the fear of losing smell and taste. That is something that I did not want to take any chances with. 

One of my smoking buddies got Covid around July 20 and he indeed lost smell and taste and has yet to recover either. Very scary, and I feel horrible for the guy. 

That happens to me when I get a cold. I lose most smell and some taste for a few days but it takes at least 7-10 days more for me to taste cigars properly. They taste like acrid wet cardboard until it clears up. Thank goodness I haven't had a cold for 4 years. 

Yes sir, that is what I get, acrid and smoke.... 

I was vaccinated two months prior to getting Covid unfortunately it didn't save me from certain symptoms. 

[smbauerllc]

Sorry to hear that.

Really sucks for a cigar lover, plus I'm sure food sucks too.

Of the roughly 60 people here at the veterans home that had it, I've only heard of one having lingering problems except 1 staff member who had it during our outbreak around Christmas that has lost her sense of smell and it hasn't returned so she was told it's likely permanent.

That would suck too as smell is a large part of, and connected with, taste.

She couldn't even smell the very strong sulfur odor at the. Hot springs in Yellowstone recently, and it was very strong

Hopefully your taste returns soon

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk

[Enduin]

6 hours ago, HopeUgood said:

Yes sir, that is what I get, acrid and smoke.... 

I was vaccinated two months prior to getting Covid unfortunately it didn't save me from certain symptoms. 

Sorry to hear about the loss of taste! I think the fact that you were able to taste flavors from half of the cigars you smoked is very promising in terms of your sense of taste being only temporarily impaired as opposed to permanent damage. Maybe focusing on smoking those cigars that you can taste well can even help in retraining your nose/palate...

Which vaccine did you get if you don't mind me asking?

[Corylax18]

Don't lose hope yet. My boss got it last March. He and his wife where literally on a plane from Denver to Frankfurt when Trump closed the borders. They turned right around and flew home, but he caught it at some point during that 24hr marathon of travel. 

He lost pretty much all smell/taste for months, but almost all of it has come back. The only thing he cant seem to smell now is sulfury/sewage smell, I'm not going to tell the story of how he found out, but let just say he learned the hard way. 

[Digi]

I tend to lose my sense of taste and smell every year in Feb/March.  It's a combo of dry winter air, weird allergies, and a bunch of recurring business trips I take about that time.  Sometimes the issue would continue for months afterwards - insanely frustrating!  After years of go-rounds with nurses, GPs, ENTs, allergy meds, steroids, etc. with no results, I ended up stumbling into my own solution via saline:

https://www.armandhammer.com/en/personal-care/nasal-saline-solutions/extra-strength/simply-saline-extra-strength-severe-congestion

This is the particular brand I use (I'm sure others work too), specifically the extra strength solution.  If the issue crops up, I find that sinus irrigation in the morning and at night will get me fixed up in about a week.  For a couple years now I do a quick irrigation in the morning and have found that not only do I not lose taste and smell anymore but, in general, my palette is much more consistent.

Not sure if this would help when symptoms stem from COVID but, knowing how frustrating it is, I'd try just about anything to fix it.

[Joeyjojo]

I've had a few sinus issues since last Feb when I had some kind of virus/'rona (this was before we knew what was going on) and suffered some kind of post nasal drip which led to a scratchy throat and a constant dry cough which has led me to not really 'taste' a lot of cigars, just picking up on mouthfeel and more physical sensations as opposed to distinct aromas/flavours .  

I found steaming myself out with hot water and vapo-rub has helped a lot. I find myself picking up a lot more nuances in the pharynx/back of the palate when retro-haling.

Early days yet, but I'm going to regularly steam myself out every other day for a little while and see how it goes.      

 

[NSXCIGAR]

10 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

He lost pretty much all smell/taste for months, but almost all of it has come back.

That's the thing--some people recover in a few months, others like my buddy are at 18 months and counting. 

[HopeUgood]

16 hours ago, Enduin said:

Sorry to hear about the loss of taste! I think the fact that you were able to taste flavors from half of the cigars you smoked is very promising in terms of your sense of taste being only temporarily impaired as opposed to permanent damage. Maybe focusing on smoking those cigars that you can taste well can even help in retraining your nose/palate...

Which vaccine did you get if you don't mind me asking?

Don't mind at all, I'm an open book with any information people want.  
I took J&J vaccine in April, and got the delta variant some time in July.  Many of my coworkers got it as well, Moderna, Pfizer, J&J, someone from each tested positive.  

I shouldn't say I "lost" my taste per se, just things taste different.  

 

17 hours ago, smbauerllc said:

Sorry to hear that.

Really sucks for a cigar lover, plus I'm sure food sucks too.

Of the roughly 60 people here at the veterans home that had it, I've only heard of one having lingering problems except 1 staff member who had it during our outbreak around Christmas that has lost her sense of smell and it hasn't returned so she was told it's likely permanent.

That would suck too as smell is a large part of, and connected with, taste.

She couldn't even smell the very strong sulfur odor at the. Hot springs in Yellowstone recently, and it was very strong

Hopefully your taste returns soon

Haha, I actually didn't or don't really care about the food thing so much.  The cigar thing was a kick in the nuts though!  

[JoshD]

Same happened to me.  Smell and taste were both non-existent for a while, then got all crazy...........phantom smells of gasoline, smoke, etc.  The majority of it finally came back, but overall, I'd say after 10 months, I'm at about 85% of where I was before.  

Whiskey was the biggest shock, 90 proof or less tasted like it was watered down to 30 proof.  Anything under 100 proof is pretty much a pass due to lack of taste, and barrel proof varieties are greatly preferred. 

[Enduin]

2 hours ago, HopeUgood said:

Don't mind at all, I'm an open book with any information people want.  
I took J&J vaccine in April, and got the delta variant some time in July.  Many of my coworkers got it as well, Moderna, Pfizer, J&J, someone from each tested positive.  

I shouldn't say I "lost" my taste per se, just things taste different.  

Thank you! I was just curious since I've been reading quite a bit on breakthrough infections with the different vaccines and it seems like percentages varied between the three, but then again you have clinical studies and then you have first hand reports. Both have pros and cons, so I appreciate your willingness to share your experience. Did you notice any differences in the symptoms/severity between your coworkers with the different vaccines or was everyone pretty much the same?

 

[SpecialK]

15 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

Don't lose hope yet. My boss got it last March. He and his wife where literally on a plane from Denver to Frankfurt when Trump closed the borders. They turned right around and flew home, but he caught it at some point during that 24hr marathon of travel. 

He lost pretty much all smell/taste for months, but almost all of it has come back. The only thing he cant seem to smell now is sulfury/sewage smell, I'm not going to tell the story of how he found out, but let just say he learned the hard way. 

On a different note, the Frankfurt to Denver was one of the longest most miserable flights I've ever been on.... made LA to Melbourne a pleasure...

[HopeUgood]

4 hours ago, Enduin said:

Thank you! I was just curious since I've been reading quite a bit on breakthrough infections with the different vaccines and it seems like percentages varied between the three, but then again you have clinical studies and then you have first hand reports. Both have pros and cons, so I appreciate your willingness to share your experience. Did you notice any differences in the symptoms/severity between your coworkers with the different vaccines or was everyone pretty much the same?

 

It was all over the map honestly,  some not vaccinated had no symptoms.  One girl was sick for weeks despite being vaccinated. I knew so many people that got covid while vaccinated in June, it was almost laughable.  Seemed to be about 1/3 vaccinated and exposed tested positive at some point in the small group of 70 people. 

And there wasn't random testing, so positives were people who had symptoms or were just being cautious. 

[Troels]

Scary, but interresting: friend of mine had it last year, lost sense of tasting and smelling, but recovered after some time - except for the smell of mint! He can smell theres a smell, but he cant associate with anything 

[CaptainQuintero]

  Sorry to hear this I think I've been lucky to not have the loss of smell and taste issues with my infection!

  There seems to be a decent amount of people having success with smell training; buying a dozen or so bottles of aromatherapy essential oils from Amazon etc and smelling each one every twice a day and trying to find out which is which blind, or just smelling them knowing what each one is and trying to detect the aroma. I think the general idea is to try and retrain the system but it's not a particularly fast process

[Fosgate]

I had Surgery in May and they said it was normal not to feel your tongue or taste anything for a couple weeks. Tip of my tongue was numb and couldn't taste anything for 3 months before it all came back. Everyone is different. Couple friends got the vid last year and one got their sense of taste back after a couple weeks, the other took about 6 months for it to come back completely.