TLI Staff
Mumbai: Life seemed to come to a standstill for 18-year-old Amanjyot Kaur who fell into a deep abyss having lost her sense of taste and smell for almost 10 months post recovering from Coronavirus infection.
Amanjyot who tested positive for Covid-19 in June last year was relieved after her negative report came out and was rearing to get back to her normal routine. However, when she couldn’t taste or smell anything for the initial few weeks, she waited patiently for her senses to return. To her horror, months after months passed but her food continued to taste like “sand” despite all her attempts to spice it up with different herbs and flavours.
“I would constantly try to smell things, use perfumes so that I can get the fragrance, and try to smell foods. It is frustrating when people around you can smell and taste and you can’t. I thought, I had permanently lost my senses,” she said.
So depressed was the teenager about her condition that she would cry copiously and started to avoid socializing with family and friends. “I lost interest in my daily activities like cooking, cleaning, and eating as well,” she said.
A panicked Amanjyot then decided to visit Wockhardt Hospital, Mumbai’s Mira Road where she gained back her senses in the span of ten days, after receiving treatment.
“Loss of taste and smell occurs due to inflammation and edema of the Olfactory nerve due to Viral infection. Usually, the patient recovers in 4 weeks. Hence, the patient was prescribed a nasal spray and systemic steroids medications, Vitamin C and D, and Vitamin A, supplements Within 10 days after medication her senses of smell and taste came back. With an increasing number of covid patients, the number of post-Covid patients with loss of smell and taste are increasing. Although there is no treatment for long-lasting loss of smell and taste in patients but we have treated 5 to 6 patients successfully in our hospital,” said Dr. ChandraVeer Sigh Consultant Otorhinolaryngologist and Head & Neck Onco Surgeon, Wockhardt Hospital Mira Road.
Dr Singh said that many patients who test negative for Covid-19 may continue to exhibit some or the other symptoms including loss of taste and smell. A complete loss of taste is called ageusia, which makes a person unable to detect any tastes. Temporary loss of smell or anosmia is when a person is unable to smell or recognize the smell.
Image source: https://www.gavi.org/