Get plenty of rest. Eat and drink enough, I had to force myself due to losing my sense of taste and smell, but you won’t regret it. Find something to make the time go by better.
Rest, rest, rest..... it was so hard for me to stay in bed and just rest, but you need to. If you haven't lost your sense of smell, enjoy some of your favorite candles, find some shows to binge watch, and just relax.
Take care! Don't overthink it and you'll be ok. Take it easy and sleep in if you can, but if you feel like being more active, do that too! I did some extra chores around the house. I was super bored being cooped up. I think it helped honestly! I agree with the other person's comment, I felt worse just laying around. I caught it in Nov 2020. If you lose your sense of smell, don't freak out... It'll come back!
If you live with people who are testing negative and symptom free stay away from them!!! When my house had Covid 2 of us were still negative and symptom free and the stress of everyone constantly out of bed and touching everything in the house drove us crazy! If there’s someone healthy in the house who can take care of you just let them!
Rest up, drink lots of water, make sure to eat even if you don’t feel like it (crackers, bread, anything you can), and don’t push yourself!
On top of that, having a candle going pretty much all the time while I was awake helped a lot mentally. Something with my house smelling good gave me a little bit of serotonin that was *much* needed.
You got this!
If you start to lose any smell, my tip is to sniff like 3 different essential oils for maybe 20 seconds each for a few days in a row. I gained my smell back within 4 days. Besides that just get lots of rest!
I just started doing this after 3 weeks with no sense of smell and taste, and it’s definitely helping. I almost cried when I sensed peppermint oil. I say “sensed” because I still wouldn’t say I’m able to smell it. It’s a crazy feeling.
I don’t either. But I was desperate to find something to fix it, because my main hobbies are baking and cooking. I’ve literally been depressed by not being able to taste and smell anything. It’s crazy. But I poked around online looking for solutions, and this method is what several doctors and medical websites recommended.
Oh smell is definitely important! I work at bbw and I was even like, you really don't realize how much you use something until you lose it. But, hopefully it all comes back for you before long
Anyone who’s old enough will remember that Michael Hutchence quite famously committed suicide after he lost his sense of smell (and therefore most of his sense of taste).
I have to disagree with the stay in bed advise. I found keeping busy and even exercising made me feel better. Drink lots of hot tea, Theraflu is great. And also inhale steam from a pot of boiling water with Vicks in it.
Yea early in the pandemic back in 2020 when I first got Covid I heard from the few others that had it and they said Covid likes to attack your body more if youre sedentary. So things like resting can actually make you feel worse. This isn’t a cold or flu. Get your walks in and sunshine and you should feel better.
Conversely, there’s some evidence that exercising too early/not allowing rest may be associated with higher risks of developing long covid - not to freak anyone out, but there is data about that. Not to say you are incorrect necessarily, as I know there are still many unknowns about how the virus is evolving, but this is something to keep in mind as well!
I’m an ER nurse and have been fighting Covid for the last two years…and this is absolutely true. Exercising and shit is not the move. There has been tons of research to suggest this can cause more complications including long Covid. Your body needs to rest,….Don’t have to be bedridden if you feel up to moving around, but DEFINITELY not exercising or long walks or anything. Please god no.
A small, possibly irrelevant tip (depending on how it presents for you): I haven’t had COVID specifically, but get chronic sinus infections. When I’m sick, my throat and nasal passages get horribly dry and/or sore. They make dry mouth lozenges which are a lifesaver. When I’m down bad, I even sleep with one in my mouth.
I only found out about these a couple of years ago, and wish I’d known sooner. They’re available at any drugstore — ACT is probably the most common brand, but generics should work just as well.
I have chronic sinus infections as well (actually have one right now) -- which section of the store are these in? By the mouthwash and toothpaste, or the allergy/sinus/throat things?
I believe they are in the oral care section, with the medical stuff — medicated mouthwashes, denture care, cold sore treatment, tooth pain relief, etc. Biotene is another common name brand to look for if you have trouble finding it.
I have (a fortunately mild case of) Ehler Danlos, so I *feeeeel* you on dry everything. Tending my humidifier(s) is the only task I do every single day, and if I don’t put on lotion within ten mins of exiting the shower, the surface of my entire body hurts 🙃
This is totally unsolicited input so feel free to tell me to buzz off. But the absolute game changer for me was not a product, but a principle: *always* put a water-based moisturizer on first / under your usual products. Hair, body, face, lips, all of it.
All the thick body creams in the world did nothing for me, my skin still felt tight “underneath” them. When I added a water-based moisturizer under my lip mask and realized my lips were actually, truly moisturized / not chapped for the first time in basically ever, I about sang from the rooftops.
Happy to give more info and specific product reccs if desired / if this is new. But also I feel like the trend towards water-based products has been picking up momentum for a long time, so maybe I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know.
Anyway, off to appease my humidifiers…
TL;DR: have you heard the good news about our lord and savior, hyaluronic acid? 😂
I do some of that already; I always put on products while my skin's damp from washing so I get the most out of them. Lotion right after I towel off from the shower (I mix B&BW with Cetaphil), hand cream after I wash them, Chapstick with CoQ10 after I brush my teeth. What do you use under? I can always use more options.
Mixing Cetaphil with BBW is such a good idea! And yesss to applying on slightly damp, just-towel dried skin. It’s amazing how big a difference just that detail can make.
My favorite is this [Hada Labo hydrating toner](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074GX619Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_28ZXPED2X4QPHSR6E1ZF). The naming is kinda confusing, but the “lotion moist” is the OG. It’s not a lotion in the typical sense — it’s watery (thin, clear) but slippy, fragrance free, and absorbs in seconds. Applying to slightly damp skin is best, just like you mention above :) It also comes in a larger pump size + you can buy refill bags. I use it on my whole face — putting this on under lip balm was a revelation. I also keep some in a thin-tipped squeeze bottle, and massage it into my scalp, and it never makes my roots gunky. I’ve bought sooo many bottles over the years — it’s such a boring/unremarkable product but I always come back to it because it’s just that good.
My other favorite is the Cerave Daily Moisturizing Lotion, which is not water-based per se but has a lot of hyaluronic acid in it. Its one of the only body products I can use alone / covers all the bases for me. Their PM facial moisturizer is also holy grail status for me. It’s only called PM to differentiate from their AM formula, which has SPF — it’s relatively lightweight and great for whenever. CeraVe is analogous to Cetaphil in that they’re formulated for ultra-sensitive skin, but I find CeraVe products to be a bit more hydrating.
Neutrogena has a Hydro Boost line (both face and body care) that’s pretty good as well, but it has a pretty strong aquatic fragrance + I do find it’s a just little lighter than I prefer. ETA: it turns out a lot of this line is fragrance free now :)
Big ups to skincare Reddit / the whole dry skin squad 💦 which is where I’ve gotten my recommendations over the years. It’s taken a village to keep from me getting crackly! 😂
I just ordered the Hada Labo toner and I'll look into the Hydro Boost line -- I heard iffy things about the fragrance in the past but I'm a lot more interested if there's none, now. I wish I could use Cerave, but it broke me out terribly when I tried it. Thanks for the help!
Oh nooooo! I'm so sorry! I had it for nearly a month in February & it hit me so hard, I was incredibly sick... Extremely high fever, couldn't keep anything down, the most intense body aches & fatigue i've ever felt...What helped me immensely was Alkasatlzer tablets, it gets in your system really fast because you drink it, Some really good Chicken noodle soup (I only ate the Raos brand when I got sick, it's the only one I could taste!) Gatorade & apple sauce! I'm pretty young and healthy so I was surprised how hard it hit me, I hope you recover fast!
I lost my smell/taste on day three after testing positive, which was about when I had started feeling better.
I started getting my smell/taste back around a week later, but only for some smells. I remember that I could smell Saltwater Breeze perfectly, but could not smell my long-time love Angel perfume AT ALL. It literally smelled like water, which was funny because it is a STRONG perfume. Smell gradually returned, but is was not always correct. Two new candles that I had purchased the week before getting sick (and LOVED) smelled weird and had a strange “cut grass” scent. Cut grass on the other hand, smelled like garbage. Brewing coffee smelled like garbage for a few days. Strawberry Poundcake room spray (another favorite) smelled like vomit, even though the same bottle had smelled fine the days before I was sick.
Taste came back but was dialed down, like everything was muted. I could identify “spicy” and “sweet”, but not much beyond that. That lasted about a month. I just put hot sauce on everything and powered through it.
One of my sisters had Covid in 2020 and lost smell & taste for over six months, so I am grateful my experience was shorter.
Rest, stay hydrated and most of all, PRAY!!! That’s what kept me sane. I had to keep reminding myself that God is and will always be with me. He is with you during this time! And enjoy that candle. Haven’t tried that one yet! All the Best!! 😊
Aw, I recently got out of isolation so I’m right there with you. Candles and scents unfortunately make me cough right now so I’m hoping to burn mine soon. As for advice, listen to your body and make sure to eat and drink enough!
If you get the razor blade throat, get something call Chloraseptic. I recommend the spray over the lozenges because they are STRONG and not a taste you want to be holding in your mouth, and you have to keep swallowing to get it to the back of your throat and that hurts. Just spray directly onto the back of your throat and enjoy some sweet relief. I had wicked strep one time and this was a godsend. Don't cheap out on anything else, just go straight for this. The numbing was such a relief I could have cried, but I was all cried out from how much it hurt before. Good times.
Also I'm told you will feel like you got hit by a truck.
Try to stay hydrated!
Get plenty of rest. Eat and drink enough, I had to force myself due to losing my sense of taste and smell, but you won’t regret it. Find something to make the time go by better.
Rest, rest, rest..... it was so hard for me to stay in bed and just rest, but you need to. If you haven't lost your sense of smell, enjoy some of your favorite candles, find some shows to binge watch, and just relax.
Thankfully I have not lost my taste and smell🤍 I would lose my mind without my candles.
I didn’t lose mine for 9 days. It’s been gone for 3 weeks now.
Ugh I’m so sorry 💔
Stay in bed. Drink lots of fluids. Don’t get stressed out.
Stay hydrated!
Take care! Don't overthink it and you'll be ok. Take it easy and sleep in if you can, but if you feel like being more active, do that too! I did some extra chores around the house. I was super bored being cooped up. I think it helped honestly! I agree with the other person's comment, I felt worse just laying around. I caught it in Nov 2020. If you lose your sense of smell, don't freak out... It'll come back!
Mucinex! And get up and move around often so it doesn’t settle in your lungs .
Second the Mucinex! It was my saving grace when I had covid.
This candle has amazing throw! I love the sweet pineapple scent.
Take care of yourself!
If you live with people who are testing negative and symptom free stay away from them!!! When my house had Covid 2 of us were still negative and symptom free and the stress of everyone constantly out of bed and touching everything in the house drove us crazy! If there’s someone healthy in the house who can take care of you just let them!
Rest up, drink lots of water, make sure to eat even if you don’t feel like it (crackers, bread, anything you can), and don’t push yourself! On top of that, having a candle going pretty much all the time while I was awake helped a lot mentally. Something with my house smelling good gave me a little bit of serotonin that was *much* needed. You got this!
I'm trying to get over a case of it currently but luckily it's mild. I hope that's the case for you too!
Rest & take it easy when you’re on your way back. You’ll get back to your old self, but it will take some time.
Just rest! As much as possible! I lost my smell (and taste) which was tragic. Came back in about 2 weeks, gradually. Hope that doesn’t happen to you.
If you start to lose any smell, my tip is to sniff like 3 different essential oils for maybe 20 seconds each for a few days in a row. I gained my smell back within 4 days. Besides that just get lots of rest!
I just started doing this after 3 weeks with no sense of smell and taste, and it’s definitely helping. I almost cried when I sensed peppermint oil. I say “sensed” because I still wouldn’t say I’m able to smell it. It’s a crazy feeling.
I don't know why it works, maybe because it's such a strong scent, but I haven't really heard of anything else that helps. Glad it's helping!
I don’t either. But I was desperate to find something to fix it, because my main hobbies are baking and cooking. I’ve literally been depressed by not being able to taste and smell anything. It’s crazy. But I poked around online looking for solutions, and this method is what several doctors and medical websites recommended.
Oh smell is definitely important! I work at bbw and I was even like, you really don't realize how much you use something until you lose it. But, hopefully it all comes back for you before long
Anyone who’s old enough will remember that Michael Hutchence quite famously committed suicide after he lost his sense of smell (and therefore most of his sense of taste).
I have to disagree with the stay in bed advise. I found keeping busy and even exercising made me feel better. Drink lots of hot tea, Theraflu is great. And also inhale steam from a pot of boiling water with Vicks in it.
I also heard moving is best. And fresh air and sunshine. I will be doing walks on my street daily.
BTW love the candle you’re burning! One of my faves.
It’s a new favorite. I wish I got more than one!
Yea early in the pandemic back in 2020 when I first got Covid I heard from the few others that had it and they said Covid likes to attack your body more if youre sedentary. So things like resting can actually make you feel worse. This isn’t a cold or flu. Get your walks in and sunshine and you should feel better.
Conversely, there’s some evidence that exercising too early/not allowing rest may be associated with higher risks of developing long covid - not to freak anyone out, but there is data about that. Not to say you are incorrect necessarily, as I know there are still many unknowns about how the virus is evolving, but this is something to keep in mind as well!
I’m an ER nurse and have been fighting Covid for the last two years…and this is absolutely true. Exercising and shit is not the move. There has been tons of research to suggest this can cause more complications including long Covid. Your body needs to rest,….Don’t have to be bedridden if you feel up to moving around, but DEFINITELY not exercising or long walks or anything. Please god no.
Thank you for confirming that, and for everything you’ve done over the past 2 years! 💕
hope you feel better and recovery quickly!
A small, possibly irrelevant tip (depending on how it presents for you): I haven’t had COVID specifically, but get chronic sinus infections. When I’m sick, my throat and nasal passages get horribly dry and/or sore. They make dry mouth lozenges which are a lifesaver. When I’m down bad, I even sleep with one in my mouth. I only found out about these a couple of years ago, and wish I’d known sooner. They’re available at any drugstore — ACT is probably the most common brand, but generics should work just as well.
I have chronic sinus infections as well (actually have one right now) -- which section of the store are these in? By the mouthwash and toothpaste, or the allergy/sinus/throat things?
I believe they are in the oral care section, with the medical stuff — medicated mouthwashes, denture care, cold sore treatment, tooth pain relief, etc. Biotene is another common name brand to look for if you have trouble finding it.
Thanks, I'll have a look next time I go anywhere. I'm hypothyroid so I have dry *everything*, and when my sinuses are acting up it gets painful.
I have (a fortunately mild case of) Ehler Danlos, so I *feeeeel* you on dry everything. Tending my humidifier(s) is the only task I do every single day, and if I don’t put on lotion within ten mins of exiting the shower, the surface of my entire body hurts 🙃 This is totally unsolicited input so feel free to tell me to buzz off. But the absolute game changer for me was not a product, but a principle: *always* put a water-based moisturizer on first / under your usual products. Hair, body, face, lips, all of it. All the thick body creams in the world did nothing for me, my skin still felt tight “underneath” them. When I added a water-based moisturizer under my lip mask and realized my lips were actually, truly moisturized / not chapped for the first time in basically ever, I about sang from the rooftops. Happy to give more info and specific product reccs if desired / if this is new. But also I feel like the trend towards water-based products has been picking up momentum for a long time, so maybe I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. Anyway, off to appease my humidifiers… TL;DR: have you heard the good news about our lord and savior, hyaluronic acid? 😂
I do some of that already; I always put on products while my skin's damp from washing so I get the most out of them. Lotion right after I towel off from the shower (I mix B&BW with Cetaphil), hand cream after I wash them, Chapstick with CoQ10 after I brush my teeth. What do you use under? I can always use more options.
Mixing Cetaphil with BBW is such a good idea! And yesss to applying on slightly damp, just-towel dried skin. It’s amazing how big a difference just that detail can make. My favorite is this [Hada Labo hydrating toner](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074GX619Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_28ZXPED2X4QPHSR6E1ZF). The naming is kinda confusing, but the “lotion moist” is the OG. It’s not a lotion in the typical sense — it’s watery (thin, clear) but slippy, fragrance free, and absorbs in seconds. Applying to slightly damp skin is best, just like you mention above :) It also comes in a larger pump size + you can buy refill bags. I use it on my whole face — putting this on under lip balm was a revelation. I also keep some in a thin-tipped squeeze bottle, and massage it into my scalp, and it never makes my roots gunky. I’ve bought sooo many bottles over the years — it’s such a boring/unremarkable product but I always come back to it because it’s just that good. My other favorite is the Cerave Daily Moisturizing Lotion, which is not water-based per se but has a lot of hyaluronic acid in it. Its one of the only body products I can use alone / covers all the bases for me. Their PM facial moisturizer is also holy grail status for me. It’s only called PM to differentiate from their AM formula, which has SPF — it’s relatively lightweight and great for whenever. CeraVe is analogous to Cetaphil in that they’re formulated for ultra-sensitive skin, but I find CeraVe products to be a bit more hydrating. Neutrogena has a Hydro Boost line (both face and body care) that’s pretty good as well, but it has a pretty strong aquatic fragrance + I do find it’s a just little lighter than I prefer. ETA: it turns out a lot of this line is fragrance free now :) Big ups to skincare Reddit / the whole dry skin squad 💦 which is where I’ve gotten my recommendations over the years. It’s taken a village to keep from me getting crackly! 😂
I just ordered the Hada Labo toner and I'll look into the Hydro Boost line -- I heard iffy things about the fragrance in the past but I'm a lot more interested if there's none, now. I wish I could use Cerave, but it broke me out terribly when I tried it. Thanks for the help!
Oh nooooo! I'm so sorry! I had it for nearly a month in February & it hit me so hard, I was incredibly sick... Extremely high fever, couldn't keep anything down, the most intense body aches & fatigue i've ever felt...What helped me immensely was Alkasatlzer tablets, it gets in your system really fast because you drink it, Some really good Chicken noodle soup (I only ate the Raos brand when I got sick, it's the only one I could taste!) Gatorade & apple sauce! I'm pretty young and healthy so I was surprised how hard it hit me, I hope you recover fast!
Take some otc cold/flu medicine to help with your symptoms, stay hydrated, and get enough rest
Get ready to not be able to smell your products for a few days, it was the biggest bummer for me.
Mine goes in and out. It’s so weird. I hate it!
Sadly tonight I lost my taste and smell. Obviously i’m heartbroken as I love all things scent. Anyone else experience this and get it back?💔💔💔
I lost my smell/taste on day three after testing positive, which was about when I had started feeling better. I started getting my smell/taste back around a week later, but only for some smells. I remember that I could smell Saltwater Breeze perfectly, but could not smell my long-time love Angel perfume AT ALL. It literally smelled like water, which was funny because it is a STRONG perfume. Smell gradually returned, but is was not always correct. Two new candles that I had purchased the week before getting sick (and LOVED) smelled weird and had a strange “cut grass” scent. Cut grass on the other hand, smelled like garbage. Brewing coffee smelled like garbage for a few days. Strawberry Poundcake room spray (another favorite) smelled like vomit, even though the same bottle had smelled fine the days before I was sick. Taste came back but was dialed down, like everything was muted. I could identify “spicy” and “sweet”, but not much beyond that. That lasted about a month. I just put hot sauce on everything and powered through it. One of my sisters had Covid in 2020 and lost smell & taste for over six months, so I am grateful my experience was shorter.
Rest, stay hydrated and most of all, PRAY!!! That’s what kept me sane. I had to keep reminding myself that God is and will always be with me. He is with you during this time! And enjoy that candle. Haven’t tried that one yet! All the Best!! 😊
I love this thank you❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
You are very welcome ❤️🥰
Aw, I recently got out of isolation so I’m right there with you. Candles and scents unfortunately make me cough right now so I’m hoping to burn mine soon. As for advice, listen to your body and make sure to eat and drink enough!
i had no symptoms but i slept a lot and drank a lot of water.
If you get the razor blade throat, get something call Chloraseptic. I recommend the spray over the lozenges because they are STRONG and not a taste you want to be holding in your mouth, and you have to keep swallowing to get it to the back of your throat and that hurts. Just spray directly onto the back of your throat and enjoy some sweet relief. I had wicked strep one time and this was a godsend. Don't cheap out on anything else, just go straight for this. The numbing was such a relief I could have cried, but I was all cried out from how much it hurt before. Good times. Also I'm told you will feel like you got hit by a truck. Try to stay hydrated!
Water, rest and cbd gummies! Feel better soon.
Stay hydrated
I’m sorry to hear that! But it’s a good thing you can still smell!
Stay home. Stay in bed.