In her sixties and living in East Sussex, Karen is a full-time carer for her mother, who suffers from dementia. Shortly after returning from a working life in America to look after her mum, she was devasted when she lost her ability to smell. “I am a person who has always enjoyed my sense of smell – walking in woods, perfume, cooking smells. Read more “Karen’s Story: Finding Support and Guidance for Pre-Covid Smell Loss and Recovery”

I noticed my daughter was different from an early age but couldn’t put my finger on why. She was a well-behaved toddler; fun, happy and eager to learn. The one problem we had was food. Whenever we sat down to eat, the antics would begin. She’d express disinterest in a variety of ways. Her arms would stretch. The complaints would start: “I’m tired, I don’t like this, this is too hot, this is too cold”. Read more “Abi’s Story: Growing Up Without a Sense of Smell”

Everyone’s talking about Covid 19 right now. Fifth Sense has been tracking the reported link between this novel virus and smell loss which you can read here. It’s worth remembering though that many and varied viral infections have always been with us. Read more “Lesley’s Story: A Challenging Journey of Post-Viral Smell Loss”

Hans Stammel is a long-time Australian citizen, having arrived from Germany in 1967. Now aged seventy-three, he was previously a documentary filmmaker and latterly a website designer. These days, he and his wife share their time equally between homes in Australia and the south of France. Read more “Hans’ Story: Relishing Taste Without Being Able To Smell”

Helen’s ears pricked up when she heard how people with Covid 19 were experiencing problems with smell and taste. This brought back unhappy memories from a time, some twenty years previously, when Helen found herself in the same situation Read more “Helen’s Story: Anosmia, Parosmia, Hyposmia to Today”

Trevor lives in the South Cotswolds where, as a retirement project, he runs walking tours, mostly of Bath. With his background as a chartered surveyor, Trevor’s understanding and love of architecture informs his talks when touring the city. His other loves though, notably his passions for cooking, food and music, are disrupted by a double whammy of smell and hearing loss. Read more “Trevor’s Story: How Alison’s Story Helped Me Find Treatment”

It started after a very bad cold that seemed to go from person to person in my household, eventually making it’s way to me, just in time to ruin the Christmas pleasures of smells and tastes that fill our household around that time of year. Read more “Adrian’s Story: Living Without Taste – A Story of Ageusia”

I lost my sense of smell very gradually around 2009. I thought it would come back by itself after a while – but of course, it didn’t. The worst thing was not being able to taste the flavours of food, or smell lovely things like freshly baked bread, or roses in the garden. Read more “Alison’s story: Able to smell again after successful treatment for rhinosinusitis”

It all started with a very bad head cold in April 2015. After taking antibiotics I appeared to make a full recovery. However, come July I noticed some bad, putrid smells. These horrible smells intensified twentyfold when I was around coffee, smoke, or cooked food. Read more “Joanne’s Story: Road to Recovery”

I suffered a head injury in March 2012 after falling from a ladder and hitting my head against a brick wall. After a scan and the wound being stitched, I was quickly sent home. Physically, I appeared to recover well, but after a couple of weeks I realised that I couldn’t smell or taste anything. Read more “David’s story: The emotional impact of post-traumatic smell loss and finding compassion and support”

In January 2017 Adam Hawkins’ life changed dramatically. Having taken nothing more than a normal dose of Ibuprofen he suffered severe respiratory reactions. Then, in the weeks and months that followed, his health unravelled. Eventually, he discovered that he was suffering from Samter’s Triad. Here’s Adam’s story in his own words. Read more “Adam’s Story: The Physical Challenges That Helped Samters Triad Smell Loss”

Joanne’s anosmia began in September 2019. The fifty-nine-year-old mother of grown-up twin daughters had just returned to Kent from a holiday in Spain. Rather run-down and very busy in her NHS administrative role, she struggled to sleep and ended up contracting a nasty virus – sore throat, bad cold, wheezy chest and aching, flu-like symptoms.… Read more “Joanne’s Story: The Emotional and Mental Effects of Post-Viral Smell Loss”

Dawn Kafi is a mum whose 11-year-old son Malisse tested positive for Covid-19 on September 20. He began his 10 days isolation and despite initially having no symptoms and feeling quite well, Malisse suddenly lost his taste and smell and everything was making him vomit.  He started saying food was off and it continued to… Read more “Dawn & Malisse’s Story: The Impact of COVID-19 on the Sense of Smell and Taste in Children”

My name is Abbie, I’m 24 years old and I live in London. My story starts back in August 2021 at a family wedding. During the reception I realised tiramisu no longer tasted like coffee and wine was like water! The next day I tested positive for coronavirus. I had quickly lost my taste and… Read more “Abbie’s Story: Parosmia Following COVID-19 and Tips to Manage It”

Have you ever; nearly blown up the house by accident? Eaten something spicy without realising until it’s too late? Been too polite to tell a waiter that you can’t taste the drink he’s asking you to try? I have, my name is Hannah and this is my anosmia story. My diagnosis Picture the scene; it’s… Read more “Hannah’s Anosmia Story”