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– When I find something that does not taste like onion, I am happy.
It started when her husband got sick and five days later it was his turn: high fever, sore throat and runny nose, much like a common flu. In addition to this with smell and taste.
For the first three months he didn’t feel any taste of what he was eating and it suddenly became very unpleasant to eat. She describes how a chewed banana turned into a disgusting gag in her mouth, when she could only feel the consistency and not the slightest hint of taste.
After the summer started Some food tastes a bit new, but not like it used to.
– First I reacted to the coffee, it tasted disgusting, it tasted like onion. I thought it was wrong with the coffee and bought a new one, but it tasted the same.
The same thing happens with meat, you can no longer eat it, except chicken. The peanut butter you previously loved doesn’t work at all. Sweet cakes are fine if they don’t contain chocolate because they taste like onions. Even other people smell onions.
Violetta Dzafic contacted her health center several times, but they told her there was no point giving her a doctor’s appointment, because there was no help available yet.
– I thought maybe it would be like this for the rest of my life. Every time I sat down to eat, I would start crying. It has affected me a lot. I didn’t show it that much outwardly, but I felt really bad.
Her husband has taken over all the kitchen in the house, because she dislikes most things. Also, it burns with food much more frequently. It has even happened that smoke was coming out of the oven and she did not discover it until the fire alarm sounded.
The turning point came when a colleague He showed her a newspaper article about other people who had covid disease and had experienced the same thing. He contacted the researcher who commented on the article and was advised to go to the ear, nose and throat clinic at Skåne University Hospital in Lund.
During the fall, more and more ex-covids have gone there, says Charlotte Cervin-Hoberg, a biomedical analyst, who conducts scent tests with patients and gives them advice on scent training.
– Charlotte laughed a bit at me when I didn’t even smell the rotten fish, says Violetta Dzafic.
Photo: Johan Nilsson / TT
After visiting the hospital in November, he has been in a tough workout. Twice a day, it will smell intensely and will be concentrated in four characteristic aromas. In Violetta’s case, the training began with pepper, cinnamon, scented soap, and her own perfume.
– I got really mad at first. I smelled but didn’t feel anything. I really felt disabled.
What Violetta Dzafic is experiencing it’s typical of former covidual patients who come to the ear-nose-throat clinic, says Charlotte Cervin-Hoberg. Many describe the problem of unpleasant odors when the sense of smell returns. There are also many who become depressed and lose their appetite.
– Eating is no longer fun, but if you try to involve other senses as well, you set the table a bit well and make sure there is a pleasant atmosphere, says Charlotte Cervin-Hoberg.
For Violetta Dzafic, scent training has gradually started to pay off. For example, you may feel that the perfume actually smells something, but so far the smell is more reminiscent of strong alcohol.
– I know it will take time. You have to be patient and stubborn and train and train until he comes back.
