'That Meatball Tastes Like Gasoline’: Thousands suffer smell and taste disorders after COVID-19

Описание: Doctors are seeing a huge influx of patients who have developed what used to be relatively rare smell and taste disorders.

Like millions of people who contracted COVID-19, Ryan Wotherspoon experienced some of the virus's hallmark symptoms.

"It was the middle of August, and I woke up one morning without any taste or smell. So I pretty much knew I had it," he told 13News.

The symptoms lasted about four weeks, and when his sense of smell and taste returned, Wotherspoon figured he had put the virus behind him.

But by late October, the musician and actor noticed certain foods did not seem to taste right. His favorite frozen pizza was not the same. The burrito he regularly ordered from a Mexican restaurant seemed off too.

"I just chalked it up to they changed their ingredients. But the more I tasted things and they didn't taste the same, I thought it seemed too much to be a coincidence," he said.

It was no coincidence. And in recent months, the problem has gotten much worse.

Instead of familiar foods tasting bland or different, Wotherspoon says they now taste horrible. And the smell of food cooking makes him feel nauseous.

"It's pretty bad. You just want to spit it out. It's sour. It's dirt. It's mixed with gasoline … smoke, like burning. That's really what it is," Wotherspoon explained. "It's just like one flavor that my brain is being told everything tastes like. It's just this overall gross smell and taste that's around me all the time."

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