Ralph Donghi (text and photos)
When a person gets corona, they usually suffer from a loss of smell and taste, among other things. However, the majority of this comes back after a Covid-19 recovery. Even with Stefanie Odianosen (35). “I can smell and taste again,” says the cleaner from Root LU to Blick. But: “Almost everything just stinks of faeces!”
Stefanie Odianosen says she was diagnosed with cacosmia. This is referred to as so-called “false smelling”. The normal perception of smell is changed. Many smells suddenly have a very unpleasant effect. Cocosmia occurs, for example, after virus infections – such as with Covid-19.
This is how Stefanie got Odianosen Corona
“One of my three sons suddenly came home from school with Schnuderi at the beginning of July last year,” she recalls. This after there was a corona case at his school. “So I thought we’d be tested.”
Result: not only her son, but also she herself had Corona. “Because I hadn’t been vaccinated at the time, it hit me pretty badly,” says Odianosen. She had “a headache like never before”, aching limbs and a temperature of around 39 degrees, as well as losing her sense of smell and taste. «I was almost unable to go on and I also had difficulty breathing. It wasn’t normal flu at all, as many think. “
Two months ago everything started to “smell like hell”
While her son was allowed to leave the apartment after ten days, the mother had to spend twelve days in isolation. “It took me about a month to get really well again,” she says. Then she also regained her sense of smell and taste to some extent and was able to eat normally again.
But then, two months ago, “suddenly everything started to stink badly”. She first thought of a disinfectant that you can smell everywhere. “But I thought wrong,” says Stefanie Odianosen. “Most of the smell in my apartment!” The morning coffee, the toothpaste, the shampoo, your favorite perfume, the washing-up liquid or the laundry detergent. “I couldn’t stand the scent that arises when you blow out a candle either.”
At least quench your thirst with water and tea
The worst of all, however, is: «I could no longer eat meat, fruit and vegetables. Not until today!” She only ate dairy products, fish or “cheese, pretzel bread and gingerbread”. She could “at least” quench her thirst with water and tea.
Back when everything started to stink in mid-October, she went straight to the family doctor. He told her that after a Covid 19 infection, the normal sense of smell and taste would actually return. “That’s why he sent me for an MRI examination,” says Odianosen.
She was there on November 9th and was referred to a neurologist. “Then she took tests on me on December 10th and diagnosed me with cacosmia. That is the reason that I only perceive almost everything as disgusting. ” She was told that she was not the only person affected. However, there is no cure in sight: “There is no drug for this disease.”
The 35-year-old wants to “shake up humanity”
Only physiotherapy, which Odianosen would like to perceive from January, can be used to train the sense of smell and taste. “Whether I will ever get these two things again is an open question. I hope so, of course, ”she says. “There are no long-term studies on this yet.”
Every fifth person suffers from long covid
Every fifth Covid patient suffers from long-term consequences, the dreaded Long Covid. This is shown in a study by epidemiologist Milo Puhan from the University of Zurich. So far, there are hardly any therapy options, as Puhan explains to Blick: “At the beginning we thought that most of those affected would no longer have any symptoms after twelve months. But that turned out to be wrong. “
The effects are not only limited to the lungs, some patients also complain that they can no longer think clearly or they no longer smell and taste right, according to the expert.
The fact that research in the field of long Covid is still at the very beginning is frustrating for those affected. “There is not so much going on in research at the therapy level.” What also worries Puhan: “If Omikron leads to long-covid just as often, we will have a large number of people in Switzerland who will suffer from it.
Jördis Frommhold is a doctor at the Heiligendamm Rehabilitation Clinic in Germany and has been dealing with the long-term consequences of corona disease since the beginning of the pandemic. She, too, is convinced that Long-Covid will keep our society busy for a long time to come. “That will possibly be with us longer than the acute infection.”
There are no special symptoms during the corona infection that indicate long-term effects. Specifically: it can affect anyone who is infected. For the doctor, the solution lies in vaccination and reducing the risk of infection: “If I am not infected, I cannot develop a long-covid.”
Every fifth Covid patient suffers from long-term consequences, the dreaded Long Covid. This is shown in a study by epidemiologist Milo Puhan from the University of Zurich. So far, there are hardly any therapy options, as Puhan explains to Blick: “At the beginning we thought that most of those affected would no longer have any symptoms after twelve months. But that turned out to be wrong. “
The effects are not only limited to the lungs, some patients also complain that they can no longer think clearly or they no longer smell and taste right, according to the expert.
The fact that research in the field of long Covid is still at the very beginning is frustrating for those affected. “There is not so much going on in research at the therapy level.” What also worries Puhan: “If Omikron leads to long-covid just as often, we will have a large number of people in Switzerland who will suffer from it.
Jördis Frommhold is a doctor at the Heiligendamm Rehabilitation Clinic in Germany and has been dealing with the long-term consequences of corona disease since the beginning of the pandemic. She, too, is convinced that Long-Covid will keep our society busy for a long time to come. “That will possibly be with us longer than the acute infection.”
There are no special symptoms during the corona infection that indicate long-term effects. Specifically: it can affect anyone who is infected. For the doctor, the solution lies in vaccination and reducing the risk of infection: “If I am not infected, I cannot develop a long-covid.”
The 35-year-old goes public with her suffering, “to wake up humanity”. Because: “The Covid virus is definitely not just a mild flu.” It could mess up the body completely. “You can’t even imagine something like that.” In the meantime, although she is considered to have recovered, she had been vaccinated for the first time and had “only a little arm pain”.
Nevertheless: Their joy of life is kept within limits, their quality of life is “gone”. Odianosen: “I have no idea whether I will ever again smell coffee, fresh bread or a fine meal with my nose or tongue.”
Children have to help her cook
What bothers Stefanie Odianosen most is that she wants to cook balanced meals for her three children every day. “It’s a huge challenge for me every time,” she says. You can no longer even tell whether the food is good or spoiled. “I am also no longer able to taste the dish properly.” The desire to eat, let alone to cook, has meanwhile “gone” to her. It is her children who now have to help her.
Despite everything, Stefanie Odianosen does not want to sue. “I’m just telling you what the virus can do to us.” You learned that there are actually supposed to be people who would willingly contract the Covid virus in order to get a certificate. She says, “Think twice. Also for your fellow human beings, whom you may then also infect. It is no longer a good life if you have to live it this way. “