New pill helps COVID smell and taste loss fade quickly
EdenRester@kbin.social to 
nature.com
New clinical-trial data suggest that an antiviral pill called ensitrelvir shortens the duration of two unpleasant symptoms of COVID-19: loss of smell and taste. The medication is among the first to alleviate these effects and, unlike other COVID-19 treatments, is not reserved only for people at high risk of severe illness.
I had Covid for the first time in May and my smell and taste is still not fully back. This article doesn’t mention specifically but seems that it’s only for people that currently have Covid.
If you still don't have taste and smell you are actually still infected. The virus embedded itself in your mouth and you'll require medication to kill it completely.
Source
I'm guessing you're receiving downvotes because that's such an extraordinary claim with no supporting evidence.
So I did a search and actually found this published journal article from July this year.
It did show both active viruses, and active immune responses in biopsied tongue cells of people with taste loss. Some even a year after infection. The activity is too small to be picked up by nasal swab PCR, but they're there.
But your claim of "you'll require medication to kill it completely" may not be entirely true. In all cases within the study, there was immune system activity in the tongue, and eventually the taste buds did recover.
The medication would be what the story is about. It's like Chicken Pox, we never get rid of the virus, it lives inside of us until it appears again as Shingles. In some people covid appears to survive for years unless treated.
That's another claim begging for a source evidence, btw
Like the source linked above?
The one that says nothing about the virus living dormant like shingles?
Just a comparison with other viruses that have the same ability.
https://knowablemagazine.org/article/health-disease/2020/viruses-come-stay
Ah. So the article that - after mentioning all the other scary stuff like ebola and HIV - concluded with 10 paragraphs basically saying how sars-cov-2 is quite dissimilar to them? How most other coronavirus infections are short-lived?
Or, "Covid-19 long-haulers are probably not dealing with the virus for months on end. Rather, .. that the immune system is trying to repair the damage".
The one that ends with the quote that, for the majority of people, "It gets in, it gets out”?
My understanding was chicken pox is hard to get rid of because it goes into a "dormant" state where it embeds viral dna in living host nuclei.
From everything I've read Covid doesn't work like that and afaik it doesn't have some kind of dormant state.
Covid did a lot of strange things at first. It got into people's blood systems, it lingered in taste buds, it caused brain damage. After it mutated it lost a lot of that ability and became just another cold like virus.
I lost smell and taste after I had Covid in late Feb/early March of 2020. Nothing at all for a couple of months, then parosmia for about 18 months. Back to total loss of smell and taste again, but within the last couple of months I can smell really strong smells, like creosote; also a little touch of parosmia (poop smells like chicken noodle soup, ffs).
Losing 2 of the 5 senses is an incredible loss. I almost feel like it's having a devastating effect on my brain.
I cannot wait to regain those senses. I've tried so many things, and I'll try this too when I can have access to it.
My wife lost hers for a short time, and it was completely soul crushing for her. It's easy to take for granted how much joy we take from delicious food, and what it's like if everything tastes like nothing or worse. My wife loves Reese's peanut butter cups, but she said it was like having a wad of shortening in her mouth - the only thing she could taste was the oil.
I feel for you - I hope it comes back. Some people say that the smell training really does work, at least somewhat.
A wad of shortening in my mouth, that is exactly what Reese's taste like to me. Tell your wife I've got my fingers crossed for her.
Thanks - like I said, hers was only gone for a short time, like maybe 4 days. Long enough that she was contemplating like without it, but luckily it slowly ramped back up over a couple days.
So we'll cross ours for you!
If I take this pill without having these symptoms, would my sense of smell and taste be enhanced?
No
I've been snoring like a lumbermill since getting covid half a year ago. Before that, I'd have gentle snores off and on, usually related go allergies. Wonder if this would help.
Get a sleep study, if you have sleep apnea then get CPAP and use it. It will save your life and give you the energy of a younger version of yourself.
Snoring is very stressful on your heart and bad sleep keeps your body from healing quickly.
I lost it when I got covid but got it back in few days. Only one other person I've heard who had that but same story there. Sucks for those who've lost it for longer