A parosmia symptom tracker for when familiar things smell wrong
A chronic illness tracker and gentle companion that already knows what parosmia can involve, so you do not have to explain it from scratch.
What parosmia can involve
Parosmia is a distortion of the sense of smell: things you know well smell different, and usually unpleasant. Coffee, onions, meat and toothpaste are common triggers, often turning rotten, chemical or burnt. It frequently follows a loss of smell after COVID-19 or another infection, arriving a few months into recovery, and it can also follow a head injury or sinus problems.
It's often dismissed as a small thing. It isn't. Eating becomes a chore, cooking for other people becomes a guess, and there's the quiet worry of not being able to tell whether food has gone off or something is burning. taluvu's founder lives with parosmia that began after COVID, that story is here, which is part of why this page exists.
Most people who lose their sense of smell after COVID-19 recover within weeks, but around 10% experience long-term problems, and for many of them parosmia begins a few months later.
See what applies to you, note how often it happens, and take it to your appointment, so the conversation starts further along. It describes your experience. It does not say what is causing anything: having many of these does not mean you have Parosmia, and having few does not mean you do not. Only a clinician can work that out with you.
The list comes from the NHS and charity sources linked further down this page, and from what people living with parosmia tell us they keep an eye on. It is a starting point, not a test.
How a day can feel
If your days sound anything like this, taluvu was made with you in mind.
“Coffee smells like something has died.”
“I eat for fuel now, not for pleasure.”
“I can't tell if the milk has gone off.”
“People think it's a small thing. It's my whole day.”
“It came back wrong, and nobody warned me it could.”
These are the kinds of things taluvu invites you to say in your own words, never a checklist of what anyone “should” have.
What taluvu helps you keep track of
Choose Parosmia and it starts you with a palette, not a blank form.
These are things people living with parosmia often want to keep an eye on. Remove any you do not need, add your own, and check in with a few taps on the days you have very little to give.
Distorted smells
Distorted tastes
Nausea from smells
Foods I can't face
Appetite loss
Avoiding cooking or places
Low mood around food
✎ A journal in your own words, not a score
◔ A plain-English week view of what stands out
▤ A Doctor Summary you own and can print
☏ Your care team’s details in one place
taluvu never claims one thing caused another. It shows what's worth noticing and leaves the medicine to your doctor. See how the symptom tracker app works.
Trusted information and support
Places we point people to for parosmia.
The same sources and communities taluvu links to inside the app. They're independent of us; please check anything important with your own care team.
About this page: Published by taluvu and checked against the independent sources linked above on 27 September 2026. It has not been medically reviewed and is not medical advice. How we write and check these pages.
Questions people ask
Parosmia and taluvu, in plain answers.
Short, honest answers about what taluvu does and does not do for parosmia. Nothing here is medical advice.
Is taluvu a parosmia tracker?
Yes. Parosmia is built into taluvu, and it's one of the conditions its founder lives with. Choose it and you start with a palette of distorted smells and tastes, nausea from smells, foods you can't face, appetite loss, avoiding cooking or places and low mood around food, and you can describe exactly what a smell has become in your own words.
Can I record which smells and foods are distorted?
Yes. Every check-in has room for a line in your own words, so you can note that coffee smelt of petrol this morning or that eggs were fine for the first time in months. A record of which triggers changed, and when, is what shows whether things are moving.
Does taluvu do smell training or tell me what to eat?
No. taluvu doesn't give treatment advice or suggest what you should do about your symptoms. Smell training and dietary help are things to raise with your GP, an ENT specialist or SmellTaste. taluvu keeps the record and leaves the medicine to them.
Why keep a day-by-day record of parosmia?
Because changes in smell can be slow and are hard to judge from memory: it's very hard to remember in October what coffee smelt like in June. A day-by-day record shows change you might not otherwise notice, and gives you something concrete to bring to your GP or ENT.
Getting taluvu
Carry parosmia with a little more company.
taluvu is a chronic illness tracker for iPhone and for your web browser. Each one is a separate membership with a free trial, and the price and terms are shown in full before you're ever asked to pay.
Taluvu Chronic Illness Tracker
TALUVU LTD · Health and Fitness · iPhone
Free to download, with a Taluvu Pro subscription inside
Taluvu Chronic Illness Tracker
TALUVU LTD · Health and Fitness · Computer
Start with a free week of Taluvu Pro, in your web browser
taluvu is not a medical device and does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Nothing on this page is a substitute for advice from your own doctor or care team. taluvu helps you organise and describe your own experience. See the Medical & AI Disclaimer.
If you are in crisis or need urgent help, contact your local emergency services or a crisis line. In the UK, call 999 in an emergency, NHS 111 for urgent advice, or Samaritans free on 116 123.
