Living with parosmia

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 is often dismissed as a small thing. It is not. Eating becomes a chore, cooking for other people becomes a guess, and there is 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.
Source: Study published in Foods, 2022

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 cannot tell if the milk has gone off.”
  • “People think it is a small thing. It is 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 cannot 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 is worth noticing and leaves the medicine to your doctor. See how a check-in works.

A calm, colour-coded week view of someone's health story in taluvu, showing gentle patterns rather than a raw score.

Trusted information and support

Places we point people to for parosmia.

The same sources and communities taluvu links to inside the app. They are independent of us; please check anything important with your own care team.

Information sources

Communities

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 is 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 cannot 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 does not 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 is 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 an iPhone app. A membership comes with a free trial, and the price and terms are shown in full before you are ever asked to pay.

Download on the App Store See how taluvu helps See a real Doctor Summary

Other conditions

taluvu understands more than one thing at once.

Over a hundred conditions are built in, including living without a diagnosis yet. Choose as many as apply.

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.