Katrina Haydon can’t eat, shower or brush her teeth the same way she used to six months ago because of parosmia, a smell disorder sometimes associated with COVID-19 "long-haulers," or people whose COVID symptoms last long after they test positive for the virus.Parosmia is a term used for any kind of distortion of one’s sense of smell — unlike anosmia, a term for one’s loss of their sense of smell.For Haydon, 24, it started with anosmia.
She believes she contracted COVID-19 in June of 2021, though she tested negative for the virus. She had mild cold-like symptoms and lost her sense of taste and smell, as many COVID patients do.