If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past few years, you have probably heard of the coronavirus or COVID-19. Symptoms of COVID-19 are similar to the common cold and flu. Another common symptom is anosmia, which removes the ability to smell and taste anything. But by far, the worst symptom of COVID-19 has got to be parosmia. Parosmia is a symptom that affects 10% of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus and is not very common among doctors and people. Parosmia— unlike anosmia— is the distortion of smell and taste. Food and smells will be changed to something that no human has ever experienced in their life. The most common flavors and smells people with parosmia have experienced are gasoline, feces, sewage, or garbage. Parosmia is not a condition that can simply be explained because it all tastes weird and disgusting. But why does parosmia even happen? After Anosmia—the loss of smell and taste— your brain can slowly start to get smell back, but sometimes it comes back confused. The olfactory bulb is a nerve in the nose that helps signal to the brain that there is scent and flavor. There are only theories as to why parosmia happens but most scientists think it is because the olfactory bulb sends signals to the wrong parts of the brain. Sadly, there is no known medicine to fix parosmia directly but there are some ways to help people to cope with them. Nose clips can be used to cover the taste of food when eating. If we did not have noses, we would not be able to taste food and only tell if something is sweet, sour, spicy, bitter, or savory. Another thing people with parosmia should know is that nobody knows if it is temporary or not but most people will get rid of it over the span of 3-6 months. Now that you have become aware of what parosmia is, you can understand my story. I am age 14 and female. I have been living with parosmia for about 6 months now and would like to explain how life has been from the beginning to now. I got COVID right about the time of Christmas and New Years and lost my smell and my taste which only lasted for a week. My taste got back but my smell did not for a couple of months. The parosmia started on my birthday in May when I was eating a chocolate cake. The cake seemed pretty normal but I had no idea what I would be going through after that day. My friends had brought some doughnuts to school the next day and I wanted to try one. The doughnut tasted like the cake I had on my birthday. But it was disgusting, like a molded or old version of it. My friends called me crazy but I knew I wasn’t. After that day I had kind of forgotten about it until I tasted my toothpaste a couple of days later. It tasted like a terrible version of orange juice. Gradually, all food started to taste bad and I searched up on the internet why it was happening to me when I saw that Parosmia could last for months and even years. Before my parosmia, I was a healthy person, on a diet, and worked out every other day. Fresh greens and fruits had and have to this day, the most unbearable taste in the world. It has officially become 6 months since the start of my parosmia and I have gained 15 pounds for the wrong reasons. Junk food is one of the few foods that taste good for example, fried foods, cheese, bread, and meat are all good tasting. I eat vegetables and fruit with nose clips and it is so depressing. My body feels weak and sad but the only thing to blame is COVID. I used to feel isolated and lonely because I thought that no one understood me. People made fun of me for eating with a nose clip but it is the only thing that keeps me going. I felt so isolated until I did some more research only to find a Facebook group with a little over 50,000 people that are dealing with parosmia. The Facebook group is an emotional support group because people have considered things like suicide and depression. I like watching videos of people telling their stories because it comforts me to know that people are currently also in my situation. All I can do now is wait and tell myself that it is not permanent. One thing I would like to tell people that are not dealing with parosmia is to be grateful. Be grateful that you are blessed every day with delicious foods and smells because you never know when you will lose it all.