Feedback about Drugs that Change Your Sense of Taste
Feedback about Taste
This forum is for discussing changes in your sense of taste and smell. If you have a solution to bad breath or medicine mouth, please help others by sharing it. Any comments related to the sense of taste or smell are welcome.
Subj: Bitter taste
Date: 7/12/2007
Hey. I was wondering if you can help me with my situation. Sometimes I get this bitter taste in my mouth along with a white coating. Also my mouth always feel dirty dry. I brush my teeth three times a day. I asked my doctor and dentist but they really cannot do anything. Any suggestions? Remedies? Please help me out. Thanks for your patience and time.
Jis
AskDocWeb: In the morning, you might try using a tongue cleaning tool that scrapes your tongue. That could help part of the problem. Drink a lot of water during the day and when you do, use it to rinse your mouth out. Let us know if that helps.
Subj: Extremely bitter mouth and sore teeth
Date: 4/26/2008
I have been experiencing extremely bitter mouth and sore teeth. These are my meds which I feel must be the cause. I have healthy teeth with extensive crown and bridge. I have an injection every two weeks of Humira, and every week methetrexite I feel the bitter taste is coming from my stomach area, and I have read the above report and perhaps it is my tongue. The other meds are Plavix, Metformin, Enapril, Lexapro, triamt/hctz, qualaquin, and folic acid. Can any of these be the cause. If so what can I do? It really makes me unhappy. I dearly appreciate givin me some insight.
Joyce
AskDocWeb: Since both Lexapro and Plavix are known to affect the sense of taste, a combination of the two may produce a uniquely unpleasant taste. The sore teeth are not likely to be related. For that you need to consult with your dentist.
Subj: Taste perversion
Date: 7/23/2008
Is there anything to counter act a taste perversion. I took lamisil for 5 weeks when into the 3 rd week discovered my taste was changing. woe and behold for nearly 2 and half weeks everything thing I put in my mouth taste of Salt Water or Baking soda. This is the second time I have had this happen. the first time was about 10 years ago taking lamisil and wellbutin, then I suffered from 3 different taste the first of metal, about 2 weeks then 2 weeks of soap and the third one was mold. Needless to say I lost about 35 lbs and did quit smoking. I am happy about that, but now lamisil is a poisonous drug that has given me a complete salt taste, Its impossible to eat with out an overdose of salt in the palat and the taste of salt is terrible. I have lost 20 lbs in the past 2 half weeks. Anyway I want to know is there some way to counter act this perversion of any way. I am now chewing a peice of gum but it is slowly tasting of a wad of salt. I am being poisoned I am sure so I quit taking the lamisil one week now and nothing has changed. How long can I expect this to linger. How long to get out of the body system, any antidote you may know of?
Karel
AskDocWeb: Most of the Lamisil (Terbinafine) is cleared from the body in 7 to 8 days. How long the affects persist beyond that varies from one person to the next. If you want to read up on the subject there’s an ebook about the cause of changes in taste and the resulting bad breath. You can get a free copy here.
Subj: Storing Tamiflu in low temperatures?
Date: 6/19/2009
Hello. The shelf life of Tamiflu as you mentioned is 5 years. Is there any way to extend this or prolong this say, storing in low temperatures (how low?)
Leovic
AskDocWeb: The lowest temperature that has been recommended for storing Tamiflu is 15°C (59°F). According to the manufacturer’s Package Insert:
For the capsules:
Store the capsules at 25ºC (77ºF); excursions permitted to 15º to 30ºC (59º to 86ºF). [See USP Controlled Room Temperature]
For the reconstitutable powder:
Store dry powder at 25ºC (77ºF); excursions permitted to 15º to 30ºC (59º to 86ºF). [See USP Controlled Room Temperature] Store constituted suspension under refrigeration at 2º to 8ºC (36º to 46ºF). Do not freeze.
Subj: How long does taste perversion last?
Date: 9/14/2009
I took Avelox for a sinus infection and now I have “taste perversion” to our water. I took it for 7 days and have been off of it for 3 days. How long should this “taste perversion” last?
Barb
AskDocWeb: It could take up to four days for the Avelox (moxifloxacin) to completely leave your system and another few days for the after effects to clear up. If you want to consult with a specialist, that would be an otolaryngologist. These physicians specialize in disorders of the head and neck, especially those related to the ear, nose, and throat.
Subj: How to correct bad taste
Date: 11/13/2009
I had a lupron injection 3 months back & still have a bad taste any ideas on how to correct.
Lyle
AskDocWeb: Some have reported that the bad taste went away as fast as two days, for others it took from a few weeks to a few months. There is a possibility that changing the pH in your mouth may help. Have you tried rinsing your mouth out with baking soda or eating something acid like a slice of lime?
Subj: My taste changed
Date: 7/7/2010
On 6/4/2010, I started taking Terbinafine HCL 250 mg. and was to take it for 7 days. The first day, my taste changed to everything bitter and could barely get any food down even water taste bad. I took it as prescribed and have not gone back on it, and won’t. I still have that bitter taste and it will be 5 weeks now. My doctor did some research, and this is a side effect of soe 3%. The company says the medium length of time is 42 days. Do you have any suggestions, that will help me. I have lost 14 lbs and don’t want to lose any more. Thank you for your response.
Phyllis
AskDocWeb: The manufacturer of Terbinafine estimates the occurrence of taste disorders to be 1 in 800. Most patients recover their taste within several weeks after discontinuing Terbinafine. Other than keeping yourself well hydrated there isn’t much you can do to speed up recovery.
Subj: Total loss of taste?
Date: 7/29/2010
After taking Advair disk for 2 weeks when it was prescribed for my newly deleloped asthma in March 2008, I lost my sense of taste. I reported this to the FDA and manufacturer GalaxcoSmithKline. Both told me they had never heard of this. Have others reported not just a taste change, but a taste loss after taking Advair disk?
Linda
AskDocWeb: There are no reports here of a total loss of taste but thanks for sharing this with others.
Subj: Advair Diskus
Date: 9/1/2010
I’ve been on the advair diskus almost 9 mos, everything I eat or drink taste sour to me, my dr. say its not the advair, but wont run any other test’s on me, can the advair cause this? My taste has been messed up for almost two months, please help? Any thing I can do to help get my taste back to normal?
Tina
AskDocWeb: The 2010 Physician’s Desk reference lists unusual taste as one of the reported side effects of Advair Diskus, it’s on page 1279. Have you tried substituting baking soda for toothpaste and using the brush on your tongue?
Subj: Ultra sensitive to smells
Date: 9/2/2010
Upon having flagilis bacteroids for many months in a knee prothesis, the doctor gave me invanz (ertapenem). I developed an unbearable taste in mouth along with the same smell…this was worse for me than any vomiting etc that I ran across with flaggel. This made me ultra sensitive to any smells also. What is this called?
Ramona
AskDocWeb: That depends on if the cause is physical or psychological. When there is a physical cause for hypersensitivity to smells it is called Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). Although the medical community is now diagnosing more cases of MCS, globally the treatment is not that easily defined.
A psychological hypersensitivity to smells is called osmophobia or olfactophobia. This refers to a fear, aversion, or psychological hypersensitivity to smells or odors. The phobia generally occurs in chronic migraine sufferers who may have migraines that are triggered by odors. Such migraines are usually triggered by foul odors, but the hypersensitivity may extend to all odors. One study found as many as 25% of migraine sufferers had some degree of osmophobia. This is common during pregnancy.
Subj: METFORMIN
Date: 11/22/2010
EVERYTHING TASTE LIKE RUBBER FOR ABOUT 3 MONTHS. I AM LOSING WEIGHT DRASTICLY FROM IT. THE ONLY NEW MEDICATION IS METFORMIN 1,000 BID.
Beverly
AskDocWeb: Thank you Beverly, for adding to the list. It looks like the incidence rate of changes in taste is 10%, one out of every ten patients. Most describe it as a metallic taste.
Subj: Flecainide
Date: 12/2/2010
I was on Flecainide for four months for A-fib. During the course of treatment I moved from NJ to FL where my doctor changed my treatment to Atenolol. My sense of taste was altered by Flecainide and my FL cardiologist has no idea of whether or not my taste will ever return to normal. It has been three weeks since I’ve been off Flecainide and my taste has not returned to normal. Will it ever return and, if so, approximately how long does it take? Thank you.
Marilyn
AskDocWeb: Your sense of taste may return to normal but it might take 2 or 3 months after discontinuing the drug.
Subj: Metallic taste
Date: 2/3/2011
My husband is now taking Crestor and Triamterene. He is complaining of a metallic taste in his mouth and foods not tasting good. Could either of these drugs be causing this problem?
Barbara
AskDocWeb: Yes, it is possible that the Triamterene might do that. Crestor is not on the list.
Subj: Taste perversion
Date: 2/15/2011
After a root canal, I had a sinus infection which I was put on amoxiphilin and also I am taking Lisinipril and Advair. About 2 weeks after the root canal, I started having mouth perversion…it is either slimey, dry, coated, metally or no taste at all….I have started to decrease the lisinipril and notice a little improvement….could it be from my medications combined?
Kim
AskDocWeb: It may be just from the Lisinopril alone. When this symptom does occur it usually shows up during the first few weeks of treatment and may go away within 1 to 3 months of continued use.
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