# Foulest tasting medicine **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 21, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881 "2010-01-21T19:02:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/21 "2010-01-21T23:31:01Z")
When I lived in Japan I once caught a lingering cold and my boss got me some kind of Japanese cold medicine. I don’t know what it was, but it came in two little bottles and you were supposed to drink one and then drink the other a few hours later. This was the foulest stuff I ever put in my mouth. It was so nasty I had to struggle not to vomit. I did actually feel better immediately afterward, but that was because I was thinking “Thank goodness I’m done drinking that noxious potion!” I wound up discreetly pouring the second dose down the sink. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/22 "2010-01-21T23:59:09Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > ETA: My vote is for prednisone. Pills, or liquid? My ferret agrees with you on the latter, though I don’t think it’s all that bad. (I tasted some just to see what she was complaining about. It’s not at any sort of dose that could have an affect on me, though.) I vote for a split Imitrex pill; my neurologists prescribed me a double dose to save on prescription money, then directed me to split the pill. It wasn’t worth the effort to save money, that stuff is so nastily bitter that I would end up opting for an alternate medication instead, sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/23 "2010-01-22T00:10:32Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > Buckley’s. It’s a Canadian cough medicine made with natural-ish ingredients. You just need to watch the [commercials](http://www.buckleys.com/about/tv.htm) to know how awful it is. > > I use it all the time and I make sure I don’t take it on an empty stomach or I’ll be in pain. It makes my eyes water and I always gag. It seems to work, however. Didn’t do much for me, but I still remember the, er, flavor - intensely, penetratingly bitter, but with a cooling, mucus-cutting after-sensation. I think there was a whole lot of oil of eucalyptus in there, and maybe some unadulterated peppermint. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/24 "2010-01-22T00:14:51Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Pills, or liquid? My ferret agrees with you on the latter, though I don’t think it’s all that bad. (I tasted some just to see what she was complaining about. It’s not at any sort of dose that could have an affect on me, though.) My experience has been with the liquid but I’ve heard that the pills are unpleasant too. When my daughter was 2, she had asthma and we had to get it down her a couple of times a day. She agreed with your ferret. ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/25 "2010-01-22T00:49:08Z")
Liquid haliperidol with liquid largactil coming in a close second ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/26 "2010-01-22T00:54:18Z")
My doctor gave me a handful of flagyl to take one time, and he said “swallow them all at once.” I asked him why, and he said “because they taste like shit.” No kidding. Man that’s some nasty tasting medicine - even gulping them down all at once, the intensely bitter taste nearly made me gag. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/27 "2010-01-22T00:57:59Z")
The worst I’ve had to experience was yellow Triaminic. I think at the time, I thought it tasted like a combination of ear wax, and earwigs. To be fair, and in my own defense, I don’t actually remember eating significant amounts of either of those. I think I’ve been fairly lucky, as medications go. And I’ve never had a problem with pills. The last liquid medication I was prescribed was about nine years back, when I had pneumonia. A think, kind of malted-minty flavor. It was actually quite pleasant. I’d probably drink it if they marketed it as a beverage…it’d probably go well with a burger. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/28 "2010-01-22T01:01:42Z")
The two worst tasting meds I’ve ingested are straight Dextromethorphan (DXM) and straight codeine. With both of these they were in an very concentrated\* solution of water (I think) and the med, even filling your mouth with toothpaste after drinking the few tablespoons wouldn’t cut the extreme bitterness. \*I learned that they were so bitter even diluting them into a glass of something else didn’t cut how bitter it was and just made more to have to drink. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/29 "2010-01-22T01:36:57Z")
Penicillin, which I took for tonsillitis. It seemed to be an un-coated pill, and just tasted like foul medicine. I had to really throw them back with orange juice FAST, or I’d throw up. ---
**Author:** ![Nightingale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Nightingale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightingale)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/30 "2010-01-22T01:45:21Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > Turpen hydrate. I took it as a child for some sort of horrible virus. I will never forget how awful it was, both swallowing it and having it come back up again soon after. This! ---
**Author:** ![Lottie\_D\_Urberville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a5b964/32.png) [@Lottie\_D\_Urberville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lottie_D_Urberville)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/31 "2010-01-22T01:57:45Z")
I took some liquid asthma medicine (it sounded like " sinofilin"; I can’t seem to find a reference for it anywhere) as a child that was so disgusting that I threw up every time I took it. I transitioned to pills, then to inhalers soon after. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/32 "2010-01-22T02:24:47Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > Penicillin, which I took for tonsillitis. It seemed to be an un-coated pill, and just tasted like foul medicine. I had to really throw them back with orange juice FAST, or I’d throw up. Yup…I had to take some after oral surgery, and it tastes just like mold. Which it is, and I know a LOT of food (like cheese) is made with it, but fer chrissakes, I don’t want it to actually TASTE like mold! I also can’t handle liquid Robitussin or Nyquil. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/33 "2010-01-22T02:33:47Z")
> [@Yumblie](#): > > I took some castor oil last night, and was unprepared for the assault my taste buds were in for. My god, that stuff is awful! I had to suppress my gag reflex multiple times. It was like drinking rancid butter. Agreed. It used to come up a lot in movies (such as Mary Poppins) and books as being a horrible thing that well-meaning parents did to their children, so one time I decided to pop open a cod liver oil capsule and see if it really was that bad. Man, I didn’t even get to swallowing it and the smell almost made me puke. Kids used to have to have a spoonful every day! The worst I’ve ever taken is liquid codeine. Not diluted. I was given it by the doctor when I really ill with swine flu last year (JIC anyone asks - yes, it was swine flu; I was swabbed; no, it wasn’t at all mild). It made me vomit copiously every time. Some of it stayed down long enough to help the coughing a bit, though, and the coughing often ended up in puking anyway, so I persevered - well, for a bit. It’s still in the medicine cabinet and I feel nauseous every time I glimpse the label. ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/34 "2010-01-22T02:35:35Z")
> [@Lottie\_D\_Urberville](#): > > I took some liquid asthma medicine (it sounded like " sinofilin"; I can’t seem to find a reference for it anywhere) as a child that was so disgusting that I threw up every time I took it. I transitioned to pills, then to inhalers soon after. could have been Slo-phyllin ( theophylline ) Theophylline was a mainstay for asthma for many years. I used to get bronchits as a child and had to take a pink, grainy, thick, nasty tasting medicine. Might have been that Slo-phyllin. I also have to say that chlorhexadine oral rinse is also extremely nasty and the bad taste stays in your mouth for a long time. ( I found that if I rinsed my tongue off after using it, it was slightly more tolerable) ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/35 "2010-01-22T02:44:15Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > Buckley’s. It’s a Canadian cough medicine made with natural-ish ingredients. You just need to watch the [commercials](http://www.buckleys.com/about/tv.htm) to know how awful it is. > > I use it all the time and I make sure I don’t take it on an empty stomach or I’ll be in pain. It makes my eyes water and I always gag. It seems to work, however. I could never use that stuff “all the time”. Once every couple of years is all I can take. It works, but is the most vile tasting mixture imaginable. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/36 "2010-01-22T03:17:25Z")
Buckley’s has [a lot worse things](http://www.buckleys.com/products/adult_mixture_cc.htm) than eucalyptus and peppermint - oil of pine needles, camphor (I didn’t even know you could ingest that!), menthol, Canada balsam, and extract of capsicum (hot pepper!). The active ingredient is ammonium carbonate, a classic smelling salt. It may not be the worst tasting medicine ever, but with those pine and balsam constituents it’s certainly the most Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/37 "2010-01-22T03:30:33Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Tincture of Opium is really foul but can be worth it Along the same lines, Native American _medicine_ (peyote) is by far the foulest thing I’ve taken, but worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/38 "2010-01-22T03:39:35Z")
Clindamycin all the way. It’s a pill, you swallow it and still the aftertaste is evil. ---
**Author:** ![Lottie\_D\_Urberville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a5b964/32.png) [@Lottie\_D\_Urberville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lottie_D_Urberville)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/39 "2010-01-22T03:45:41Z")
> [@pudytat72](#): > > could have been Slo-phyllin ( theophylline ) Theophylline was a mainstay for asthma for many years. > > I used to get bronchits as a child and had to take a pink, grainy, thick, nasty tasting medicine. Might have been that Slo-phyllin. Ugh, that sounds like it, although I don’t remember the color of it. Something about being chased around the house by my father coming after me with a spoon and a bottle of that crap kinda blocks that memory 🙂 How, exactly, was it supposed to alleviate asthma when I couldn’t even keep it down? Again…SOOO glad I was switched to the pills. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881/40 "2010-01-22T04:06:26Z")
For medicines I’ve actually tasted, it is the original licorice-flavored Vicks 44 cough syrup. I love black licorice, but can’t stand Vicks 44. Jagermeister tastes suspiciously like Vicks 44, so I can’t stand that crap either. For stuff I haven’t actually taken for medicinal purposes, it is quinine, which gives tonic water its nasty flavor. If I had to take quinine to prevent malaria, I would probably opt for the malaria. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foulest-tasting-medicine/525881.md?page=3)