For the last couple of days, I’ve had a very bitter taste in my mouth. I take adderall which causes a mild, metallic taste that gets bad if I don’t drink enough, so I thought that’s what it was at first, only stronger than normal. Yet, it stayed like that. If I brushed my teeth, drank a lot, ate, whatever, it didn’t go away. I’ve started to notice, now, that the taste actually comes right after I (start) eat(ing).
I’ve done some searches and it seems that this could be some sort of stomach problem (acid reflux?). I don’t have any other symptoms, though. I don’t understand what this could be.
I asked my dad what he thought, and he said he doesn’t think I need to go to the doctor if my only symptom is the bad taste and that I should probably try some antacid first to see if that does it.
Not that I don’t trust my dad, but you should always get a second opinion. What do you think?
NOTE: I’m in Taiwan, so I hesitate going to the doctor, seeing as it’s a huge hassle.
Has anything changed in your life recently? Diet? Excercise or lack thereof? Any other medications you have started taking recently, or perhaps stopped taking? Look for the change in your life and you will most likely find the source of your bad taste in your mouth. If there isn’t anything that you have done that has changed, it might be a good idea to see a medical doctor, just to be safe.
Sorry I don’t have a nice GQ style answer for you – IANAD, and can only contribute my own related experience: I had a similar phenomenon many years ago, which I id’d at the time as related specifically to eating carbs (bread and crackers). I was 11 at the time and no one took my complaints seriously; eventually the strange taste went away. (Retrospectively, I’ve always assumed it was somehow related to puberty; my body was out of whack for a while or something and then settled down. But who knows?)
I don’t want to be alarming (my experience above should suggest that alarm may be unnecessary) but since odd taste/smell sensations can be related to horrid things like brain tumors, you might want to go through the hassle of getting it checked out if it doesn’t go away.
That’s the first thing I tried to do when I noticed that this wasn’t the normal taste in my mouth (that sounds bad). I drank a fair amount of beer (not as much as a used to, but a good bit more than I have in recent times), stayed up late, and sang really loud the night before.
I also didn’t sleep that well the days before, but that’s nothing new. I’ve always had trouble sleeping, and, now, I’d say at least every month I go about 4 days every three weeks where I don’t feel like I sleep at all.
Neither one of these two things seem like they should have effected me that much, seeing as I’ve had other nights where I have a bit of a beer binge, and, like I said, it’s failry normal to go a couple of days without sleeping well.
I would say I have a fairly high level of stress, too, which I know can cause this sort of thing, but I haven’t been *more *stressed lately.
IANAD either, but I had a similar experience a couple of years ago (I think I even posted about it on SDMB). What it turned out to be was a crown in the back of my mouth had come loose, and the cement was leaking. Have you had any root canals (ever?). If so, you might want to have a chat with your dentist (doesn’t have to be the one who did the original work).
But do get it checked out… there are a lot of reasons why you might have a bad taste in your mouth.
Well, if you’re female, you might check to see if you’re pregnant. I had terrible aftertaste issues when pregnant, any time I ate carbohydrates of any form. I did not have this problem after pure proteins.
Could it be something tangential to the eating? I’ve had persistent weird metallic tastes in my mouth when I’ve had jobs involving counting large amounts of coins and repairing costume jewelry. You haven’t switched to, say really cheap metal chopsticks or cooking pots? I also had a disgusting metallic taste in my mouth after I tried washing my hair in cider vinegar (folk remedy for dandruff), though I’ve got no idea why that would have happened. Have you been using any new condiments lately?
Could it be something tangential to the eating? I’ve had persistent weird metallic tastes in my mouth when I’ve had jobs involving counting large numbers of coins and repairing costume jewelry. You haven’t switched to, say really cheap metal chopsticks or cooking pots? I also had a disgusting metallic taste in my mouth after I tried washing my hair in cider vinegar (folk remedy for dandruff), though I’ve got no idea why that would have happened. Have you been using any new condiments lately?
This thread is not over until the OP reveals whether pregnancy is, er, even a remote possibility given the constraints of the physical universe as we know it.
Er. Well, given Gitfiddle’s apparent non-gravidability, um. I retract my statement. But…I will say, his symptoms sounded awfully unpleasantly familiar.