Saliva issues: more than 4 months now

Perhaps someone has had a similar experience and may have some advice...

Back in early December I awoke in the middle of the night, aware of two things, both new to me -- I had a copious flow of salty, watery saliva on the left side of my mouth, and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. I immediately went to a dental clinic and was seen by two practitioners (an endodontist, as well as an oral surgeon) who took x-ray images to look for an abscess, a salivary duct stone, and so on. Also, they both poked around and palpated a lot, but they found nothing odd.

Next I visited a general practitioner, who checked my blood pressure, found that it was high, and started me on Amlopidine (5mg/day). I'm still taking that daily.

For about a month, the saliva situation remained the same -- lots of salty saliva, only on the left side. There were odd sensations and twinges of pain from time to time in the area of my left parotid, left submandibular glands, and my TMJ, but there was no noticeable swelling. Also, I had no fever.

I next had a blood test, and my blood cell count was normal, so there didn't seem to be an infection.

In the meantime, I went back to see another oral surgeon and had a MRI, but that, too, revealed nothing.

In January, I visited an ear, nose and throat specialist, and he discovered that my serum zinc level was quite low. Thinking that low zinc might be causing my saliva issues, he started me on Polaprezinc (75 mg, twice a day). [Note: 150 mg of Polaprezinc daily contains 34 mg of zinc and 116 mg l-carnosine].

Since that time, my saliva has often tasted sour. It has also gradually became thicker and somewhat sticky, sometimes annoying so. While the flow has slowed down, I still have odd saliva on the left side of my mouth only.

I sometimes think that the problem may just be my left parotid gland. Other times, if I find that if I massage my submandibular gland or sublingual gland areas, I get a burst of the the salty or sour saliva, too.

The odd flow of saliva began BEFORE I started taking either Amlopidine or Polaprezinc. However, the sour sensation and stickiness began AFTER I started taking the drugs, so one (or both, in combination) may be causing that problem.

I want to figure out what's going on. The doctors don't seem to know or have any advice.

Has anyone had similar issues?

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