Terbinafine Loss of taste
Posted , 110 users are following.
I had taken terbinafine for about six weeks for a toenail infection when my sense of taste pretty much completely disappeared over the course of 3-4 days. I have a vague salty/bitter taste in my mouth, but nothing tastes of anything....sweet, salt, bitter...all gone. I can put pure sugar on my tongue and not taste a thing. That refreshing zing you get from toothpaste? Gone. Everything tastes grey at best, or just nasty at worst.
The infection responded well to terbinafine - I have about 4mm clear nail now, but I've decided to stop taking it as nothing is worth this cost. I've switched to Loceryl lacquer but I don't even care about the nail anymore. I just desperately want to be able to taste things normally again. I can completely understand how this can cause weight loss and depression. My advice would be to avoide terbinafine.
13 likes, 364 replies
margaret33565 jonathan21989
Edited
Update from week 13 since start of taste lost...I am finally getting my taste back! Can taste strawberries and cream! Bread and cheeses still taste a little sour but I am very happy that I can now almost finish a full meal.. put on 2 lbs in a week..( lost 15 over 12 weeks) which was ok but not good if you are underweight ..so Docs please be careful.....
Of course this is no big deal in the current situation...
What a year so far...taste loss, covid 19 and a tornado hitting our city....we were very lucky but many colleagues were not...
No more complaining from me...so grateful to the medical community and other workers on the frontlines...
stay safe and yes your taste will come back...
eve96528 margaret33565
Posted
hello just looking to connect with someone who knows how i feel
eve
sarah81759 jonathan21989
Posted
i began taking terbinafine merely 4 days ago and on Day 3 lost all sense of taste. Instead i have a constant awful taste that i havent been able to shake. i havent wanted to eat anything for the last 2 days. have stopped taking it and will be calling my doctor in the morning. After only 3 pills total. i also have some other very alarming symptoms such as extreme tiredness and fatigue, dry irritated eyes, nausea, headache, backache. i have never felt so ill, considered going to the emergency room this evening. i am 43 years old and am active and healthy. i am about 10 pounds overweight, all gained this year. After reading all these comments i am scared. i cant imagine dealing with this terrible taste in my mouth for weeks to come.
joshuapryce1987 jonathan21989
Posted
Naturally when taking medication we can taste the medications. Especially in high dosages. I am on antibiotics at the moment and i can taste it. Medication cures but it comes at a price. You must wait to see if things change before becoming more worried.
susan92791 jonathan21989
Posted
Thanks for this forum-is keeping me going.
i took terbinafine for 10 weeks before noting a loss of taste. 8 discontinues 3 weeks ago. i have lost 15 pounds in 3 months and my doctor is very concerned about colon cancer.
i will have a workup but in the
meantime, i am very scared.
i feel great other than a slightly dry mouth and no taste!
anyone with similar experience?
susan16397 susan92791
Posted
I'm having a similar experience too. Thursday past I lost all taste. Friday was convinced it was Covid. Got tested and thankfully negative so phoned docs as I've been on Terbinafine for 6 weeks. Stopped taking them on Monday. I've gone from having no taste to having really salty saliva which is making me feel nauseous. Conscious I need my calories so am trying to get them in through drinks and yoghurts because I can't face solids. No taste was definitely better than this salty taste, it's horrid. @susan92791 how did you get on at docs?
eve96528 susan16397
Posted
omg susan and susan please talk to me i am going through hell aswell im losing my mind this is the worst thing i need to talk to people who understand
Eve x
eve96528 jonathan21989
Posted
is there anybody on here suffering this as of lately i see there are no new posts. i need to talk to someone who understands
eve
jan07345 eve96528
Posted
Hi Eve, I am currently going through the same thing and its horrible!!! Has your taste returned yet? My taste has been hone since Dec.13 and i have lost 12lbs already! I cant eat anything!!! Everything I put in my mouth taste like that horrid salt taste in my mouth and i just cant hardly swallow anything, and it makes me sick. It has been 19 days and I am just not sure how much more I can stand of not eating. Im going tomorrow to get everything that everyone on here has suggested might help. Coconut water, peppermint oil, B12, Zinc , and chewing gum. Please let me know how you are doing.
newfietravel jonathan21989
Posted
Small 60 year old just stopped taking terbinafine on day 30 because I lost my taste. Anyone have ideas of what I take to help get it back?
eve96528 newfietravel
Posted
hello
i am eve going through the same. i have no advice or words of comfort as im 9 days off meds and finding eating hard. in fact makes me tearful most meals. i can stomach lemon water hot and cold and eggs thats abiut it.
i can only offer a sympathetic ear as im at the beginning of my journey back hopefully.
Eve x
fran93327 jonathan21989
Posted
thank you for this forum! from your discussions I was able to diagnose my sudden loss of taste, when the Doctors were stumped. I was taking oral Lamisil (terbafine) for 2.5 weeks for a fungal skin condition. Loss of taste occurred about 2 weeks after I stopped the medication. All my symptoms seem to be the same - weird salty taste, can smell, but food is like cardboard or sawdust. Drinks are wet and a bit salty and that's all I can detect. I am 6 days in to my "journey" and reading that others usually recover slowly is a comfort to me. Like others, I now realise how much joy I derived from the taste of food, now that I don't have it.
eve96528 fran93327
Posted
hi Fran im eve
I posted last week expressing exactly the same as you.
i was 5 weeks into taking meds thought it was covid so kept taking them. i could have stopped 10 days quicker if i had known
i am now 9 days off meds salty vile taste has gone but still nothing to taste or enjoyable i cry at most meals as i just want to taste. its such a difficult thing to deal with. the only thing i can palate is eggs for some reason and lemon water hot and cold everything else makes me gag.
i hope your doing as well as you can.
Eve x
fran93327 eve96528
Posted
Hi Eve
sorry you are going through this too.
I am trying to stay positive and not let this upset me too much. I'm trying to keep busy to take my mind off the fact that I cant taste.
It's been about 4 weeks since I lost my taste. There might be a tiny bit of improvement - I can taste some spices including cinnamon and cumin. I am currently eating a potato curry for breakfast. and red wine is slightly tasty. apart from that, i am not detecting any other flavours.
after reading this forum, i am going to try eating some nuts such as pistachios or pecans.
have you noticed any improvement?
celesteUK jonathan21989
Posted
Hi Jonathan
I have had the same side effect. I took terbinafine for about 35 days and all was going good. No side effects at all. I was on holiday in the UK and my first meal out seemed bland. I thought that the food was not seasoned well. However, for the rest of the week it was like I couldn't taste anything. All the things that I love and enjoy tasted like nothing or cardboard. I stopped taking terbinafine two weeks ago. I had a raging taste of salt in my mouth - like someone had poured sea water into my mouth. I still have a vague salty taste in my mouth but although I thought I had a couple of meals where my taste was coming back - I still have nothing. Everything feels claggy to eat and I am just eating really boring food. I can feel textures in my mouth like bubbles and chilli burn but I am miserable not being able to taste my food. The doctors in the UK are focussed on COVID so aren't really able to help. I am quite anxious about this being long term. I just want to enjoy my food again and a glass of wine. I want the horrible salty taste in my mouth to go away. I even went for a PCR COVID test to rule out COVID (test was negative). So I am convinced this awful salty, tastless crap is the rare side effect of terbinafine. I have switched to using Curanail in the hope that I have enough nail growth to stop the fungal infection and pray every night that my taste returns. You are not alone - there should be something that we can take to reverse the side effect.
eve96528 celesteUK
Posted
its horrendous isnt it! i feel your agony! the worst thing iv ever experienced! im 9 days off meds
salty vile taste has gone but that the only improvement.
i thought i had covid 2 or i could have stopped 10 days quicker!
klara99693 celesteUK
Posted
Hi Celeste, I have never used a forum like this, so no idea if you can see my post. I actually cried when I read your post as it was everything I have been saying to my family for the last week. Did you have (or still have) coated tongue? Just hope we can all get back to normal after this
eve96528 klara99693
Posted
hello
i am currently going through the same i posted above yours id like to chat if you like i need a friend who knows what its like
Eve
fran93327 celesteUK
Posted
hi Celeste
That's sad that you lost or taste while on holiday. mine's been gone for sbout 4 weeks. i only took terbinafine for 15 days and my taste disappeared about a week after I stopped.
i've read through all the forums here about this condition and there's been a few suggestions of things which may help improve our condition, but it seems the main cure is time.
I am really hoping my taste is back for Christmas time.
hoping your improvement is fast,
Fran.