That metallic taste in your mouth is not a pleasant thing, and fortunately, most people deal with it only for a brief period of time. A metallic taste in mouth can be caused by everything from environmental hazards to systemic disorders to medicines to something you ate. Understanding the various causes can help you pinpoint the problem, and that can then help you eliminate that awful taste.
Symptoms of Metallic Taste in Mouth
There are many reasons for a metallic taste in your mouth, and there are often other symptoms that happen at the same time. These symptoms can help you pinpoint why you are having that metallic taste in your mouth.
May of these symptoms have to do with your mouth itself. If you are dealing with gums that bleed, bad breath, a dry mouth or excessive salivation, that could help explain where the metallic taste is coming from. Other symptoms include changes in your facial movements, which is typically because of a problem with a facial nerve. You might also have other symptoms of something wrong, such as a loss of appetite, stuffy nose, poor sense of smell, vomiting or a swollen or inflamed throat or tonsils.
In some cases, the metallic taste in mouth could be a sign of a much more serious problem. If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, get to the doctor immediately:
- Inability to swallow
- Confusion, or changes in alertness and consciousness
- One side of your face droops or feels paralyzed
- Your fever is greater than 100 degrees Fahrenheit
- Your speech is slurred and hard to understand
- Your lips, tongue and mouth feel swollen
- You are suddenly having trouble breathing, or you are choking or wheezing
Causes of Metallic Taste in Mouth
There are numerous reasons why you could have a metallic taste in your mouth. Many of these are simple reasons and can be easily remedied, while others are more serious.
1. Medications
. Many medications can cause unusual side effects, including that metallic taste. Since everyone reacts differently to medications, it might be any number of things you are taking. To figure it out, you will need to speak to your doctor.
2. Oral Health and Sinus Problems
When you are dealing with infections, blocked sinuses, issues with your gums and teeth and a variety of other dental or oral issues, the result can be a bad taste in your mouth, which is often perceived as metallic.
3. Systemic Diseases
Some diseases that affect you whole body could also affect your sense of taste, including diabetes, renal failure, zinc deficiency, cancer and more.
4. Nervous System Diseases
If any of the nerves around your face or mouth are affected by disease, this can alter the way you perceive tastes. And since taste and smell are so closely linked, anything that affects your sense of smell will also affect how things taste.
5. Pregnancy
Pregnant women often undergo many bodily changes, and this often includes sensitivity in taste and smell. That can lead to all sorts of strange tastes, including a metallic one.
6. Metal Overload
If you have high levels of metals in your body, such as iron or copper, your mouth will tell you with a strong metallic taste that rarely goes away.
7. Marine Food Poisoning
If you eat fish that has been spoiled, you might suffer from histamine fish poisoning. This can give you a metallic taste in mouth until the spoiled fish is out of your system.
8. Allergies
If you are dealing with allergies, your sinuses are usually affected. This can affect your taste buds, and that can mean that you sense a metallic taste.
9. Inhaled Substances
The sense of smell is directly tied to taste, so anything that you inhale can make things taste strange. This is especially true if you are inhaling environmental toxins, such as gasoline, benzene or rubber dust.
10. Idiopathic Dysgeusia
If there seems to be absolutely no reason for the sense of a metallic taste, doctors call is idiopathic dysgeusia.
11. Impaired Sense of Smell
Anything that impairs your sense of smell can also impair your sense of taste. This results in food that tastes strange, and sometimes a strange taste in your mouth, even without food.
12. Nasal Infection
Serious infections like sinusitis, flu, colds and the like can alter your taste buds, and that can lead to a metallic taste.
Home Remedies for Metallic Taste in Mouth
When you are dealing with that metallic taste, you want to do anything you can to avoid it. Here are some things that might help you get rid of that taste.
- Go for spicy foods. Any sort of spicy food might clear out your taste buds and relieve the metallic tang. However, be careful of taking too many spices in, especially if you have acid reflux or other medical issues.
- Go plastic. Avoid metallic utensils and plates, and pour canned drinks into a glass to ensure that you don’t have a metallic aftertaste.
- Cold might help. Cold foods or frozen foods rarely leave behind any metallic taste, and they can help alleviate a strong metallic taste you might already be experiencing.
- Try acidic. Sometimes an acidic flavor will mask a metallic taste. You can try BBQ sauce on meat, pickles on everything, lemon or lime juice splashed into water, and anything citrus.
- Change the meat flavor. Marinate meats in salad dressings, sweet wine and other sauces to prevent a metallic taste from creeping into the meat.
- Keep cooking odors outside. Use a strong exhaust fan when cooking, or employ your grill for many meals. You might also try to eat meals that are room temperature or that don’t require cooking, so there isn’t as much of a smell to them.
- Go for protein. If red meats are a real problem with that metallic taste, go for other types of protein, such as fish and eggs, peanut butter, beans and even dairy products.
- Sweeten things up. Sometimes sweet foods can eliminate a metallic taste altogether. Now is the time to try sundaes, ice cream, milkshakes and other foods that satisfy your sweet tooth.