What Causes Dysgeusia and How Is It Treated?
Dealing With an Altered Sense of Taste
Medically reviewed by Huma Sheikh, MD
Dysgeusia is a taste disorder that causes foods to taste weird. In most cases, this altered sense of taste goes away on its own.
A virus like COVID-19 or the common cold can trigger dysgeusia. It can also be a side effect of chemotherapy or other medication. Dysgeusia is common during pregnancy and with certain vitamin deficiencies. It typically goes away once the underlying cause has been resolved.
Dysgeusia is not dangerous or life-threatening, although it does impact your quality of life.
This article discusses dysgeusia symptoms and causes. It also explains how dysgeusia is diagnosed and treated.
Loss of Taste
Your sense of taste is always active, but it is more sensitive while you are eating and within about an hour after eating.
Taste is mediated by taste receptors in your mouth. The receptors signal the facial nerve (cranial nerve seven), the glossopharyngeal nerve (cranial nerve nine), and the vagus nerve (cranial nerve 10). These nerves send signals to the sensory area of your brain, allowing you to recognize the taste. The taste sensation typically elicits a positive, negative, or neutral response.
A disruption in your sense of taste can result from damage or impairment in any part of this pathway.
Related: How the Sense of Taste Works
Symptoms
An altered sense of taste can affect you while you are eating or drinking, or even when you are not. Some people complain of a metallic taste, a bitter taste, a salty taste, or an unpleasantly sweet taste.
Dysgeusia can interfere with enjoying all or some foods, but it rarely causes nausea. And dysgeusia often causes aversion to certain foods.
Associated Symptoms
With dysgeusia, you may also experience other symptoms. These symptoms are typically related to the cause of your dysgeusia and are not caused by taste distortion.
Associated symptoms include:
Stuffy nose
Sore throat
Nausea
Stomach upset
Head pain
Fatigue
Fevers
Pain or soreness inside your mouth
Related Terms
Dysgeusia is a distorted sense of taste.
Ageusia is a total loss of taste.
Anosmia is a partial or total loss of smell, which can also affect your sense of taste.
Aliageusia is when things that usually taste good suddenly taste unpleasant.
Hypogeusia is when you have a hard time tasting sweet, sour, salty, or bitter flavors.
Phantogeusia is when you taste something bitter or metallic when eating something that should not contain those flavors.
Takeaway
People with gastroesophageal reflux disease often experience an altered sense of taste when stomach acid backs up into the throat. This can cause food to taste metallic.
Causes
There are numerous causes of dysgeusia. Some of these are related to changes in the mouth, such as a dry mouth, dental problems, or chemotherapy, while others are based on changes in the neurological aspects of taste sensation, such as pregnancy and migraines.
Common temporary causes of dysgeusia include:
A cold
COVID-19
Pregnancy
Xerostomia (dry mouth)
Nutritional deficiency, especially vitamin B12 and zinc
Smoking
Allergies
Gastrointestinal (GI) infection
Constipation
Medication
Takeaway
Problems with smell and taste, including an altered sense of taste, are common symptoms of COVID-19. They are also considered symptoms of long COVID, which refers to symptoms that persist for four or more weeks after a person is infected with the coronavirus.
Medications
Hundreds of medications can cause dysgeusia. However, taking medicine that can cause taste distortion as a side effect does not necessarily mean that you will develop dysgeusia. You can develop dysgeusia with just a few doses, or it may come on suddenly after taking the medication for years.
Some of the medications that are associated with dysgeusia include:
Antidepressants
Thyroid medications
Antibiotics
Antihypertensives
Muscle relaxants
Chemotherapeutic medicines
Chronic Illnesses
Several medical conditions result in an impaired sense of taste. Several medical conditions that interfere with taste sensation also interfere with the sense of smell, and it can be difficult to distinguish which of these senses is impaired.
Common medical illnesses associated with impaired taste sensation include:
GI diseases such as GERD
Diabetes
Dementia
Stroke
Explainer
Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia can cause an altered sense of taste. People with dementia sometimes develop new food preferences, which can include liking foods they previously did not like or disliking foods they once loved.
Chemical Exposure
Chemical toxin exposure can impair your sense of taste. Chemicals in pesticides, cosmetics, detergents, and industrial environments can enter your system through your skin, mouth, or nasal passages.
Injury
Any traumatic injury affecting your mouth or the nerves that mediate your sense of taste can cause dysgeusia. This can happen due to an accident, surgery, or after a severe infection.
Some of the things that can cause this kind of nerve damage include:
Ear or neck surgery
Bell's palsy
Takeaway
Your sense of taste can also change as you get older.
Complications
You might develop a decreased appetite when you experience dysgeusia for a short time. You may lose weight, even if this problem lasts only a few days.
Pregnant women who experience dysgeusia often lose several pounds. However, in a healthy person, appetite is restored once dysgeusia resolves and most people regain weight.
When taste distortion is caused by a long-term condition, such as diabetes, gastrointestinal (GI) disease, or a stroke, it can result in malnutrition. Some people lose weight permanently.
Takeaway
With dysgeusia, you can develop a preference for unhealthy foods, which results in malnutrition—even without weight loss.
Diagnosis
The diagnostic evaluation of dysgeusia is based on determining whether you have an altered sense of taste and identifying the cause.
Several diagnostic tests can be used to evaluate taste. Some of the examinations involve measuring your response to exposure to certain tastes. Other tests evaluate your nerve function.
You may need one or more of the following diagnostic tests for evaluation of your taste distortion:
Taste-threshold test
Taste-suprathreshold test
Taste-quadrant test
Flavor discrimination test
Electrogustometry
Gustatory event potentials
If your taste distortion seems to be related to a problem with your sense of smell, you might have one of the following diagnostic smell tests:
University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) or "Sniffin' Sticks"
The University of Connecticut Test Battery
The Pocket Smell Test
The Brief Smell Identification Test
Blood Tests
You might need blood tests to identify nutritional deficits caused by dietary changes if your dysgeusia has caused you to avoid food.
You must be tested for nutritional deficiencies if you have dysgeusia for longer than a few months. Often, nutritional effects are not easily detected within the first few weeks.
Tests to identify a nutritional deficit include a complete blood count (CBC) to assess your red blood cell (RBC) count. Specialized blood tests can measure vitamin B12, iron, calcium, and potassium levels.
You may also need to check your lead or mercury levels to identify a toxic exposure to either of these agents.
Imaging Tests
If there is a concern that you could have a growth, infection, or a structural issue in your mouth, throat, or brain, you would need to have an imaging test, such as an X-ray, computerized tomography (CT), or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess the area of concern.
Treatment
Treating dysgeusia can include a few approaches, and you may need a combination of these strategies. If you have a nutritional deficit, this has to be addressed and corrected.
A few treatments can help reduce your sense of taste distortion. If a cause of your taste distortion is identified, you would also need treatment for the cause of your taste disorder.
Nutrition
Typically, vitamin and mineral deficiencies can be corrected with supplements. If you have a major deficiency, you may need to take a prescription-strength supplement as directed by your healthcare provider.
Taste Sensation
A few strategies can be used to help diminish your altered sense of taste. Some healthcare providers and dentists suggest using artificial saliva products.
Sometimes, good oral hygiene, including flossing, brushing, and regular use of mouthwash can alleviate the effects. In fact, if the overgrowth of oral bacteria is the cause of your dysgeusia, taking care of your oral health can permanently resolve the problem.
Diet
Your healthcare provider may recommend dietary modifications to help reduce the unpleasant taste in your mouth or to alleviate a GI condition.
For example, some experts suggest eating food with a few ingredients so that the tastes do not become mixed, potentially causing an unpleasant effect. Sweetened food, preservatives, and heavily spiced food can leave an unpleasant residue in your mouth, so avoiding these products is a good idea.
Dietary strategies can help alleviate some GI conditions. For example, fiber and raw fruit and vegetables can combat constipation. And if you have any food intolerance, the resulting bad breath can exacerbate your dysgeusia.
If nutritional deficiencies are at the root of your dysgeusia, then increasing those nutrients in your diet or taking nutritional supplements can help return your sense of taste to normal.
Treatment of the Underlying Problem
Several of the causes of taste distortion, such as pregnancy and the common cold, resolve on their own.
If your smoking habit is the cause of your dysgeusia, then smoking cessation can help. If you are taking medication that causes dysgeusia, your healthcare provider might change your prescription.
You may need treatment to correct the cause of your taste distortion. For example, constipation can be managed with diet and stool softeners. Allergies can be managed with antihistamines or steroids.
Taste changes due to conditions such as Alzheimer’s dementia are not treatable, and the issues with altered taste need to be addressed as effectively as possible to help improve appetite and nutrition.
Related: Dealing With Taste Changes Causes by Chemotherapy
Summary
Dysgeusia is a type of taste disorder that causes food to taste different than it should. It is often caused by a temporary condition such as a cold, allergies, or pregnancy. However, it is sometimes caused by something long-term such as dementia or Parkinson's disease. Chemical exposure and nerve injury can also cause dysgeusia.
Dysgeusia usually resolves on its own, but you may need additional therapies such as nutritional supplementation or a change in diet. In many cases, treating the underlying cause will make the dysgeusia go away.
A Word From Verywell
Dysgeusia is often mild, and it is not life-threatening, but it can be distressing. This condition can affect your enjoyment of food and may bother you even when you aren’t eating. You should talk to your healthcare provider if you experience a distorted sense of taste that lasts for longer than a few days.
Try to be observant about any other symptoms that you are experiencing. Carefully consider whether you might have been exposed to any new substances around the time that your dysgeusia developed. These observations can help you and your medical team as you work to identify the cause of your problem. Once you know the cause of your taste distortion, you and your healthcare provider can begin to work on a treatment plan.
Read the original article on Verywell Health.
