Sweet taste in the mouth: causes, diagnosis, treatment

The coronavirus infection has caused a lot of fear and anxiety. People were worried about their lives and health – both their own and those of their loved ones. Psychologists say that since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of depression and neurotic disorders has increased. Now that many have already recovered from “corona,” a new one has been added to the listed problems. It turned out that some patients experience olfactory and taste hallucinations after coronavirus.

To make an appointment, call the number 8(969)060-93-93.

About taste and smell

The perception of smell and taste are closely related. This is an evolutionarily determined feature of the human body. The smell helps to determine whether a product is edible or not. Moreover, if sour, sweet, bitter or salty can be identified by taste without the participation of smell, then recognition of complex information, for example, distinguishing between strawberries and raspberries, is possible only with the simultaneous analysis of smell and taste.

Information from the olfactory cells in the nose and the papillae on the tongue enters one part of the brain, where it is integrated and interpreted in a certain way. Since one part of the central nervous system is responsible for processing data about smells and tastes, when this part is damaged, combined hallucinations and changes in perception are often observed.

External factors causing a metallic taste in the mouth

These reasons may be associated both with the influence of external factors and with physiological changes in the body. For example, metal can be felt when drinking certain brands of mineral water enriched with iron ions. Iron can reach your taste buds through untreated tap water passing through worn and rusty pipes. The solution in this situation is to use a high-quality cleaning filter.

The use of aluminum pots and cast iron cauldrons and frying pans may cause a metallic taste to be added to the traditional taste of food, especially if sour foods were cooked in it. In this case, the metal of the kitchen utensil reacts with food acids, salts are formed, and this is what is felt by the one who tastes this food.

Metal crowns can also cause a metallic taste, especially if they were installed a long time ago. Acidic foods can react with the metal ions in your dentures, creating a faint but very unpleasant taste.

About hallucinations

Gustatory hallucinations are false sensations of taste. Appear regardless of food intake. A person can feel the sickly sweet taste of ordinary tap water, feel that any food “tastes” burnt, unbearably bitter or astringent. A person does not know how to get rid of constant unpleasant sensations. The inability to distinguish the taste of food and strange signals from the sensory organs lead to a decrease or loss of appetite.

Olfactory hallucinations after coronavirus usually occur simultaneously with taste ones. They often come to the fore. They can persist for several days in a row, become unbearable, and cause nausea. The two listed types of hallucinations, combined with a weakening of the body after Covid, worsen the condition of the nervous system and slow down recovery.

Why do I eat

The orbitofrontal cortex, which summarizes gustatory, olfactory, and tactile signals from the mouth and nose, is responsible for behavioral responses, including motivation, volition, and eating behavior. Therefore, smells can control feelings of satiety and hunger - even when food does not reach us and we do not feel its taste. For example, the smell of food can increase appetite even when a person is not hungry. And sometimes you can even “get enough” of it - the authors of some studies have noticed that the smell of food alone is enough to make a person feel full.

Additionally, scents are associated with pleasure. Smells cause activation of several areas of the brain involved in the reward system. In an attempt to enjoy food again, a person will strive to eat again as soon as possible. Appetite, in fact, is the physiological need for nutrients, supported by the pleasure of consuming them. Therefore, if the odor signal is less intense or does not reach the brain, this leads to the fact that food does not seem as tasty or satisfying, the activity of the reward system decreases, and even a feeling of false satiety appears. And since food no longer causes pleasure, the motivation to obtain it is lost (this discrepancy between pleasure and motivation in relation to food, in particular, explains the symptoms of anorexia nervosa).

Scheme of connection between the organs of taste and smell and the reward system

Luc Penicaud et al. / Frontiers in Physiology, 2021

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Problems with appetite can occur regardless of the reason why the odors disappeared. This can happen both with Covid and, for example, with chemotherapy and Parkinson’s disease - people sometimes stop hearing smells, and they develop eating disorders.

Covid patients also complain of complete confusion in their feelings of satiety, appetite and hunger. They say that they don’t feel like eating at all - and as soon as they swallow a couple of bites, they immediately feel completely full.

I also encountered confusion of feelings. And after indifference to food came insomnia, unreasonable anxiety and apathy. I didn’t have enough strength not only to clean the apartment, but even to watch an episode of “Scrubs.” All this together - loss of appetite, insomnia, weakness and anxious mood - resembled another, no less serious disease - depression.

What are they complaining about?

Theoretically, false perceptual cues can be pleasant, neutral, or aversive. But in practice, people much more often complain about unpleasant, difficult to bear or unbearable sensations. The most common variants are the repulsive sweetish taste and disgusting smell of fish.

Other possible complaints include combinations of burning, acetone and burnt onions, tobacco smoke, a rotten, “dead” feeling. Some people experience not non-existent, but altered tastes and smells; such conditions are called dysgeusia and parosmia.

Prevention

A number of preventive rules will help prevent the problem:

• Normalization of diet. Food intake is carried out in small portions at least 5 times a day. It is not recommended to overeat before bed, as this provokes the processes of rotting and fermentation in the intestines.
• Drink enough liquid (at least 1.5-2 liters) per day.
• Regular teeth cleaning. To treat hard-to-reach areas of the mouth after eating, it is recommended to use dental floss or chewing gum.
• Carefully study the instructions for the medications you are taking (including contraindications to the medication).
• Relax on a high pillow.

A sour taste in the mouth requires seeing a doctor if it appears constantly and is accompanied by other unpleasant symptoms: belching, bowel dysfunction, flatulence, etc. It will be possible to get rid of the problem only after a complete examination of the body and taking appropriate medications.

Connection with COVID-19

Coronavirus affects not only the respiratory organs, but also other body systems, in particular the central nervous system. The neurotropic effect of the virus explains the damage to the center responsible for the perception of taste and olfactory sensations. Violations are detected in every fourth person who has recovered from coronavirus infection. At risk are patients who, during their illness, suffered from anosmia and agesia (complete or almost complete absence of smells and tastes).

On average, false sensations occur 4-5 months after recovery. Scientists do not yet have enough data to form a scientifically based opinion on this issue, but experts in the field of neurology suggest that the unpleasant effect may be associated with the gradual restoration of sensitive nerve trunks previously damaged by viruses.

Bad taste in the mouth

(bitter, sour, metallic)

An aftertaste in the mouth may linger for some time after eating very sour, spicy or overcooked foods. But if unpleasant sensations bother you with frequent frequency and are not associated with dietary habits, there is a reason to consult a gastroenterologist - perhaps this is the way the digestive tract signals its problems.

Causes of taste disturbance

Different tastes may indicate different disorders. Bitterness in the mouth is usually caused by:

• Pathologies of the liver, biliary tract (stones, cholecystitis, dyskinesia). In these diseases, the movement of bile through the ducts is disrupted. Bile stagnates, then is thrown into the stomach and further into the esophagus, from where it enters the oral cavity.
• Lazy bowel syndrome. Accompanied by a slowdown in the process of digesting food. Food is retained in the gastrointestinal tract, and with it digestive juices, including bile.

A sour taste often indicates problems with the stomach:

• ulcer,
• hyperacid gastritis,
• reflux esophagitis.

These diseases are characterized by increased formation of hydrochloric acid, which can rise up the digestive tract, reaching the oral cavity. Patients experience especially severe discomfort when lying down.

A metallic taste may be a sign of:

• Xerostomia (insufficient salivation). Accompanied by a pronounced feeling of dry mouth, burning sensation on the tongue and difficulty swallowing.
• Hemorrhagic gastritis. Small ulcers form in the stomach, from which blood periodically oozes. It is this that creates a specific taste in the mouth.
• Foreign body in the stomach. The condition can also be complicated by bleeding.
• Galvanose. This problem sometimes occurs in people with metal dentures in their mouths.

Diagnosis and treatment

At the appointment, the gastroenterologist asks the patient about complaints, clarifies the presence of accompanying symptoms and conducts a general examination. To confirm the diagnosis you may need:

• general and biochemical blood tests,
• Ultrasound of the abdominal cavity,
• gastroscopy,
• pH-metry,
• analysis for Helicobacter pylori.

Therapy is selected based on the results of the examination. Patients with signs of bleeding are subject to mandatory hospitalization.

You can get a consultation with a gastroenterologist and undergo the necessary tests at the Spectra clinic. We have experienced specialists who will help determine the exact cause of the disorders and select effective treatment. Reception is by appointment only.

About nerve restoration in simple words

Neurologists draw a parallel with the return of sensitivity after prolonged exposure to an uncomfortable position. When a person puts pressure on an arm or leg, they go numb. Then non-existent goosebumps begin to “run” along the limb. And only after this does normal sensitivity return.

The same thing happens with taste and smell. This is just an unpleasant period that needs to be lived through. True, returning to normal in the case of COVID takes much longer. It is impossible to say exactly how much yet due to the small number and short duration of observations. It takes 2 to 5 years to obtain reliable statistical information.

Most Russian researchers agree that symptoms should disappear approximately six months after illness . That is, unpleasant sensations, on average, will last from 1 to 2 months. German doctors agree with this position, but are more inclined to 2 months. Italian scientists are more pessimistic. They believe that features are fully returned after 80 days.

Doesn't taste good

Taste in the mouth consists of several types of sensitivity. First of all, these are direct taste sensations - the taste buds on the tongue are responsible for them. They are complemented by odors that we recognize with the help of olfactory receptors (they are located in the nose, but odorous molecules from food still reach them through the nasopharynx). This trio is completed by chymesthesis - mechanical and chemical sensitivity of the oral mucosa, which is responsible for sensations of coolness, tingling and burning.

The neural pathways that carry signals from these sense organs to the brain intersect in different parts of the brain. For example, the centers of chemesthesis and taste are located in the parietal cortex, and the nuclei through which new olfactory pathways pass are located in the thalamus, side by side with the nuclei of taste sensitivity. Information from all these sensitivities is integrated in the orbitofrontal cortex. Here they add up to the feeling that we experience. Therefore, sensations can change or even disappear for many reasons: it is enough for a problem to arise with any of the three components of taste.

The structure of the taste bud

A. K. Guyton, J. E. Hall / Medical Physiology, 2008

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The taste buds themselves can become insensitive in a variety of situations, such as hypothyroidism, multiple sclerosis, or taking certain antibiotics and heart medications. But their list can hardly compete with the set of conditions due to which a person can lose their sense of smell (this is called anosmia). Thus, a complete loss of linguistic taste sensitivity affects 0.1-0.2 percent of people, while smell disorders, depending on age, affect from 2.7 to 76.8 percent - the sense of smell decreases with age, so the likelihood of spoiling the sense of smell, having lived to 100, is very great. Therefore, when a person loses taste, the problem is usually found in the nose, and not in the tongue.

The same thing is happening with loss of taste due to covid. Up to 90 percent of patients experience disorders of smell and taste, and scientists are finding more and more evidence that the disease affects the olfactory receptors, and not the taste ones. At first, it was thought that the virus caused severe swelling of the nasal mucosa or even directly attacked the olfactory neurons, as its predecessor, SARS-CoV-1, did. Experiments on mice show that the virus does not enter the olfactory sensory neurons themselves, but into their supporting cells. Not long ago, the same picture was described among people who died from Covid.

Support cells (purple), virus particles (red)

Khan et al. / Cell, 2021

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Taste buds could theoretically also be affected by coronavirus. During infection, the concentration of interferon increases, which causes cells to produce the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor, which is necessary for the virus to enter the cell. Accordingly, taste bud cells also become vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2. However, partial confirmation of this hypothesis has so far been found only in mice. But because murine ACE2 does not bind to SARS-CoV-2, these results cannot be generalized to humans, and there are no reports of human studies on this yet.

On the left, the normal configuration of the olfactory bulb is visible (dashed lines along the border) in a healthy patient without olfactory dysfunction. On the right tomogram of a patient with anosmia caused by Covid, a rectangular deformation of the bulb is determined

Sedat Kandemirli et al. / Academic Radiology, 2021

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Thus, if a Covid patient has lost taste, it is probably because the smells have actually disappeared. It is much more difficult to understand those cases when smells and tastes do not disappear, but change. This happens to people who have recovered from Covid several months after recovery. Some people find that familiar aromas take on a rotten or burnt tinge. The same can happen with the perception of the taste of food that previously did not disgust them. And some even begin to experience olfactory hallucinations: a person seems to be literally haunted by a smell, the source of which is definitely not nearby. Moreover, most often these odors are unpleasant, like rot or onions.

Before Covid, people complained to doctors about this very rarely: such symptoms occurred only as a side effect of medications or as a manifestation of rare diseases. This may be why we know so little about these conditions. There is an assumption that sensitive olfactory neurons begin to transmit information incorrectly due to a breakdown of the receptor protein. When an odorous substance binds to it, it causes the cell to generate impulses at the wrong frequency. And since the qualitative picture of the smell depends on this, because of this, the impact of even familiar odorous substances can be perceived completely differently.

Scientists have no clear assumptions regarding changes in taste. There is an idea that the taste changes due to the destruction of taste buds. A similar thing was found in a variety of patients with taste perversion - taste bud cells died under the influence of acids, alkalis and other agents. But this mechanism can hardly work during Covid.

I was lucky to avoid hallucinations: while I was sick, coffee was just a hot, tasteless drink, without any notes of slop or charcoal. They didn’t show up afterwards either. But it was difficult with food that had lost its taste. Accustomed to eating several steaks at a time, I found it difficult to chew a couple of lettuce leaves. Apparently, the loss of smell played a role here too.

What to do

The exact recipe has not yet been found; research in this area continues. According to experts in the field of sensory disorders, training will be useful. It is recommended to inhale essential oils of lemon, clove and rose daily. This will help the brain become familiar with smells again and learn to recognize them, and restoring the sense of smell will help normalize taste sensations.

It is important to maintain peace of mind, eliminate stress and not “work yourself up”, fearing that the changes will remain forever. In the vast majority of cases, everything returns to normal over time. Strong experiences can provoke a deterioration in mental state, and this will have a bad effect on well-being and on the body’s ability to heal itself. If it is difficult to independently cope with feelings about taste hallucinations after Covid, you should seek help from a psychologist or psychotherapist.

Drug treatment

Sour belching occurs along with heartburn and other signs of indigestion. Symptoms appear with gastritis with increased production of hydrochloric acid. They can be treated with several groups of medications:

• Proton pump inhibitors, which inhibit the production of gastric juice - Omez, Rabeloc.
• Tablets for heartburn - Reni, Gistak, Kvyamatel.
• Antacids that neutralize the negative effects of hydrochloric acid on the mucous membranes of the digestive tract - Maalox, Gastracid.
• Preparations with enzymes that improve the absorption and breakdown of food - Festal, Mezim, Pancreatin.
• Prokinetics that accelerate intestinal and gastric motility and eliminate stagnant processes in the digestive system and attacks of nausea - Motilak, Domperidone.
• Antibiotics (if Helicobacter pylori is detected in tests) - Amoxicillin, Azithromycin.
• Probiotics for normalizing intestinal microflora - Linex, Bactrim, Acipol.

Pain and spasms resulting from gastritis and ulcers are eliminated with the help of No-shpa or Drotaverine. The use of NSAIDs for this purpose is prohibited, as they can aggravate the symptoms of the problem.

If the mouth is sour due to liver disease, then patients are prescribed choleretic drugs - Ursosan, Ursofalk. They prevent stagnation of bile in the body and promote its unhindered excretion into the duodenum.

An important component of treating sour taste in the mouth is diet.

For a while, it is necessary to include foods of plant origin in the diet. Canned food, fast food, carbonated drinks, spices, spicy foods, alcohol and chocolate are removed from the menu. Preference is given to fermented milk products, green tea, and stewed vegetables.

If the symptom does not go away

Partial restoration of smell and taste is considered as evidence of a favorable prognosis. You need to wait until the process is completed. If the disturbances persist for 2 or more months and do not change over time, you should be examined in detail by a neurologist and otolaryngologist . Hallucinatory phenomena, parosmia and dysgeusia can be provoked not only by COVID, but also by a number of other diseases.

A prolonged period of rehabilitation can be considered as an indication for therapeutic measures to restore peripheral sensory nerves. The therapeutic program includes medications to improve microcirculation, anticholinesterase drugs and vitamin complexes, primarily containing B vitamins.

Symptoms

Let us consider in more detail the characteristics of the symptom of the disorder depending on the cause that provoked it. A sweet and sour taste in the mouth appears after consuming large amounts of sugar, lactose-containing foods and coffee. Other causes of the symptom include:

• sudden cessation of smoking;
• liver pathologies;
• dental diseases (caries, periodontitis, gingivitis);
• poisoning by toxic substances at work;
• uncontrolled use of certain types of drugs;
• diabetes.

A bitter-sour taste in the mouth is most often associated with dietary errors. It can also appear due to bad habits such as smoking or drinking alcohol.

List of other factors causing discomfort:

• taking antibiotics, allergy medications, NSAIDs, medications for seizures;
• problematic outflow of bile from the body;
• gallbladder diseases;
• liver dysfunction;
• duodenal ulcer;
• gastritis;
• initial stages of diabetes;
• hormonal imbalance (during pregnancy, puberty or menopause);
• chronic anemia.

When taking medications, acid in the mouth will not appear immediately. This requires a long course of drug treatment.

A sour-salty taste occurs with the development of sialodenitis. The problem is associated with inflammation of the salivary glands. It develops independently or as a complication of a prolonged runny nose and other otolaryngological pathologies.

Other causes of symptoms include:

• abuse of carbonated drinks or coffee;
• dehydration of the body;
• uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages;
• damage to the sinuses;
• poor nutrition.

Cost of services

This list does not contain all prices for services provided by our clinic. The full price list can be found on the “Prices” , or by calling: 8(969)060-93-93. Initial consultation is FREE!

Is it possible to ignore

Not paying attention is not the best solution. Quite a lot of time passes between illness and the occurrence of coronavirus infection. In such circumstances, it is difficult to say unequivocally that hallucinations are a consequence of infection. Most often, hallucinatory manifestations are provoked by cerebral damage against the background of cerebral circulation disorders, tumors, traumatic brain injuries and inflammatory pathologies of the central nervous system.

In addition, this symptom can be observed in schizophrenia, epilepsy, psychoses of various etiologies, exogenous and endogenous intoxications, and taking potent medications. Sometimes the cause is damage to the nasal mucosa, dental diseases and diseases of the digestive system. For your own peace of mind, it is better to exclude all other causes of hallucinations, and only then begin to restore your sense of smell and taste according to the schemes proposed for post-Covid syndrome.

You can make an appointment by phone 8(969)060-93-93.

Causes of sweet taste

A disorder in the digestive system can cause a sweet taste in the mouth.

The reasons for the change in taste in the mouth to a sweet taste are:

1. Disorders of the digestive system. Occurs with gastritis and peptic ulcers, when there is an increased level of acidity. From the stomach, part of the processed food is thrown into the esophagus.
2. Presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This infection often affects the sinuses, causing congestion, difficulty breathing, and chest pain. Taste sensations are disturbed.
3. Smoking. In the tongue receptors, with constant exposure to nicotine, the perception of taste changes.
4. Poisoning with chemicals (pesticides).
5. Pancreatitis. The development of pancreatitis is indicated by a persistent aftertaste in the morning and an unpleasant burning sensation in the stomach.
6. Liver pathology.
7. Impaired carbohydrate metabolism, overeating or eating a lot of sweets.
8. A state of constant stress and tension. Inflammation of the facial or trigeminal nerve.
9. Diabetes mellitus, in which a sweetish taste is formed in the mouth, additional symptoms appear: hunger, thirst.
10. Dental problems, diseases of the nasopharynx: pharyngitis, tonsillitis, otitis media, sinusitis, caries, periodontal disease.
11. When women become pregnant, functional changes occur throughout the body. Taste priorities also change.
12. Respiratory tract infection.