9 Reasons Your Mouth Suddenly Tastes Like Metal

Cleveland Clinic: “8 Possible Causes for That Metallic Taste in Your Mouth.”

Metallic Taste in Your Mouth: Common Causes

There are lots of reasons you may have a lingering metallic taste in your mouth, from medication to poor tooth brushing habits. Once you figure out why it’s happening, there are often easy steps you can take to get rid of the problem.

Oral Health

You might need to step up your dental hygiene. Brush and floss regularly to avoid problems with your teeth and gums, like gingivitis, periodontitis, and tooth infections. Those conditions can all put a bad taste in your mouth.

If poor oral health is the cause, you could also have swollen, bright, or dark red gums or gums that bleed easily. You might also have bad breath.

If you have these symptoms, see your dentist for a professional cleaning and ask if you need a prescription to treat any infections.

Colds and Other Infections

Have you been feeling under the weather? Colds, sinus infections, and upper respiratory infections can change the taste in your mouth. If this is the cause, you’ll also have symptoms like a runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, and cough.

Fears over not being able to afford health insurance or medical care are among the top reasons why Americans are delaying retirement. From 2000 to 2016, the number of Americans 65 and older working full-time or part-time rose by six% to include almost 9 million people, according to the Pew Research Center.

Rest, drink plenty of fluids, and take over-the-counter pain relievers if necessary. The metallic taste should go away once you’re better.

Medication

Drugs like antibiotics can give you a metallic taste. Other possible causes in the medicine cabinet include:

• Heart medication
• Medicine for gout
• Antidepressants and lithium (used to treat some mental health conditions)

If the metallic taste bothers you, talk to your doctor, but don’t stop taking your medication without their approval.

Vitamins

Your prenatal vitamins, iron, or calcium supplements could be the cause. Multivitamins with copper, zinc, or chromium can leave a metallic flavor. So can cold lozenges that are made with zinc.

The good news: The metallic taste should go away soon after you take the pills.

Indigestion

Heartburn, acid reflux, and indigestion could be responsible for a metallic taste. Other symptoms you get with these conditions are bloating and a burning feeling in your chest after eating.

To treat the underlying problem, avoid rich foods, eat dinner earlier, and take antacids.

If you keep getting indigestion, have a hard time swallowing, or are in serious pain, see your doctor. The taste in your mouth should go back to normal when your indigestion is under control.

Pregnancy

It’s not a surprise that the taste in your mouth might shift when you’re pregnant.

You could develop a metallic taste at the beginning of your pregnancy. It should be temporary and go away on its own.

Dementia

Things often taste different when you have dementia. The part of the brain that controls taste sometimes stops working well.

Cook with strong or sweet flavors, and try different types of foods and drinks to help increase your appetite.

Cancer Treatment

Bitter or metallic tastes that linger in your mouth are a common side effect of chemotherapy and radiation. It usually goes away when you finish treatment.

In the meantime, switch up your foods to help mask the problem. Add tart ingredients like lemon juice, vinegar, or pickles to your meals. Spices, herbs, and sweeteners bring strong flavor. Try eating more frozen or cold foods. Swap metal utensils for wood or plastic.

Chemical Exposure

Inhaling high levels of mercury or lead can cause a metallic taste in your mouth. It’s important to avoid or lower you and your family’s exposure to these chemicals.

Lead can be harmful to both children and adults. Children can get lead poisoning from lead-based paints or lead-contaminated dust found in older buildings. Air, water, and soil can also get contaminated with lead and be dangerous. Adults who do home renovations and/or work with batteries have a higher risk of lead poisoning.

Mercury can be brought into your home from industrial sites and broken household items, like thermometers. Both long- and short-term exposure to mercury can be harmful to your health.

Removing the source of contamination (like getting rid of the lead-based paint) is the first line of treatment. You may also need medications from doctors.

CNS Disorders

Sometimes a central nervous system (CNS) disorder can cause you to have a taste distortion or make things taste different than usual. These include conditions like Bell’s palsy, multiple sclerosis (MS), and even depression. Talk to your doctor if you have one of these conditions and are noticing a metallic taste.

Metallic Taste in Your Mouth Treatment and Prevention

There’s no one way to treat or prevent a metallic taste in your mouth. Your treatment depends on the cause. In some cases this unpleasant symptom may clear up on its own, for instance if you stop taking the vitamins or remove the source of lead you’ve been exposed to. But other times, you have to try additional methods:

• See your dentist to clear up any infections around your teeth (periodontitis) or gums.
• Brush your teeth and tongue twice per day and floss once per day for good oral hygiene. This can prevent tooth decay and mouth infections.
• Drink water and chew sugar-free gum to keep away oral infections that could cause a metallic taste in the mouth.
• Before meals, rinse your mouth with a combination of a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in 1 cup of warm water.
• Try using plastic utensils and glass or ceramic cookware rather than metal ones.
• Try marinating meat in sweet fruit juices or sweet wines or cook with lots of herbs and spices.
• Some medications can give you a metallic taste in your mouth. Check with your doctor and let them know that you are experiencing this side effect. Perhaps switching to a different medication may help. Don’t stop taking prescribed medication without first talking to your doctor.

Show Sources

UK National Health Service: “Metallic Taste,” “Indigestion.”

Cleveland Clinic: “8 Possible Causes for That Metallic Taste in Your Mouth.”

Mayo Clinic: “Periodontitis,” “Gingivitis,” “Common Cold,” “Lead Poisoning: Symptoms & Causes,” “When and how often should you brush your teeth?”

Michigan Medicine Rogel Cancer Center: “Food Just Doesn’t Taste the Same.”

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: “How to Reduce Metallic Tastes During Cancer Treatment.”

Cancer Treatment Reviews: “Metallic Taste in Cancer Patients Treated With Chemotherapy.”

Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center: “What Causes a Bloody or Metallic Taste in Your Mouth During Workouts?”

CDC: “Antibiotic Prescribing and Use in Doctor’s Offices.”

Alzheimer’s Society: “Poor Appetite and Dementia.”

Advances in Oto-Rhino-Laryngology: “Neurological Aspects of Taste Disorders.”

United States Environmental Protection Agency (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry): “Mercury Quick Facts, Health Effects of Mercury Exposure.”

American Dental Association: “ Xerostomia (Dry Mouth).”

Cancer.Net: “Taste Changes.”

9 Reasons Your Mouth Suddenly Tastes Like Metal

A metallic taste in your mouth and fatigue could be a sign of dehydration, or it could be something more serious.

Image Credit: Kanawa_Studio/iStock/GettyImages

Occasionally you might bite into something that tastes bad, rotten or sour. But if lately your baseline is a bitter, metallic taste in your mouth (think: chomping on pennies), you might be dealing with dysgeusia.

Dysgeusia is a disorder that can alter a person’s perception of taste, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, and it could taint your tongue with a metallic flavor.

Video of the Day

If you’re experiencing dysgeusia along with fatigue, this might be a sign you’re wrestling with another underlying health issue.

Here, William W. Li, MD, author of ​‌Eat to Beat Disease‌​, reviews nine reasons why you might be contending with a coppery taste — coupled with low energy — and what to do about it.

Tip

If you’ve been tasting metal for more than a week, see your doctor, who can perform a proper health assessment and help you determine what’s going on, Dr. Li says.

1. Certain Infections

Feeling tired along with a tinny taste on your tongue could indicate an infection.

“An infection of the upper airways, sinuses or ears can produce inflammation that affects your taste buds, and these can cause you to experience a temporary metallic taste in your mouth,” Dr. Li says.

2. COVID-19

While you’ve probably heard that a loss of taste and smell is a possible side effect of a coronavirus infection, some people have also reported a metallic taste after contracting COVID-19, Dr. Li says.

Though dysgeusia is not a cardinal symptom of COVID-19, the disease might trigger a metallic taste that lingers for weeks or months after you’ve recovered from other symptoms, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

3. Allergies and Hay Fever

From sniffling to sneezing and itchy, watery eyes, there’s no shortage of annoying allergy and hay fever symptoms. And now you can add a meddling metallic taste to your litany of complaints.

“Allergies or hay fever can also cause inflammation in the tongue and mouth that alters taste buds, leading to a metallic taste,” Dr. Li says.

And it’s your system’s same inflammatory response (that results when your body tries to offset your symptoms) that makes you feel fatigued, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

4. Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies

Certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies can lead to an altered sense of taste, and the result can be a metallic-flavored mouth, Dr. Li says.

For instance, a vitamin B12 deficiency can cause symptoms such as a swollen, inflamed tongue (which can tamper with your taste buds) along with fatigue, according to Harvard Health Publishing.

Similarly, a zinc insufficiency can trigger taste abnormalities and mental lethargy, per the National Institutes of Health.

“On the other hand, some vitamins and supplements also contain metals like [chromium], copper or zinc, and you may be tasting those metals,” especially if you’re taking them in excess, Dr. Li says.

5. Certain Medications

If you’re feeling tired and have a tinny tang in your mouth, your medication might be the culprit.

Some medications — including antibiotics, blood pressure medications and certain chemotherapy drugs (more on this later) — can cause a metallic taste, Dr. Li says.

Additionally, certain medicines used to treat psychiatric conditions, including lithium and antidepressants, can also affect your sense of taste, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

In fact, you’re likely to taste metals in medications that contain metallic elements like copper or lithium, Dr. Li says. That’s because once your body absorbs the medicine, the silvery taste surfaces in your saliva, per the Cleveland Clinic.

6. Diabetes

A change in taste or a persistent bad flavor in your mouth (like metal) may also occur when you’re dealing with diabetes, according to the American Dental Association.

One reason for this might be the prevalence of oral thrush — a fungal infection of the mouth — in people with diabetes, per the Cleveland Clinic. Here’s why: Fungus flourishes on the high glucose levels in the saliva of people with uncontrolled diabetes, and this can lead to an inflamed tongue. And as we know, inflammation can alter the taste buds.

In addition to oral thrush and metal mouth, diabetes may also cause dry mouth, increase your risk for gum disease and inhibit healing in the mouth, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

If you’re experiencing these symptoms, tell your doctor and dentist immediately as this may indicate your diabetes isn’t being managed well.

7. Pregnancy

From congestion to cravings, pregnancy can produce some strange side effects, including dysgeusia.

This altered sense of taste is likely the result of pregnancy hormones, which also affect your energy levels, per UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Fortunately, the coppery flavor in your mouth is only temporary, as dysgeusia tends to fade after the first trimester, according to the Cleveland Clinic. (Same goes for fatigue.)

8. Kidney Issues

“Kidney disease can also change your metabolism in ways that lead to a metallic taste,” Dr. Li says.

In addition to a shift in your taste buds, chronic kidney disease may also present with the following symptoms, per the Cleveland Clinic:

• Frequent urination
• Tiredness and weakness
• Loss of appetite
• Swelling of your hands, feet and ankles
• Shortness of breath
• Bloody or foamy urine
• Puffy eyes
• Dry, itchy and/or darkening skin
• Trouble concentrating and sleeping
• Numbness
• Nausea or vomiting
• Muscle cramps
• High blood pressure

Warning

If you’re experiencing several of these symptoms, see a doctor immediately, as kidney disease can lead to serious health complications.

9. Certain Types of Cancer and Cancer Treatments

While fatigue is a common side effect of cancer treatment, you may not know that certain cancer therapies, including radiation and chemotherapy, can also alter your senses of smell and taste, according to the American Cancer Society.

What’s more, some kinds of cancer themselves, like tumors in the head and neck, can cause a silvery savor too.

In addition to experiencing a metallic taste in your mouth, you might notice other changes, like a reduced (or stronger) sense of smell, an inability to taste food or food tasting too salty or sweet, per the American Cancer Society.

How to Manage the Metallic Taste in Your Mouth

Again, if the metallic tang on your tongue lasts longer than a week, consult with your doctor who can help determine a proper diagnosis. Once the underlying condition has been treated, the metallic taste in your mouth should subside.

But in the meantime, here’s how you can minimize metal mouth, according to the Cleveland Clinic:

• ‌Practice good oral hygiene.‌ Maintain a healthy mouth by brushing, flossing and tongue-scraping.
• ‌Drink plenty of water.‌ Dehydration can cause temporary dysgeusia.
• ‌Use non-metal cutlery like bamboo or ceramic‌. Metal can, well, make metallic flavors taste worse.
• ‌Rinse with baking soda and warm water.‌ This can adjust the pH balance of your mouth and help to neutralize acid.
• ‌Quit smoking.‌ Cigarettes may aggravate the taste of metal.
• ‌Pop a piece of sugar-free gum.‌ This can temporarily tamp down the metal taste.
• ‌Eat foods that mask the taste of metal.‌ Citrus fruits, sour foods and sweeteners (in moderation) can all aid in reducing the coppery taste.