Loss of taste symptoms and conditions

I conducted a search for "long term effects of Topamax" and discovered this site, and am so glad to have done so. I have been on Topamax for around 2 years now, at the 200mg level, for chronic, sustained migraines. I have figured out, through tracking, that I will get a migraine lasting 3-4 days during ovulation and again on my period. The Topamax has helped considerably with the headaches, although I do still get at least one per month. It is generally not of the same duration, though, and is fairly easily controlled with pain meds.

I've been a bit worried, though, about continuing the drug for life, as it seems I need to do to control these headaches--thus the search. I, too, have experienced the "mental fog," and general decreased cognitive abilities. I am an extremely intelligent person, a writer, a former English teacher. Why am I unable to pluck words from my brain when I need them?

I've also experienced the tingling and numbness in various extremities, sensitivity to cold, blurred vision, fatigue, and loss of taste sensation. I've also become a royal bitch to my husband and children--although I had no idea that this could be related to this medication. I feel relieved to know this now...to know that I can change and be the person I once was. I don't like myself very much right now, but it's like trying to stop a runaway train. I can no sooner prevent or alter my knee-jerk reaction to things than I can stop that train.

I've been off of the Topamax for approximately two weeks now, and have already gained 5 pounds, although I work out 2-3 hours daily and play competitive volleyball 2-3 times per week for several additional hours. I had initially lost around 18 pounds and kept it off, even when my appetite returned. I'm uncertain, though, why I'm gaining the weight back so rapidly. I'm eating fewer than 1500 calories/day and exercising like crazy. It doesn't make sense.

I don't care about the weight, though. My chief concern is the return of my cognitive function. Has anyone experienced a return to their prior cognitive state after getting off of this medication?

wow- glad I found you guys! I'm female, 54, thin, healthy, have always exercised and watched my diet. cholesterol went up to 280 a couple of yrs ago- tried more diet/exercise but it only came down to 250, so since then have tried 4 low-dose (40 mg) statins (crestor, lipitor, zocor, and now pravastatin), all of which after 2-6 months made me feel like I was jumping out of my skin and caused chest pain and palpitations that stopped almost immediately when I discontinued them. Also, I've always fallen asleep quickly and now take an hour or more, and recently my fingers have started falling asleep/tingling. I'm stopping the pravastatin today! Maybe 250 isn't so bad, if this is the alternative. Does anyone have any remedies to suggest besides low fat/low sugar diet? I just read that we should avoid reduced-fat milks (I drink 1%) because they contain oxydized cholesterol, which irritates the artery wall.

Lamictal with lithium was the latest sentence for a lifetime of depression. Not only did the depression then intensify over anything I've dealt with for the last 40 years, but anger, rage, weight gain, memory loss, difficulty communicating, (could this be dementia at 60 yrs?) and loss of taste especially coffee and chocolate were now defining my life. I had been a happy, productive, exciting, witty, professional self-employed woman. So, I've been reducing my 250 mg dosage for the last 6 weeks with Dr. oversight. My last dose of 25 mg was last Wednesday. Throughout this experience, I've experienced confusion, head aches, zombie days, spatial disorientation, muscle weakness, muscle spasms, jumbled speech and thinking, and THE FOG. But, guess what? Today, I'M BACK. My head is clear, I have a plan for the day and I'm 4 pounds lighter than I was last Thursday. The surprise about the weight is that we went to dinner in restaurants twice in this last week and I haven't taken any special steps to lose the pounds. I knew it was time to evaluate myself without medication when the Dr. wanted to add just one more medication to level off the mood swings. Of course, this is a continuing drama, but it's great to be able to see me without the drug-colored lenses. I would not have done this without Dr. supervision, and I'm so glad he co-operated with my wishes. Sometimes you just have to throw the project away and start fresh. Have a beautiful day.

Metallic taste, loss of taste: A few weeks after beginning my once/month Boniva dosage, I lost my full sense of taste. I now continuously have a sort of metallic taste in my mouth, a combination of salty/bitter tastes, and have lost the 'sweet' tastebuds. Further on the back of the tongue I still have some taste, but it is not what it was before. It's a personal loss, as I used to have very sensitive taste buds, this loss handicaps my ability to cook well, and I had been a very good home cook. I still retain a full sense of smell.

I have been on Boniva for about a year and a half, my doctor says she's never heard of anyone losing taste sensations as a side effect of this medication. I'm too concerned about possible osteoporosis, as I have osteopenia, to discontinue the drug for this alone. Has anyone experienced this side effect, is it permanent, or does it disappear if the drug is discontinued?

Doctor prescribed 500mg 1x day for Upper Respiratory Infection. I took it the first 7 days. I experienced insomnia, anxiety, loss of taste and smell and loss of appetite. After a meal, food just sat there and bloated my stomach for 10 hours. I also was shocked to experience increased sexual desire and that is the last thing I wanted while in the dark mental state of panic induced by Levaquin. It's a horrible drug.

I found this site and stopped taking it. I called the doctor, who said he did not agree that Levaquin caused those symptoms. It's time for a new doctor.

I have read the dreadful Levaquin experiences of others here. May some good come out of the suffering of these folks and may this site serving as a warning to prevent others in the future from ever taking Levaquin. God bless everyone.

Like the rest of everyone else, the flu season hits and you want to get rid of your cold!!! Right. Right. Go to the doctors and they give you a drug.
Yes, I had taken the zpack for the 5 days and like everyone else, I have had all of the same feelings; depression, diarrhea, stomach ache, rash/itching, fullness in your ear or ringing, loss of taste-smell. Oh yeah, what a joy.
I called the Pharmacy to ask about how long I should experience this, it should go away in 10 days. Well, not as of yet...the loss of hearing and loss of taste. Not sure what would be the next step? Go to the doctor's and get more drugs, ie;more side effects.!? Anyone have the same side effects with your ears?

In people close to me I have seen the following side effects:

All statins have similar side effects. They can come at once or after many years.

Pain in neck, shoulders, elbows, hands, hips, legs, feet

Pains that keep moving to different parts of the body and could be unbearable -like nerve pains.

Head ache

Burning, tingling sensations in the different body parts mentiond above and numbness

Weakness in hands which caused the person to drop things

Hair loss, difficulties to swallow, ringing noise in the ears, loss of taste, memory problems - particularly with short term memory, difficulties to find words and to remember what just had been read, impotens, extreme sensitivity in the skin (abdomen).

Please "educate" yourself.

Read books and look for information in many different places. Remember to find out who is behind a certain webb-adress. Could it be a pharmaceutical company.

Unfortunately I am not allowed to write webb-adresses here - but Google the titles of the books/writers below and you will find some webb-adresses.

The Great Cholesterol Con (Anthony Colpo)

--------------------"--------------- (Malcolm McKendrick) - this is another book

The Cholesterol Myths (Uffe Ravnskov)

Malignant Medical Myths (Joel F. Kauffman)

Overdosed America (John Abramson)

Lipitor - thief of memory (Duane Graveline)
Duane G. has an interesting site

The Truth About The Drug Companies (Marcia Angell)

Google "Stopped our statins" and you will find this webb-site.

Under print articles to the left you will find an interesting article from Weston Price Foundation.

It takes time to look for information and then read it, but often it`s quite essential to do that and to make up your own mind.

It`s your body and you know best how you feel.

Remember it`s a lot of money involved and that`s why news about serious side effects quite often are delayed.

The cholesterol issue - that high cholesterol should cause heart attacks etc - is very controversial. But it`s only the pharmaceutical companies who have the money to "brainwash" by advertisements, ghostwriters etc.

I hope my suggestions can make you more interested in the medications that you are taking.

Finally - a very interesting book about a certain kind of antibiotics - Bitter Pills by Stephen Fried.

English is not my native language but I was forced to read a lot of English books because of the suffering of my relatives, but without the Internet I would not have found them.

Remember new drugs are not necessarily better than old, but always more unsafe. They are also more expensive and that`s why they are so highly promoted.

Hello,
I have just found out about this and have been on cipro and levaquin and guess what. 2 weeks ago i was jumping in a pool and the tendon in my arch let loose. I went to the orthopedic doctor and he sent me for MRI then put me in a boot cast. It felt like i stood on a golf ball and it still hurts like hell. I have problems walking on it still. My doctor stated that i will most likely be flat foooted now in the foot that the tendon let loose. then i seen this on the news. Damn i have never had problems in my foot. He called planter facititus.

Took z-pak, in March, have lost my taste buds and cannot smell anything,this is going on three months, I don't know what to do, n smell at all, no taste buds at all.

Am I the only one who has gained a lot of weight while on Lisinopril? I have gained over 40lbs in 3 years. I have also experienced odd muscle cramping and have never made a connection to this and Lisinopril. The pain in my ear, side of my head, and my jaw was unbelievable. ENT dr thought it was TMJ or nerve damage. He was not able to really pin down the exact cause. One month later I was bed ridden with severe back pain, which I have never had before. MRI showed nothing. Headaches are daily, cough, leg cramps, chest pain, decreased sex drive, and definitely have feelings of depression. I have never made the connection between the changes in my personality, health, and lifestyle to this medicine; but now I have. I will be immediately contacting my doctor to discuss alternatives. My BP when I started was 150/90 and now is 112/70. Please let me know if anyone has also had the weight gain like I have experienced. I know I am going to have to have hard facts to show to my doctor. Thank you.

Has anyone had hair loss? I have been on Simvastatin for 30 days adn I noticed hair loss.

Hi, Reading all of your posts. I have been 100mg of Topamax for three years now and my side effects consist of tingle of the fingers/hands/feet,
oily T zone (face), short term memory loss, extreme fatigue, loss of taste. which I don't think is necessary a bad thing. haven't drank soda in three years due to the carbonation. Anything to sweet I can eat or drink. I have to water down my juices otherwise there to sweet. and I experience far less
migraines. from 2-4 a week or week long migraines where I would go to ER to get a shot of morphine and I was still feeling the pain. to only maybe 1 a month. But if I spot it fast enough a couple Tylenol will help before I have to take a Zomig to knock me out. It sucks being on meds for the rest of your life being young, this started for me age 30 I will be on migraine meds for life so my neurosurgeon says, and they don't think its related but I also ended up with 5 ulcers and a broken esophageal sphincter which now gave me GERD and requires life long meds which oh yeah I have constipation but is that from the GERD or the Topamax? So I don't take anything unless I absolutely have to. which includes my asthma inhaler or nebs. last thing I need is steroids on top of everything else. I drink coffee all day just to keep me awake but at the same time the min I stop I sleep hard and sound. Go figure.

hi started my topamax 25 mg at bedtime i take it for migranes been top for 3 weeks now i have noticed side effects however iam taking other meds and im having trouble distinguishing which side effect goes with what lol ..e.g.. paxil for anxiety , panic attacks and HYDROCHLOROTHIAZIDE for borderline blood pressure , i have experienced the tingling in the hands and the feet ..lack of appt,i wouldn't say my desire for sex is gone but im experiencing vaginal dryness and itching and numbness as well as problems climaxing sorry tmi lol ... thought it was a yeast infection but its kinda different? any girls ever exp that before while on top? im getting scared now reading the post about loss of hair im already very thin and have little hair as it is any help or suggestions would be great thx ...

I was prescribed Keflex following spinal fusion surgery and noticed immediate reactions. These included: ringing in ears, hot and cold flashes, loss of taste and smell, and terrible metallic taste in mouth.

A little over 2 weeks ago I lost my sense of sweet taste and I think the newly discovered sense of taste related to glutamate. I was on 20 mg of Lipitor daily. When I found the fine print on the package insert related to loss of taste (after 4 days), I dropped to 10 mgs for two days but the effect did not lessen so I stopped altogether. At first everything tasted like bitter cardboard. Now over 2 weeks later everything tastes bland with no sense of sweetness whatsoever. I have been able to taste salt all along. This has nothing to do with my sense of smell since that still works fine. I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar reaction and, if so, how long it lasted?

It`s very disturbing to read all these stories. I really feel for you.

My experience comes from seeing what happened to people close to me. They all took statins.

I started to look for information on statins, and other medications, in 2004 and it continues to this day although two of my relatives are dead.

I have nothing to do with the health or pharmaceutical industry.

I saw the suffering and it made me very angry.

I am an ordinary lady in her sixties who live in Sweden.

The situation is almost the same here as in the U.S.

There is very little discussion about risks/benefits with this kind of medicatications - or others.

I think it`s a good idea to turn to the Internet and books to get other views about the cholesterol issue.

Is it really true that it`s the cholesterol that is causing heart disease? Are you sure?

Please visit:

www.thincs.org, www.ravnskov.nu, www.spacedoc.net, www.statinalert.org

Also search articles etc on "Stopped our statins" and on the names of the different authors below.

Also read:

The Cholesterol Myths (Uffe Ravnskov)

The Great Cholesterol Con (Antony Colpo)

Book with the same title (Malcolm Kendrick)

Overdosed America (John Abramson)

The Truth about the Drug Companies (Marcia Agnell)

There are many more.

It´s good to have some other information than the one given by doctors because most of them have been "educated" by the pharmaceutical companies themselves - and why should they talk about risks, side effects etc,.

They are interested in profits.

Finally - here are some side effects that I have seen:

pains in legs, hands, elbows, shoulders, knees, hips, cracking noise in ribs, muscle weakness, loss of hair, head ache, burning, tingling sensations in hands and feet, numbness, difficulties to swallow, loss of taste, ringing noise in ears, cramps, insomnia, irritation, depression, difficulty with short-term memory and then advancing into more serious problems.

These side effects - for 3 different people - all over 65 - did not come at once. All of them had taken statins for years (Zocor)

It doesn´t matter which product -all statins have similar side effects.

There is a very interesting article on "Stopped our statins" under print articles.

It´s from the Weston Price Foundation and explains the different statin studies and side effects. .

My relatives also had some other medications which makes it even easier for doctors (and patients) to say that it`s just old age.

I am happy for those who get problems right away because then there maybe a chance for the patient and the doctor to see that there is a connection.

You really have to look out for yourself and the people around you!

Good Luck.

I have been on Lisinopril starting at 5 mg and increased to 10mg about 1 month ago with increasing side effects. I have had the dry hacking night time cough since I started on the medication which I could deal with. I started to notice knee joint pain recently which I never had before. I also have loss of taste and food does not seem appealing like it used to be. The most disturbing of the symptoms though started several weeks ago and I have been getting this quick shooting pain in my throat/neck area. I recently had an echocardiogram and saw my cardiologist and everything is the same and stable so I don't think it is anything cardiac. I feel in my gut it is probably due to this medication. Anyone else have fleeting throat/neck pain while on this medication??

Has anyone had severe headaches, loss of TASTE for food? My husband is taking 20mgs of Zocor and he has a terrible pain in his back in the center of his shoulders, knees crackle when getting up from a sitting position or bending to pick up something. His vision is getting very blurry, to a point he finds it hard to read, bouts of depression, cannot sleep, but, always tired, no ambition, thumbs lock-up like a Charlie horse, cannot lift anything heavy anymore. He started taking Zocor 40 days ago, and never been on any other cholesterol medication before this. 40 days ago he did not have any of these symptoms! I have a question for the people that have stopped taking Zocor and all other statins, what are you taking to keep your cholesterol and triglycerides down? Has anyone tried flaxseed; fish oil; cholesterol off and/or omega 3? I too, have many of these side effects, especially my left knee (my doctor says I will need a hip operation!!!!) sometimes I need a cane to walk, my eyes are also very blurry at times. We need help or suggestions, cannot get from doctors, they believe medication can do no harm. Would like to hear from those who stopped Zocor and all statins, thanks for reading, Helene

I have never taken any statins. Hardly any other medications either, but I have seen the consequences in people near me, particularly a close friend who died on May 1st, 2007 after several years of suffering from pain all over, weakness, ringing in his ears, loss of taste, difficulty to swallow, loss of memory and concentration and so on.

As he had several medications it was heard to know which caused a particular symptom.

I am sure the doctors doesn´t have a clue either and they know nothing of what statin treatment can do in the long run.

My advice to everyone is to search on the Internet - that`s how I discovered this site and many others.

Also read as many books as possible.

Here are some:

Overdosed America (John Abramson)

Lipitor - thief of memory (Duane Graveline)

The Great Cholesterol Con (Antony Colpo)

Book with the same title (Malcolm Kendrick)

The Cholesterol Myths (Uffe Ravnskov)

Also search for - stopped our statins.

I am so glad my English is good enough to share this advice.

I live in Sweden and I do my best to tell as many as possible about this site because there is no such thing here and more and more people are put on this kind of medication without having a single clue what could happen to them.

My husband started taking Plavix a couple of months ago, in addition to Verapamil. Within about 3 weeks of taking Plavix, he suffered a complete loss of taste. He cannot taste anything. He can smell. He has lost 25 pounds, is weak. A couple of days ago, his doctor took him off Plavix and put him on another drug, although the doctor states that he has never heard of loss of taste from this drug, but I found 2 articles that stated "taste disturbance" can be a side effect of this drug. Has anyone else experienced this with Plavix.

I was given topamax to treat headaches and cyclical mood disorder. I was not given any info about side effects or that, at the time(April of 2006), the drug was not FDA approved for treating mood disorders. I took about 3 25mg tablets a day for 6 weeks and started noticing pain in my chest, stomach, back, and neck, my heart felt irregular as well. Towards the end of the 6 weeks, I felt so bad that at times that I had to crawl to the bathroom at home because my body and heart felt so weak. I weighed 135 pounds before starting the drug and 117 after, lot of weight to lose for me in such a short period of time(my weight very rarely fluctuates at all). I started noticing that when I would eat a large meal, I would then be hungry with an empty stomach an hour later, and about 15-20 minutes after taking my 2nd pill for the day I would feel shooting chest pains and become slightly dizzy, I would take my third pill at home a couple before bed and the symptoms were even worse. I called the on-line nurse late at night a few times and they would say it was just anxiety, my friends and family that knew about all this would also say that I was just worrying too much. I decided to take matters in my own hands and started doing research on the drug. I found all the information I needed, that was not given to me, decided I was experiencing some of the specific side effects people had noticed. I finally decided on my own to stop taking the drug after my doctor told me that all this was because I wasn't taking a high enough dosage, I still can't believe that she said that!!

Now that I've had some time to look back and gather myself a little, I know that I also experienced side effects such as dizziness, loss of taste, decreased sex-drive, Loss of wittiness, feeling like being in slow-motion, slurring speech, heartbeat going from 64bpm sitting on the couch to 128bpm after walking to the bathroom to pea, difficulty breathing, basically felt like crap but was too drugged up to really notice.

It did stop my headaches and stabalized my mood but I think the improvements in mood were primarily due to the fact that I wasn't all there. DEFINETLY NOT WORTH ALL THE SIDE EFFECTS!!!

As soon as I stopped taking this, I felt much better in the head, noticing that I was probably running on about 70% for the past few weeks. Also gained back all the weight very quicky. I felt like myself again and was rejuvanized in my life!! Primarily all the side effects disappeared and I moved on with my life. Unfortunately the chest pains slowed down but did not disappear. I felt like, and still feel like, I had a broken Sternum. I went to the same clinic and had numerous tests done(EKG, blood tests, X-rays), everything came up clear. I have had to tell some of my friends, numerous times in the past year, not to restle with me or hug me too hard because it hurts.

I have not been taking any perscription drugs for the past 14 months because of all of this and now have recently started feeling increased pain in my chest(the chest pains never completely went away) . I do not have health insurance but am going to get this all checked out ASAP, I will post again once I find out what's going on.

I take 50mg daily. At first tingling in hands, and loss of taste of carbonates (like pop tasted flat all the time) that went away after a while. Lost weight, but gained it back within the year. When i drink alcohol I don't feel anything, even after several drinks, no hangovers. anyone else experience that? I can only guess its from the topamax, because I used to get terrible hangovers, and now I never do, and also I stopped taking it for a short while and while not on it I would get severe hangovers. NONE when on topamax. Has virtually changed my life on the otherhand, I used to get migrains DAILY! now I get them maybe once a month if that, and they are not nearly as bad.

I just began taking taking 25 mg of Topamax 3 times a day for about 1 week. I have the general side effects: loss of taste, tingling in feet and hands etc... however, my doctor insisted I would be much calmer (I am fairly hyper) and would be able to sleep better. I feel as though I am much more irritable with my young children ( less patience) and I am not sleeping all that great. Has anyone else had these side effects? As far as the headaches, at first, I actually was getting MORE migraines, butthey and the daily headaches seem to have subsided. However, I have not yet experienced the typical menstrual headache/migraines which are the worst for me.

I wake up tired and have to nap every day! I'm a 48 year old woman and have had bad sinuses for years with anosmia
loss of taste and smell) . I can say it's helped 200% with that but I'm getting depressed. I hope after tomorrow symptoms will begin to subside.