Is thyroid related to going from a sweet taste to a bitter taste

[Tbird399]

(Background: Had an ear infection over the Summer that had me taking antibiotics, nose and ear drops. Put flea powder on my cat that went up my nose and caused a metal blood taste in my mouth. I stopped drinking well water because of it. A couple of months after the ear infection seemed to go away.) My sense of taste sent me to the doctor to begin with. If I ate certain foods my body felt sweet through my veins, burning almost. So I went off sugar thinking that was it. I had my blood tested and they said I was on the border of having thyroid. I took the synthroid medicine prescribed and had a really bad reaction, so they took me off of them. I haven't had any medication for 1 month and a half, but now my taste went from sugary to bitter. Like maybe I had ate too much cheese or something. Sometimes it feels like I have a lump of cream cheese in my stomach.  I am waiting to go to a specialist about my thyroid, but I have my doubts about it. I think I might have a bacteria infection throughout my body. I did notice a bump on the roof of my mouth on the right side. Is this normal? Can someone please tell me what is going on? I have always been a worry wart, but I am not tired, I have a little difficulty going to sleep, and I lost 7 pounds since June.

[Red_Star]

Well it's possible your one a day might be none a day (if it's going out the other end without absorbing lol). There are a long list of reasons for affected taste and smell though! I also could smell something electrical burning (phantosmia) when no one else could which was one of my neurological symptoms of hyperthyroidism. Reading the list below, I've had a few other conditions as well.

The info below is from GP Notebook - Taste Disturbance...

"Causes of a taste disturbance to consider include:

* upper respiratory tract infection - the taste of food is dependent on the smell
* anosmia
* glossopharyngeal nerve palsy - loss of taste on the posterior third of the tongue
* facial nerve palsy
* chronic adrenal insufficiency - increased sensitivity to the taste of salt, sucrose, urea and other substances

Common causes include:

* nasal and sinus disease (e.g., allergic or vasomotor rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, nasal polyps, adenoid hypertrophy)
* upper respiratory infection
* head trauma (e.g., frontal skull fracture, occipital injury, nasal fracture)
* cigarette smoking
* neurodegenerative disease (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis)
* increasing age

Less common causes include

* drug induced - see linked item
* cocaine abuse (intranasal)
* toxic chemical exposure (e.g., benzene, benzol, butyl acetate, carbon disulfide, chlorine, ethyl acetate, formaldehyde, hydrogen selenide, paint solvents, sulfuric acid, thrichloroethylene)
* industrial agent exposure (e.g., ashes, cadmium, chalk, chromium, iron carboxyl, lead, nickel, silicone dioxide)
* nutritional factors (e.g., vitamin deficiency [A, B6, B12], trace metal deficiency [zinc, copper], malnutrition, chronic renal failure, liver disease [including cirrhosis], cancer, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome)
glossopharyngeal nerve palsy - loss of taste on the posterior third of the tongue
* facial nerve palsy
* radiation treatment of head and neck
* congenital conditions (e.g., congenital anosmia, Kallmann's syndrome)

Uncommon causes include:

* neoplasm or brain tumor (e.g., osteoma, olfactory groove or cribiform plate meningioma, frontal lobe tumor, temporal lobe tumor, pituitary tumor, aneurysm, esthesioneuroblastoma, melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma)
* psychiatric conditions (e.g.schizophrenia, depression, olfactory reference syndrome)
* endocrine disorders (e.g., adrenocortical insufficiency, Cushing's syndrome, diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, primary amenorrhea, pseudohypoparathyroidism, Kallmann's syndrome, Turner's syndrome)
* pregnancy
* epilepsy (olfactory aura)
* migraine headache (olfactory aura)
* cerebrovascular accident
* Sjögren's syndrome
* Systemic lupus erythematosus"

[Tbird399]

hmmm...thank you for your input. I am taking One A Day, maybe I am not absorbing them right either. I appreciate any piece of info I can get.

[Red_Star]

The conditions that have decreased my sense of taste and smell are vitamin B12 malabsorption, zinc deficiency, hypothyroidism, uremia (due to kidney failure).