I had taken terbinafine for about six weeks for a toenail infection when my sense of taste pretty much completely disappeared over the course of 3-4 days. I have a vague salty/bitter taste in my mouth, but nothing tastes of anything....sweet, salt, bitter...all gone. I can put pure sugar on my tongue and not taste a thing. That refreshing zing you get from toothpaste? Gone. Everything tastes grey at best, or just nasty at worst.
The infection responded well to terbinafine - I have about 4mm clear nail now, but I've decided to stop taking it as nothing is worth this cost. I've switched to Loceryl lacquer but I don't even care about the nail anymore. I just desperately want to be able to taste things normally again. I can completely understand how this can cause weight loss and depression. My advice would be to avoide terbinafine.
Hi Jonathan, you may see some of my own comments and running diary when I took terbanifine, awful drug....I'm sorry you have lost your taste, its very upsetting and distressing and as you I tried the usual, salt, vinegar, grapfruit, only to be dissapointed. I took approx 7-8 weeks for my taste to return and it was a total waiting game but luckily it does eventually come back. I used to eat strong curry which I could just taste, my sweet sense was the final bit to come back. I'm sorry I cant be more helpful but it is just a waiting game, I think GP's should realliy hammer home this apparent rare side efffect as when you lose taste you have no idea how important it is unless of course its you or I who have/ are suffering from it. take care, hope its speedy and less than 8 weeks for you. 
Hi Mirving -
Yes, I'd seen your other posts. I think I just had to get it off my chest - this really is miserable. Funny thing is that it sounds sort of minor...I don't think I would have appreciated how awful it is if a friend were to try to describe it to me.
I'm glad I stopped taking it within a few days of the taste thing arising... Perhaps it will clear up more quickly than it would have done if I had tried to bear with it. You're absolutely right that GPs should discuss this, however rare it is. The much more common GI upset isn't nice for the people it happens to, but this really is god-awful and I probably woulnd't have started if I'd known this was a possibility.
Anyway, fingers crossed it returns. Thanks for your supportive reply.
good luck with it and hope it comes back soon, chin up, keep me posted Jonathan.
Jonathan, my loss of taste was from Terbinafine as well. It has been about 7 weeks since onset of symptoms & stopped taking the drug. I was wondering if you ever regained your full sense of taste. Your response would be greatly appreciated. BTW I haven't seen it in any of the postings but from my research I have found that your chances of losing taste are much higher on this drug the older you are and or if you have a low BMI, which were two strikes against me.
Hi Andrew
I think my sense of taste is nearly back to normal. I'd say 90%? I stopped taking it only a few days after the symptoms appeared, which was I think around the middle/end of May. It was dreadful, really. But like others on here have said, each main 'flavour'...salty, bitter, sweet, came back slowly, one after the other. Sweet was the last to reappear. That was probably about 3-4 weeks ago. It seems like I can taste pretty much everything now, and discriminate between subtle flavours, but not quite back to normal yet. It's like the intensity is all just turned down a bit. The really horrible persistent tastes in my mouth - salt, even though I couldn't taste salty things, etc, lasted about a month, and then over the following month things started getting back to normal. Like I said, not all the way back to normal yet, but nearly. It doesn't help at all, but hang in there....it really will get better.
Interesting about age and BMI as factors. I'm 44 and my BMI is about 21....I wonder how that compares to you?
Hi Johnathan, thank you for taking time to reply to my post. It sounds like my recovery is on par with the timing of yours. I' stoped taking the medication June 30 and am now mildly tasting some foods. Finding this forum and your post was certainly encouraging to me. I now believe that I will make a full recovery which sure feels better than the total freak out that one first experiences with this side effect. I am very much looking forward to the sweet sense returning since it is apart of so many foods.
My BMI is 23 and I am almost 66 years old so my risk factor was quite high. Although this is a miserable thing to go through I believe that I will certainly appreciate the pleasure of tasting, never again take prescribed medications without researching them first and I sure am more thankful for the recuperative processes that God built into our bodies. Thanks again for sharing your encouraging experience.
Hi Andrew -
Not at all. I'm glad it helped because I *really* freaked out as well. It is a horrid horrid experience that I think you have to experience yourself to understand how awful it is.
It's funny you mentioned sweet - that's the one I missed the most as well. Not because I have a huge sweet tooth, but it's really part of the, I don't know, freshness and enjoyment of things like fruit juices. You're right about appreciating things. I can't believe how much more attention I pay to the taste of things now....really savouring things. Maybe it did take losing it to realise how important and pleasurable it is.
Glad you're making a good recovery. I hope it continues. All the best.
J
Hi Jonathan,
Have your taste buds returned?
Hi Laura!
Yes, I think everything is back to normal. It's a bit difficult to say whether I'm back to 100% as having everything completely disappear makes it difficult to benchmark, but yes, I think everything is back to normal.
If it's happening to you, hang in there, your taste WILL come back. I know how distressing it is, but given time, it'll come back.
Good luck
J
Thanks Jonathan! I have received more info on this forum than my doctor. I am starting my fourth week without taste buds and I know I have a long road ahead of me. However, I ate a piece of toast yesterday and I could
taste the butter! Very mild, but it's something! Thanks again!
Great news, a good start, 😊
Hi Jonathon. I am having similar taste problems after taking Terbinafine and have up to now been worrying that it will not recover. After reading your post and the replies that taste does eventually come back, I'm feeling a little more hopeful. I was prescribed to take Terbinafine for 3 months but after about 3 weeks I started to notice my Guiness tasted like Budwieser (Like slightly bitter water) and thought the beer had not been handled properly. The next day a bacon sandwich after a game of golf tasted flat and I simply coudnt taste the Heinz tomato ketchup I had judiciously applied. It took another few days before I realised what might be causing the problem and immediately stopped taking the drug. The effect for me is that I cannot taste sugar at all, (I can however taste Saccharine (Hermesetas) and other sweeteners which I normally use in my tea but they do taste strange in some way) my salt taste is impaire but to a lesser degree and bitter and sour jigged a little. All of my food tastes bland and slightly metallic. I am a 65 year old retired food professional and have always had very good taste ability but this has blown all that skill away. When I realised what was happening I went to see my doctor and explained the effects, he seemed surprised and told me he had just started using the drug himself for a skin rash (must have been fungal). He did mention that he didnt think I'd had a stroke, which I can heartily confirm as I am reasonably fit and havent had any strange effects to my capabilities at all. I have looked this all up and there has been some research published (Link here: https://www.med.upenn.edu/stc/documents/Objectiveassessmentofterbinafine-inducedtasteloss.pdf) which supports our findings. I wonder though how many other people experience this effect but it simply doesnt get followed up and the manufacturers of the drug ignore/conceal any advice they are getting back for legal and financial reasons. I am really anxious and annoyed about the debilitating effect and hope all our findings are of help to others.
Hi Alan, it infuriates me that most of our GPs dont realise how serious the side effects of this drug, I was borderline depression after losing my taste a year or so ago. This forum and us helping each other went a long way in soothing people's minds and fears. The loss of sweet, savoury, salty water seems consistent with all of us, tha'ts why I started a diary for my 8 or so weeks without taste. There needs to be some clear education to our health professinals and as you have intimated, patients need to be advised of this so called small sided effect which causes us all so much pain....Only light at the end of the tunnel, it does seem to come back to most of us on this forum
thanks, Michael
Laura
Dinner with a cheese sauce last night was quite tasty but a bacon sandwich with Heinz Tomato Ketchup today was totally bland.
Been 4 weeks since stopped Terbinafine now. :0((
Hi Alan,
We are on the same timeline (4 weeks and no change). I am trying to stay positive, but it's been a challenge. Please keep us posted if any change.
Hang in there!
Laura
Any change with your taste buds? Still no luck here. Sometimes I can
taste a few things, but not much.
Hi Laura
Am beginning to taste sugar and other things, it's by no means back but I am a bit more hopeful. At this rate I think it's going to be the new year.
Regards Alan
Hi All
At 5 weeks after stopping Terbinafine after 1 month of 1 a day...... Am beginning to taste sugar and other things, it's by no means back but I am a bit more hopeful. At this rate I think it's going to be the new year.
Alan
