Have been on 250mg for 5 weeks for skin infection. Have now lost all sense of taste and miserable as choosing not to eat as dull and boring. I am choosing to stop medication now as nothing is worse than this and i fly on holiday tomorrow. Does anyone know if my taste will return to normal and how long this may take? 😞
try taking multivitamin medication, it works for me. Then discontinue when taste returns.
Ok, will try that today, thankyou
Stopped tablets 5 days ago, have salty taste in saliva even when drinking water, have about 10% savory taste, taking multi vitamins, cant taste anything sweet at all, miserable time, hope its not months till comes back, skin seems to be on mend stil, 😞
Day 11, still hardly any taste, about 10% pepper, spice, no bitter or sweet, fruit, urgh! Weight coming off, soup is bearable and expresso coffee,
Day 16, lost a stone in weight and still very little taste, cant taste fresh oranges/lemons and nothing with sugar, chocolate, cake, all the nice things. I am back to doctors in 2 days time as that will be nearly 3 weeks since stopping the medication. I am a 43 year old male of good health so getting quite concerned now, I'm updating this blogg as there is a lack of updates on this and would like to keep people informed on how I'm getting on since May 5th. The skin infectoin i was taking the tablets for seems to have cleared now so fingers crossed its done the trick but this side effect is awful, i can smell everthing, all nice foods but stil have to eat soup and expresso coffee in latte's. I have been eating stong curry and rice for one evening meal to keep me alive so to speak. I can feel the strength of the curry in my throat and when i pass it but not in my mouth. I still have salty taste in my mouth, hot tea tastes salty and water is still like mild sea water. Hopefully it will come back to normal soon.
hiya mirving,
well its obvious the problem more than likely is in your mouth where the sweet/sour/bitter etc taste receptors are, they are on your tongue and mouth. its good that your sense of smell is ok as its your sense of smell that gives you the ability to taste the full range of tastes, im sure the doc will be able to help, keep us updated 
hi, thanks for the update, i found it odd i can smell everthing fine, makes it worse when you cant taste it,..i'm sure taste buds recycle and renew like skin so fingers crossed now the med is stopped the taste will gradually come back, will keep you posted of course when i've been to the doctors on Friday this week. Glad it sounds possitve that my smell is ok anyhow, 
Day 21, doctor cant help, still no taste, hopeless this now, 😞
Day 29 since stopped med, have about 50% taste back, most things apart from sugar, sweet in general. I am feeling lots better in myself, starting to eat normal food again, hoping in a week or so all will be back to normal. The skin infection has totally cleared thankfully. 😊
7 weeks today since i stopped the medication, pleased to say i have 95% taste back for drinks and food. Only thing missing is sugar in chocolate but natural sugar is fine. This has been a long drawn out process, i feel for anyone in early stages of taste loss, so pleased im reporting all well, 😊
Hello mirving, Great to hear all is going well tastewise, has your weight improved
Hi, yes, i am starting to put weight back on nicely, hopefully that's the start of getting back to normal now, 😊
great news mirving, apparently complete loss of taste is a known side effect of terbinafine along with a shed load of other sensory effects including visual ones 
i think if im prescribed this drug in the futer ill give it a miss, my eyesight and taste are shot to bits as it is lol
I agree, i wouldn't take it again , ever, u would look for alternatives for sure. All well now, 😊
Hello, Thank you for posting as there does not seem to be much in way of timeline on this for people who are going through the same thing.
I beleive the most stressful part of taste loss is not knowing if it will return so these posts are hugely important.
I am a Mid 20's male who was taking 250mg Terbinafine to treat a toenail fungal infection. Lost taste on 7 August (almost one month back at time of writing) and stopped taking Terbinafine upon realisation. For the first 2 weeks I could not taste muc at all and now taste has been returning very gradually, however I am about 50% recovered. I still cannot taste anything sweet which is frustrating.
I hope everyone who is experiences this has a speedy recovery as its a tough one to complain about but it really does affect quality of life!
Hi ian51736, has your taste all improved now? I was on Terbinafine for 6 weeks for nail infection and I lost my taste a week ago (mid Jan 2015). Came off the tablets immediately. The 'taste' in my mouth has in the past couple of days turned very salty, even with water - it's horrible! Just wondered if your taste did return and it would be great to hear from mirving too see if there's back to normal. Reading the patient information leaflets, those drugs are evil, I certainly wont be using them again!
Hey, hope your well, I feel your pain and yes, my taste came back eventually, 7weeks or so. I have a diary on my login, may help you. I wish to God this drug was removed as so many of us have suffered. Keep me posted, 😊
Back in December I was prescribed this tablet (one a day for 6 months) for a fungal toenail infection. Six weeks in I began to find that my sense of taste was diminishing. I couldn't work out what was happening at first, but then, by a process of illimination, (and checking sites like this) realised the tablet was probably the cause. I stopped taking it on Tuesday (10th Feb) by which time my ability to taste had disappeared completely. Everything I eat now tastes like salty, soggy cardboard - everything I drink (hot and cold) has no flavour. I spoke to my doctor and he seemed rather surprised that this could happen! However, he did say that he would no longer prescribe this particular medication.
It seems there is nothing I can do about this taste loss other than spend the next seven to ten weeks waiting for it to return - hopefully in full. In the meantime, I don't feel like eating or drinking much. I force myself to have something, only because I know I need to, but the process holds no pleasure whatsoever.
The leaflet in the tablet pack suggests that taste loss occurs in less than 1 person in 100 - then further suggests that in less than 1 in 10,000 the taste 'disturbance' lasts for 'some time' and as a result the person can 'go off their food and lose weight'. However, it doesn't say if the lab's results are based on results for the 125mg or the 250mg tablet - or what the 'some time' actually is. Either I have been unlucky in getting this reaction or the truth of the matter is that this taste loss is far more prevalent than the manufacturers would have us believe. I will not be taking Terbinafine again and will be warning colleagues and friends about it. I have recorded it as a Yellow Card on the NHS yellow card site.
Hi John, reading your story is a carbon copy of my dreadful experience. The amount of comments surely support this is more common than the extremely small print of side effects. My GP was the same too. It is a tough ride to get over the line, about 8 weeks, try and keep strong, lots of pepper on things till you eventually start to taste again. Careful if your drinking, I was extremely drunk quickly when socialising as couldn't taste any strength in my vodka. Good luck, glad your off this awful drug. My timeline may help you , am a 45yr old, UK, 😞