Pregnancy and Childbirth Side Effects that No One Tells You About
No, You Are Not the Only One Experiencing This
Pregnancy.
It's what most young girls dream about their whole lives. Then once we get married we're primed for it. I'm ready, I'm ready, bring on those baby booties, baby bottles and those glorious 9 months. Then it happens; you're pregnant! But wait, nobody ever told me about this...what is this awful taste in my mouth....ick!
You can pick up any book on pregnancy and find the typical symptoms referenced; ie. nausea, cravings, weight gain, ankle swelling, etc. However, one symptom that is rarely talked about and I've never seen in any of the pregnancy books I've purchased is having an awful, bitter, metallic taste in your mouth. For some unknown reason, this physical change is not often recognized by many caregivers. After doing a lot of digging, it seems that those few doctors who do recognize it believe the metallic taste could be a result of the body releasing toxins through the lymphatic system. Others believe it is the body's reaction to being run down with stress or the result of more physical demands being placed on a woman's body during pregnancy. Regardless of why it happens, rest assured, you are NOT imagining it.
With my first pregnancy, it happened only with certain foods. It almost seemed psychosomatic. I'd think about a particular food to see if it "sounded good" to my body, and while thinking about it, this bad taste would creep into my mouth. I knew right then to not eat that food! My second pregnancy was much worse. I had that same awful taste in my mouth from the moment my pregnancy hit 5 weeks, until 1 hour after I delivered my daughter (9 1/2 long months later). There's no easy way to say it; the pregnancy was AWFUL. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, I had this bitter, metallic taste in my mouth that I couldn't get rid of. I chewed gum continuously and when I would tire of gum, I'd suck on creme savers or tootsie roll pops. I gained too much weight with this pregnancy, but none of it was due to cravings. I had to have something in my mouth all the time to keep the nasty taste at bay. I can remember back to around 5 months of being pregnant thinking, "I'm never gonna make it." Well, of course I did make it, and I have a beautiful little girl to show for it. I just don't understand why none of the hundreds of books on pregnancy seem to mention this side effect. It is very real, and from interviewing other pregnant women, I've discovered it's more common than you might think.
After telling my OBGYN at every monthly visit that I was still experiencing this awful taste in my mouth, he finally acknowledged that it was a valid complaint and offered a few suggestions. He told me to try seasick bands that you wear on your wrist. Supposedly the pressure points that the bands press on should aid nausea. Great; but the only problem with that was, I wasn't nauseous...I just had a bad taste in my mouth. The next thing he told me was to try low doses of sleeping pills. I was surprised by that, and asked him if it would affect me at work, but he said no. Regardless, I still wasn't comfortable with it, so I only tried them on the weekend. Again, no success. I wish the ending of my story could be that hooray, I found a cure for this awful side effect, but unfortunately, the only cure I found was delivering the baby! While I can't offer you a cure, I can offer you the support of knowing you are not alone if you suffer from this symptom. It is real, and don't let anyone try to minimize it. I used to feel like a broken record and no one could or wanted to understand the words. I would keep telling my husband, "You just don't get it...everything tastes awful. EVERYTHING!" Finally after the 7th month, I think it finally sunk in and he believed this wasn't all in my head. Finally, validation from someone.
If this side effect happens to you, just try to do the best you can; suck on a lot of hard candy and pray the calendar moves quickly towards delivery. That little miracle waiting for you is well worth every side effect there is. Even the yucky tasting ones.
It's what most young girls dream about their whole lives. Then once we get married we're primed for it. I'm ready, I'm ready, bring on those baby booties, baby bottles and those glorious 9 months. Then it happens; you're pregnant! But wait, nobody ever told me about this...what is this awful taste in my mouth....ick!
You can pick up any book on pregnancy and find the typical symptoms referenced; ie. nausea, cravings, weight gain, ankle swelling, etc. However, one symptom that is rarely talked about and I've never seen in any of the pregnancy books I've purchased is having an awful, bitter, metallic taste in your mouth. For some unknown reason, this physical change is not often recognized by many caregivers. After doing a lot of digging, it seems that those few doctors who do recognize it believe the metallic taste could be a result of the body releasing toxins through the lymphatic system. Others believe it is the body's reaction to being run down with stress or the result of more physical demands being placed on a woman's body during pregnancy. Regardless of why it happens, rest assured, you are NOT imagining it.
With my first pregnancy, it happened only with certain foods. It almost seemed psychosomatic. I'd think about a particular food to see if it "sounded good" to my body, and while thinking about it, this bad taste would creep into my mouth. I knew right then to not eat that food! My second pregnancy was much worse. I had that same awful taste in my mouth from the moment my pregnancy hit 5 weeks, until 1 hour after I delivered my daughter (9 1/2 long months later). There's no easy way to say it; the pregnancy was AWFUL. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, I had this bitter, metallic taste in my mouth that I couldn't get rid of. I chewed gum continuously and when I would tire of gum, I'd suck on creme savers or tootsie roll pops. I gained too much weight with this pregnancy, but none of it was due to cravings. I had to have something in my mouth all the time to keep the nasty taste at bay. I can remember back to around 5 months of being pregnant thinking, "I'm never gonna make it." Well, of course I did make it, and I have a beautiful little girl to show for it. I just don't understand why none of the hundreds of books on pregnancy seem to mention this side effect. It is very real, and from interviewing other pregnant women, I've discovered it's more common than you might think.
After telling my OBGYN at every monthly visit that I was still experiencing this awful taste in my mouth, he finally acknowledged that it was a valid complaint and offered a few suggestions. He told me to try seasick bands that you wear on your wrist. Supposedly the pressure points that the bands press on should aid nausea. Great; but the only problem with that was, I wasn't nauseous...I just had a bad taste in my mouth. The next thing he told me was to try low doses of sleeping pills. I was surprised by that, and asked him if it would affect me at work, but he said no. Regardless, I still wasn't comfortable with it, so I only tried them on the weekend. Again, no success. I wish the ending of my story could be that hooray, I found a cure for this awful side effect, but unfortunately, the only cure I found was delivering the baby! While I can't offer you a cure, I can offer you the support of knowing you are not alone if you suffer from this symptom. It is real, and don't let anyone try to minimize it. I used to feel like a broken record and no one could or wanted to understand the words. I would keep telling my husband, "You just don't get it...everything tastes awful. EVERYTHING!" Finally after the 7th month, I think it finally sunk in and he believed this wasn't all in my head. Finally, validation from someone.
If this side effect happens to you, just try to do the best you can; suck on a lot of hard candy and pray the calendar moves quickly towards delivery. That little miracle waiting for you is well worth every side effect there is. Even the yucky tasting ones.
Published by Melissa O'Hara
My name is Melissa O'Hara and I live in Upstate New York. I am married to Chris O'Hara, and we have two daughters, Alexandra and Ashley. I graduated college from the University at Albany with a Bachelors D... View profile
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- A metallic taste in your mouth is a real side effect of pregnancy.
- You can ask your doctor about trying sea bands or low dose sleeping pills.
- You will get through it and be blessed with a beautiful child.
that putting a few drops of peppermint oil on your tongue is another remedy to try?
81 Comments
Post a CommentI'm almost 10 weeks and it just started for me. Except I can't stop burping either. And the taste I have been getting is that of fish. And not the cooked kind either. It's like it's fresh straight from the water when fishing. Every time I get the taste, I have to run to the bathroom...it makes me so sick. Ewww.
At firstithoughtiwasassumingthings.Buttodayithasgotworseandithoughtgooglingoutwouldgivemetheanswer.Amshockedthereareladiesouttheregoingthroughthesame.Itsahorriblefeeling,nobodyhadevertalkedabout,everyonetalksaboutthemorningsicknessandthepukyfeeling.Butthefunnyorange-liketasteinthemouththatbringsaboutlotsofsalivainthemouthishorribleespeciallywhenithinkoftheseveralmonthsstillaheadofme.Iprayidontgetfiredatmyworkplace.Iwilltrythesaltywatergargle,hopefullyitworks.Allinall,ifeelsoblessedtobepregnant.
its interesting to read from you all, i had the same taste during my first trimester, ginger was of great help, could worh for you too.. enjoy it
hello everyone..i got admitted in hospital for not taking food due to the bitter tatse of my mouth..There doctor did a blood test and found that my carbohydrate and protein level were almost 0...they injected me saline with polybion injection...and with in hour you cant believe my bitter taste was gone...so i think this can help you....doctor told me that the bitter taste was just because of lake of vitamins and proteins...so you also should do this taste and take food having folic acid and protein...i am sure this will help...god bless and all the best
Thank you all for sharing! I have had this horrible taste in my mouth throughout my pregmancy, still have one month till my baby is due and I cannot wait! One thing that helps a bit is rinsing your mouth with salty water... it kept the bad taste from coming back for an hour or so....hope it works for you!
i am 3 months pregnant..I am suffering from this hurrible taste of my mouth...Just dont find a way that can help me...The whole day i feel a very bitter and bad taste that makes me sick throughout the day and i am not able to eat anything...if anyone have any solution for this please help me.Gudluck for all the wud be mothers
35 weeks preggers and have had this problem since day one! Same with my first pregnancy. I thought maybe it's thrush, Dr. says it doesn't look that way, but a different Dr. said it did, I tried nystatin mouth wash for almost 18 days (2 RX's worth) not only is it gross but it didn't work... with my first pregnancy it went away shortly after delivery, I can't wait for this baby to get here so this will go away!
Hello,
I experienced the same metallic/sour-like taste with my son and now again at 7 weeks pregnant i have it all over again. During pregnancy 1 i found that sticking a piece of ginger candy in a lemon and sucking it during the day helped with the bad taste and the nausea. My recent thing is naturally flavored lemon drops.
I'm right there with you. I am 13 weeks and I never want to close my mouth so that I dont have to taste this horrible taste in my mouth. Its not exactly metallic, its more on the sides of my tongue-almost so sweet-like rotten sweet that its absolutely disgusting. My doctors say its common, but not a finding anywhere. whatever!!
Imrighttherewithyou.Iam13weeksandIneverwanttoclosemymouthsothatIdonthavetotastethishorribletasteinmymouth.Itsnotexactlymetallic,itsmoreonthesidesofmytongue-almostsosweet-likerottensweetthatitsabsolutelydisgusting.Mydoctorssayitscommon,butnotafindinganywhere.whatever!!