Help! The taste in my mouth is getting to be too much!

[paddbear0000]

     As I briefly mentioned in another post, I've been having some mouth issues lately. The last time I had my creat checked (about a month ago), it was3.7 and my function was 14%. I am not on dialysis yet. I've been getting a weird taste in my mouth that seems to fluctuate in intensity for the last week or so. I've been reading old posts about similar things, but they don't quite seem to fit. The taste is kind of a sweet metallic taste. Has anyone else gotten this same sensation? A lot of posts seem to mention a bleach and metallic taste.

Also, it sometimes gets unbearably dry. Is this interchanging taste/dry mouth normal before needing dialysis? I have tried every flavor and brand of gum out there, plus hard candy and drinks, but nothing helps. It's so bad, that I have to fall asleep with gum in my mouth after brushing my teeth, just so I can sleep. I don't have any swelling or itching. Nor do I have much nausea (but I'm not sure whether it's kidney or gallbladder related).

I've also been having bad tremors off and on as well. Can this be a sign of worsening function too?       

[okarol]

Here are a couple of threads, if you haven't seen them:
http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=8485.0
http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=5795.0
http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=8040.0

[jbeany]

Yup, it's normal, all of it. Mine was a taste like chewing on pennies.  Most of it will disappear when you start dialysis.

[paddbear0000]

Thanks okarol! Yeah, that sucking on pennies description sounds about right.   

[monrein]

I hate to say this Paddbear but it sounds as though you're nearing dialysis starting time.  I started with better numbers than yours but I couldn't take it any more because of the symptoms.

[paddbear0000]

Ok, another question related to this...Is it common for the taste to come and go? The dry mouth too? It seems to get worse about 1/2 hour after eating, particularly if I eat meat (turkey and seafood is all I'm eating meat wise lately due to my gallbladder issues). Also, could one experience these symptoms without nausea and vomiting?

[G-Ma]

I started dialysis at 16% and yes all of the above, nausea, vomiting, horrible taste, dry mouth and hated food.  I couldn't swallow anything for 6 weeks which is why neph started dialysis when he did.  I feel so sorry for anyone who is on this path and still going through all that nasty sh....
Take care.
Ann

[monrein]

Ann is right paddbear.  Your symptoms are classic, even without the nausea.  And protein can definitely be the culprit, which is why the pre-dialysis diet is low-protein.  We can't eliminate the breakdown waste of the protein because our kidneys aren't working.  The nausea can come and go or be a constant thing.  Depends on the person and the amount of function left I think.  The taste drove me the  craziest of all the symptoms and sometimes it felt as if I was swallowing a mild acid that was burning my tongue and throat.  It occasionally returns now when I'm really in need of a dialysis run.

[paddbear0000]

I don't have the burning sensation you are talking about. Does that always happen when one starts getting teh metallic taste?

[monrein]

No, this stuff is always a little bit different for everyone.  I didn't always get the burning but got it often enough that it drove me nuts.

[boxman55]

I get the burning tongue every so often salty foods even a little salt really does it. dry mouth also comes and goes. I have been on dialysis for 28 months. Mouth wash before I go to bed sends me through the roof...Boxman

[jbeany]

I hardly ate red meat at all just before dialysis.  I couldn't stand the taste of it.  All I wanted was sweets, bread and fruit.

[monrein]

I was living on toast, jam and a little cream cheese, pre-dialysis.  Even that didn't go down well.

[Restorer]

For over a year and a half before I started dialysis, my breath often smelled/tasted strongly of ammonia. For two months before dialysis, I got that burning tongue sensation, but usually eating or drinking something made it go away. A couple weeks before dialysis, a caught a bug and got so dehydrated/uremic that I could hardly talk - breathing in my own breath hurt my throat. Not only that, but something in the dynamic screwed up my mouth so much that I caught thrush and could hardly eat while I was in the hospital.