What Causes Salty Taste In Mouth Post Treatment For Bronchitis?

Posted on Tue, 18 Aug 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 18 Aug 2015 Answered on

Mon, 14 Sep 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : I had a case of asthmatic bronchitis 2 weeks ago - still getting over the cough - but everything I eat and/or drink tastes salty to me and the tip of my tongue feels a little tingly...is this a common side effect? I had prednisone and a zythormax but the last dose was exactly one week ago...

Answered by Dr. Ronald Schubert (44 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Taste related to treatment of asthma

Detailed Answer:
Thank you for contacting HCM with your health care concerns

You were recently treated for asthma with zithromax and prednisone. Both of these agents can cause taste changes. Both of them will reduce your immune response and put you at risk for thrush. This is a form of yeast infection in the mouth. If you have white patches on the inside of your mouth or palate then you will need oral anti-fungal therapy to resolve the issue.

If there are no white patches then the zithromax can cause changes to the taste buds. This is a temporary problem and should resolve in 1 week. There is nothing that will make this improve any faster than allowing nature to heal.

I hope I answered your question. Please contact us again with your health care questions and concerns

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar