Panic_Surfer

Hello, For the past six weeks, I've had a constant metallic/bitter/soapy taste in my mouth that varies in severity from mild to absolutely intolerable. After having it for about three weeks, it went away for a few days, then came back, and has now been constant, day and night, for about a month. It started suddenly one evening when I was having dinner. A copper/bloody taste felt like it came up from the back of my throat and coated my tongue. I thought I had bit my lip or something, and it really freaked me out. Ever since then, it's there constantly, and seems to get worse throughout the day - by the time evening rolls around, it tastes like I have a bar of soap in my mouth. Oddly, this hasn't really impacted the taste of food or drink - in fact, because food and drink tastes normal, I've been over eating as a kind of escape. Every day I have to use so many mints to mask the taste that it makes me nauseous. I saw my GP about it, and she put me on a round of steroids which did nothing. I went to the dentist a few weeks ago, and it's definitely not a dental problem. I have no fillings. I have an appointment with my ENT in a week. I take gabapentin and lorazepam daily - my GP said it is very rare for either of these medications to cause a metallic taste. I have absolutely hideous anxiety, and I've had a metallic taste during panic attacks before, but it never lingered 24/7 like this. It's there even when I wake up to get a drink of water in the early morning. Needless to say, it's driving me insane with worry, as well as just being annoying - I'm afraid something is wrong with my kidneys/liver/who knows. I'm a healthy (as far as I know) 25/m. I've had problems with heavy drinking before, but not recently. 6ft, ~190. I've had issues with GERD the last two years, but quite mild - burping, some mild heartburn here and there, etc. There have been no changes in these symptoms before or after the onset of this horrible taste. Has anybody else experienced this? I'm at a loss. It's had a huge negative impact on my life. I called into work two days last week, and have been sleeping 10-12 hours every night just because I can't stand it anymore. Help!

I have a HUGE fear of flying. It's always made me a bit uncomfortable for a lot of reasons (one of which is that commercial airliners pack us plebeians in the cabin like sardines), but the last time I had a flight (2013) there was violent turbulence for three hours straight. As in, the flight attendant was walking towards the back and fell on the floor the turbulence was so violent. I was sweating bullets and had a huge panic attack. The lady next to me? She was crocheting. Seriously. She'd just pause and look aggravated when the turbulence was too violent for her to work, and then she'd get back after it. I couldn't believe it. Anyway, I haven't flown since. I've had nightmares about flying ever since. I know it's irrational, but it really got under my skin. So you're not alone.

I don't know how much I can give you in the way of advice, but I can commiserate. I've had gut problems for years (I'm 25) and sometimes things won't be right for a week or two at a time, including a few days of D in a row. Over the years I've learned that I basically have a very sensitive gut, and there's no shortage of triggers. I've had issues for the last five days with D and gut pains and such. I also used to be a heavy drinker, so I can relate to the fears surrounding that as well. It's worth a visit to the doctor, and it's also worth a look at your diet if it doesn't stop. Like MissLiveLaughLove said, there's no use scolding you over the use of Google, but it is a good idea to come here and rant instead. Seriously, you can type in anything to Google and it will tell you you're dying. It's a horrible diagnostic tool. Good luck! Let us know how you're feeling in the next couple of days.

Today I am feeling a little bit better. Actually went for a bike ride. Anxiety is such a cruel thing. My actual physical symptoms and the psychosomatic symptoms blend together in a puree of madness. I've been so anxious lately that there's constant pain between my shoulder blades from the muscles being so tight, which in turn causes some of the fatigue and weird feeling in my head on top of the virus I've been fighting. I've also been grinding my teeth so badly at night that I've woken up a few times with a bleeding tongue. Of course, that makes the symptoms worse too. But I seem to be on the upswing from the virus. This would be day four, but who knows. Everybody around me has had some kind of cold or flu over the last several weeks. Thanks for all your replies, and I hope you feel better Chantsy! I've found taking putting myself in a 12 hour NyQuil coma seemed to speed up the recovery.

Hello all. First post here; used to frequent AnzietyZone before it mysteriously disappeared. I see that there's a bit of overlap between the two forums. For the past three days, I've had some bizarre flu/cold-like symptoms with no fever. Never experienced anything quite like this; mild sore throat, mild congestion, no big deal there. But I feel very fatigued and unwell, having mild chills and body aches, that airy, dizzy feeling that often comes along with a fever, had an upset stomach here and there. Strange facial pressure that feels like sinus pressure, yet, no major congestion. Glands in neck are slightly swollen and sore to the touch. This sounds like one big nothing, I know, but the main thing is the fatigue, which is pretty severe; I can barely walk up a few flights of stairs without my heart beating out of my chest, and I'm in pretty good shape, and young to boot (male, 25). This wouldn't seem peculiar, but paired with the chills and general feeling of malaise, I'd think I had a mild flu or something. Except...no fever. Many of the people at my work have been coming down with various bugs, so I figure I've caught one of those things going around, but I'm also afraid that I might have something like mono or lymes disease (I work with dogs, so it wouldn't be unusual for me to be exposed to ticks). Usually when I feel like this I also have major congestion/coughing/running nose, but this time I don't. Anybody else having any weird viruses this season? What gives? I came home early from work yesterday and had to call in sick today. Can't afford too much of that. Should I head to the doctor?