Is it normal to enjoy food and drink more on thyroid meds?

November 25, 2011 4:38 PM

I think my thyroid medication is making food and water taste super-delicious - is this normal?

I've recently been put on a very low dose of thyroid medication, and have noticed that I've been enjoying water a lot more than I have been for some time now. Same thing with food. Is this normal? Is my thyroid medication making my senses wake up, or allowing me to somehow enjoy food more?

A little more information: When I say "enjoy", I mean I eat a hot dog and it's a OHMYGODTHISHOTDOGISSOGOOD! kind of experience. Same thing with water - I feel like, "why have Diet Coke when I can enjoy this delicious water instead!" It's not that I'm super-thirsty, it's just that when I drink water it tastes so damn delicious I can't believe it.

I noticed it faded a bit a few weeks after I started my medication, but my dosage was recently upped again and food and water taste fantastic again. It's very marked.

I'm not too concerned but am curious if anyone else has experienced this.

I tried Googling this but my Google-fu failed me.

posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)

Best answer: A quick google search seems to show some connection.
posted by empath at 4:46 PM on November 25, 2011

Response by poster: Oh I feel foolish now! Thank you, empath.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 4:47 PM on November 25, 2011

Best answer: Don't feel foolish. At least the first few of those links don't make any connection at all. They merely mention using the anti-thyroid medication propylthiouracil as an example of a very bitter tasting chemical that some people are not as good at tasting as other people are. That has nothing to do with thyroid function or treatment, though, just the flavor of the chemical in the drug.

I noticed that treatment for my hypothyroidism has hugely enhanced my ability to taste bitterness. It's not always a good thing. I can't bear diet drinks.
posted by artistic verisimilitude at 6:05 PM on November 25, 2011

Best answer: Looks like low thyroid hormone is a possible cause of decreased sense of smell, which would have obvious effects on taste. Might be that you're not experiencing a boost in food flavorfullness, but rather the amelioration of one of your hypothyroid symptoms.

http://www.aafp.org/afp/2000/0115/p427.html

But, IANAD, IAA biology teacher, and I just googled "hypothyroid medication taste enhancement" and found this article.
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 6:14 PM on November 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I think <ade of Star Stuff is right. I do not think its the thyroid medication but that you had low thyroid levels in the first place.
posted by majortom1981 at 5:12 AM on November 26, 2011

Best answer: My sensitivity to flavors seems to be much greater than other people's now. I taste details in food that no one else in my family even notices until I mention it. I think there may have been some sort of physiological compensation during my years of untreated hypothyroidism, maybe an increase in the number of receptors to make up for the fact that the ones I had didn't work as well, or the other way around, something like that.
posted by artistic verisimilitude at 9:10 AM on November 26, 2011

Response by poster: Thank you all - I find everyone's input interesting and helpful.

I'm surprised there aren't more discussions about this subject on thyroid forums and blog posts, but I couldn't find them. Made of Star Stuff, thanks for letting me know what you googled.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 9:47 AM on November 27, 2011