Dealing with Paxlovid Mouth
March 20, 2023 7:43 PM Subscribe
I've got COVID and have begun taking Paxlovid. Unfortunately I got Paxlovid Mouth immediately and am desperately seeking countermeasures. Cold water helps but is messing with my fever/chills situation. What helped you? I've got 5 more days of this. :(
Best answer: I asked this question a few months ago and marked the best answers. Of the recommendations suggested, I highly recommend Jolly Ranchers.
Good luck and get better soon!
posted by Toddles at 7:52 PM on March 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
Good luck and get better soon!
posted by Toddles at 7:52 PM on March 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Seconding Jolly Ranchers. Many years ago I was on a medication that also had a bad aftertaste (that one was a persistent metallic taste) and Jolly Ranchers helped tremendously.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:56 PM on March 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:56 PM on March 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: Covid brain robbed me of the ability to search prior questions. Thanks, all. Jolly Ranchers. Need em.
posted by The Adventure Begins at 7:57 PM on March 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by The Adventure Begins at 7:57 PM on March 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Yep, any flavored hard candy or lozenges. Also kombucha.
posted by greta simone at 7:57 PM on March 20, 2023
posted by greta simone at 7:57 PM on March 20, 2023
Jolly ranchers WITH SUGAR. And sweet gatorade (gatorade zero is fine).
And brushing your teeth and tongue with toothpaste and a soft-bristled brush anytime you wake up after a few hours' sleep. I think the sleeping lets the ill-effects build up, and interrupting that with the tongue brushing helped me tremendously.
Hang in there! The Paxlovid mouth goes away within a few hours of taking the final dose, in my experience.
posted by happy_cat at 8:19 PM on March 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
And brushing your teeth and tongue with toothpaste and a soft-bristled brush anytime you wake up after a few hours' sleep. I think the sleeping lets the ill-effects build up, and interrupting that with the tongue brushing helped me tremendously.
Hang in there! The Paxlovid mouth goes away within a few hours of taking the final dose, in my experience.
posted by happy_cat at 8:19 PM on March 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Mr. Armeowda went through this, and he swears by mentholated cough drops to drown out the metallic flavor.
It’s definitely a “fight fire with fire” sort of approach, but it might be useful if you find yourself on your third cherry Jolly Rancher in an row, and it still can’t mask the yuck.
posted by armeowda at 9:39 PM on March 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
It’s definitely a “fight fire with fire” sort of approach, but it might be useful if you find yourself on your third cherry Jolly Rancher in an row, and it still can’t mask the yuck.
posted by armeowda at 9:39 PM on March 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
I rolled with cough drops because I am always paranoid about developing a lingering cough when I have a bad respiratory infection (bad history for me there). So two birds, one bag of cough drops.
(Remember to watch out for the rebound. I tested positive after 4 days being clear once I finished the paxlovid and then had another 5-6 days of being positive. Unfortunately, I infected my wife on during the testing clear interregnum).
posted by srboisvert at 1:56 AM on March 21, 2023
(Remember to watch out for the rebound. I tested positive after 4 days being clear once I finished the paxlovid and then had another 5-6 days of being positive. Unfortunately, I infected my wife on during the testing clear interregnum).
posted by srboisvert at 1:56 AM on March 21, 2023
Chocolate-chip cookies worked best for me. Oreos did nothing, but two of the Chips Ahoy! knockoff cookies I get worked fairly well and gave me a few hours of respite.
posted by bryon at 2:06 AM on March 21, 2023
posted by bryon at 2:06 AM on March 21, 2023
Cinnamon mike and ikes and cinnamon altoids
posted by MadMadam at 5:41 AM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by MadMadam at 5:41 AM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Menthol-lyptus kind of lozenges worked for me. Mayo was the worst.
posted by lpsguy at 7:07 AM on March 21, 2023
posted by lpsguy at 7:07 AM on March 21, 2023
Ginger altoids (or the Trader Joe variety) and mint m&ms. The mint kind of overcomes the flavor and I could just passively melt one at a time.
posted by countrymod at 8:30 AM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by countrymod at 8:30 AM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Oh, I got it really bad. Cherry cough drops and Biotene rinse helped.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:40 AM on March 21, 2023
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:40 AM on March 21, 2023
Harney and Sons hot cinnamon spice tea, and cinnamon flavored gummies and hard candies.
Then be prepared to hate the flavor of cinnamon for a while afterwards because your brain associates it with illness and Paxlovid taste.
posted by slateyness at 1:44 PM on March 21, 2023
Then be prepared to hate the flavor of cinnamon for a while afterwards because your brain associates it with illness and Paxlovid taste.
posted by slateyness at 1:44 PM on March 21, 2023
Then be prepared to hate the flavor of cinnamon for a while afterwards because your brain associates it with illness and Paxlovid taste.
They had big bowls of ginger candies in the chemo suite and encouraged us to suck on them for nausea. It was over a year after treatment ended that the taste of ginger didn't make me sick by association. Also the smell of rubbing alcohol.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:29 PM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
They had big bowls of ginger candies in the chemo suite and encouraged us to suck on them for nausea. It was over a year after treatment ended that the taste of ginger didn't make me sick by association. Also the smell of rubbing alcohol.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:29 PM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
I went through all the Ginger Chews that my partner had leftover from being pregnant. Will probably always associate them with Covid, actually. But they at least give your mouth a strong enough taste that it overpowers the weird coin-metal flavor of the paxlovid.
FWIW, maybe due to paxlovid or maybe not, I had about the mildest case of Covid of anyone I know. Not planning to get Covid again but if I did, I'd 100% take the paxlovid again and just buy another truckload of Gin-gins.
posted by Kadin2048 at 4:34 PM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
FWIW, maybe due to paxlovid or maybe not, I had about the mildest case of Covid of anyone I know. Not planning to get Covid again but if I did, I'd 100% take the paxlovid again and just buy another truckload of Gin-gins.
posted by Kadin2048 at 4:34 PM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
My Paxlovid mouth was pretty mild, but I had cinnamon-flavored sugarfree gum around the house and that seemed to do the trick.
One thing I like about gum is, it can last a lot longer than a piece of (say) hard candy and also, helps reduce tooth decay whereas hard candy helps promote it.
Also FYI I like to chew the gum for just a little while and then tuck into the side of my cheek. That way it leeches out just a little bit of the flavor over a very long period. But that was enough to counteract the metallic taste for me. And if the taste ever gets especially bad you can go back to actually chewing the gum for a while and that will definitely clear it out.
posted by flug at 5:54 PM on March 21, 2023
One thing I like about gum is, it can last a lot longer than a piece of (say) hard candy and also, helps reduce tooth decay whereas hard candy helps promote it.
Also FYI I like to chew the gum for just a little while and then tuck into the side of my cheek. That way it leeches out just a little bit of the flavor over a very long period. But that was enough to counteract the metallic taste for me. And if the taste ever gets especially bad you can go back to actually chewing the gum for a while and that will definitely clear it out.
posted by flug at 5:54 PM on March 21, 2023
peanut butter pretzels. The salt helped a lot and the peanut butter stuck to my tongue, adding longer lasting sugary protection.
posted by jindc at 8:14 AM on March 24, 2023
posted by jindc at 8:14 AM on March 24, 2023
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by iamabot at 7:45 PM on March 20, 2023 [1 favorite]