NVP Symptoms and Effects
Date: 2001-01-08

Question:
I am in my third pregnancy. With the first two, and with this one, I had a 'bad taste in my mouth', which was more prevalent in the first trimester, but continued on throughout the pregnancy. Along with this taste, I also have an excessive amount of saliva. This taste is by far the WORST part of being pregnant and I wish I could come up with a 'cure'. I am wondering if you know of anyone else out there who has experienced the same thing and has suggestions. The only thing I have discovered thus far that seems to help some is sucking on a slice of lemon. I would be very grateful for any help you could offer. Thanks!

Answer:
We definitely hear of the problems you describe - "bad taste in the mouth", and excessive saliva. However, you do not indicate whether you also suffer from nausea and/or vomiting (NVP). If you also suffer from NVP, NVP treatment might help minimize the saliva and bad taste problem.

Unfortunately, we are not aware of a "miracle" cure for excessive salivation or bad taste, nor are there any reported evidence-based studies that have looked into this problem. Your lemon solution is a good one, along with sucking sour candies, ginger candies, gums and mints.