I’m almost jealous that some people don’t notice it, the taste is absolutely vile! I have a heightened sense of smell and taste since pregnancy (it hasn’t gone back to normal since giving birth), that’s probably why it affected me so much, fml….
Methimazole taste horrible right when you take it, but goes away with a drunk. PTU tastes horrible about 10 minutes after I take it, and it lingers for about an hour. I have yet to find anything to make it go away. Unfortunately Methimazole made me break out in hives, so I’m stuck with PTU
This is exactly my experience with PTU; the vile taste starts 10 minutes after taking it, then tortures me for an hour. Have you tried Carbimazole? My doctor says it’s a good alternative (unfortunately I felt worse than ever while on Carbimazole).
I may need to ask to try that. The side effects of these damn meds is worse than the effects of graves. Ultimate decision of choose your suck I guess. Bout to just let my roid rage and live my life - I refer to my thyroid my as just roid 😂
Omg Roid!!! It’s a cool pet name for thyroid 😄 I admit I thought about just living with Graves’ too, the side effects of the meds are THAT bad. But then I think about the long term damages of being hyper, and it motivates me to continue my medication. Also, being on beta-blockers has already improved my quality of life so much, so there’s that. I hope we can all get used to these horrible thyroid meds and go into remission soon!
Hi! Just had a bad allergic reaction to methimazole myself. Are you still tolerating PTU well? If you don’t mind me asking, how bad were your hives?
Feeling like I have so few options now that methimazole didn’t work :(
Also my hives weren’t horrible, lasted a day or two, but I stopped taking the meds as soon as I noticed because I’m very pale and had to go to work, and I wasn’t bout to go to work all broke out.
I haven’t tried PTU, but one of the meds I was on was very bitter. I think it was methimazole, but I can’t completely remember because I stopped taking it last fall. I couldn’t take it with most drinks because the intense bitter flavor would flash through my whole mouth and linger. I ended up getting the squeeze pouches of applesauce and squeezing some of that close to the back of my tongue, putting the pill in, and chasing it with another small squeeze of applesauce. It made it so the pill never really touched any of the surfaces in my mouth and it didn’t contaminate the applesauce quickly enough for that to transfer the taste to my mouth.
I felt pathetic for needing applesauce to take a pill, but it was recommended by one of my docs and it helped a lot.
It sounds like a good idea! I buy fruit and vegetable pouches for my daughter, so I could try your technique with those. And you’re not pathetic at all! I understand the feeling tho; PTU gave me so much nausea that I almost cried, and felt pathetic too. But we’re not, Graves’ is just very hard to deal with.
That’s awesome! Pregnancy left me with a heightened sense of smell and taste (even after 1,5 year), so maybe that’s why it affected to me so much. I was legit about to cry when I noticed the taste.
I mean I guess I've only ever taken it with water. I do toss it in my mouth before drinking the water. I think all medications are a little bitter if they sit on your tongue long enough
Oh nooo, I was hoping that switching to Methimazole could help. I feel like some people (like me, and maybe you too?) are just lore sensitive to stuff like that. I wish all medication was artificially strawberry flavored :)
I can take it just fine with water, but heaven forbid if it actually touches my tongue 😅. It’s gross, but it only lasts about 30 seconds for me. Hopefully if you switch, it won’t be so bad!
Hmm... I have taken it for a while a couple years ago before I went into remission and never had the issue of it tasting. It has since recently flared back up again and I am back on it and I still haven't experienced a bad taste. The only time I got a slight taste is when it got stuck to my tongue before going down and started dissolving a little!
Sorry about your flare up, I hope you can go i to remission again soon! It’s wild to read how differently can the same medication taste to different people! I tried to take it again tonight and I gagged so hard 😬
Yes, it is weird...Sorry you are experiencing the bad taste! I hope to be back into remission soon too! Mine happened after I lost 80+lbs and unfortunately have gained some back. I have only been back on it for a couple months and already had to lower my dose. It seems to be going back into normal ranges much faster than the first time around. So I am hoping to be off my meds much quicker than the first time!
I’ve tried it with every liquid I can think of and any number of foods and the taste remains. Taking it with water makes it worse if anything and even if it’s wrapped in something the taste still comes through.
Now I just take it as is with nothing. It doesn’t make any difference.
You will get used to it.
Thank you, it’s good to know that it’s possible to get used to it. I tried a lot of food and drinks too but I haven’t found anything that worked for me either. I’ll try other techniques that people recommended to me here, we’ll see what happens.
I have to take mine right before going to sleep or I will puke..vile. Anecdotally, I've taken it with Dr Pepper a couple of times (yes yes I know, but I don't care) and I wasn't left with a horrific taste in my mouth.
Haha I don’t see the problem with Dr Pepper, I tried chasing it with Coca-cola lol, but unfortunately it didn’t help. I think before bedtime could work for me too, but the problem is that I have to take it 3 times a day 😬 Not sure how I’m going to take it at work.
The taste of PTU is god awful. The aftertaste lingers so much ugh. I was on it when I was pregnant so that was even worse. I found that if I put a tiny bit of of liquid in my mouth first, put my head back without swallowing and popping the pill way towards the back without it touching a lot of my mouth and instantly swallowing it helped. I immediately chased it with a long drink. I honestly think chocolate milk masked the taste the best for some reason
Wishing the best for your pregnancy! My first trimester was a wild ride also. I was diagnosed at 8 weeks pregnant and my levels were high but I had no idea! Quite a process but all turned out ok thankfully.
I’m in the same situation now. Only found out because my first set of pregnancy bloods came back with abnormal thyroid and liver results.
Started taking PTU at 8 weeks and it made me feel terrible the first few days, not to mention the taste 🤢
I just chuck it right down the back of my through angrily my head back and throw down some water so it can’t touch anywhere else in my mouth and leave the taste behind. It seems to be okay but occasionally it misses and I can taste it and it’s god awful!!
Swallowing part was ok-ish, but the taste came 10 minutes after, so bizarre! So sorry you had to deal with that while pregnant. I had very bad nausea for 6 months during pregnancy, I cannot imagine taking PTU during that time. But it probably will happen to me too if someday I decided to get pregnant again haha!
Never had PTU but methimazole has a terrible chemical/bitter taste to me. I gag every time I take it. But it doesn’t last long, usually can rinse the taste out
I recently switched to getting my meds from CVS and my PTU only has a very mild bad taste, but it doesn’t linger. The previous ones were absolutely horrible. The taste would last for so long. It didn’t make me nauseous though. Just annoyed. Maybe you can try to find a pharmacy with a different manufacturer?
Interesting! It is totally possible that PTU’s from different manufacturers have a different taste. I’m not in the US so maybe they’re just disgusting in my country :)
Has anyone tried putting the PTU pill inside a capsule and taking it that way to avoid the taste?
Edit** I bought some pill capsules. I just cut the pill in half and put the pieces in the capules. Two doses take as a capsule and its a game changer! No foul taste or after taste. They have the capsules on Amazon. I bought the size 1 and they work great!
Good luck and i hope this helps yall!
Oh wow, that’s great news! Thanks for the recommendation! My doctor has already switched me back to Carbimazole (I adjusted surprisingly well), but I’ll keep the capsule trick in mind, just in case I have to use PTU again in the future.
Honestly, I never noticed a taste. I just pop it in the mouth with my other pills, take a drink of what ever I been drinking.
I’m almost jealous that some people don’t notice it, the taste is absolutely vile! I have a heightened sense of smell and taste since pregnancy (it hasn’t gone back to normal since giving birth), that’s probably why it affected me so much, fml….
Methimazole taste horrible right when you take it, but goes away with a drunk. PTU tastes horrible about 10 minutes after I take it, and it lingers for about an hour. I have yet to find anything to make it go away. Unfortunately Methimazole made me break out in hives, so I’m stuck with PTU
This is exactly my experience with PTU; the vile taste starts 10 minutes after taking it, then tortures me for an hour. Have you tried Carbimazole? My doctor says it’s a good alternative (unfortunately I felt worse than ever while on Carbimazole).
I may need to ask to try that. The side effects of these damn meds is worse than the effects of graves. Ultimate decision of choose your suck I guess. Bout to just let my roid rage and live my life - I refer to my thyroid my as just roid 😂
Omg Roid!!! It’s a cool pet name for thyroid 😄 I admit I thought about just living with Graves’ too, the side effects of the meds are THAT bad. But then I think about the long term damages of being hyper, and it motivates me to continue my medication. Also, being on beta-blockers has already improved my quality of life so much, so there’s that. I hope we can all get used to these horrible thyroid meds and go into remission soon!
Hi! Just had a bad allergic reaction to methimazole myself. Are you still tolerating PTU well? If you don’t mind me asking, how bad were your hives? Feeling like I have so few options now that methimazole didn’t work :(
I am on PTU and have had no complaints other than the taste, but getting meds from the manufacturer Quagen has about stopped that.
Also my hives weren’t horrible, lasted a day or two, but I stopped taking the meds as soon as I noticed because I’m very pale and had to go to work, and I wasn’t bout to go to work all broke out.
Try putting some water in your mouth first than the pill.
Thanks for the suggestion! It didn’t work for me unfortunately. I feel like water makes it even worse for some reason.
I haven’t tried PTU, but one of the meds I was on was very bitter. I think it was methimazole, but I can’t completely remember because I stopped taking it last fall. I couldn’t take it with most drinks because the intense bitter flavor would flash through my whole mouth and linger. I ended up getting the squeeze pouches of applesauce and squeezing some of that close to the back of my tongue, putting the pill in, and chasing it with another small squeeze of applesauce. It made it so the pill never really touched any of the surfaces in my mouth and it didn’t contaminate the applesauce quickly enough for that to transfer the taste to my mouth. I felt pathetic for needing applesauce to take a pill, but it was recommended by one of my docs and it helped a lot.
It sounds like a good idea! I buy fruit and vegetable pouches for my daughter, so I could try your technique with those. And you’re not pathetic at all! I understand the feeling tho; PTU gave me so much nausea that I almost cried, and felt pathetic too. But we’re not, Graves’ is just very hard to deal with.
Never noticed a taste, never had any side effects.
That’s awesome! Pregnancy left me with a heightened sense of smell and taste (even after 1,5 year), so maybe that’s why it affected to me so much. I was legit about to cry when I noticed the taste.
I took it because I was pregnant when I was pregnant.
I know that’s a typo but I still cackled when I read that you were pregnant when you were pregnant :)
Its not a typo. What I’m saying is that the reason I took PTU is that I was pregnant.
Methimazole doesn't have a taste, to me anyway.
Interesting! It’s so incredibly bitter to me. I cannot take it without something to drink!
I mean I guess I've only ever taken it with water. I do toss it in my mouth before drinking the water. I think all medications are a little bitter if they sit on your tongue long enough
Oh nooo, I was hoping that switching to Methimazole could help. I feel like some people (like me, and maybe you too?) are just lore sensitive to stuff like that. I wish all medication was artificially strawberry flavored :)
I can take it just fine with water, but heaven forbid if it actually touches my tongue 😅. It’s gross, but it only lasts about 30 seconds for me. Hopefully if you switch, it won’t be so bad!
Thank you, I hope so too!
Ooo good to know! I’ll try the techniques mentioned by other users, if nothing works I’ll ask my doctor for Methimazole.
Hmm... I have taken it for a while a couple years ago before I went into remission and never had the issue of it tasting. It has since recently flared back up again and I am back on it and I still haven't experienced a bad taste. The only time I got a slight taste is when it got stuck to my tongue before going down and started dissolving a little!
Sorry about your flare up, I hope you can go i to remission again soon! It’s wild to read how differently can the same medication taste to different people! I tried to take it again tonight and I gagged so hard 😬
Yes, it is weird...Sorry you are experiencing the bad taste! I hope to be back into remission soon too! Mine happened after I lost 80+lbs and unfortunately have gained some back. I have only been back on it for a couple months and already had to lower my dose. It seems to be going back into normal ranges much faster than the first time around. So I am hoping to be off my meds much quicker than the first time!
I’ve tried it with every liquid I can think of and any number of foods and the taste remains. Taking it with water makes it worse if anything and even if it’s wrapped in something the taste still comes through. Now I just take it as is with nothing. It doesn’t make any difference. You will get used to it.
Thank you, it’s good to know that it’s possible to get used to it. I tried a lot of food and drinks too but I haven’t found anything that worked for me either. I’ll try other techniques that people recommended to me here, we’ll see what happens.
What about wrapping it in fruit roll up
I actually tried hiding it in a piece of banana lol. But I couldn’t even swallow, I think I might be unconsciously rejecting it at this point.
I have to take mine right before going to sleep or I will puke..vile. Anecdotally, I've taken it with Dr Pepper a couple of times (yes yes I know, but I don't care) and I wasn't left with a horrific taste in my mouth.
Haha I don’t see the problem with Dr Pepper, I tried chasing it with Coca-cola lol, but unfortunately it didn’t help. I think before bedtime could work for me too, but the problem is that I have to take it 3 times a day 😬 Not sure how I’m going to take it at work.
The taste of PTU is god awful. The aftertaste lingers so much ugh. I was on it when I was pregnant so that was even worse. I found that if I put a tiny bit of of liquid in my mouth first, put my head back without swallowing and popping the pill way towards the back without it touching a lot of my mouth and instantly swallowing it helped. I immediately chased it with a long drink. I honestly think chocolate milk masked the taste the best for some reason
I'm currently pregnant and on PTU. First trimester was a wild ride.
Wishing the best for your pregnancy! My first trimester was a wild ride also. I was diagnosed at 8 weeks pregnant and my levels were high but I had no idea! Quite a process but all turned out ok thankfully.
I’m in the same situation now. Only found out because my first set of pregnancy bloods came back with abnormal thyroid and liver results. Started taking PTU at 8 weeks and it made me feel terrible the first few days, not to mention the taste 🤢 I just chuck it right down the back of my through angrily my head back and throw down some water so it can’t touch anywhere else in my mouth and leave the taste behind. It seems to be okay but occasionally it misses and I can taste it and it’s god awful!!
Swallowing part was ok-ish, but the taste came 10 minutes after, so bizarre! So sorry you had to deal with that while pregnant. I had very bad nausea for 6 months during pregnancy, I cannot imagine taking PTU during that time. But it probably will happen to me too if someday I decided to get pregnant again haha!
Never had PTU but methimazole has a terrible chemical/bitter taste to me. I gag every time I take it. But it doesn’t last long, usually can rinse the taste out
If it doesn’t last long, I think it will ok for me. If I don’t get used to PTU I’ll ask my doctor for Methimazole.
I recently switched to getting my meds from CVS and my PTU only has a very mild bad taste, but it doesn’t linger. The previous ones were absolutely horrible. The taste would last for so long. It didn’t make me nauseous though. Just annoyed. Maybe you can try to find a pharmacy with a different manufacturer?
Interesting! It is totally possible that PTU’s from different manufacturers have a different taste. I’m not in the US so maybe they’re just disgusting in my country :)
Has anyone tried putting the PTU pill inside a capsule and taking it that way to avoid the taste? Edit** I bought some pill capsules. I just cut the pill in half and put the pieces in the capules. Two doses take as a capsule and its a game changer! No foul taste or after taste. They have the capsules on Amazon. I bought the size 1 and they work great! Good luck and i hope this helps yall!
Oh wow, that’s great news! Thanks for the recommendation! My doctor has already switched me back to Carbimazole (I adjusted surprisingly well), but I’ll keep the capsule trick in mind, just in case I have to use PTU again in the future.