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Long Lasting Impairment of Taste and Smell as Side Effect of Lithium Carbonate in a Cluster Headache Patient
Author(s) -
de Coo Ilse F.,
Haan Joost
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
headache: the journal of head and face pain
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.14
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1526-4610
pISSN - 0017-8748
DOI - 10.1111/head.12872
Subject(s) - dysgeusia , hyposmia , lithium carbonate , cluster headache , lithium (medication) , taste disorder , side effect (computer science) , medicine , taste , cluster (spacecraft) , anosmia , pediatrics , anesthesia , psychology , adverse effect , disease , ion , physics , covid-19 , quantum mechanics , neuroscience , migraine , computer science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , ionic bonding , programming language
Background Preventive treatment with lithium carbonate is a therapeutic option for chronic cluster headache. Lithium can lead to a broad spectrum of severe side effects, many of which are generally unknown. Case description One week after starting treatment with lithium, a 55‐year‐old man with chronic cluster headache noticed a strange and unpleasant taste of various foods and a diminished smell. After 4 weeks, he decided to stop the therapy because of these complaints, but 9 months later both taste and smell still had not returned to normal. Discussion We present the first description of long‐lasting dysgeusia and hyposmia as a side effect of lithium therapy in cluster headache. Dysgeusia has only rarely been reported as a side effect of lithium in other conditions and hyposmia has not previously been reported. Physicians should be aware of this rare, but severe, side effect when prescribing lithium.