Pregnancy symptoms can range from the ordinary and mundane like morning sickness to the truly bizarre like pica (craving and/or consuming non-food items during pregnancy). One of the more common but less known symptoms you might experience during your pregnancy is dysgeusia.

Dysgeusia is the medical term for a relatively simple condition. It means that your sense of taste has changed. During pregnancy, you might experience a metallic or a sour taste in your mouth, even when you’re not eating anything at all.

What Causes the Metal Taste?

The hormones involved in pregnancy, especially estrogen, seem to be connected to your sense of taste. During pregnancy, your estrogen levels can change dramatically, causing your sense of taste to vary as well wildly.

This is also part of the reason that many pregnant women report an increased sense of smell during pregnancy; smell and taste are intimately related. In fact, for some women, the metallic taste in the mouth during pregnancy can be associated with the sense of smell.

How Long Does This Weird Taste Thing Last?

For most women, that metallic taste in the mouth during pregnancy will either level off or disappear after the end of the first trimester. That’s the point at which your pregnancy hormones start to level off, and things start to get back to normal.

What Can I Do About The Metallic Taste During Pregnancy?

There are several things you can try. You can eat sour foods like citrus drinks or lemonade. You can eat foods marinated with vinegar. Pickles are a good choice, although you’ll want to watch out for the salt content. These foods can in some cases mitigate the metallic taste, but they’re also likely to help increase your production of saliva, helping to wash out that taste.

In some cases, you might have a metallic taste in your mouth during pregnancy due to your prenatal vitamin. Don’t stop taking it without talking to your doctor, but if the metallic taste is severe, do speak to your doctor about the possibility of switching vitamins.