'If the odor and taste are so bad that it is affecting how they take the medications, they should discuss this with their provider to see if other options are available.' 'Despite the problems with the taste or odor of medications, patients need to understand the importance of taking their medication as prescribed,' said Warner.

In Warner's experience, he's heard that the blood pressure drug diltiazem smells 'strongly like plastic,' the diuretic Spironolactone has a 'minty, menthol smell,' and that the antibiotic cephalexin simply has 'an awful smell.' Warner, the associate director of pharmacy at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y. 'While I am not aware of any studies that have assessed adherence in patients that take medication that has an offensive taste or odor, I have no doubt that this has an effect on compliance,' said Timothy J. As a result a doctor may be clueless that the reason their patient nauseous is because the drug is hard on the nose, not hard on the stomach especially because the typical side effects of metformin include nausea as well as diarrhea and flatulence.įoul Smelling Drugs Means People Stop Medication Local pharmacists, not doctors, are the professionals who routinely have contact with prescribed medication, said May. Russell May, a co-author of the clinical observation and a professor at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy in Athens. 'A physician may prescribe a drug and as far as seeing the drug, they may never have seen the tablet before and certainly never tried smelling it,' said J. Now these doctors want to warn other physicians to be on the lookout for stinky drugs. But a doctor may have no idea that your medication tastes like fish.Ī group of family physicians in Georgia were surprised to learn that many of their diabetes patients had stopped taking a well-known medicine called metformin because it smelled like 'dead fish,' according to a clinical observation published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. 16, 2010— - Any good doctor will know about a drug's side effects, both brand names and generics before they prescribe it.

Drug smells like burnt rubber