Unplanned- but Interesting- Ibuprofen + Beer Taste Buds Experiment

[micraftbeer]

I ran into this a few years ago and forgot about it until it re-appeared this week for me. On a schedule of ibuprofen to address some long-term ache, and my beer didn't taste good. But this week, it was on a much more grand scale.

I've got a summer party coming up and my beer is the spotlight, planning to fill a 4-tap jockey box. To provide only the best, I've brewed 5 beers over the last few months, and I was tasting the beers to select the ones I'll share. But I'm also trying to recover from a leg injury and am on a schedule of ibuprofen 4x/day. I've got a wide variety of beers and below were my rough tasting notes. A cursory search at my local Google library shows this is a real thing, and ibuprofen/NSAIDs affect the taste buds of "salty" and/or "sweet", by some unknown mechanism.

1. Dusseldorf Alt beer (normally a malty beer with a decent hop component). Tasted absolutely horrible. So many garbage-y flavors, I almost dumped the keg on the spot. It had some fermentation issues with an older yeast pouch and took a really long time to start. So wasn't a great fermentation.

2. American IPA (this one has a lot of citrusy hop flavors and high bitterness). Tasted OK, but the hop bitterness was rough. I got the bitterness edge from the hops, but not the full-flavored citrus hop blast.

3. Cream Ale (first time brewing this, so I've only ever tasted it sans-ibuprofen after cold crash and before carbonation. It seemed to be tasting light with a slight tartness.) Tasted super-bland. Probably less flavor than Mich Ultra. I figured people might enjoy it because of that, but was not at all what I was trying to make with this beer.

4. Scottish Ale (light and smooth tasting ale with mild grain taste and no real hop bitterness). Tasted pretty decent Maybe a slight bit more tart up front on the palate, but smoothed out nicely.

5. Wee Heavy (smooth tasting, but with a notable caramel malt presence along with yeast esters). Tasted pretty decent. Overall, tasted pretty well balanced.

I'm going to stop the ibuprofen Friday at noon to give me 24 hours free before our party, and I'll of course sample again.

Anyone else ever run into this?

 

[sibelman]

Never heard of (or experienced) this, though my perception of beer is not consistent.

Does acetaminophen have these effects? If not, you might be able to get adequate pain relief substituting it wholly or partially for ibuprofen.

 

[day_trippr]

acetaminophen and alcohol can be a hazardous mix...

 

[sibelman]

Acetaminophen and alcohol per healthline.com

Ibuprofen and alcohol per healthline.com

Superficial "research" did not help me to understand the comparative risks.

 

[Broken Crow]

I had a post prepared to go, but it sounded 'preachy' so I deleted it. Thing is; As to the original question: When you actually take the 'recommeded dosage' after about a day it does affect your taste buds (and often sense of smell)... I think it's it's one of those 'saturation level' things but I can't actually remember.
As to the 'preachy' part: I've known since I was a teen that taking meds actually slows healing and studies back in the 90's bear this out. I also know that Ibuprofen has a major liver impact that in turn impacts kidney function and adding alcohol is a double-whammy for the liver that slowly poisons the kidneys but you won't notice it while you're still young...the damage to the kidneys show up when you get older and have to get up 10 times a night to piss and eventually need medical attention that kinda wrecks your quality of life (and probably your lifespan).
Not trying to be preachy, but my own personal choice has always been to only take pain-killers when the pain is unbearable and never as often as the label suggests.

 

[fluketamer]

4 times a day is a lot. you should only take 600 mg or less four times a day. and definately not long term. it can affect your kidneys .

i dont doubt that in can affect your taste buds also.

i suspect it may take longer than 24 hours to return. it is true that if it is affect of medication possibly stopping it will help. but if the nsaids affected taste bud growth or regeneration it may take a lot more time.

if the pain is local you could consider taking a topical nsaid which should decrease the amount absorbed systemically.
maybe that will have less affect on taste

 

[Broken Crow]

^^ I can highly recommend topical cayenne...buy it or make some with stuff you probably have around the kitchen: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=topical+cayenne&ia=web

 

[micraftbeer]

Note that I wasn't trying to group-source medical or pharmaceutical advice- that's what I went to the doctor for! I was just sharing the effect on beer taste while on a regimen of NSAID. If that situation applies to you, thought it might be useful to be aware of.

I also found it interesting that different beers seemed to have different impact.

Interesting thoughts on whether or not my 24-hour drying out period will be enough... I hope so. I've been planning and preparing these beers for months!

 

[Agent]

I'll be interested in your follow-up tasting notes.

Some of the comments reminded me of people who dumped bad tasting beer without realizing they just had covid messing with their senses.

 

[mac_1103]

I also know that Ibuprofen has a major liver impact that in turn impacts kidney function and adding alcohol is a double-whammy for the liver

Acetaminophen is far worse for the liver than ibuprofen.

you should only take 600 mg or less four times a day

Prescription strength ibuprofen is 800 mg q 6h.

I have pretty serious arthritis in my hands and feet. I take quite a bit of ibuprofen (intermittently; a few days at a time; it either helps or it doesn't and then I stop). I have not noticed a difference in the taste of anything when I'm taking it vs not taking it. Perhaps it's already permanently dulled my taste buds.

 

[fluketamer]

"Prescription strength ibuprofen is 800 mg q 6h."



in the ER we never recommend more than 400 q4 600 q6 or 800 q8. (easy to remember that way).

so as not to get too close to the max 3200mg per day

you may be risking it with 800 q6 (3200mg max dose)

if you got pain that requires 800 q6 you may want to seek alternative treatments if possible.

imo

 

[Deadalus]

dysgeusia

 

[sibelman]

planning and preparing these beers for months!

Even if your tongue isn't up to snuff, I'm sure your partygoers will love your beers. Best wishes, @micraftbeer

 

[micraftbeer]

dysgeusia

Based on what Cleveland Clinic said, I might have as a backup this trick they listed...

• Rinse your mouth before meals. Rinsing your mouth with a solution of baking soda and water neutralizes acid in your mouth so what you eat tastes like it should.

 

[DuncB]

Based on what Cleveland Clinic said, I might have as a backup this trick they listed...

• Rinse your mouth before meals. Rinsing your mouth with a solution of baking soda and water neutralizes acid in your mouth so what you eat tastes like it should.

Use your pH meter to check your saliva pH, I have not heard that salivary pH drop an issue with NSAID use. If it was demineralisation of teeth would be an issue with their use.
Avoid / reduce NSAIDS if you are recovering from a fracture as the anti inflammatory inhibits bone healing.

Perhaps though the use of a selective COX inhibitor NSAID such as celecoxib might not have the same side effects as it is a more focussed anti inflammatory, worth a try via the GP.

 

[MaxStout]

You mentioned that it's for an upcoming summer party, so presumably you plan to serve it to others. I take it you'll be informing your guests of your ibuprofen additions to the beer and the milligrams of it per serving?

 

[Skeeter686]

For some reason, I thought that ibuprofen wasn't processed by the liver. I thought the kidneys filtered it out. Perhaps I've been mistaken.

 

[rmr9]

Acetaminophen is far worse for the liver than ibuprofen.

Prescription strength ibuprofen is 800 mg q 6h.

I have pretty serious arthritis in my hands and feet. I take quite a bit of ibuprofen (intermittently; a few days at a time; it either helps or it doesn't and then I stop). I have not noticed a difference in the taste of anything when I'm taking it vs not taking it. Perhaps it's already permanently dulled my taste buds.

I remember a professor in grad school saying that if acetaminophen was discovered/invented today it would not get approval from the FDA due to liver toxicity

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw...

"Ibuprofen is processed in the body in the following ways:

• Absorption
  After swallowing an ibuprofen tablet or caplet, it dissolves in the stomach and is absorbed into the bloodstream. Peak serum concentrations are reached 1–2 hours after taking it orally.
• Metabolism
  The liver metabolizes most of the ibuprofen into inactive compounds, mainly through glucuronidation. The enzyme α-methylacyl-coenzyme A racemase also inverts 50–65% of R-ibuprofen to the S enantiomer, which seems to happen mainly in the liver but may also occur in the gut.
• Excretion
  The kidneys quickly and completely excrete the inactive metabolites and a small amount of unchanged ibuprofen. Within four hours of taking it, 95% of the dose has been eliminated in the urine. The elimination half-life of ibuprofen is 1.9–2.2 hours, and it usually takes 4–5 half lives, or about 10 hours, for the body to completely eliminate it. "
  
  
  Cheers!

 

[day_trippr]

I remember a professor in grad school saying that if acetaminophen was discovered/invented today it would not get approval from the FDA due to liver toxicity

I - and many doctors I've asked, including my big time Emergency Department DIL - feel the same way...

Cheers!

 

[rmr9]

I - and many doctors I've asked, including my big time Emergency Department DIL - feel the same way...

Cheers!

When I was developing liver models for drug development we used acetaminophen to induce/model liver toxicity. We don’t even keep it in the house anymore, ibuprofen all the way

 

[Deadalus]

Based on what Cleveland Clinic said, I might have as a backup this trick they listed...

• Rinse your mouth before meals. Rinsing your mouth with a solution of baking soda and water neutralizes acid in your mouth so what you eat tastes like it should.

I didn't get that far...you've got me looking up all my medicines and at least 2 can affect taste!

 

[micraftbeer]

This is a pretty thorough article. Pretty heavy in the chemistry & medical approach, though. Basically says there are a bunch of drugs that affect taste & smell perceptions. But individual genetics are also a factor in sensitivity. It's a big deal in the medical world because people on medicines that find foods taste bad while on medicines lead to decreased quality of life.

Sadly, it doesn't tell me how long after I stop taking the ibuprofen dosage will my beer taste good again!


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6051304/

 

[micraftbeer]

Post-party report. I took my last ibuprofen Friday morning. Sampled my beer Saturday about 1:00 PM. It still had the off flavors.

I didn't let that ruin the party for me, and I still had the variety of beers.

At some point, in the late afternoon, I was mid-drink and it was like suddenly a switch was thrown, and I could taste these great malt flavors that had been hidden from me up until that point.

I don't know if it was just more time passing since the last pill, or if repeated sampling had resuscitated my taste buds!

 

[Yooper]

When I was developing liver models for drug development we used acetaminophen to induce/model liver toxicity. We don’t even keep it in the house anymore, ibuprofen all the way

We don't have any acetaminiphen in our house either, and while I am 'supposed' to take Mobic 15 mg for my joint disease pain, I don't take that either unless I'm pretty much incapacitated. I haven't noticed that Mobic affects my sensory perception when I judge- but this is a very interesting thread @micraftbeer as I seriously never even thought about this before.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's definitely made me think.

 

[Deadalus]

We don't have any acetaminiphen in our house either, and while I am 'supposed' to take Mobic 15 mg for my joint disease pain, I don't take that either unless I'm pretty much incapacitated. I haven't noticed that Mobic affects my sensory perception when I judge- but this is a very interesting thread @micraftbeer as I seriously never even thought about this before.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's definitely made me think.

I looked for this one one as I take it regularly. It didn't show up on most of the general lists for drugs affecting taste and when looking specifically for taste side effects with meloxicam it stated unpleasant aftertaste, when it was mentioned at all. I find it does have a bitter aftertaste if left on the tongue too long or if it catches in the throat. It can be hard on the stomach, as many nsaids are when used regularly.

 

[rmchair]

Probably your beer warmed up. I thought the reason for beer was so you didnt need pills. Its kind of like cigars and….nevermind.

 

[BrewZer]

I thought the reason for beer was so you didnt need pills.

I had to read that three times. The first two times, it came out "I thought the reason for beer was so you didn't need pils."