Long Lasting Impairment of Taste and Smell as Side Effect of Lithium Carbonate in a Cluster Headache Patient.
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.


METHODS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Ilse F
IF
de Coo
Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.|Department of Neurology, Alrijne Hospital, Leiderdorp, The Netherlands.
Joost
J
Haan
D002491:Central Nervous System Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003027:Cluster Headache / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016651:Lithium Carbonate / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000857:Olfaction Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D012903:Smell / Q000187:drug effects; D013649:Taste / Q000187:drug effects; D013651:Taste Disorders / Q000209:etiology*
D002491:Central Nervous System Agents; D016651:Lithium Carbonate
cluster headache; dysgeusia; hyposmia; lithium; prophylactic treatment; side effect