Why do I feel bitter in my mouth when I wake up in the morning? What is the reason?

When I wake up in the morning, my mouth is extremely bitter and dry. Even though I brushed my teeth at night, there is still a bad smell the next day. Moreover, food seems to have no flavor and nothing tastes good. What’s going on?

1. Bitter taste in the mouth in the morning is mostly caused by dampness and heat in the liver and gallbladder

Patients feel a distinct bitter taste in their mouths, accompanied by dry mouth and tongue, distension and pain in the flanks, short and yellow urine, etc. These symptoms are often diagnosed as damp-heat in the liver and gallbladder in traditional Chinese medicine. Clinically, patients with liver and gallbladder damp-heat types such as acute hepatitis, acute cholecystitis, and acute urethritis often feel a bitter taste in the mouth. The symptoms of bitter taste in the mouth can be quickly improved by taking Chinese medicines such as Plantain, Centella asiatica, and Artemisia capillaris that can clear away heat and dampness, and soothe the liver and gallbladder.

2. Bitter taste in the mouth in the morning is sometimes caused by emotions

The modern work and life pressure makes a large number of people suffer from long-term work mental stress, irregular life, insufficient sleep and rest, lack of exercise, etc., which causes bitter taste in the mouth; excessive smoking, alcoholism, snoring, sleeping with the mouth open, etc. are also prone to dry mouth and bitter taste in the mouth.

Psychogenic or emotional bitter taste in the mouth often occurs or worsens when one is nervous, angry, irritable, anxious, fearful, restless, or suffering from insomnia. Among 286 patients with bitter taste in the mouth investigated and analyzed by domestic doctors, 171 (60%) suffered from psychogenic bitter taste in the mouth. They also had functional gastrointestinal diseases such as functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome. Patients suffering from neurosis may experience alternating or simultaneous symptoms such as psychogenic bitter taste in the mouth, psychogenic bad breath, psychogenic foreign body sensation in the throat and psychogenic vomiting.

3. Bitter taste in the mouth in the morning is due to poor gallbladder function

A bitter taste in the mouth is often caused by poor gallbladder function, especially a reaction of patients with gallbladder diseases (cholecystitis, cholelithiasis, etc.). Some people with poor gastric motility and esophageal inflammation may also have bile reflux into the stomach, which can also cause bitter taste in the mouth.

Stomach heat and bitter taste in the mouth, esophagitis, chronic gastritis, poor gastric motility, bile reflux, accompanied by symptoms such as heartburn may also cause bitter taste in the mouth. If the diet is improper, the gastrointestinal function will be sluggish, and the food will stay in the gastrointestinal tract for too long, which can easily produce dampness and heat, causing a bitter taste in the mouth. Eating too much spicy food can also cause a bitter taste in the mouth.

4. Bitter taste in the mouth in the morning is sometimes caused by certain diseases

There are many reasons for bitter taste in the mouth in the morning, such as people with digestive system, respiratory system, and cardiovascular system diseases; people with oral diseases, such as gingivitis, bleeding gums, and certain infectious diseases; people who are often tired, lack of sleep, excessive smoking, and alcoholism; people with certain tumors, etc., can all experience bitter taste in the mouth.