I was sitting in the infusion chair waiting for my port to be accessed by the nurse she asked about any crazy see effects I have ever had from all the medications I have been on. I told her that out of the few medications I am not allergic to, I have been very fortunate to not experience any bad side effects. Sure, I have normal issues like nausea, headaches, diarrhea, but those seem pretty run of the mill. I think the universe overheard me and decided I was needing more antibiotic excitement in my life.
So fast forward a few days and I was well into my third round of Avycaz and my first round ever of Zyvox. My side effects were what I would consider run of the mill. My GI system was way off and my mouth tasted like metal. Nothing too horrible. Food tasted funny and after I ate or drank anything a strange lingering after taste seemed impossible to cover up. I found myself chewing on gum a lot because my own saliva tasted bad. I also noticed a strange fuzzy feeling in my mouth. Nothing overly concerning, but annoying all the same.
And then one day I was brushing my teeth and just so happened to see my tongue in the mirror. It looked.... black... and fuzzy! I stuck my tongue out all the way and sure enough my pink tongue was replaced with a black and somewhat fuzzy looking tongue. I was horrified. It was as disgusting as it sounds. After I showed my husband he cried, "Why did you show that to me before bed? Now I am going to have bad dreams." I still can't figure out why he wouldn't make out with me after that. I tried brushing my tongue to no avail. A quick Google search told me this is a benign side effect from none other than Zyvox. Lovely. It did explain my weird altered sense of taste and the grossness in my mouth, but it wasn't exactly the most attractive explanation.
I have been off Zyvox for three days now and my tongue is slowly transforming back into its old color and texture (although I still have a ways to go). This has been by far the strangest antibiotic side effect I have ever experienced.
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