Dry Mouth: Causes, Medications, and What You Can Do

When your mouth feels like cotton, you’re not just thirsty—you might be dealing with dry mouth, a condition where your salivary glands don’t produce enough saliva to keep your mouth wet. Also known as xerostomia, it’s not just annoying—it can make eating, talking, and even swallowing hard, and it raises your risk for tooth decay and infections. This isn’t something that goes away with a sip of water. It’s often a side effect of the medicines you take every day.

Many common drugs cause dry mouth, including antidepressants, medications used to treat mood disorders like depression and bipolar disorder, antihistamines, drugs for allergies and colds that block histamine, and blood pressure medications, like beta blockers and ACE inhibitors that affect fluid balance. Even over-the-counter sleep aids and pain relievers can dry you out. If you’re on multiple meds, the effect adds up. Lithium, valproate, and carbamazepine—used for bipolar disorder—can all reduce saliva. So can promethazine, used for nausea and sleep. It’s not always obvious until your lips crack or your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth.

It’s not just drugs. Dehydration, breathing through your mouth at night, aging, and conditions like Sjögren’s syndrome or diabetes also play a role. But if you’re taking any of these medications and notice dry mouth starting, it’s likely connected. The good news? You don’t have to just live with it. Simple steps like sipping water throughout the day, chewing sugar-free gum, or using a humidifier at night can help. Some people benefit from saliva substitutes or prescription stimulants like pilocarpine. But before you try anything new, check with your doctor—some remedies can interfere with your current meds.

What you’ll find below are real, practical posts that break down exactly which medications cause dry mouth, how to tell if it’s harmless or a sign of something worse, and what to do when your pills are making your mouth feel like a desert. No fluff. Just clear answers based on what’s actually happening in your body.