Bad taste in mouth

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4mykids
4mykids Member Posts: 33
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Any suggestions for a really bad taste in the mouth. I was recently on Decadron which my doc said can cause a dry mouth/bad taste in mouth. I have been off the Decadron for a week, and now I have sort of a different bad taste that is driving me crazy!! I brush my teeth and tongue all day long, eat mints, chew minty gum, drink water, but as soon as I stop doing any of these things, the taste comes back. It's kinda making me sick to my stomach and really making me crazy. Any ideas? BTW, I am on Camptosar once a week and 5FU/leuc once a month, but this week we skipped the Camptosar and the last 5FU/leuc was a couple of weeks ago. Thanks!!

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  • joetta307
    joetta307 Member Posts: 1
    #2
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    This is my second round of chemo the first was with Camptsor, the taste may get better after awhile chewable vitamin C's help, let them melt in your mouth,I use a lot of them. all that brushing will damage your gums at least it did mine and caused a lot of sores
  • 4mykids
    4mykids Member Posts: 33
    #3
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    joetta307 said:

    This is my second round of chemo the first was with Camptsor, the taste may get better after awhile chewable vitamin C's help, let them melt in your mouth,I use a lot of them. all that brushing will damage your gums at least it did mine and caused a lot of sores

    Thanks, Joetta, I will give the chewable vitamin C's a try!!
  • meeshell594
    meeshell594 Member Posts: 3
    #4
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    This could be thrush: a type af yeast infection. I got it during my last treatment and now have it again. (5FU is one of my meds also.) It is MADDENING! I, too, thought it was a meds side-effect at first. My doctor caught it (thankfully!) and prescribed "diflucan" which worked pretty quickly. A possible preventative measure is swabbing mouth (or rinsing) with a solution of 8 oz. water & 1 teaspoon baking soda, using a little at a time 3-4 times a day. To prevent contaminationg solution, it is best to pour a little solution in a small Dixie/diposable cup to rinse with or dip q-tip into for each application. This was recommended to me to do during chemo, but I haven't been consisitent about it. (I thought it was just because alcohol-based mouthwash was too harsh.) This could be why I have it again. Good luck!
  • 4mykids
    4mykids Member Posts: 33
    #5
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    meeshell594 said:

    This could be thrush: a type af yeast infection. I got it during my last treatment and now have it again. (5FU is one of my meds also.) It is MADDENING! I, too, thought it was a meds side-effect at first. My doctor caught it (thankfully!) and prescribed "diflucan" which worked pretty quickly. A possible preventative measure is swabbing mouth (or rinsing) with a solution of 8 oz. water & 1 teaspoon baking soda, using a little at a time 3-4 times a day. To prevent contaminationg solution, it is best to pour a little solution in a small Dixie/diposable cup to rinse with or dip q-tip into for each application. This was recommended to me to do during chemo, but I haven't been consisitent about it. (I thought it was just because alcohol-based mouthwash was too harsh.) This could be why I have it again. Good luck!

    I have complained to my doc about this, and he has checked and is watching for thrush, but I have no signs of it. Thanks for the info on the rinse solution.

    I have not been to the store for vitamins, yet, but my husband picked up some citrus flavored Altoids (we had heard something about citrus/sour flavors might help but had forgotten about it until Joetta mentioned the vitamin C). I still intend to get the vitamins, but the citrus flavored Altoids have helped some, too. Thanks again to you both!

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