Should I feel this way?

Ginger7286

Hello everyone. I had my first of 4 treatments with AC on Thursday. Since then I have acquired quite the aversion to food....all of it! I know this is bad and I am trying my best to eat three times a day. I do not want to look at food, smell food, hear food cooking, think about it....the smells turn me off and just looking at a liquid that is not water is disgusting to me. This is horrible to me because I love food, I love cooking, eating, smelling preparing etc. I have been eating toast with peanut butter and jam, oatmeal and some soup. Is this condition temporary or is this the norm? I can't imagaine this getting worse with each dose. Thanks for all the support.

Marcia527

food
I bought a cookbook called The Cancer Recovery Healthy Exchanges Cookbook by JoAnna M. Lund. There is an introduction by Catherine A. Muha, R.N., M.S.N. on dealing with different problems. I found it very helpful.

She suggests cooking meals on a feeling good day and freezing portion sizes so on days when you feel bad, you just microwave your dinner. If you make a variety of meals then you will have a choice on days some things don't sound good to you.

Eat whatever you can on the bad days. Some days will be better than others. I hope you have many good days and few bad ones.

zahalene

4 basic food groups
I was the same way Ginger, for about 3 days after each treatment. I found that I could take in about 4 things slowly and carefully. Red opsicles, orange popsicles,
purple popsicles, green and popsicles. No joke.
Keep nosing around the kitchen until you hit on something that makes you think 'I might be able to eat that'. Or try something you don't usually eat so that it has no pre-conceived negative vibes in your psyche.
Also, you might try some kind of drink (Cryatal Light?) through a straw so that you barely taste it.
Don't think about nutrition while you are sick. Just go for whatever your tummy can tolerate.
Hugs. You will do this and come out the other side with flying colors, red, orange, purple, and green maybe? lol

mmontero38

Hi Ginger: Yes, you do
Hi Ginger: Yes, you do develop an aversion for certain foods, but you do need to eat. Try to find something that doesn't turn you off and eat it. I found that I could tolerate lemon ices and mashed potatoes. So of course, the week of chemo, that's all I would eat. It will get better and once chemo is done you will eat again. Hugs, Lili

cabbott

Good Choices!
The "gee I should eat right" in me thinks you have a fairly healthy diet there, even if it isn't the normal rainbow smorgasboard that you may be used to. You found something with grains, protein, and liquid. If it was vegetable soup you got the veggies in, but don't worry if you didn't. Calories. protein, and liquid are the important things and you have that with the diet you mentioned. The cookbooks I've read (I collect cookbooks as a hobby) suggest that cold things will taste better than hot. Avoid spicy things. Meat may not taste good at all. Bland things like puddings, mashed potatoes, custards, and oatmeal sit the best. French toast with maple syrup, milk shakes, and smoothies are good possibilities. Sweet things taste better than sour, bitter or salty for most people on chemo. Fruit might be tastier than veggies. No, I've not been through chemo. But that last time I had surgery whatever meds they gave me sparked the same nasty reaction in me. My mom, who loves to cook but was "watching" me while I recovered, managed to leave the kitchen alone for a few days. I just couldn't take the smells of food being prepared, even if it was non-spicy stuff. She managed to get me to eat the cold stuff and occasionally a microwaved plate of food. I didn't lose weight even though I lost my appetite for a week. By the way, tell your doctor about your reaction and make sure they are giving you something to prevent nausea. If they give medicine to take for nausea, it is important to prevent the reaction BEFORE it occurs. Don't wait till it happens to take your meds! It is one of those things that is much easier to prevent than to treat. Good luck!

C. Abbott

seof

Ginger,
I did not experience
Ginger,
I did not experience food aversion when I was on chemo, but I am in the minority. Most people do have it to some degree or another. What you are eating seems to be what most people do. The advice others have given about cooking on a "feel better" day, then just heating it up, or eating it cold, is what I was told by chemo nurses. If you have friends or family who have offered to help, ask them to cook for you in their houses and bring it to you cold so you do not have to smell the cooking. Try the popcicles, or jello (it's cold and has protein). Your Chemo nurses might suggest some protein shakes that might be tolerable too.

Just remind yourself that it is temporary and hang in there!

tan39

aversion to food
Hey Ginger,
Right from my first chemo i just couldn't stand the thought of the smell of food , let alone the actual smell. Lasted about 5 days each time. Ice pops and cereal were the only thing for me, after the 5 days my appetite returned gradually and then ate really well had a real thing for chocolate !!!. I used to find myself thinking up a list of foods and mentally ticking anything that appealed to my poor appetite. Don't worry about eating the "wrong" foods,its only short term.
take care, tan xx

nancyh1314

tan39 said:

aversion to food
Hey Ginger,
Right from my first chemo i just couldn't stand the thought of the smell of food , let alone the actual smell. Lasted about 5 days each time. Ice pops and cereal were the only thing for me, after the 5 days my appetite returned gradually and then ate really well had a real thing for chocolate !!!. I used to find myself thinking up a list of foods and mentally ticking anything that appealed to my poor appetite. Don't worry about eating the "wrong" foods,its only short term.
take care, tan xx

Aversion to food
I had the same reactions as you, Ginger, for about a week after AC. I also could not stand water or almost any other liquid : a big problem when you're encouraged to drink as much liquid as possible after treatment. About the only liquid I could tolerate was a 50/50 combination of white grape juice and water. Then for two weeks I would feel good and eat just about anything. I figured my odd diet in the off weeks (mashed potatoes and homemade chicken soup were big on my list)was offset by regular, balanced meals the other 2/3 of the time. Don't worry. Sounds like you're pretty normal.