found us....this is the best HNC group on the internet, and you'll find lots of support here.

I'm sitting here 9 months out of treatment, wondering how you got to keep your sweet tasters so far into treatment... They were the first to go for me, and don't seem to plan on making their comeback soon. 

Ensure is sweet and comes in flavors.....there is also Skandi Shakes which are mixed with milk...they are tasty, and full of nutrition pluss close to 700 calories a pop.  You could also start making up your own blended smoothies with icecream and milk, but adding protein powder into them to up the nutritional value.  I used avacado's for a while, till the texture became too much for me to get down.

You don't say how far you are into treatment....if you're halfway or less, there's the chance the bad taste will slide into "no taste"....then pretty much everything can go back on the menu as long as you can swallow it.....it all tastes the same, somewhere between sheetrock and chalk....but better than soap, for sure.  One thing I had at my elbow pretty much all thru radiation was milk....plain old 4% milk.  It's good for hydration and it's nutriticious, decently high in calories.  I was sucking down a gallon every two days in addition to my Ensures and Boosts.

There's be others on here with nifty ideas of things to give a try.....that's one of the great parts of this board.....you can try something, and if it doens't work, there's another idea in the wings....

p

PS...you mentioned shirp.....for a long time I could eat shrimp salad, the kind made with macaroni, and sweet mayo dressing (mayo, milk, and sugar).....

cadharose said:

I may resign myself to

I may resign myself to nothing but shakes and sweets. That's do-able and I would get the nutrition I need that way, but it is depressing to not be able to ever enjoy any food I'm a foodie and I love to cook and eat. I am hoping that part of my life is not over permanently. The doctor says taste buds and salivary function should eventually return to around 80-90% but probably not 100%. Does anyone think their taste/salivary has come back 100%? If somewhat less than that, are you still able to enjoy food just as much as before your treatment? So maybe you don't really notice the 10% loss?

I am 4 months post treatment with identical treatment to yours- I would put my taste at around 70% of what it was before treatment. Sweets taste salty to me. I am learning to go with the flow. I used to be a big steak eater. I can't swallow it like I used to, so I eat hamburger - it goes down easier- I like to eat things that are moist like meatloaf, egg salad. And recently I was ale to eat a subway sanwhich. Can't really taste all the cold cuts but I can almost taste them. The chemo days were the hardest for me - hydrate yourself well before and after chemo. The last one for me was tough. You will do fine. Take one day at a time. And eat as many calories as you can- whatever they are. Good luck and stay strong

Hi Cadharose,

Welcome to the boards. 

I see you're 2 weeks into a 7 week treatment. It's encouraging that you're still in good shape for the most part concerning eating. Many here I can tell you are jealous that you can eat ice cream! Sweet is one of the first taste things to go. I would eat what you can while you can. Look into the Ensure and Boost drinks as well as whey protein and such. Smoothies and other liquid nutrition may be beneficial as well. As you move further along in your journey, your ability to eat very well is going to change. Saliva will be further compromised and your taste may go south as well. I lost saliva but amazingly held onto my tastebuds. Things were a little "off" but I kept probably 90% through 6 weeks of treatment. 

The ability to eat is where I suffered the most. I hit the wall during my third week of treatment. Solids went bye bye and I went to a soft diet. By the 4-5th week I was on liquids only and by the end of treatment I struggled to drink water. I had a PEG put in on my last day of treatment and have been feeding and hydrating by tube since then (ended treatment 4-24). I still take water by mouth. UPDATE: I had my first taste of soft food last night (a scrambled egg and cheese) and it was wonderful! I was able to taste, chew and swallow without issue. 

As many will tell you, hydration, nutrition and pain management are keys to getting through the treatment. A lot of my issue concerning eating was pain. I was on pain meds (still am) but still. The burns and sores in my mouth and throat along with a case of thrush during (and after) treatment made it nearly impossible to eat. I'm afraid at two weeks in, you've not reached the worst of the side effects yet. The treatment is brutal but you'll be Ok. The end of treatment and the first 2-3 weeks afterwards are the worst. I'm being very real here. You continue to "cook" for several weeks afterwards. Not everyone has it rough but the vast majority do to one extent or another. Stay ahead of your nasea and pain by taking your meds and it will be tolerable. 

So, if those fried shrimp are doing the trick, go ahead and eat them...lots of them... have a dozen or so for me will ya?! If it's mashed potatos and gravy a couple weeks from now, go for it and eat what you can. I love good food and not being able to eat or enjoy food has been one of the bigger struggles I have. I know it will take time and eventually I will gain back some or most of what I lost but the reality is I may never get back to pre-treatment eating. If you haven't already, please seek an appointment with a Speech/Language Pathologist and discuss swallowing exercises. Keeping your swallow muscles going throughout all of this is vital in maintaining them. "Use it or lose it" is a cliche that rings very true! 

Best wishes as you continue your treatment. the folks here are great. I found this forum in January and everyone here has been awesome!

Positive thoughts and prayers

"T"

out into the future too far.  This is a day by day disease and treatment....sometimes hour by hour.  I remember being just about where you are in treatment, sitting at the table talking to a friend and drinking out of jug of water.  I sipped, and all was fine....sipped again 5 minutes later, and the water tasted salty.....and salty it stayed for a week or so, then either I finally got used to it, or my "buds" did another switch, and it went back to just tasting like water. 

You're going to see changes as you go through this treatment.....things you ate last week are out, things you couldn't eat last week are worth trying again.....towards the end of radiation the blander food was, the better it tasted....milk was my best friend (and I hadn't touched the stuff for 30 years).  Mostly tho, by the 4th week of radiation I was drinking Ensure Plus, just to get a meal done and over in 12 gulps.....plus a ton of water with a side of milk.  Since you're still able to swallow, and you can taste icecream.....I say milkshakes bulked up with whey protien for every meal .......I'd do that now, if I could taste ice cream . 

For now until the end of treatment tho.....just stay in the day, tomorrow will be here soon enough.....it won't be long before you're announcing you're at the half way mark.....then around the corner you'll enter into the single digits....and then the LAST DAY....

p

This is not an answer but for fun.

Miracle Frooties Miracle Fruit Tablets - there are several brands - a candy - made from miracle fruit when let it desolve in mouth makes things taste sweet from 5-20 minutes.

Do not know what it does to altered taste buds

Search amazon - here an example