What to eat after loss of taste buds

jmain
jmain Member Posts: 3
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

Hi,

 

I am in week 4 of my radiation and chemo treatment. I lost my taste buds about 3 weeks ago, but can still swallow. The problem is everything I eat is horrible tasting-not flavorless- just horrible.  I have tried so many foods only to toss them aside. What are some of the foods that you guys could tolerate? I really need something besides my Ensure shake.

Thank you,

Linda

 

Comments

  • JC F
    JC F Member Posts: 74
    #2
    Ditto...

    I was going to ask about this myself. I'm three weeks out from rads and chemo and everything still tastes like garbage. The nutritionist keeps saying to experiment with different things but I'm not going to buy things just to throw them out because I can't taste them. Getting sick of just ensure and boost. Are there things that you guys have tried that helped coax the taste buds back?

  • Mikemetz
    Mikemetz Member Posts: 465 Member
    #3
    Give it time

    Stick with the bland Ensure/Boost and other stuff for now, and don't fret over what you CAN'T eat right now.  Your taste buds will come around gradually and you should get most or all of your taste back.  Figure out what you can taste and start there.  For me it was things like yogurt, ice cream and apple sauce--so I went the "sweets" route.  Yours might be different.

    But don't forget that food is medicine right now, so be sure to eat whatever you can to meet your caloric and nutritional needs.  Your body needs food to heal, so figure out what you can eat and stick with that for now.  This is all part of the "new normal" as a cancer survivor.

    mike

     

  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    #4
    By week 4 of rads...

    Boost VHC was pretty much the only thing on the menu for me......I know I ate a few scrambled eggs in the last 3 weeks of rads....and my sister made me cauliflower and cheese soup (which I could taste a little, and I loved it).  Generally tho, it was Boost and 1/2 gallon of milk per day and that was it.

    For those who have finished rads, and things still taste horrible.....keep trying things.  Sometimes all it takes is the difference of 4 or 5 days for it to go from awful to at least tasteless.....I spent many months just loving the textures, and the smell.  Even at 2 years out, I still see improvements......

    Hey....try a Chinese Buffet......there's SO much there, with the flavorings and the veggies....that was my first meal out, and I loved giving the old taste buds a surprise every other bite.

    p

  • lornal
    lornal Member Posts: 428
    #5
    Foods

    Stay away from canned foods.  And use plastic "silver"ware.  And, avoid citrus if you can.

    My husband searched out fruit - like peaches - in a jar.  Finally found some - but now I see it is available everywhere.

    I had lots and lots of soups.  I was low on potassium, and found a sports drink I could tolerate.  I drank that until the day my tastebuds came back - and found out just how disgusting that drink really was.

     

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #6
    Hi Linda

    There is no food that will give you any taste or flavor right now, but you need to keep eating it because your body needs it to help keep strong. I am with everyone else here don’t worry it is not forever give it time and your taste will return to a new normal.

    Tim Hondo

  • TracyLynn72
    TracyLynn72 Member Posts: 839
    #7
    calories!

    I had to drink as much Ensure as I could and high calorie milk shakes, smoothies and whatever else I could get down.  Eventually the milk based drinks made me vomit and I had to switch to watering it down some.  As time went on, I vomited more than I took in and ended up with a PEG.  I still drank water and got my nutrition through the PEG.  After treatment ended and I was able to eat a little food by mouth, my hubby took me to a buffet.  That way I could try a little bit of everything to see what I liked.  I found that I liked things that I didn't before and I hated things that I used to love.  Taste buds do weird things! Good luck as you go through the rest of treatment. 

  • wild willy
    wild willy Member Posts: 63 Member
    #8
    taste

    i am 4.5 years out and still have no taste. i eat whatever i have in front of me most of the time. sometimes the swallowing is kind of iffy but with water you work thru it. the doc says i probably wont get my taste back but i keep hoping. keep eating, swallowing and hoping.   bill

  • Guzzle
    Guzzle Member Posts: 710
    #9
    wild willy said:

    taste

    i am 4.5 years out and still have no taste. i eat whatever i have in front of me most of the time. sometimes the swallowing is kind of iffy but with water you work thru it. the doc says i probably wont get my taste back but i keep hoping. keep eating, swallowing and hoping.   bill

    taste

    have a lot back but had no peg so had a time with no taste. Just treated it like a mission. Stuff with calories that I could get down. Have a look at superthread. Its doable! Bills been doing it for 4.5 years! G.

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,724 Member
    #10
    hang tight

     

    Linda,

    I went through the awful taste and texture for 7 months until my taste buds started to wake up.   I tried foods often and only had marginal luck.  Go figure but, sweet corn, tomatoes and sweet tea were some of the foods I liked.

    I must have gone through 50 pounds of Blueberries and 100 pounds of bananas making protein smoothies.  I tried everything my H&N mentors suggested, but eventually found my own (very happy) way.

    Today I had ribs at Applebee’s and will be having German Chocolate cake and Rocky Road ice-cream.  IT DOES GET MUCH BETTER!

    Matt

     

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