Taste of food

joeo60
joeo60 Member Posts: 6
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

First I want to thank those that welcomed me into the group and your words of encouragement and tips. My main obstacle right now after 3 weeks is the taste of food. All food tastes the same and that is it tastes like is aeful. Being a "foodie" I always ate for the pleasure of it and now it almost makes me sick when I try to eat. Is this normal? I do have the PEG tube and am using that. 

Joe.

Comments

  • Grandmax4
    Grandmax4 Member Posts: 723
    #2
    Perfectly normal

    Food will taste awful for a while, until your taste buds recover~~then one day, you'll take a bite of something, and it'll be like , oh my goodness, this taste delicious~~~takes a while, but it will happen..Merry Christmas

     

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,724 Member
    #3
    food and drink

    Joe,

    Yes, it is and you are (side effects) normal.

    You may go beyond “almost” makes me sick, but will (most likely) return to “this tastes delicious”, in time.

    Use your tube or mouth and get all the nourishment and hydration you need.

    Keep drinking water and swallowing.

    Matt

  • tommyodavey
    tommyodavey Member Posts: 728 Member
    #4
    Welcome Here

    Joe,

     

    It's good to have you here on the forum.  This place really helped me get through the worst part of my treatment.  

     

    Yes, your taste buds will grow back in time but not before the food you eat tastes really weird.  At least with me and some others, certain foods confused my newly growing taste buds.  Sweet was salty, and spicy was well, just not spicy.  It took some time but it all got sorted out.  Now my new taste buds work too well!  Everything tastes so good!  My weight came back fast and straight to the belly and not all over like it took it.  My face aged about 5 years + but hey, I'm alive and well for now.

     

    Keep posting and get to know the group here.  They all rock!

     

    I wish you well on your path to recovery,

     

    Tom

  • wmc
    wmc Member Posts: 1,804
    #5
    Taste is effected and most of the time it comes back

    Yes taste is effected with this treatment. It comes back very S L O W. So for now you have to eat for nutrition not tast. lets hope it does return soon.

    Bill

  • caffinated1
    caffinated1 Member Posts: 32
    #6
    While I was being cooked and

    While I was being cooked and chemo'd i didnt want to eat and i tried that nutrition shake stuff for the peg tube....you can't make that taste good. Just like everyone has said so far, drink plenty of water and if you can eat, eat. if you can only do the peg, do it. You gotta keep your strength up. 

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #7
    Hi Joe

     

    From one PEG tuber to another, let it flow. I been on the PEG tube for just at 3 ½ years now, I can’t put nothing not even water in my mouth. It was hard at first but now I am uses to my new normal me. I eat out now and then and like always you find people who want to look and see what you are doing but don’t want to ask. As far as taste goes I have taste but only what I get when I belch, that is very strange. Soon your taste should all come back to you, and you will have to devoice Mrs. Peggy. Like I told my Caretaker Wife the only thing between us is my PEG tube.

     

     

     

    All the best to you my friend

     

    Tim    

     

  • kdot2003
    kdot2003 Member Posts: 143
    #8
    Hi, in the same boat here

    Hi, in the same boat here except only one week out.  I have other problems of course but food is out of the question.  I havent ate in about a month.  One day I hope I can, its hard to believe I will.  The PEG isnt working for me either.  Whatever goes in wants to come back out.  This sucks.

    Karen

  • Barbaraek
    Barbaraek Member Posts: 626
    #9
    kdot2003 said:

    Hi, in the same boat here

    Hi, in the same boat here except only one week out.  I have other problems of course but food is out of the question.  I havent ate in about a month.  One day I hope I can, its hard to believe I will.  The PEG isnt working for me either.  Whatever goes in wants to come back out.  This sucks.

    Karen

    Karen

    I've been thinking about you, because this is such a tough time...you're finished rads and your mind says "I should feel better now" but your body doesn't get that message until a few weeks later. It can be so disheartening. Try to narrow your vision to small, small victories and remember that 3 weeks from now you WILL have made progress. I know between the mucus and the  tube feeds, my husband couldn't keep much down after rads ended either. Hang in there!

     

    Barbara

  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    #10
    Joe....3 weeks out is still...

    ...the baby stage.  You might even still be cooking.  For me, food....ALL food tasted somewhere between plaster and sheet rock, depending on it's texture.  This lasted for 2 or 3 months....then little by little some foods started getting a good taste.  I found veggies were very good...fruit is still iffy after 3 years out.  My first real food adventure was a Chinese Buffet....all the different tastes and sauces....my "buds" were getting a surprise every minute.

    For the time being, use your tube to pile in most of the calories, but explore every day.....as soon as I could eat (even tho it was tasteless)....I was eating brothy soups with noodles or veggies, and I'd super butter a piece of French bread and soak it in the soup...tasteless was fine, I missed the feeling of warm food in my bellie.

    p

  • the_wife
    the_wife Member Posts: 184
    #11
    Still early

    My husband is 3 months out and is still struggling with taste and eating foods. He has mostly shakes during the day. I try to make something solid for him to try for breakfast and supper. He still has no hunger and is still very down in the dumps when it comes to eating. He just want to feel normal - to be able to TASTE and have some pleasure from eating foods that he used to like, but unfortunately the old normal is gone. I try to reassure him as best I can, based on the comments here from folks further out, that it will get better. It's really tough for me, too, as I see him facing the plate each time with dread. 

    Food is such a big part of our culture....this will hard for you as a foodie during your recovery. You'll have to have LOTS of patience during this process. 

    Best of luck to you!

  • kdot2003
    kdot2003 Member Posts: 143
    #12
    Barbaraek said:

    Karen

    I've been thinking about you, because this is such a tough time...you're finished rads and your mind says "I should feel better now" but your body doesn't get that message until a few weeks later. It can be so disheartening. Try to narrow your vision to small, small victories and remember that 3 weeks from now you WILL have made progress. I know between the mucus and the  tube feeds, my husband couldn't keep much down after rads ended either. Hang in there!

     

    Barbara

    Thank you so much Barbara

    Thank you so much Barbara

  • Barbaraek
    Barbaraek Member Posts: 626
    #13
    Joe this is normal...

    or your new normal...for now. I hope it gets better, but from all I've read and heard...it will take time. My husband is 3 months post, still weaning off a PEG tube, and can taste the first bite or two and then, blah. He is not excited about eating at all but pushes through it because he has to. Just keep trying everyday and hopefully your taste buds will come back a bit and you'll want to eat again.

    Food is a big part of our socializing and our culture - I think what head and neck cancer does to eating is one of the worst aspects of having that particular kind of cancer...but in the long run, I'm grateful my husband is here and trying to recover. We just make adjustments as best we can and focus on the positive.

    Hang in there, have patience, and prayers for your recovery...

    Barbara

  • Duggie88
    Duggie88 Member Posts: 760 Member
    #14
    Joe

    Nothing out of the ordinary. Alot of things tastes like metal I remember it well. You have to keep experimenting to find the things that work for you. I lost the tatse for many food items one was breakfast sausage. It took me about 4 years to even order it at a dinner. They told me not to force my favorite food items while going through treatments because in some cases you will never regain your taste for it again. You will get your taste back but it will take time.

    Oh yes and welcome to our little club (room) you already went through the initiation now sit back and relax and enjoy the fellowship this room provides. There are many great individuals in this room who can help you through many aspects of treatment. Next year at this time Christmas will just feel different.

    Fight the fight Joe............thiungs will get better

          Jeff

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