Finished week #3 on Friday. Tastebuds about 95% gone.

SylMarie
SylMarie Member Posts: 91 Member
edited October 2016 in Head and Neck Cancer #1

It started happening on Friday, but not badly. By Saturday afternoon, the tastebuds were pretty much gone. I knew it was going to happen, but it still took me aback. I can smell things, but I can't taste them. The only thing I can taste slightly is my coffee in the morning. I use agave nectar as a sweetner, and I can still taste this. Today, I could taste my coffee again. No luck with anything else, until I decided to try some Honey Nut Cheerios (don't judge me) with whole milk and agave. I tasted that, a bit. 

The mouth sores were brutal last week, but I controlled the pain with Magic Mouthwash and the Hydrocodone liquid in a small dose. Between the enormous dose of Gabapentin I take daily and that small amount, it was okay. I imagine that I'll have to increase the 1.5 mg. dose as the treatment continues. Forget about adding a banana to my protein shakes. They seem to burn my mouth.

Without being able to taste my food, it seems pointless to try to eat it. I stare at it longingly, sniffing and trying to remember the flavor I used to know. It's Boost-Plus, Very High Calorie Boost, and my protein shakes from now on. The nutritionist told me to take in 2,000 calories per day. I can do that with shakes.

Thanks for being there, good people. It's good to know that there is someplace where I can vent when I want to give my husband a break.  

 

 

Comments

  • Kari2007
    Kari2007 Member Posts: 108
    edited October 2016 #2
    loss of taste

    Losing my sense of taste was definitely the hardest thing for me to deal with. Hang in there. You'll get it back (albeit, very slowly) one day soon. Treatment seemed to last forever, but when I look back now, it flew by. 

    Kari

  • MemphisTn
    MemphisTn Member Posts: 41
    #3
    Loss of Taste

    I drank Ensure Plus (Vanilla) exclusively through out and couple weeks post. I am just over 4 weeks and while I am quite sensitive now to pepper and cant taste sweets, vegetables, chicken, pork and just about anything bbq'd is close enough. The time line for recovering taste, based on my own readings here, seems to vary a good bit. Be patient, focus on getting through the treatments then focus on recovery. Things like taste will take care of themselves. God bless.

    much love,

    -PC

  • Rochester1950
    Rochester1950 Member Posts: 6
    #4
    Loss of Taste

    Also lost mine during week 3.  Has been 5 months since radiation completion and still no taste OR smell.  My oncologist and ENT drs. both agree it could take up to 2 years to return.  Friends & family can sympathize but they don't realize how this affects day-to-day living.  Hang in there - concentrate on completing treatment & staying as healthy as possible.

    Sheila

  • Raddude
    Raddude Member Posts: 84
    #5
    If you can...

    I suggest going to an acupunturist during treatment. I went after and it really helped, however it would have been a lot better if I had gone during treatment to aid in taste.

  • Tmack9200
    Tmack9200 Member Posts: 4
    edited November 2016 #6
    Never lost taste

    although I was 100% on feeding tube for 3 months,when I was able to eat there was no difference in my taste,also never lost saliva, but I did battle over production of thick mucus and I spent days and nights spitting into a bowl For about 45 days..

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