Nothing tastes good

rizzo15
rizzo15 Member Posts: 153 Member
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Well, I think I may have just "hit the wall" with chemo and food tasting like anything. I'm having the weekly taxotere through an IV port. Since I haven't had significant fatigue (still working full time) or other serious side effects, the doctor is having me to through 3 complete rounds of Taxotere without skipping any weeks between rounds. Currently on week 6 of 9. Is it everyone's experience that EVENTUALLY food will taste good. Or does it take a long time, like years, before food tastes like food?

I've already done 4 rounds of A/C and during that time always found something that tasted good. Believe me, I put on 10+ pounds trying!! Maybe I should just accept that nothing tastes good and make up my mind that I just won't enjoy eating anything for the foreseeable future.

Comments

  • slamaj
    slamaj Member Posts: 19
    #2
    I know what you mean though I have only just had my second Taxotere. I get it every 3 weeks but I stopped being able to taste right away. Feels like my tongue is burned or dead! And my whole mouth feels numb. I try to eat spicy or tart foods in order to get some taste out of my food. Luckily, here in New Mexico you can get almost any food with green chiles! I also buy lemon fruit bars, lemon sorbet and lemon jolly rancher candies to suck on because my mouth and throat get so dry. Guess you can tell I like lemon! Anyway try stronger tastes and see if that helps. My onc said my tastes should go back to normal 2-4 wks after my last treatment. Take care, hope you can come up with something to help. Julene
  • sisler01
    sisler01 Member Posts: 10
    #3
    Hi rizzo! Take heart-it will get better. It won't take long at all after you finish the Taxotere and your taste will return-you might find that some things aren't as appealing though. I did 3 months of weekly Taxotere treatments and about 2 weeks after I finished I noticed things improving. I don't care for Tuna anymore and I don't get the big "woopee" out if ice cream that I used to. Hang in there girl-you're doing great so far. I managed to work full time thru my treatments too and I even did 7 weeks of radiation after the chemo. Think of all the things to look forward to-getting the port removed, getting your hair back (maybe curly!) Before you know it, you'll be done and back on the road to a good-tasting, great-looking time. Take care and God Bless! Sharon
  • sandytrif525
    sandytrif525 Member Posts: 106
    #4
    Hey Rizzo, When I was on Taxotere everything tasted like salt. If there was salt, yuck. It does not take long for the return of the taste buds. I can eat just about everything and it taste ok. I take a liquid vitamin, and that is hard to swallow, since chemo. Had no problems drinking it while on the chemo.Take Heart. God Bless. Sandy
  • jamjar62
    jamjar62 Member Posts: 135
    #5
    Hi Rizzo (one of my fav movies is Grease), I just had my 3rd of four Taxotere and I've yet to find anything that tastes good except a cherry lime slush from Sonic drive-in! I've tried the spicy, I've tried the bland and the slush is the only thing that can wake up my taste buds! My mouth has a salty taste all the time but I end up salting the heck out of all my food to try and get some flavor. I didn't gain any weight on A/C, in fact, I lost weight but on Taxotere I have gained because I feel like I'm on a quest to find SOMETHING that tastes good. Also, I have heartburn and the hiccups alot, too. Anyway, if you have Sonic drive-ins where you live, give the slush a try. I'd be interested to see if its just me! Karen
  • therunner
    therunner Member Posts: 1
    #6
    try brushing your teeth and tongue with baking soda before you eat. Rinse well
  • melba
    melba Member Posts: 3
    #7
    therunner said:

    try brushing your teeth and tongue with baking soda before you eat. Rinse well

    TRY EATING WITH PLASTIC FORKS, SPOONS STC. IT WORKS.
  • ryley
    ryley Member Posts: 55
    #8
    I also had 8 rounds of Taxotere and Adriamycin 3 weeks apart and just finished my 8th round. I also lost taste and experienced numbness in my mouth, hands, and feet. The loss of tast lasted maybe a week after chemo and the last 2 weeks before my next round were not too bad for tasting things. I ate very spicy or very sweet foods, those seemed to taste the most normal to me. Water had a weird flavor, so it was hard to drink the amount of water I was supposed to. I, too, gained 10-13 pounds while going through treatments, but I blame that on the steroids they make you take for 3 days before/after your round.

    Hang in there, your taste buds will come back.

    Ryley
  • rizzo15
    rizzo15 Member Posts: 153 Member
    #9
    Hey everyone, a little update on this topic. My oncologist was going to refer me to a ear/nose/throat doctor if my sense of taste didn't reappear within 3 weeks. He said that the weekly taxotere should not be giving this effect so severely that the front of my tongue got numb and a few of the taste buds were swollen (very painful!). I read all my prescription literature carefully for all my medications. It turns out that I had a glass full of an Ocean Spray product--red grapefruit juice and lemonade. BIG NO-NO with Zocor! I stopped taking Zocor for a couple days and I can now taste food at the beginning of a meal and the little swollen taste buds went away overnight! The oncologist says I did good detective work on myself and wants me to stop taking Zocor for at least 2-3 weeks until it is out of my system...and also completely stop drinking/eating grapefruit of any kind. What a surprise! I hope that soon I can enjoy eating an entire meal and not just the first 5 spoonfuls.

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