my friend just went through her first chemo treatment

cats_toy
cats_toy Member Posts: 1,462 Member
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
and she was feeling good for about 4 days, it hit her yesterday hard with the nausea and especially the bad taste that seems to come from deep within and you can't get rid of it. I remember when I was doing the chemo, I first tried strong candy like red hots or lemonheads to try getting rid of the taste. They didn't work, and are just calories. I did find that putting a whole clove in your mouth and just biting on it occasionally helped more than anything else, and it wasn't just empty calories. Hope this helps anyone else going through that particular problem.
cat

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  • Moopy23
    Moopy23 Member Posts: 1,751 Member
    #2
    Chemo Taste
    Hi, Cat. Re suggested using plastic utensils and that helped. Your friend might be interested in a thread "Chemo Mouth or something like that from a month or so ago, started by KickCancer. There were many helpful tips. I used them and found they helped greatly. Other suggestions are the lemon sugar-free hard candy by Crystal Light and chewing crushed ice during treatment. Jackie always said that chocolate milkshakes during treatment helped her. Her devoted husband Bob always got them for her.

    Best wishes to your friend. We would be glad to meet her here. Hope you are doing well.
  • cats_toy
    cats_toy Member Posts: 1,462 Member
    #3
    Moopy23 said:

    Chemo Taste
    Hi, Cat. Re suggested using plastic utensils and that helped. Your friend might be interested in a thread "Chemo Mouth or something like that from a month or so ago, started by KickCancer. There were many helpful tips. I used them and found they helped greatly. Other suggestions are the lemon sugar-free hard candy by Crystal Light and chewing crushed ice during treatment. Jackie always said that chocolate milkshakes during treatment helped her. Her devoted husband Bob always got them for her.

    Best wishes to your friend. We would be glad to meet her here. Hope you are doing well.

    thanks for the input, anything that helps, right? My husband tried so many things to help, and that was really nice, but at least with the cloves, they last awhile and are cheap, I can't chew ice with my hubby around, drives him up the wall! She is miserable right now, but if I remember, the first is the worst. Hopefully that will be the same for her. I did give her this site to ask questions on, but she isn't up to it right now, probably will later. I am great, two years out of surgery and considering going under the knife again for reconstruction. Kinda scary, but going to see a couple of docs for consult. Thanks for asking! Take care
    Cat
  • Christmas Girl
    Christmas Girl Member Posts: 3,682 Member
    #4
    cats_toy said:

    thanks for the input, anything that helps, right? My husband tried so many things to help, and that was really nice, but at least with the cloves, they last awhile and are cheap, I can't chew ice with my hubby around, drives him up the wall! She is miserable right now, but if I remember, the first is the worst. Hopefully that will be the same for her. I did give her this site to ask questions on, but she isn't up to it right now, probably will later. I am great, two years out of surgery and considering going under the knife again for reconstruction. Kinda scary, but going to see a couple of docs for consult. Thanks for asking! Take care
    Cat

    Hi, Cat
    During chemo, and per strict doctor's instructions, I used the Biotene oral care products - toothpaste, mouthwash, and there's a gum, too. Not highly flavored nor too strong like the everyday stuff. Doctor's reco was primarily to help prevent chemo mouth sores. The products help to prevent "dry mouth" - which contributes to the sores & affects the taste buds. These products also rebalance PH levels, if I remember correctly. The hard candies, etc. that were suggested were worse for me than the chemo induced "metallic" taste buds. Hadn't heard of the cloves idea... Hopes & prayers for your friend. And you, Cat, are a good friend to her.

    And hope the reconstruction portion of your own journey goes well for you, with few bumps in the road. Scary? Sure. I would be, too.

    Kind regards, Susan

    P.S.: Biotene is found in all drug stores, more often in the oral care "specialty" products aisle, vs. alongside the everyday stuff. Quite a bit less expensive, however, at Wal-Mart & Target.
  • cats_toy
    cats_toy Member Posts: 1,462 Member
    #5
    Christmas Girl said:

    Hi, Cat
    During chemo, and per strict doctor's instructions, I used the Biotene oral care products - toothpaste, mouthwash, and there's a gum, too. Not highly flavored nor too strong like the everyday stuff. Doctor's reco was primarily to help prevent chemo mouth sores. The products help to prevent "dry mouth" - which contributes to the sores & affects the taste buds. These products also rebalance PH levels, if I remember correctly. The hard candies, etc. that were suggested were worse for me than the chemo induced "metallic" taste buds. Hadn't heard of the cloves idea... Hopes & prayers for your friend. And you, Cat, are a good friend to her.

    And hope the reconstruction portion of your own journey goes well for you, with few bumps in the road. Scary? Sure. I would be, too.

    Kind regards, Susan

    P.S.: Biotene is found in all drug stores, more often in the oral care "specialty" products aisle, vs. alongside the everyday stuff. Quite a bit less expensive, however, at Wal-Mart & Target.

    thanks to both of you for the info, I will give her any ideas I can, everyone does react differently. I actually heard about the cloves from my boss, he had chemo for chronic lymphatic leukemia, had a different type than we of the BC crowd, but so many of the side effects are the same, aren't they? He was told about the cloves for the bad taste and he shared with me. Helped that he had already gone through chemo, so when I was having my chemo parties, he informed all at the office to not come in sick even if they had no sick leave left, thaqt he would pay them regardless, so that I was never in contact with colds and such. Friends during these times are such a help, you never have too many.
    Cat

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