How long does it take for the taste buds to come back? My husband wanted me to try some spice pepperoni to see if I could taste anything. I tried a small bite and told him there was not taste at all. Something like yogurt taste horrible. Do they come bsck?

Taste does come back - depending on how much of your oral cavity and tongue you have lost. Some of us are never able to eat spicy things again - i.e. pepperoni, but before you get to that stage you will go through the wild taste stages. I can remember posting how EVERYTHING tasted incredibly salty and not in a good way. That changed to having everything taste metallic and in time (don't ask, I don't remember how long), I think?? my taste has recovered as much as it is ever going to. First time I had radiation I lost my taste for tomato soup (which I used to love), great news was that after 2nd time with radiation - my taste for tomato soup came back. Go figure!

Let us know how it goes.

Donna

My taste is the same as it has been from the beginning. The 1st bite has flavor and the rest just hurt and burn my tongue and have no flavor at all. Too bad all of the bites can't be 1st in line.

It's kind of weird the things that I can taste and the things that I can't. I can taste chipped ham, and coffee, and coffee yogurt and some kinds of tomato based things. Our local coffee shop has a wonderful butternut squash soup that tastes great to me, and one of the area grocery stores carries a frozen lobster bisque that also tastes good. Some things with small pieces (like bacon bits)don't work at all, even though I can taste them because they move around in my mouth too much. What I find most frustrating is how long it takes me to eat something, especially when I am at work.

John is currently 10 months out of treatment and his "mouth feel" and taste buds are still not back all the way. He can taste sweets but foods he used to love he can't taste. He used to really enjoy his morning cup of coffee. He no longer drinks coffee at all because it tastes terrible to him. I know it is different for everyone.

Angelia,

My taste started to come back about 1 month out. I'm 4 months out now and can taste most things. Some things do not taste right yet, like they are missing some key ingredient (vanilla ice cream) and others are now just about the same as pre-treatment. Spicy foods still burn the back of my throat (treatment area) and I eat more slowly.

All in all I am happy with how its coming back. I know it will never be exactly the same but I just treat it as a new culinary adventure. Everything I eat now is new, some old favorites don't taste the same, but I'm finding some things I never liked tast better, so I'm trying all kind of new foods.

Kelly

It obviously depends on the targeted radiation field, what type of radiation, how much to exact locations and to some extend how our body handles the damage. That said, for me I saw some improvements in months 4, 5 15 (the largest) and 24. I also noticed a improvement in saliva at the same time my taste improved.

Well, my tongue was the huge target of therapy. I did try some chocolate carnation this morning. I can taste the chocolate, but it doesn't taste very well.

Tasting ANYTHING is a start.

What is the consensus on taking zinc supplements to help tastbuds come back? I did take zince 3 times a day at 50 mg each. For a short time. I did not finish an entire bottle. My taste came back in 6 months but after 10 months it still is changing. I taste mostly from the back of my tongue and right side. Processed foods a almost always too salty now. Coffee was the first thing I could taste, then eggs, then chocolate. Everything is a little different or I am more sensitve to taste. Also most prcessed foods are apparently spiced with heat, pepper I like but it wears me down trying to get through a meal spiced with heat.

As far as Zinc supplements for taste, my RO said they could not hurt and often help. He did warn me that about half his patients did not notice any improvement while the other half got great results. His rule of thumb was that after half a bottle, if you did not notice any changes, you probably wouldn't, so I too did not finish an entire bottle.
Of course this is moot now with the G tube although I can "taste" the reflux.
Charm

Several doctors at HUP swear zinc improves the taste buds. I took 220 mg zinc sulfate for years with no problems, along with vit C, B complex and E. Then I developed a severe case of diarrhea almost every day and it took me a year to figure out it was the supplements that were doing it so stopped them all.

I had most of my taste back a few months after radiation although I did not get sweet back for some time and all continued to improve over the first two years. If things are tasting salty to you, it is probably because salt is the only taste that has come back. I still cannot eat anything that has any heat in it 13 years out but most people do not have that problem.

So try the zinc and see what happens.

Take care,
Eileen