I am in 4th week out of 6 weeks of radiation. Just wondering if anyone has any suggestion on how to remedy the horrible taste resulting from radiation. It is so bad I cannot eat.

I am being treated for squamous cell tonsil cancer.

Thanks.

Not sure if you are in the same boat as me for treatments. I'm getting chemo and radiation concurrently. The radiation definitely reduced my ability to taste. I thought it was also to blame for foods tasting terrible. I found out, however, that the chemo was the culprit for making foods taste bad. It was week 4 for me also, which happened to be the week after my second chemo treatment. Later that week, after flushing more of the chemo out of my system, food started just having the reduced flavor again. Hope it turns out to be the case for you too. I know I was devastated when butterscotch pudding, one of the few foods I loved that I could still eat, tasted terrible.

Not much until after radiation, other than maintaining good oral care, rinsing, hydration, taking care of any oral infections. Chemo and radiation have just about the same side effects, minus the neck burn, but chemo can even cause burns too, and are more acute, than some radiation effects that are longer term, but so can chemo sometimes be long term. Sometimes you can develop taste and smell aversions associating the nausea from treatment with the last food you ate, and reason some centers give out strong drinks, candies as a scape goat. It's best to eat familiar, maybe not your favorite, non spicy, not hot, non acidic, not sharp textured, not strong flavored foods.

Good luck.

Hi Ridge:
I developed a mouth infection after surgery, prior to radiation start. Yes, it had a horrible metallic taste. At first we thought it was strep, but antibiotics didn't cure it, then we thought it was viral in nature and you just have to ride that out.

Gargling with salty, baking soda water helped, but only for a minute before it would come back. Regular mouthwash and sucking on a cough drop seemed to do better than anything because the drop would take 20 minutes to dissolve, that brought 20 minutes of relief.

Sure hope I don't get another dose of this when I reach 4th week of rads, I'm starting week 2 tomorrow.

Try the drops.

Well, I had a feeding tube and only ate orally so I wouldn't lose the ability to eat. I was only able to eat vegetables, like dry salad, cucumbers, tomatoes and celery, also angel hair pasta with butter for weeks. Not sure if you have tried those foods yet. Drinking water was the absolute worst! By someone's suggestion here on the forum I switched to Fiji water with ice cubes made with the Fiji water and was able to handle that.
Also by suggestion here I used a water pic with the spoon attachment, which got rid of some of that mucous and refreshed my mouth for awhile. However, none of that changed the taste of food. I think it's just the taste buds and mucous messing with your taste.
Hope you can find some kind of food that works for you.

Ridge,

Unfortunately just about all of us had to endure the loss of taste as part of the radiation but you MUST and I repeat MUST consume at least 2500-3000 cals and 48 oz of water EACH AND EVERY DAY from now until at least the first 12 months post Tx. If you don't then believe me the lack of taste will pale in comparison to the other troubles you will have.

Most everyone had a significant amount of their taste return post Tx but it can take 2 years so please just get use to eating to survive for a while.

I would suggest using a water pik on the lowest setting to help get anything you may miss when brushing your teeth. You would be surprised at how much is missed! Add a small amount of no-alcohol mouth wash to the warm water and that should help. Does your tongue have a whitish coating? If so, that could be thrush, your doc will need to prescribe antibiotics. Also just in case of something being medically wrong, change your toothbrush, you dont want to carry anything over day after day.

Every single day you must take in a minimum of 2500 calories and 48 oz of water. If you skimp here and there you are setting yourself up for malnutrition and dehydration which will result in a hospital stay. No matter how bad the taste gets, EAT and DRINK.

I had a horrible taste in my mouth too around 4 weeks in - it was not the metallic taste I had anticipated; however, it was more of a sour taste. It drove me absolutely insane - maybe one of my worst side effects. There wasn't much that seemed to help me... I did start sucking on some milder mints though that didn't irritate my mouth. I can't remember the brand I used, but I would give it a try if i were you.

[quote=emilyp]I had a horrible taste in my mouth too around 4 weeks in - it was not the metallic taste I had anticipated; however, it was more of a sour taste. It drove me absolutely insane - maybe one of my worst side effects. There wasn't much that seemed to help me... I did start sucking on some milder mints though that didn't irritate my mouth. I can't remember the brand I used, but I would give it a try if i were you. [/quote]

Ridge and Emily,

Here's some observations in no particular order;

My dentist clued me in to the use of Xylitol (a non-sucrose based sugar) in dealing with Dry Mouth. She sells Theramints at cost, and they are effective as long as they are in your mouth. Which is to say, since they melt away quickly, not long.

Icebreakers brand mints are also good for this, their "Frost" mints are the longest lasting I've found.

But the most effective thing I've found is Chewing gum sweetened with Xylitol. I buy three-paks of Trident Tropical Twist and love it. One piece can be chewed for more than 4 hours without loosing it's effectiveness. Biotene gum, which the medico's like to suggest, simply cannot compare!

As for the taste, I suggest you try coffee with a packet of Swiss Miss cocoa and a single packet of Splenda. I started this because I could actually taste the chocolate and the sweetness at a time when I had lost nearly all my sense of taste. My sense of taste is about 60% these days, but I still make a couple of cups of the "Mocha-Java" mix daily.

Good luck, and remember that this will all pass, so don't get hung up on how bad it might be at any moment in time.

Hang in, it's going to be just a memory before long.