Hi everyone!

Is it typical after rads for everything to taste burnt? How long does it last? My guy is trying soft foods and liquids but says it all tastes awful, like ash. He uses his peg tube for most all nutrition. All of this is so much harder then we thought it would be and I knew it would be horrible.

Stay safe please!

Micki

I didn't have an ash taste, but everything was salty. Rads affects the taste-buds and it takes time for them to recover. I'm nearly 6 months clear from rads and am still finding my taste changes on almost a daily basis. I keep trying foods though as it keeps me going and I love it when something tastes great, my mouth comes alive!

I am also 6 months from final radiation treatments. Eating is far from normal due to : taste buds - all foods taste kind of bland; dry mouth makes many foods hard to swallow without water; throat muscles for swallowing still recovering; and due to continuing trismus (jaw pain) opening mouth wide and chewing are uncomfortable. Eating is still “a job”, not the normal pleasure I took for granted. Good luck in your journey.

Micki,

About 4 week into radiation I lost all semblance of taste. Everything tasted like corrugated cardboard. That continued till about 4 months past radiation. At that point the first taste i noticed was salt. I put salt on anything just to have some form of taste. Over the next two year I sloooooowly expanded into sour and savory. Sweet is another story. I really cant tell if can taste sweet or not. I don't think i can tell vanilla ice cream from chocolate ice cream. But I do still enjoy ice cream.

Critics fruits are also a mystery; oranges, tangerines, grape fruit are all the same but mostly taste like nothing. It is funny though, I cant really taste them but I do still eat them. Its kind of like you body want them even though your tongue does not know what they are.

For the past 6 years I don't think there has been much change in my tasting ability. At first it did bother me, but not anymore. It does not bother me at all.

Mildly spicy foods to some, are still extremely spicy to me. However I do believe I can tolerate "hotter" food today than 4 years ago.

I guess what i am saying is that, it is likely that his taste will recover somewhat. But over time his body/mind adjust and everything pretty much feels normal again. I am 8 years out and it does not bother me at all. Life is good.