My husband is now 20 days out of radiation and is worried his taste may never come back. Anyone know of a case where it didn't? I haven't heard of one yet.

I have heard of people whose taste didn't come back or was altered but they seem to be the exception. It took a full year for me and it happened gradually over time with salt being the first and sweets being the last. You have to be patient. I didn't even start to turn the corner for 30-45 days post Tx.

So, when did you get a first hint of the return?

Sorry, I replied to your reply before seeing the whole message. Joe had about 60cGy and no chemo. His tomur had previously been completely removed from parotid salivary gland. Do you think the amount of radiation makes any difference?

Hi,
For me my taste didn't start to return until about 60days or so post R/T.
& it's still improving all the time 9 months out!

I'm about 6 months out of radiation, and taste has not fully returned, but has gotten better.

I never did loose the salt taste, but sweet taste became very weak. The first bit of something would be sweet and then the taste would fade. It still does but has improved a good bit.

At first, anything sour would burn my tongue, even tomato sauce. I've been taking zinc supplements and I think they had helped my tongue to settle down and not burn. But the research on zinc seems very mixed.

I'm sure the degree of taste loss depends on how much radiation and exactly where on the tongue. My oncologist was very vague on what improvement I could expect.