Just finished my 15 IMRT treatment today, and 15 to go. Unfortunately I lost all my taste this week, and it began by everything tasting terrible. Anyway, I was laughing at a few messages on this board about Oatmeal with Brown Sugar, as it seems as though that is all I have been eating. I also have my Ensure Plus, Ice Cream, and Banana milk shakes, but havn't found anything else that doesn't taste terrible. Any suggestions on people's favorites is greatly appreciated.

I found that pasta was still ok (i.e. cheese and Mac stuff). It had to be slippery enough (sauces/butter). What also worked was yoghurt (vanilla and chocolate); try to get the mousse style. I avoided stuff with berries and fruits (acidity) although peach seemed to be ok. Soups with or without ground beef were also ok for some time. Ground beef with different sauces to make it slippery worked also. You want to make sure that you eat enough.... even if it tastes not all that hot. In my case pretty much everything tasted like cardboard (exception vanilla/chocolate)... which makes for interesting dinner conversations! Be careful your mileage may vary

Your taste sensations may change more and things may not taste terrible any longer.... it might just have no taste which can be an improvement.
One thing you may want to watch out for is thrush, which makes eating more painful. I had it in week 5 and eating was miserable until is was treated, after that things were fine for a while.

Keep counting down!

Best

Markus

Watch out for those bananas. They are "binding" and will exacerbate the constipation issues when your pain levels go up and they increase your meds.

Talk to your nutritionist.

I ate scrambled eggs,cantelope,watermelon, salads with extra dressing, chicken salad, yogurt, chicken soup, and, strangely enough, a lot of pizza. salty things "tasted" best, sweets were horrible. Good luck!

Try soft scrambled eggs, pureed soups -- sometimes a seafood soup tastes OK, guess it's because it is basically salty -- very soft mashed potatoes, pasta with lots of sauce (but you may find tomato sauces too "sharp") as well as a variety of "smoothies" made with fruit, yoghurt, using nutritive liquids such as Nutren as a base, etc. Watch out for acidic foods or anything with "heat" from peppers. You may also find things that are too cold or too hot (temperature, that is) are harder to handle. My husband used to put ice cubes in his soups to cool them before eating. Take your time eating, as well.

The warning about thrush is well-taken. If even plain water burns when you swallow, there is a good chance this is thrush and not mucositis.

It cannot be emphasized enough that, at this point, "food is medicine" and no matter how it tastes, you need the nutrition. Sometimes a salt/soda rinse immediately after eating will remove any lingering bad aftertaste. Try to swallow *something* al the way through treatment, even if you end up relying on a PEG for most of your nutrition and hydration, as your swallowing function can get lost pretty quickly and can be very hard to regain. I know our RO and his nurse used to really get on folks to "eat or drink something" -- although many used a PEG primarily.

Gail

I am in my 23rd IMRT treatment and have no taste. I do have sores in my mouth and have found magic mouthwash" prescription" to help with that. Does anyone know how long after treatments untill taste returns?

that varies depending on irradiation location/volume and individuals....
Having said this, you should get something comming back within a few weeks to a month after the end of the rad/TX. It seems to be very variable as to what comes back first. (for me it was vanilla, chocolate, later on shrimp (of all things)). It takes many months.. up to a year to reach the new equilibrium. It has been nearly 3 months since the end of the treatment for me and quite a few things have recovered, although some tastes fade very quickly and a good steak is still a waste of money....

Markus

Thanks everyone for your replies. I am going to give a few of your suggestions a try and let you know how it is coming along. I guess my problem has been that I have this powerful salty taste in my mouth that makes everything taste terrible (I just posted another Post on the Salty Taste topic). Will see how things come along.