Just got back from my six month ENT checkup (PETSCAN results still not in - drat!) where I raised the issue of my lack of taste despite getting saliva back and much improved dry mouth. She repeated what I have read on the board: the range of recovery is six months to a year and half, so be patient. However she added a zinger: in her experience, patients who got my 7200 rad dose were NEVER able to eat SPICY food again. I was a real fire-eater, and I often read comments here about "I can eat anything now" . So cheer me up and tell me how you can now eat really spicy food like hot Thai or poblano/haberno peppers Mexican dishes.. Right now, even ketchup burns Or is it true? no more fire eating? (I will ask my chemo oconolgist tomorrow to see if he has a different take or if this is just part of the "new normal".

tom

Hey Tom

This coming from one that used Tabasco like ketchup.

I initially started out where you are, I am 16 months out from treatment now and I couldn't even handle ketchup at first either. Here in the pat 3 or so months I have been able to tolerate a little more pepper. I have had to work up very slowly. By no means am I anywhere close to trying Tabasco yet, but I am using Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning in my cooking, on eggs etc. It has some red pepper in it, but hey it's progress! Mexican salsa is happening VERY slowly for me right now. I'm kinda taking the stance that I am having to start back from square one where the hot stuff is concerned. I remember as a small kid that stuff was very spicy hot, but I had to build up to it.

Don't think I'll be ready for Thai or haberno anytime soon but so far I am please with my personal progress back to the good stuff

Kevin

I was never a big hot spicy type of eater but I could eat it when I wanted to. After Tx and for many months even pepper made my food taste to hot to enjoy. Now 21 months post Tx I can tolerate any thing hot and spicy even though I still don't like that much.

I have never been fond of spicy foods but even pepper is still too much for me at the moment, and I am almost 11 mos out of treatments. Everyone is different at what they can tolerate and when. Hang in there!

At just about 10 months post treatment, I can tolerate some decent spice (moderate wings, fairly spicy salsa, etc.), but not nearly to the level I could before. Can't do jalapenos at the moment. ;-)

Charm:
I'll try to "Comfort You" some here. I was always a "Fire Eater" as well. Coming out of treatment milk even burnt! Some folks on here said it soothed them but man 'O man it was horrible for me. Anyway, a lot of things that shouldn't even be considered spicy would (And some still do) set me on fire. My saliva has come back very well but I still have a huge lack of taste and my taste buds "Flatten out" rather quickly into a meal. However, thank goodness I can eat!! About spicy stuff, I have really started to stretch it out at this point and experiment a lot, even though I still can't taste a lot of things. I am back to loving Mexican food (Or at least the texture), however I am very cautious about salsa's and things that are too spicy. Chili Relleno's are on the list and I get flavor almost all the way through one. There again different restaurants provide different sensations and even the same restaurant can provide different sensations depending on the day (Weird, and I'm starting to think that hydration plays a huge role in my taste reaction daily, and as mentioned earlier, I've offset taste for texture in order to have a more pleasant eating experience). I guess what I'm saying is hang in there, it may never get back to where you were but at least you can eat, breathe, and love life!! Enjoy each day and experiment away!!

Regards,
Steve

4 years out of treatment and my hubby cannot eat anything spicy--not even much black pepper cooked in foods. Sorry! But as he and I say---He IS alive!