Food/Taste Issues During Chemotherapy

Trish62

I have had two treatments with Taxotere and lots of side effects.  One of the most difficult is that I am barely able to taste most foods and have a bitter taste in my mouth.  My tongue sometimes has a white coating on it.  I have a good appetite but eating is almost disgusting.  The flavours that come through most are sweets, but not completely.  Any suggestions about what to try ??

SpecialK

The white coating may be thrush, you should bring this up with your onc as there are medications to help with this..  As far as the taste alteration, this is a pretty common side effect of chemo.  I often had a burnt taste in my mouth.  Keeping ice chips in your mouth during the Taxotere portion of your infusion may help.  I found that salty, sweet or spicy were the things I could taste best but I did not tolerate them well.  I just ate bland foods and waited to be done with tx.  My taste buds came back each time just before the next tx, then when I was finally done they recovered completely.

Moderators

Hi Trish,

There's also some helpful information on the main Breastcancer.org site's page on Eating When You Have Changes in Your Sense of Taste or Smell. Also, some good info on the Taste and Smell Changes side effect page.

Hope this helps!

--The Mods

msphil

yes I agree that thrush is common and a script from your doc will help with that and yes side effects are different for each of us, but there are meds to help with all kinds of side effects, so check with him or her, God Bless and you and All will be in my prayers. msphil(idc, stage2,3 nodes, L mast, chemo and rads and 5 yrs on Tamoxifen