Food woes - What are you eating during chemo?

Are you nauseous and not keeping food down or just not liking it? Frankly, nothing tasted good during chemo for me. I just ate because I knew I had to. Anything that didn't actually feel like it was going to come back up at me, it stayed on the menu if it was a part of my healthy meal plans & I just forced myself to eat.

Oh that sucks
Which chemo protocol are you on again?

I've been eating a lot of protein (red meat and protein shakes), but the one thing that tastes normal to me is sweet stuff. I've never been much of an ice cream eater but have been going through it like crazy. I just need to remember this is temporary so I don't keep eating all of the sugar once I'm done with tx!

Krissi--I've tolerated Taxol really well. A tiny bit of neuropathy has shown up the last couple of weeks but really not bad at all (sitting here typing I don't feel any). I haven't had any bone or joint pain. I also haven't had any nausea, although was taking some of the prescription anti-nausea meds for the first day or two after tx just because I had them here (plus I think the compazine helped me sleep following the steroid). I'm really not doing even that any more.

That said, I'm absolutely convinced (having spent a lot of time on BCO the last couple of months) that women who do Taxol after another chemo (like you are) have worse SEs. I think your body is in tougher shape going into it so you might feel it more than I have. I also don't think I've seen anyone who didn't think Taxol was easier than their other chemos. You shouldn't expect you're going to have a tough time with it. As my MO reminded me, women who do pretty well during chemo are probably under-represented on these boards.

The one thing I might recommend that seems to be working well for me is to increase your protein intake. We're eating red meat 5-6 times a week, plus I drink a protein shake most days. My blood counts have been really good--mostly within normal range (even my WBCs). I don't think it can hurt to push the protein while you're in chemo.

WC: For the acid reflux, my MO recommended Prilosec OTC and Pepcid AC (also OTC). My acid reflux started soon after round #2 and continued until I finished chemo. I couldn't drink carbonated beverages until 4 weeks after I finished chemo -- the burning feeling was just too painful.

As for food, my taste buds would vary during each cycle. At times flavors were really intense, like sweets were TOO sweet and salty things TOO salty. I also developed a sensitivity to food textures. But during the cycle, things would improve before the next cycle.

My go to foods when things tasted really terrible were applesauce and bananas. Citrus products (like lemon cake), tomato based products, and mexican food usually tasted pretty good to me.

On TCH, I had all of the taste and texture issues. My tongue felt burnt, and I also got mouth sores that were super painful. I made split pea soup and had vanilla milkshakes or chocolate Boost shakes, but I see you can’t do dairy. I did have the reflux and diarrhea, only after the first round, though. I remember dreaming about food, as well as going to the kitchen, looking desperately for something appealing, then crying when I couldn’t find anything. Or crying because I was too weak to open the packaging-that was really depressing.

Nuts were good when I didn’t have mouth sores.

Good luck!