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Lost taste and smell on chemo: Will they come back?
Breast Cancer | Last Active: Apr 24 8:00am | Replies (18)Comment receiving replies
Thanks so much for your reply. I have no trouble with the texture or swallowing of foods. I just can't taste................anything! It's like I'm chewing on cardboard or paper all the time. I CAN feel sugary sweet stuff on my tongue. By that, I mean I can tell it's a sweet roll or something like that, but it has no flavor to me at all. No cinnamon flavor or chocolate or anything like that. Meat is tasteless, potatoes, vegys..............all that stuff. It makes me not want to eat. It's like drinking water.................no flavor.
Replies to "Thanks so much for your reply. I have no trouble with the texture or swallowing of..."
@sally484 Yes, you are describing perfectly what it's like not to taste flavor. It's like eating cardboard. I agree, eating is now forced. That's why I look for textures I like. There are not many.
Flavor is connected to smell, but even with loss of flavor and smell, our taste buds on our tongue can distinguish sweet, salty, spicy and bitter. The only one of those that is still good without flavor is sweetness so that is my only food joy now. It makes me eat too much sugar.
Try my fave! See's butterscotch lollipops are sweet, smooth and creamy so I like the texture too, but couldn't tell you it's butterscotch, just sweet. Lasts 20+ minutes for only 90 calories. My evening treat I look forward to all day since I don’t enjoy the rest of the food. Each lollipop flavor has a different texture so that’s the only one I eat. Chocolate one has a rough texture – don’t recommend.
For something healthy, salmon has a good texture for me. I never liked fish (fishy taste and smell gags me), but now I can't taste or smell it so I wouldn't know it was fish. I get it blackened so sometimes I can detect the bite of pepper if it has enough.
What's our most common social engagement? Going out to eat. No longer fun. I dread lunch and dinner invitations with all my eating limitations, but you fake it till you make it.
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How far out are you from chemo? I'm just hoping for you that this isn't permanent.
Chemo obviously messes with our sense of taste and smell and what you're experiencing interferes with the quality of your life. I did a little research and found the name for this is ageusia. If your oncologist isn't helpful, an ENT (Ear nose and throat) doctor might be helpful.
They save our lives from cancer but at what cost? Don't stop reaching out for support and don't stop searching for an answer. I don't think they know enough about long term effects of cancer treatment.