When will my sense of taste and smell return?

I would say it took me about 3-4 months after radiation before my taste and smell came back. It will happen Very slowly. My eating and drinking was somewhat normal after about 6-8 months. Soft foods, etc. Throat pain gradually decreased but it was 2 steps forward and 1 step back. There is a generic dry mouthwash at Walgreens/ CVS that really helped me with dry mouth resulting from low Salvia production. Hang in there it will slowly get better. Today I am 18 months out of radiation and back to about 90% normal with taste, Salvia, smell, eating about anything, energy, etc. God Speed

I think it took me about 3-4 months also. I don’t recall losing my sense of smell. I just know eating was a challenge for me. I still can’t eat potatoes to this day! 😂 Anyway keep your spirits high. Things really do improve over time. The ones that don’t you’ll get through too. Cancer changes you as a person, but we can’t let it win! 🙏🏼

I would concur with the others here, a few months although I had the taste of salt after about three weeks, chicken soup I believe was the first. Likely your tastes will change a bit as time goes by. For me I can't do anything spicy although being English decent, catsup is our hot sauce.
Who knows, you might enjoy foods you once turned away from. This cancer trip is such a weird adventure. Good healing and lets hope this is for many years ahead.

Thanks to everyone for the response and words of encouragement. I'm starting week number without having any treatments.

In looking back at my notes, it took me about 10 months to get most of my tastes back and not have alcohol not burn as much and have my dry mouth the best since I that treatment began.

On the positive side, when my taste buds started coming back, I actually enjoying more healthy vegetables that I never liked before and some sweats were even sweater.

Sino Nasal Undifferentiated Carcinoma. I underwent radiation treatment to help shrink a mass in my nose and throat. I lost all my sense of smell and taste. After about a month I regained my sense of smell, and some taste. It seems sweets have come first. Still waiting for the salt taste to come back. Foods have been tasting bland and I struggled with eating for some time. Lost weight and still continue to. Which I cannot afford. Still trying to do my best. Been also dealing with headaches for the past week and a half. Been through so much already, I denied doing radiation again. Worried I still need it, but don’t know that I can go through it again.

Hi @rockshopgirl Welcome to the Head and Neck group. No doubt the radiation has done damage to your noggin, which will take months/years to heal. I think sometimes our life during recovery is focused primarily on eating, issue management, and dealing with pain in a relentless cycle. Improvement is often so slow it can be unbearable at times.
As far as possible need of additional radiation, Proton might be your better choice as it is pinpoint, resulting in less side effect damage.
If you need advice or an ear to bend, likely someone is here on this feed to help out. Knowing you are not alone in this battle can be a great help at times. I’m twenty-four years out, doing well, but never back to original condition. Still the green side of the grass offers a better view than the alternative. Good healing and courage.

When my weight started to plummet during radiation/chemo early 2024 for laryngeal squamous cell cancer, nurses at Kaufman Cancer Center in Bel Air MD suggested 4 bottles of high calorie Ensure daily along with 64 oz liquid daily. This was not easy as swallowing was painful, however; this proved to be successful in stopping weight loss and even gaining weight back. Good luck and prayers for you.

Probably will not return. Radiation scars, or smells and taste buds right off the bat for after effects. Then late effects will affect your other parts like mouth and jaws and ears possibly

First off- congratulations! You finished treatment (or as I'm not referring to it, Phase 1). I'm now about 6 weeks out from chemo/radiation. Interesting to see the variety of responses to this - we're all different. I can taste very simple flavors and find anything artificially flavored or high sodium repulsive. (e.g. artificially sweetened and flavored pudding cups, prepared frozen foods with sauces, prepared soups and broths, etc). I have a G-tube and continue to keep trying different things that I can swallow to see what might taste good. I used to love sweet potatoes and now they taste like dirt. Fruit smoothies sweetened with honey have flavor. Now that my mouth and throat have healed, low sodium V8 has some flavor. Please keep trying. It is SO frustrating. Peace be with you.