@linda90 Can doctor suggest anything? There are mouthwashes and creams for outside of skin, maybe ask doctor's nurse for something to ease things fir for you? My husband is facing 6 weeks radiation and probably 3 chemo sessions, so I sympathize with you. Hopefully you're near the end of your treatment and then your healing will start!

@linda90 Hello Linda, I'm 3 ½ weeks out from my 25 rounds of radiation therapy. I did not need Chemo, but I did have surgery to remove my tonsil, mass, and lymph nodes. Post radiation for me was far harder than the treatments themselves. It seemed to me the accumulation of all the treatments catches up to you. It did me. At first food had a metallic taste, and some food items I just couldn't tolerate in my mouth. It was very bad, every food you know and love doesn't taste the same, or it's horrible. After the first week (post radiation) that started to improve and started eating moisture food types (mostly Italian). I was already eating Cream A Wheat, Oatmeal, and Chicken Soup. If you have a Chinese restaurant near you order Egg Noodle Soup. I bought a Ninja smoothie maker and I have a very nutritious protein smoothie every morning. I'm at the point now that I can barely taste food on the first bite and on the second one, the taste is all gone. I gargled with 3 mouth washes frequently. They were salt/water; salt/soda powder/water; and L-Glutamine powder (Now Foods Sports Nutrition bought on Amazon) with warm water. The L-Glutamine really helped. The mucous build up is awful, one contributor said it was like drowning and he's right. Then there is the dry mouth and that's another paragraph I bought XyliMelts and Act mouth wash. I keep a thermal water bottle (with a straw) on my nightstand and it's needed. I bought the 18oz Thermos made by Tsuruya on Amazon and it's perfect.
As far as how long this last, I'm not sure? Some people are several years out, some said their tastes were back in 8 months or so? It's different for everyone I'm told. I'm only beginning this terrible ordeal. But, I can tell you I'm improving everyday. My oncologist said that my rapid recovery is not normal and said I'm in the 2% category. I haven't missed a gym day on account of my treatments. I went on as normal and it helped my mind. I hope this helps you. I feel your pain, because I'm there too. You can't explain this to someone who hasn't experienced it. Take care and hang in there. Tim

@linda90 Everyone is different but likely your eating habits will be slow to recover and likely won’t start recovery until two or three weeks after you are done with radiation. It’s the main reason a feeding tube is recommended.
Just keep trying to eat anything you can. You need calories, not necessarily healthy foods.

@linda90,

Not sure what kind of cancer you had but I had 35 rounds (7 weeks) of Photon radiation for a total of 70Gy and 3 rounds of Cisplatin chemo for tonsil cancer back in 2008 but no surgery and I did research then and found in an England Journal of Medicine that honey could help soothe the throat pain from the mouth sores/ulcers you will get. I did shots of real honey not the ones you find in your local grocery store which most all are synthetic and don’t have the same benefits. It definitely took some of the edge off for me.

I would only use MANUKA honey (it’s from New Zealand) which you can find on Amazon that scores at least UMF 15+ and MGO rating of 500+ are considered potent enough for medicinal use- UMF ranges from 10 to 25, the higher the rating, the more potent the benefits are, and of course, the more expensive, the honey. Also, the higher the rating the thinner the honey and better tasting- I use UMF 18+ and 700+ even now for many health benefits it offers and my most recent cancer treatments I received. In addition, I heard very good things about Red Light therapy, which uses infrared light from a wand in the throat has worked well for many.

Others mentioned ACES + Zn® supplement. If you google it contains vitamins A, C, E selenium and zinc. They thought it helped regain taste faster. In addition, someone mentioned putting fresh Ginger on your tongue before eating and spitting it out.

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.

Hope this helps and good luck on your journey.