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Taste Buds: Does your taste for food come back?

Pancreatic Cancer | Last Active: May 16 9:24am | Replies (25)

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Question...My husband is finding it hard to eat. Says the food either tastes so bland/unappealing or he has zero appetite. He is stage 4 PC.Any tips to help combat this would be greatly appreciated. Also does this resolve and your taste for food comes back??

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Replies to "Question...My husband is finding it hard to eat. Says the food either tastes so bland/unappealing or..."

This happens when taking Chemo. You have to eat or weight loss will be a big problem.

A dietician can help. Mine told me to try eating something every couple hours, move your body in some way, emphasize protein. They also have a med to stimulate appetite, although it had a drowsy affect, and enzymes to help body absorb more nutrients. There's research on why cancer affects appetite, so I'm sure there's more help on the horizon. I hope this helps. 😊

I found that my taste for things changes as I am almost in my 4th year with pancreatic cancer. I am currently on a break from Abraxane/gemcitabine after 85 treatments. At the beginning I could not tolerate ranch dressing, but now I can eat it. Weird how my cravings change over time. Wish I could come up with more examples, but my brain is not engaging 🙂 I did always like the protein powder by Walmart in the chocolate flavor.

My husband is also Stage 4 PC and his appetite had been bad but now he can at most eat a bite or two. I have tried cooking all of his favorite foods but nothing helps. He says he just can't get it down . Sometimes, he tells me it is stuck and then he ends up vomiting. The only thing I can get him to take is a milkshake . I tried the other day to use half protein shake and half milk but he told me his stomach hurt really bad afterwards so he made me promise not to do that. I have also added a raw egg just to get some protein in him. He is losing weight so rapidly that I don't know what to do.
He has metastasis to the lungs and spine and intra-abdominal as well as many enlarged lymph nodes. He had a distal pancreatectomy in July 2024 but it was already in 14 of the 20 Lymph Nodes that they removed and then they did a biopsy on some of the nodules in his lungs which confirmed metastasis there also so they put him on
Palliative Care. He has never had any Chemo or Radiation. He was doing fairly well and Oncologist said as long as it hasn't hit the Liver, he should be good.
I don't understand what has changed and what could be causing him not to be able to eat . This is so frustrating as well as heartbreaking.

Try Care Kitchen from the Seena Magowitz Foundation.