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Anyone experience loss of taste after Brain Tumor Radiation?
I completed 6 weeks of IMRT to the right frontal lobe two weeks ago. It went well, with the only effect during treatment being a small amount of hair loss. Recently I noticed that some foods were tasting sort of bland. I wasn’t tasting the umami savory flavors that I was used to. I did a search online and found a paper from the NIH that discussed this loss of taste. Evidently it’s not uncommon in people undergoing radiation treatment in the head and neck regions. It typically starts around the 5th week of treatment and returns to normal within a year or less. A link to the NIH paper is below. I thought this was interesting since there wasn’t a mention of loss of taste in the information I got from the clinic. Has anyone else experienced a diminishment or loss of taste following radiation treatment?
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6244914/
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My husband had 3 weeks of Proton Beam radiation for a glioblastoma in May. He's taste seemed off and water wasn't even tasting good. He was a big water drinker prior to surgery and radiation. Food and water are just now starting to taste more normal.
I had a brain tumor removed about 7 months ago and went through radiation after surgery. Besides the taste issues, I am also having smelling issues where most smells, like coffee brewing make me want to throw up. I used to live coffee and now can’t stand the smell of it and a few other items. Is this common and how long before it goes away?
@arturo25 While many head and neck cancer patients have had radiation of their oral and throat areas, brain irradiation happens minimally. I have asked that Moderators move your question to the brain tumor group.
While undergoing treatments at U of Michigan I met a young man who has had his brain tumor irradiated twice. He was describing much like you are with sense of smell being totally off. I believe he was over a year from the last radiation and had seen big improvements in that time. I hope you do too.
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1 Reaction@arturo25, I moved your question about loss of taste and smell after brain tumor treatment to this discussion in the Brain Tumor support group:
- Anyone experience loss of taste after Brain Tumor Radiation?https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/loss-of-taste-following-radiation-therapy/
I did this so you can connect with other members like @kdog1957 @dconway817 @robertpierre89 @carolinalynn who also have experience with losing sense of taste and/or finding the smell of some things unpleasant. For some the sense of smell and taste returned. I'm sorry to hear that coffee no longer smells good to you and it used to be a favorite smell.
What type of radiation did you have? When did you complete treatment?
Complete taste returned after just a few weeks. Hair grew back within a few months and came in a darker color.