Third day post chemo and terrible taste in my mouth. Any suggestions?

I'm a lurker from the pancreatic cancer board. I had chemo for ovarian in 2007 and am in again, this time for pan can. I've found that table salt "disappears" on food; I can't taste it, so everything tastes flat. A coarser-grind kosher salt works much better for me. Last time, I couldn't stand lemon. TicTacs helped me counter the lousy taste in my mouth. This time, lemon works well. Lemonade is particularly tasty. Re food, we have experimented and played to food jags and whims. We have so much weird stuff in this house--pudding, Jell-o, Pop Tarts. I just finished chemo no. 3, and we may have the nausea under control. Some foods I found OK when I was dicey were baked potatoes, rice, light cream sauces, pudding, sorbet. Eat tiny, tiny amounts more often, just enough to keep you going. Basically, I am going for calories and not worrying about nutrition. If I get the calories, I've helped fuel myself, even if it's not optimal. Good luck! I hope they can help you get the nausea under control. That's no fun, I know.

Squeezing lemon in my water helped make it more palatable, also helped a bit with the nausea. I also wore sea sickness bands. You can get them at any pharmacy. As far as the terrible taste from chemo, I found that sucking on a sour gummy worm helped. It’s a weird solution, since I don’t normally like them, but made all the difference for me. Hope it helps you.

Hi @franciekid. You have my empathy. Losing our taste buds with chemo is hard to describe to anyone who hasn’t gone through that! Foods taste and feel so different! Either slimy or like eating cardboard. I remember developing a revulsion to cheese. It felt like putting butter in my mouth. Just the slipper feel with no taste.

Water was awful too. First suggestion is to ditch the ice water and try it at room temperature. That made a huge difference for me. One of the flavorings I found most helpful was True Lemon products. They’re made from actual freeze dried bits of Lemon, Lime and Orange, no sugar in the basic citrus packets. Now there are tons of new flavors out with flavored lemonades. You can find most of the products at grocery stores or Amazon.
I couldn’t actually taste the flavoring but it changed the water enough to make it palatable. Oddly enough, I also found a drop or two of maple syrup helped as well.

I had to be cautious with mouth sores though so you might want to try only small sprinkles to begin with. I’d only use a couple sprinkles and that was enough to make a differnce in the water ‘taste’. Too much acid from flavorings such as lemon, gummies, etc., really irritated my tissue.

Have you tried any flavorings?

I haven’t used CBD personally for nausea. It was suggested not to use it because of potential interference to other medications I was on. I have heard from other acquaintances that it worked very well.
We do have a number of members in the forum who have used CBD for nausea.
I did a quick search and there are several pages of references for you to peruse through. Type in, CBD for nausea up in the search bar and you’ll get a listing of all the conversations.

What are you currently taking for nausea? I had 3 meds but the most appreciated were the little Zofran sublingual melts.

I know it’s awful trying to find foods that are even remotely appealing. There’s a great website you might be interested in checking out. Cooking for Chemo. Chef Ryan has some really good recipes that trick the non existent tastebuds. 😅
https://www.cookingforchemo.org/
Are you nearing completion of your chemo?

Weirdly, strong tasting food helped me. Extra sharp cheddar cheese, pickles, even pickle juice. Also ginger chews, candied ginger and ginger tea.

Two more sessions - June 7 and 28. Worst days are 4-9 after chemo session. By day 11, I’m pretty much back to feeling normal, except for VERY dry mouth when I wake up in the morning. I take Compazine and Zofran for the nausea, plus prilosec in the morning and olazapine at night.

You’ll be so happy to be done with that chemo and your body will too! Eventually your taste buds will return, the nausea will subside and hopefully that nasty taste is history for you (along with the cancer!)
I remember it took my intestinal tract a little while to settle down into a ‘normal rhythm’ after getting off the anti-nausea meds. They helped immeasurable to keep food down but they also tend to slow down the peristaltic movement of our guts.
Have you tried any Xlimelts or Biotene products for your dry mouth?

Just take one nap after another, that’s what I do on the third and fourth day. I have prochloperazine and ondansetron prescribed for nausea. Baked potatoes are good and cream of wheat cereal for breakfast. I try to tell myself on those rough days, this will get better in time. Feel better franciekid.

Thank you SO much. I was feeling guilty napping yesterday. I have the same anti nausea meds. Alternating today, but zofran not doing much. Trying ice, lemon ice and hard candy. Ick. I had oatmeal yesterday - and I did plan on baked potato, so thanks for that reassurance. Does it continue to get worse?