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

Posted by franciekid @franciekid, Apr 28, 2023

Have tried ice water, popsicle, candied ginger, ginger tea - not much relief. Also feeling very lethargic. Thanks for any ideas. I’m new at this.

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@mrnootz

I have my first round coming up on the 3rd of July, so I am reading up on all the drugs everyone is posting. Does the prochlorperazine help with your anxieties?

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Nope.

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@loribmt

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?

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My cousin is a p e teacher and recommended mixing Gatorade and water. It tastes much better.

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Sour, or tart things helped me with this problem. The nutritionist suggest sugar free lemon drops to suck on. She also said not to worry about sugar at this time. I do not normally like gummy Candy of any kind, but for some reason sour gummy worms really helped, I’d suck on one, not eat a bunch. Sweet gherkin pickles also helped (but have your Tums close by). Lemon in my water was a regular addition, helped with both the nausea, taste, & dry mouth. Good luck. You’ll get through it. Best wishes.

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Applesauce seems to help the bad taste in my mouth. Also really cold 7 up if you aren’t on oxiplatin and having to avoid cold things.

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A friend of mine suggested winter green Lifesavers for the taste...worked like a charm for me! Now I always carry a few in my bag.
Sandy

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