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

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 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?

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?

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.

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?

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.