Food, drink and metal mouth food suggestions please!
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@viking1 just a suggestion but I have a lifetime of constipation and every pill, suppository, enemas etc the best thing that I have ever used is Movicol it works no pain no blood no haemhorroids - available in chemist no script - is used a lot by elderly people in nursing homes as they often have problems because they are bedridden but please check is ok to use in your circumstances. Also have twigged after 60 years to drink a lot of fluid - not wild about water prefer it with a teabag or coffee in it - dehydration brings on the problem for me. Also I make sure I eat 2 dried figs a day - quite like the kalamta figs on a rope plus learnt to enjoy lots raw veg eg bag salad leaves from the supermarket.2
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The tingling is likely to be peripheral neuropathy. Let your oncologist know and see if he/she recommends anything to limit the impact. I think vitamin B helped me a bit but ask your oncologist. If your nose gets sore and crusty with bleeding (such an annoying side effect!) nose oil may help. I never knew there was such a thing but it did help cracking and soreness from perpetual blowing. Most if this clears up pretty fast when you finish chemo, but the neuropathy can be slow to improve so it's worth slowing any development if you can. Best wishes.2
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@viking1 & @Romla I’ve not heard of the calendula cream. They just told me to get pure sorboline, no Vit E or anything else in it. The only other thing mentioned was moo goo. My lungs seem to have also been irritated, I’ve had a bit of a cough since chemo that’s gotten worse the past few days. They said on my last day, that if the skin blisters I can use sudocream, but no mention of anything else.
Oh yeah, the constipation is horrid! I have problems with my bowel having adhesions from past endometriosis, even the slightest constipation causes me back pain, so have done regular enemas with water throughout to keep things moving along. I found coloxyl to be good for softening things up as well though. I never tried the movicol but considered it. Chemo farts are pretty disgusting too1 -
Dammit, half my post above disappeared!0
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Try again;
Throughout chemo I would have regular smoothies, I first started with the pre-prepared smoothie mixes with things like beetroot, carrot, kale in with mango, pineapple, berries, etc. then I started making my own combinations. I add fresh fruit like banana as well. I make my own yoghurt, so had lots of that in there with some honey (good for sore throats) I also use coconut water, so that’s more water in my diet. I found the smoothies really helped with keeping my blood counts up, and I think likely helped the constipation. You can also add in things like dates.
It was also invaluable when I really didn’t feel like eating breakky as at least I was getting something nutritious.1 -
With the tingling, I agree with @Afraser, it sounds like peripheral neuropathy. Advise your oncologist, I was also advised to take a vitamin B supplement, which I’m still taking, along with the calcium & D ‘horse tablets’ I take daily. Damn, why do they have to make these things so damn big. They’re hard to swallow at times.
My nose would have an almost constant drip thing happening. It stopped pretty quickly once chemo was over. Try the nasal washes though, they did definitely help with the dry nasal passages. They take a bit to get used to at first but worth persisting.2 -
Nose oil - who knew?! That might soften things. Thank you! Those smoothies sound delicious - be careful with your cough. I had one pop up after chemo and kept complaining about it. Was pneumonia. Maybe get someone with a stethescope to listen for crackles as the swab testing takes ages. I was surprised it was pneumonia as it didn't feel painful, just a bit heavy. I will ask the Dr on the floor at my next herceptin injection about the peripheral neuropathy as I have officially finished chemo and they've shut my file on that! My next herceptin shot is Xmas Day and so I have been 'weight listed' for an appointment as they're closed. Hopefully the chemo will be out of my system on the 25th ... 3 weeks after my last chemo. I tried the movicol. I overstretched the mark and had prune juice, movicol, coloxyl, and pear halves on the same day to see if I could get a breakthrough. I did!1
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Oh dear, that sounds like you were rather desperate! Last time I used the coloxyl I had an ‘oops’ moment, luckily I was at home though!
I am thinking I will get this cough checked out by my GP if it doesn’t settle soon, as I’m not back at the hospital until 25th Jan. It’s starting to feel a bit like a cold, which is strange as I’ve been hiding out at home & not gone anywhere to have caught a cold.1 -
Isn't it awful? I could eat pretty much anything but everything (yes, even chocolate) had next to no taste unless it was loaded with salt. I think I ate my weight in peppermints to try and get rid of that awful taste...blah.1
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@viking1 yes it does sound like our regime is the same. I have my treatment in Bunbury but have triple negative breast cancer so no herceptin or tamoxifen or anything after chemo but they have mentioned I may be eligible for a trial of a new drug that is for BRAC1 positive patients. I will be having a hysterectomy and double mastectomy Feb next year but that will all be done in Perth.
Australind is a beautiful little area!
I will have to suss out the nose oil too. I had nose sores in the first week of this round and then constant runny nose and watering eyes? I feel like a crack addict(not that I know what that’s like but just based on movies1 -
@TripleTea Thank you ... it does then sound like if Bunbury deals with cancer patients I might be lucky and be able to have herceptin there...will get on to asking the chemo onc here in the New Year. The trial for the new drug sounds promising. I am sorry you have to go through all of that. My niece is 26 and on her father's side of the family her grandmother and aunts have had the same so carry the gene. My niece has a three month year old and got married last year. She hasn't thought about testing yet. I suppose she needs to decide if she wants another bub first. I did some background research of my own and one of the outcomes was that they said it is a good idea to decide what you would want to do treatment wise before having the test. I thought that was an interesting take on things. Yes, my eyes water too! I think I look more like a heroin addict tho as you should see my horrible scar tissue and red circle in the crook of my arm. Result of one canulla being inserted in wrong place and bursting out after being left in for 7 days which was too long apparently. Now pathwest struggles to get blood and veins are terrible. But always aware that it could be worse! Will try and find nose oil today. xxx keep in touch. Will you be at Charlie's or St John? I hope you have a good break before Feb and time to just relax and enjoy.0
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I'm on Docetaxel & Cyclophosphamide and my mouth is like the bottom of a bird cage. Tastebuds shot, oral thrush every cycle, little to no appetite. My GP suggested something that has worked for me. Slice up a fresh pineapple and freeze it. Something about the enzymes seems to cut through. I have a couple of slices everyday.0
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if you're looking for something healthy and filling and you don't mind the taste, I've found a spoonful of hommuous does the trick - can get you over the yucky bit to where you can eat something else.0
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Hi ladies,
I thought I would be well over the metallic taste re chemo by now! My last chemo was three weeks before Xmas and it's early March now. It has lessened. But I have no appetite for anything healthy. I'm not losing weight as sticking to things I can taste properly. But when I shop nothing much jumps out. Have had some cravings for fresh orange juice. I asked the chemo nurse last week when I got my herceptin shot if I should be over it now. She said it is all individual. I feel like the metal fillings in my mouth are leaking! Saliva is metallic. Pity no weight being lost! 3 more rads to go! 27 down.0 -
@viking1, it took months for food to taste reasonable. I had zero appetite on chemo and I still have a poor appetite now. I finished chemo in July last year and rads in November. For me radiation made things taste gross and I lost 7kg in those 6 weeks of rads. The radiation nurses told me radiation can alter taste sometimes permanently and yet my rads oncologist said it doesn't. Go figure, maybe I was unlucky lol.1
