Food, drink and metal mouth food suggestions please!

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Comments

  • Romla
    Romla Member Posts: 2,092
    Able NOT blue - sorry
  • Rachwllms
    Rachwllms Member Posts: 22
    My mouth is terrible after chemo. Everything is a big pile of salty metallic crap. I live on cold sweet stuff those first few days. I cut up a big bowl of fruit salad and that seems to do the trick, i prepare it before i have chemo or i can't be bothered and end up living on jam toast. Hungry Jacks chocolate thick shakes are amazing, not very healthy but Ooh so good
  • viking1
    viking1 Member Posts: 288
    edited December 2017
    I will try that Romia!  Thank you. Lol my shopping list is looking bizarre...red frogs hey!  Our friend with bowel cancer doing chemo swears by red cordial.  I got raspberry cordial and it did take the edge off the water.  @Joannie that is excellent! I only got the metal mouth and food probs with docetaxel, not FEC.  Shows how individual this can be with some ppl having no probs and others having cheese fetishes lol.  I tried cheese twisties today but that was pushing it ... very bitey.  Yes, I had a good experience with a chocolate milkshake with ice-cream in it. 
  • MKitty68
    MKitty68 Member Posts: 261
    During AC i didn't go off my food, i had nausea but not to the point of vomiting though (got enough of that from rads though)  my taste buds went weird for days, i found lemon wedges in my water bottle helped heaps! as did sucking on lemon sherbet lollies. I found I needed to eat acidic foods and drinks, lots of coke lol, and eat and drink very strong flavours, nothing bland. I did find that i would not feel hungry, but would get nauseous if i'd not eaten at the 'correct times', so ended up eating to a time schedule rather than because i was hungry. This helped a lot to keep the nausea at bay. 
  • MKitty68
    MKitty68 Member Posts: 261
    oh, i also went right off coffee and wanted tea instead - just like when i was pregnant with my kids... last chemo was 26th October, last Rads was 11th December and i'm off tea again & right back on to my yummy coffee! haha
  • viking1
    viking1 Member Posts: 288
    @MKitty68 Congratulations on finishing chemo and rads!  How awesome...right in time for Christmas!  I haven't had any nausea throughout chemo which was weird as I was only able to take 8mg of dexamethasone (the steroid to stop it) on the day of chemo and not the full dose of 8mg for 4 more days.  Had a bad reaction to it. On thought I was going to throw up once after dinner but nothing came up weirdly.  I was sorry to hear you had nausea with rads ... I am due for 6 weeks of it in Jan.  Is that common? I though I was trading those sorts of side effects for red skin, etc
  • MKitty68
    MKitty68 Member Posts: 261
    Thank you @viking1
    it's an uncommon side effect apparently. They were also doing radiation on my throat & that's caused radiation burns to my throat, which gives me the sensation that something is stuck in my throat. I've also had indigestion which has not helped matters. They've given me a gel to gargle then swallow to numb my throat, i have anti nausea pills & indigestion pills. 
    They have said that the next week or two are actually the worst as far as side effects from radiation, with skin damage/breaking down. 
    I have my parents and my daughter arriving next Wednesday, so i'm hoping the skin damage doesn't get too bad, so far my skin has coped very well though. I have darkening down my side & under arm, and skin damage on my chest above the flat tyre boob which i am treating with cortisone & sorboline. 

    Good luck with the rest of your treatment, i hope all goes well for you. 
  • HIT
    HIT Member Posts: 261
    Hi viking1, gotta hate docetaxol.  Sparkling mineral water - salt, salt, and more salt.  Fish & chips.  Chips without fish. Scrambled egg, lots of salt and butter so it just slid down my throat.  Days when the pain hit (around 5- to 10 days) and when water tasted awful,  It really was a battle to make myself eat.   Very unhealthy I was at that stage  and I didn't care just wanted to sleep.
  • TripleTea
    TripleTea Member Posts: 59
    @viking1I feel your pain!! I had 3 FEC with no taste changes(although very sick) and have had 1 of 3 doxetaxel and whilst I’m grateful to not have the nausea it comes with many more little issues. I had bad pain days 3&4 and felt like I had a bad flu. 
    I had oral thrush, no taste, sore throat, dry mouth so everything I eat feels like chalk, nose sores, sore fingers & super cracked lips. I guess given your experience it’s probably not going to get better either. 
  • TripleTea
    TripleTea Member Posts: 59
    With FEC I ate mashed potato with broccoli and heaps of butter and salt. I could have eaten the salt shaker if possible! With doxetaxel I haven’t craved salt but have liked icecream and cold things like icy poles, thick shakes, watermelon. My mouth feels a little numb but also sore  so I like the cold. 
  • onemargie
    onemargie Member Posts: 1,264
    Hi there @viking1 i didn’t have the mouth or throat issues but first week after AC and taxol everything tasted really bland. No metal taste for me just bland. I drank the mt Franklin sparkling flavoured water the lemon one as normal water made me gag. Mash potato was a favourite of mine and beef chow main.... ate bucket loads of that for some reason had huge cravings for it so always through in a tonne of Veges and oyster sauce but it had to be made with mince and not beef strips as it was a texture thing for me and only beef mince not chicken. And it had to have heaps of those egg noodles in it too. Couldn’t stand chocolate or anything too sweet which I love normally as well. Margie x
  • viking1
    viking1 Member Posts: 288
    @MKitty68 Geez you are certainly going through a rough patch.  My chemist's assistant had throat cancer and rad to her throat,  Poor lady has no saliva now and can't taste anything.  She gets through a bottle of lubricating mouthwash a week and apparently her condition  is permanent.  ☹You hang in there, it sounds like not long to go.  I'm glad you'll be with family.  I bought some tubs of organic calendula from NZ to test but whatever  works!  Never had indigestion before chemo! @HIT wow we have three WA ppl here! I know what you mean about trying to eat healthy food and just wanting a frozen thickshake! Will worry about weight when the chemo wears off and I can eat normal foods!   @TripleTea I have had salt cravings and burnt my tongue with crisps! We seem to be on the same program. I was wondering if you receive treatment in Bunbury? I need herceptin until Sept and my family is downsizing. I have been looking at moving to Australind as love the area and reasonable prices for solo female!  Great year to be moving ergh...rads to get through still. @onemargie I will try those noodles! Yum! xxx
  • MKitty68
    MKitty68 Member Posts: 261
    Ohh nose sores, yes I had those on Paclitaxel, very dry nose, I managed with the saline nasal washes, it definitely helped. Tiredness, the aches were horrid! 3 days of them. My infusion day was a Thursday, Friday i was full of energy, Saturday afternoon the aches started & stayed until Monday night. I forced myself to still walk up & down the stairs in our house, dragging myself back up. On good days I could take the dogs for a short walk, but exhausted afterwards. Still cleared the dog poo from the yard, made myself do things then rested. The neuropathy in my feet (along with my arthritis) was the worst, causing me so much lost sleep. That’s still not gone, but is so much better than it was. I dealt with that by soaking my feet & ankles in a bucket of very hot water & Epsom salts. Didn’t help it was also the start of QLD’s storm season. Med oncologist gave me sleeping pills & Targin to help. 
    The ‘metal mouth’ on AC for me was more like a thick coating on my mouth & tongue, dulling my tastebuds. Acidic foods & drinks were the only thing that worked.

    Including the 938g they removed from my breast, I’ve now lost nearly 10kg… as I’m overweight, I sure don’t mind! 
    Im still struggling to eat normally a lot of the time, so expect I’ll lose more still. It’s okay, I have plenty I can lose
  • Romla
    Romla Member Posts: 2,092
    @viking1 calendula cream was supplied in the change rooms after my radiotherapy and I think that it may have helped a lot to prevent skin damage.I note they also supplied aorbolene which was not used as much and that the clinic at the end changed to another product rather than it. The mskcc says it’s great for radiotherapy side effects too and also inflammation
  • viking1
    viking1 Member Posts: 288
    @MKitty68 ... nose sores, yes, have had a running nose since chemo started, so bad sometimes that it literally drips.  I look great blowing my nose with a thermometer in my mouth! Have thought about sticking two tampons up my nostrils ... light flow!  This last chemo every time I blow my nose it bleeds a little.  If it's not one end, it's the other! TMI but even though I take 4 tabs coloxyl daily I still need to use the numbing cream at night and in the day or tear that end too and have blood spots.  I don't think a lot of people realise all the self care that goes on with this business. There's the Cancer Business and the Chemist Business! I am well into the red now.  No pun intended!  Also this last chemo my fingers and feet feel raw ... as if I have cut my nails too short and dragged my fingers and feet along gravel.  The other night my left hand had pain the numbness then pins and needles. Eye is twitching less. Wondering if this is peripheral neuropathy with the fingers and feet?  I had some temgesic for the week following chemo and leg/bone pains.  Am not sure if I will need with herceptin? No harm asking.  They only gave me 7.  Gold?  @Romla I am so glad to get positive feedback about the calendula!  Glad I haven't wasted money on it.  Thanks for that!