How to handle your sense of taste changing during chemo

Amongst the plethora of side effects that come with chemotherapy drugs, one of the most annoying is how it affects your sense of taste. Of course everyone’s different, but the majority of people I talk to explain a similar feeling to what I experienced - loss of taste or everything tasting off (kind of like you’re tasting your meds that were just shot into your body- yuck). This is not to scare you, but to tell you you’re not alone; this is very common and I have some tips that helped me! And the good news is it’s temporary and will go away!

First of all why does this happen? The reason is actually not fully known by the medical world yet, but it is said to happen because the cells in your oral cavity are being damaged along with all your other cells, and of course most importantly the cancer cells!! Some of the most common drugs that cause this side effect are:

  • Cisplatin (Platinol)

  • Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan)

  • Doxorubicin (Adriamycin)

  • Fluorouracil (5-FU, Efudex)

  • Paclitaxel (Taxol, Abraxane)

  • Vincristine (Oncovin, Vincasar PFS)

So how do you deal with this bizarre new feeling?

  1. Do not - I repeat - DO NOT eat greasy or highly processed foods right after chemo. I learned this the hard way - one week I got Chick-Fil-A on my drive home from the doctor and to this day, I still cannot eat it. It completely ruins your appetite for having it ever again, it doesn’t taste like how you think it’s going to taste, and the grease makes you even more nauseous than you probably already are.

  2. Drink tons and tons of water. The more water you drink, the quicker your system can flush out the drugs and your taste buds can come back to somewhat normal

  3. Eat cold things rather than hot. For some reason colder foods are more refreshing and the weird taste doesn’t linger as much after compared to eating hot foods.

  4. Brush your teeth before and after chemo. After those drugs get into your system, there’s this weird taste in your mouth that just lingers. Kind of like when you’re hungover and you can still taste the alcohol. Brushing your teeth will help get rid of it quicker!

Remember this is only temporary and you’ve got this!! Keep fighting you warrior!

Madison Pollack