Bad taste after Docetaxel

Hi TNBC50

I have had the first dose of Docetaxel and having the same problem. I am hoping it passes. I am now 9 days into my cycle. I just try eating different things. Sometimes I had more salt to food. Melons and plums seems to be more normal to me. Xx

Hi TNBC

Sorry to hear you’re having this SE. It does seem to be very common. I think dexamethasone can make your mouth dry too so try to drink plenty of fluids, I had a glass of water beside my bed at night. I have some artificial saliva gel (zendium) which I used at night, there are other sprays etc that do the same sort of thing, you could ask your BC nurse for advice, or someone on here might know. I switched to a milder toothpaste (sensodyne gum health) and a softer tooth brush.

I switched from tea to coffee because of the stronger flavour. Coconut water, sparkling water seemed more tolerable too. Do you like spicy food? I spiced up my food a bit which helped. Anything bland, like breakfast cereal, I found difficult to eat as it was like chewing cardboard. I was put off sweet things like biscuits, which maybe isn’t a bad thing! Everyone is different though so try and find something you semi like as you need to keep eating to help your blood count come back to normal. 

I’m 2 weeks post Docetaxel and it does get better. Now having tea again. Not quite back to normal but a definite improvement.

Wishing you all the best and hopefully you’ll find somethings you can manage to eat.

Bluebell xx

I had this last year and found it sort of lingered throughout, couldn’t stand pineapple and even tea for a while. Drink lots of water or dilute squash and trial and error! Hope it resolves soon.

The cancer nurse recommended pineapple and so I got some pineapple juice and that's at least a little refreshing.   They also suggested boiled sweets.....   my weird taste (yep, no other description really) lasted about a week in cycle one and actually seems less severe in cycle 2.  Hope it eases soon

Try drinking pineapple juice or eating pineapple there is a certain enzyme that helps. Dry mouth pastilles which really helped to clear my horrible tongue and inflamed mouth eg Salivix Plus and also a toothpaste called Biotene. Wish I had found these pastilles sooner as they really did help me but I was due my last cycle of docetaxal when I heard about them. Used them day and night when my tongue was really yucky. My oncologist kept recommending manuka honey but I don’t like honey so didn’t try it.  He said to coat your tongue and mouth with it or suck on a spoon of it. Good luck!

I had a bad taste with docetaxel and it stayed with me throughout the cycle, getting worse with each one. I finally got my taste back about 5-6 weeks after last cycle.

Some things did help though! I found drinking sweet drinks helped as I really went off water and green tea etc. I drank ginger beer (the fever tree one is yummy!) and ribena which I could tolerate. I also found sugar guns like fruit pastels helped. I only ate one or 2 in the evening but it just kept that horrible taste at bay.

Experiment with different things but unfortunately, I never found anything that got rid of it completely. Just things I could tolerate while having it.

The good news is it will go away and you will regain your taste. Chemo feels like it goes on forever but suddenly your through it and start recovering. You slowly return to feeling like you. 

I've just finished 4 cycles of docetaxel and I still have a bad taste in my mouth. I find sucking on boiled sweets help. 

You can also get sweets called Queasy Drops, they are a bit more expensive than normal sweets but they help with nausea as well. I like the sour raspberry flavoured ones. 

I hope you feel better soon. 

Hi 

I fount tomato soup always tasted like tomato soup ! Baked beans and sausages were also ok . I drank lots of water and juice . My husband bought inexpressive ready meals and if I liked them then great and if they tasted nasty to me , they were binned . One night I fancies banana fritter with syrup and ice cream from our Chinese restaurant and it was so tasty , my hubby bought me every evening for a week ! Then too they started to change . My oncologist warned me that what tasted good one week could taste awful the next !!! 
I am just out of hospital ( nothing to do with BC) and due to antibiotics I’m now back to awful taste again !! I’m finding fruit is good , I peel and vote a desert apple and heat in microwave and I’m finding this is cutting though the awful taste . Hope you get relief soon , once chemo over your taste buds should recover quickly 

best wishes 

Ruby Rose  

Hello BaileyLady, Please can you tell me where you bought these pastilles and are they called Salivix Plus? I wasn't totally sure but I'm desperate for something to cut through the cotton wool/cardboard effect. Thanks.  

Hi TNBC50, I'm on my 9th cycle of Taxol and I'm suffering the same problem. I cannot bear water or tea but coffee is just about  bearable. I have to drink decaf as I have chronic insomnia.  I've found that lemon sorbet cuts through but it can be harsh if you have a sore mouth. Yellow melon is soothing and a way of getting liquid down. Pineapple doesn't work for me. I add non sweetened cranberry juice to water but it only works intermittently. I would like to find something that I could chew that would take my mind off the taste in my mouth and as for food... sometimes it feels like I'm eating cotton wool and I find this immensely depressing. The only positive is that it does not last for the whole week. My chemo is on Tuesdays and by Friday evening I can usually taste 10% of what I'm eating which is preferable to tasting nothing at all. Wishing you strength.  x