Hi. This is my first post.

Hi Dolphin1958 and welcome to the forum.

It's still quite early days since your treatment finished but things should slowly start to improve for you soon if they havn't already. 

My taste was badly affected by treatment and I found very few foods that I could tolerate for the first few months.  I found most food tasted revolting but a few tasted of absolutely nothing (Ready Brek, semolina) so I existed on those plus my prescribed milkshakes.  However by the 4th month I could start to taste carrot and things started to improve from there.  A lot of people find their taste improves after the first couple of weeks of the end of treatment so hopefully yours should do the same soon.

Lack of saliva is a big problem for most people after treatment.  It's important to keep up your fluid intake.  A few people have found acupuncture very helpful in kickstarting the saliva glands - I'm sure they'll be along shortly with more details.  There is also a product called Xylimelts which lots of people find useful, especially at night, and also sugar free gum.  Again, I'm sure people will add posts regarding those.

Keeping your mouth as clean as possible can also help with the horrible taste - a homemade mouthwash of baking soda mixed with warm water.  

Using sauces etc on food so it's not too dry can be helpful.  I made myself a lot of soups which I pureed once my taste improved.   It's important to keep trying lots of different foods frequently.  What doesn't work one day may well do a week later so keep expermenting. 

Wishing you all the best with your continued recovery and hope it's not too long before you start feeling those improvements.  They will come.

Linda x

Hi Dolphin.
Wekcome to our select little community.
You have come to the right place for tips and support. Linda’s great reply is pretty comprehensive. I turned a corner at 12 weeks. You are still very early in your recovery.

I have good results from acupuncture and if you check out my blog linked at the bottom of my post there are two entries with pictures covering this. 
Sugar free xylitol chewing gum is an absolute godsend to get saliva going. I’m a great believer in using something to stimulate whatever salivary function you have and chewing gum does just that. You don’t have to chew all the time as the same effect is achieved parking the gum in your cheek and having the odd chew. 
Lastly can I just say that food at this stage is simply fuel you have to get down. Your taste buds have had a battering but things will improve. 
I am 2 years out of RT and can eat just about anything. Yes my saliva is lacking a little but adequate. 
You’ll get there. 
Goops luck, I hope your recovery continues and keep us all in the loop as you improve. 
Take care 

Hi Dolphin. We are at roughly the same stage and I have had exactly the same side effects. I am still existing on very runny Ready Brek, made with half Fortisip and half full cream milk, for breakfast and soup with grated cheese in it for lunch. Everything had tasted of cardboard until around Wednesday last when I suddenly realised I could taste the cheese. A huge but pleasant surprise!
In the evenings I’ve been having mainly scrambled eggs with (very) mashed, buttered sweet potatoes (which are much less cloying than ordinary potatoes). I always have to swill my throat with Oxetacaine to help numb the pain before I eat but it works pretty well.
I have the dry mouth too, especially at night, and it’s a real pain in that I wake every 45 minutes or so to take a sip of water. In the day, however, I find that chewing gum helps produce saliva pretty well.
This journey is different for all of us, but hopefully you’ll start getting your taste back and enjoying your food before too long. 

Hi Mark

Thank you for your support. I am beginning to get taste for sweet things but everything really still tastes of cardboard. I'm pleased you are progressing and wish you a rapid recovery. I know I am impatient but it will be good when my nasogastric tube can come out. 

Hi Linda

Thank you for your suggestions. I am using a nasogastric tube for most of my calorie intake and I am impatient to have it removed. I do keep trying different foods so I guess I will just keep persisting in trying different tastes. Thank you for your encouragement that things will improve.

x

Hi Dolphin

The salty taste is something i remember incredibly well, i think a lot of us get that, and all of us struggle with no saliva

At the stage you are at which is still really early, i would just focus on getting calories down no matter what- the salt taste will go eventually. I can remember it was bad enough to make me gag at times, but it passed

What i have found helps is always having water with my food, taking sips of water with each swallow- and covering everything in a tonne of gravy or sauce.

I do use xylimelts even now (4 months after treatment) and they help prevent me waking up with a dry mouth.

Hang in there, you are very early post treatment, i think it was a month or so past your point where i felt much better.

Trev

Hi Dolphin welcome to our small community. Congratulations on completing treatment snd like you say the hard work now begins

It is still early days your mouth throat has taken a battering vThere no easy way baby steps in everything you  do.  Lack of saliva is the common side effect we all seem to get. I had 8 course of acupuncture which I feel sure kickstarted my saliva it took me 8 month to find one locally. Some hospitals offer si worth trying xyimelts are great fir nighttime you fo need a little saliva to get them going. I still use half  of one every night plus sip water . The salty taste unfortunately you have to try and push through it it does go no help now I kniw. At thus stage its eat to live as opposed to live to eat. I always had a Luke warm drink to wash food down  are you on any high calorie food supplements you need to sun for 1800-2500 calories a   day to help yourself heal plus 2-3 litres of water. I found to start with toast with lashings of butter easy to eat ok it was crap white bread but cut into quarters worked. Poached eggs are also good. I also chewed sugar free gum with xylitol in orbit sugar free or dr pepper smith. 
I have a blog below with links to others it may help you. 
keep in touch Hazel 

Hi there - I finished treatment end of October and just turned a corner these last few weeks. I have poached eggs every day for breakfast on a thin slice of ham and sometimes a small slice of very buttery toast. Bread is a real issue for me still just sticks in my mouth. I stopped my supplements only in the last few weeks and have a lot of soup, slow cooked beef stews with veg etc, mash and my taste buds are returning. My desire to eat is slowly returning and I am feeling hungry again. As Dani says food has just been purely fuel for quite some time but I’m slowly discovering joy in eating again. I cant touch chicken as too dry and need water to wash everything down. I brush my teeth a lot after food as I cant clean my mouth anymore with my tongue as too sore so use my difflam mouthwash a lot and still take oral pain relief. I also had a NG tube which I couldn’t wait to get rid off - I lasted a long time without it and only had it a short time but it got me through when I hit rock bottom - I had lost 4 stone in total as I simply stopped eating. My mouth is dry a lot - found some Boots dry mouth spray on Saturday which is helpful and my cancer friends sent me different samples of stuff for the mouth like gelcare and Oralieve samples from the dentist and hospital really help too. My taste massively improved once the mucus stopped from the treatment too.

Hi Trev

Thank you for your kind message. I am beginning to taste some foods - mainly sweet things to counteract the salty taste. The mouth dryness seems variable and I always have water with me. I also find Xylimelts helpful.

I look forward to generally feeling better soon. All the best to you in your recovery.

x

Hi

Well done in getting to where you are now. I am beginning to taste some sweeter foods but it is a struggle to get enough calories in. I'm hoping the NG tube can come out soon. You lost a lot of weight - goodness. I have lost 1 stone and I wasn't that big to start!! To see you saying you are 'slowly discovering the joy of eating' has given me huge encouragement.

Thank you