No appetite

Hi Sue. What are you trying to eat and what happens that you can’t manage? 

Hi Dani, I have tried the usual food: chicken, beef, lamb etc and just have no appetite and I am ok for the first few mouthfuls then I end up spitting out once the food goes cold. I can eat most deserts: trifle, jelly, yogurts, cakes with no problem. Bread is a no go although I can eat Tuc biscuits with cheese and onion deli mix which I have every day for lunch.

It is so frustrating.

Sue x

Yes the appetite thing is really frustrating. I wasn’t bothered if I ate for months if not well past where you are. If I could swallow it I just ate it. 
Try spicy foods without heat. Fatty lang slow cooked with cumin is good. You’ve already found strong tastes do better. Bread toasted is easier too. Try making a Welsh rarebit well seasoned with mustard and maybe Lea and Perrins too. Forget chicken… waste of time for another year I reckon. Fish pie with a cheesy sauce? Maybe a korma curry? Play with strong tastes. It’s awful but does get better. 

Go out to eat. Just have a pudding and a glass of wine. I still do that after six years. 

I struggled with taste and appetite for a year and then things started to improve, experimenting with different food and drinks helped greatly, over 2 years now since treatment finished and I can enjoy most things, some foods are still not appetising.

Hi slow lamb in a slow cooker yes aromatics rather than chillies. Sweet potato mashed ie fries. As Dani says if I went out it was usually a starter soup and a dessert. Meat I can eat most excluding chicken breast its dry no matter what you do to it. Bread will come j sm back I ti baking sourdough at home but took time.  

I found aubergines good often still have them they hold flavour well think garlic cheese. If hubby wasn’t a meat lover I could easily go vegetarian. 

toast is easier a fruit tea cake lots if butter  then pop cheese in under grill 500 calories. Forget about appetite its eat  to live not live to eat time. 
wow 10 month  where’s time going. In 7 years next month. 
p s agree tuc crackers are my go to cracker of choice. 

Hugs Hazel 

Thanks Dani you’ve made me feel better already that I’m not alone. I’ll try your suggestions xx

Thanks Micky and good to hear that you’re fine after 2 years and there is hope around the corner x

Thanks Hazel and lovely to hear how well you’re doing after 7 years. Sue x

Hi Sue. It takes a while to get your appetite back and a lot of experimentation is needed to find what works for you. I had jaw cancer so not the same as you so you should have a better result than me. I have had to adapt to eating changes long term and found it took a while to find out exactly what I liked the taste of and what textures I could manage. Even now I still have 3 drink supplements a day. Keep experimenting and trying different things. I find desserts much easier to manage but realise I need to eat healthily so don't rely on them too much. I find a soft boiled egg works quite well and I do puree a lot of veg along with something like a shop bought shepherds pie. The meat in those ready made meals are so much moister and easier to manage. Meat cooked in a slow cooker along with lots of stock becomes nice and soft and easier to manage. Experiment with lots of different home made soups as you can add so much healthy stuff into them. Try eating smaller meals so they don't go cold on you. Nothing more unappetising that cold food. 

Go out for meals with others but as the others have said just chose a soup or dessert. You can still be part of the company and enjoy the conversation. There is usually nothing on the menu that I can manage but I go prepared with some of my own food and that works out fine. 

You'll get there.

Best wishes

Lyn

Hi Sue and everyone else on the thread.

It's been an interesting read as I'm getting very frustrated with my fella's lack of appetite.  He's three and a half months post RT, so a drop in the ocean compared to some.  I've been grilling him (choice word) over why he's finding food so unappealing and eventually discovered it's because he's got no interest in it at all.  Now I felt a bit miffed as I've been parading finely presented delicacies to him for months.  He takes forever to eat these and looks like he's trying to down something I've found in a pig trough!

I've cajoled, nagged and threatened that he'll end up back in hospital, hooked up to liquid nutrition, if this carries on.  He bucks his ideas up for a day or so, and then it's back to looking at the tray of goodies like I've dished up rat poison.

I'm going to suggest some of the food advice kindly posted here to him.  He will eat sandwiches, just, but does do better with toast, so I'll take that on board for starters.  And he also eats Tuc crackers, thickly laden with Philadelphia garlic and herbs.  I feel slightly more relieved that it's not just him...or my cooking.

Thanks all xxx