Pancreatic Cancer -Loss of taste

Hi Flynn, is your husband on a trial? I am on the Primal 001 trial and also have difficulty with taste after chemo. Like your husband I 

Sorry, didn’t finish my reply! 
like your husband, I struggled after my first few chemo sessions & was quite unwell. I am much better now that they have reduced the chemo & steroids. The taste however still remains an issue but I know I have to eat so I eat a very plain diet. I find if I stick to meat, potatoes, veg with no sauce this is ok. Soor ploom sweets, a mint, a jelly sweetie can help. I only drink ginger tea or water and struggle with most fruit as they are very ‘sweet’ tasted. I have managed to maintain my weight now & I am back working and living life that I never thought I would have back in November. Hopefully things will get better for your husband 

Thank you, Calley. I wish you all the best. 

Hi Fynn

Yes I can relate to loosing your taste etc, I was on those 2 drugs last year my temperature was ok but appetite was very low I could hardly eat anything just had tiny portions, and the smell of cooked food turned me off food even my favorite meals, I lost nearly 2 stone.  I took to having Complan for a little while, they helped.  Have you tried eating mints like Polo mints.  I noticed whilst I was on chemo lost my taste completely but just eat small portions.  When I stopped chemo it eventually came back, I could smell it on me also.  Once you stop chemo it will come back.  Try mints to take the horrible taste away.  It will get better.

Love and hugs.

I share some common experiences, my taste similarly was dominated by cardboard notes. I think I lost it, along with my appetite around cycle 3 of 12 back in February. It has been 2-3 weeks since both taste and appetite re-appeared. I had to pause cycle 10 as a result of dehydration from diarrhoea and at this point I started on Creon. I cannot say definitely to what degree this changed my condition but it certainly stabilised my digestion and brought control to my bowel movement. It almost feels like normal gastrointestinal service has returned!

I am slowly regaining some weight albeit slowly but recovering taste and appetite is transformative. I found during the worst phase that sweet tastes worked for me, such as custard etc. but are not sufficient in and of themselves, so I ,too, lost weigh consistently.

All the best 

David