Terry Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 My husband has just finished 3 weeks of brain radiation and 1 week of spine radiation. He has been complaining of a metal taste for several weeks. Everything tastes like metal. He has lost 26 pounds in 3 weeks because he hates to eat. The doctor says the metal taste is a side effect of the radiation. He has tried brushing his teeth before eating, using mouthwash, scraping the tongue, lemon drops, Tic Tac's, various kinds of gum. Nothing helps. I feel so bad for him. He has to force himself to eat at meals. It is not fair to lose the joy of eating when he is suffering all the other side effects. Does anyone have any suggestions? Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bean_si (Not Active) Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 I had the same problem. I had to force myself to eat. The metal taste dissipiates when the treatment ends so at least it's not forever. It is indeed a royal pain. To make sure I was getting nutrients, I used a protein powder that also had all the vitamins and lots of minerals: Spiru-tein. You mix it with milk or water. If the taste of milk bothers him right now, he might want to try rice milk since there's almost no taste to it and it's very light. The brand Rice Dream Original Enriched has vitamins & minerals. You can get it at Publix if you have any in your area. Since it seems he's ending radiation, hopefully the metal taste will be disappearing soon. Good luck. Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginnyde Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 Terry, Earl had the same problem and I became a food nazi, a big nag. I begged, nagged etc to get him to drink an Ensure Plus with lots of ice cream milkshake every night just for the calories. For whatever reason, Stauffer's creamed chip beef seemed to taste ok. Sometimes you just have to play with foods to find what is tolerable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
char1048 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 I am having the same problem with my husband, he is hardly eating anything and is loosing weight also I try every thing, I to like Ginny nag him to try a little harder but it doesnt work, he has been done with his WBR since April he just gets chemo we go for a new cat scan on wednsday and see the radiation doctor on Friday so I hope she can shed some light on what we can do about his eating, if not then we see chemo doctor on July 12th and I hope and pray we see some kind of positive results on the new scan. Sorry I cant help you out with your husbands eating but hang in there and maybe ask doctor for some help with it. We got a perscription for megace but hubby wont let me fill it just yet because he is afraid it will make him eat constandly like the decadron did that made him put 10lb on in a week and a total of 25lb during radiation, I told him it is better to keep the weight on than to be loosing it during treatment, so I will wait till he tells me to fill the perscription. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted June 27, 2004 Author Share Posted June 27, 2004 Thanks Cat, Ginny, and Charolette for advice and support. Will try your suggestions. I have been feeling like such a nag - not my style. Nice to know I'm not the only one. We're off to New York City and Memorial Sloan-Kettering for second opinion. I won't be online for a few days. If we learn anything new I will share it with you all. Don't expect to however. I think this support group pretty much covers it all. Thanks all, Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Wood Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 I also was a food and drink Nazi! I kept insisting that my wife eat or drink something. For a while, it was all liquids, like Ensure, Breeze, smoothies, Gatoraid -- anything that would go down easy. A blender is a wonderful thing to have -- you can liquefy almost anything. I think the caregiver has to keep pushing, even if it gets ugly (LOL)! Good luck. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBone Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 Hi, I have had the loss of apetite and metal tastes since I had radiation and my stomach gets to feeling yucky when I smell food cooking.I have found that I can eat BLT's and enjoy them.I have a bunch of home grown tomatoes and I have eaten more since they have ripened. Also I find that cool food is easier to handle.Hot meals do not do it for me.Praying for us all.TBone TIP If anyone else has the problem with the smell of food cooking bothering them my wife found a household hint that works.When she cooks a big meal she puts a couple of spoons of vinegar in a pan of water and lets it steam on the stovetop.It really has worked for me.Sounds crazy I know.TBone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CynMs Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 I also experienced the metal taste in my mouth, and found that the only thing that tasted good to me was a baked potato with ranch dressing. Since then, I have heard that taking a zinc supplement helps with this. I have no direct experience with the zinc, but it couldn't hurt to try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted July 4, 2004 Author Share Posted July 4, 2004 Spiru-tein protein power, rice milk, nagging, Ensure, milk shakes, nagging, Stouffer's creamed chip beef, Gatoraid, nagging, BLTs, home grown tomatoes, nagging, cool food, baked potatoe with ranch dressing, nagging, zinc supplements, and did I mention nagging. Thanks all. We will have fun trying all of your suggestions. By the way, we did find one thing that tastes like it is supposed to taste - Dove Ice Cream Bars! Go figure. You might want to buy stock in the company with the way my husband has been eating them. Love this place, Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeR Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 Hi Terry, Just wanted to say that my dad had the same problem with the metal taste in his mouth. The oncologist recommended him trying the zinc supplement and this helped him tremendously. Hope this works for your husband. Good Luck! Diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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