Chemo finally getting to the taste buds

[SkiFletch]

herring juice

Perhaps one of the more disgusting things I've ever heard

[BrownBagger]

You probably don't like anchovies, either, Fletch.

[SkiFletch]

Eh, they're not the worst things ever in small doses. Is there such a thing as anchovy juice

[Gaelen]

Wrote you a long post this A.M. BB. But my phone blew it away - eh! Anyway, sounds more like anticipatory nausea to me, which is a true PITA.

Mine got so bad on Erbitux that I HAD to learn how to deal with it before it killed me. Good skill to have in have in your pocket.

Love pickeled herring; love chopped liver too! I don't know if creamed hearring would have worked as good though. BEST would've been a shabbat breakfast, w/tuna, herring, olives, red onions, tomatoes, toasted bagel w/ a schmear on a dark pumperknickel bagel from Ess'a bagel. YUM!

[juliej]

I am living mostly on yogurt and green smoothies (thanks to my Vitamix)and still maintain a healthy weight. Pickled herring and the kind in that cream sauce both sound great and so do sardines.

Pollo65, not pickled herring in a smoothie, please! I'm turning green at the thought!

BEST would've been a shabbat breakfast, w/tuna, herring, olives, red onions, tomatoes, toasted bagel w/ a schmear on a dark pumperknickel bagel from Ess'a bagel. YUM!

Gaelen, YES on Ess-A-Bagel! Mouthwatering and delicious, especially warm from the oven! I'm convinced they're the best in the city as every NYPD officer apparently already knows!

[justin case]

herring juice

Perhaps one of the more disgusting things I've ever heard

It is right up there with pickle juice, aint it
Regards,
Michael

[horizon]

I, too, had a terrible time with Oxi ruining my taste buds and after 10 or 11 rounds (lost count after a while), I was in tears over nothing tasting right.

People who have never been through it can't understand how oppressive it is when your taste is affected. I don't know if it was the Xeloda or the Oxi but I often had an awful taste in my mouth. Sometimes it would almost make me nauseous.

[Kathryn in MN]

After about 25tx of chemo, I started really having trouble as soon as I got out of the elevator and could smell the office. I have always had a heightened sense of smell, but it is ten-fold when I am pregnant or on chemo. Smells trigger memories - not a good thing when it comes to chemo and infustions... So I had to start taking an Ativan before going to chemo, just to take the edge off a bit to keep from vomiting on arrival. Funny how the brain works. I celebrated the day I was able to return to the onc's office where I got infusions without feeling nauseated! It took about 5 months. I have always been able to go to the other office where I have never received chemo with no troubles (just labs, office calls, and fluids).

On Oxaliplatin, I couldn't tolerate most foods, and they had to be bland with no strong smells. Cream of Wheat and mashed potatoes were my staples. I felt better when I didn't eat than when I did. Anytime I ate, the nausea got worse - and it was really hard to choke anything down. But on Irinotecan that changed. Foods couldn't have a mushy texture like Cream of Wheat, and I needed a stronger flavor. I ate and craved pizza, pastas with strong sauces, Mexican food, and weird cravings for Fritos and potato chips (which I normally do not eat, and normally do not add salt or crave salt). I felt better while I was eating, but when I wasn't eating I felt worse. I put back on the weight I lost on Oxaliplatin when I was on Irinotecan, even though I spent most of my days very nauseated.

I participated in a study recently where they had me visualize specific times and places. It was awful when I had to visualize oncology visits, I actually felt the nausea return.

I hope you can find plenty of things to eat that stay down and don't cause much nausea. Try an Ativan pre-chemo. I was skeptical, but my oncologist said to just try it once, and it really did help.

[edinaman]

Gaelen, you are right about anticipatory nausea. I remember once discussing with my onc's PA, that I didn't know if really was nauseated, or if I just assumed I should be. She said that is real-they have patients who get nauseated as soon as they get into the parking lot.

I've never had herring, but I'd imagine it's strong enough tasting to get through those tired taste buds. I did find that I never lost my taste for good quality chocolate. The cheap stuff tasted like wax, but I could still taste good dark chocolate, and chocolate is one of my food groups.

Kathryn, I always keep a bag of potato chips or some other salty chip on hand.

[juliej]

I saw beautiful stalks of rhubarb at the farmers market last weekend. Their ruby color enticed me, as well as the thought of their sour taste on my chemo'd taste buds. I got them home on the subway, then washed and trimmed off the leaves. Cut them into about 3 inch sections.

Then I mixed together a cup of apple cider vinegar, a cup of rice vinegar, some honey, a little maple syrup, salt, freshly sliced ginger, peppercorns, cardamom pods, a few nutmeg cloves, and some sliced Serrano peppers for a little kick. I let this mixture boil for five minutes, then moved it off the heat, and added the rhubarb.

After it cooled, I packed the rhubarb into an empty glass peanut butter jar and poured the liquid over it all the way to the top of the jar. The result -- rhubarb pickles! They taste spicy and tangy and delicious (at least to my dull taste buds), good with a nice cheese, but probably not with your pickled herring!

[Gaelen]

Love it, Juliej. Toss in some unpeeled plums oe an apple and you'd have a brilliant jam!

[CheeseHead]

I saw beautiful stalks of rhubarb at the farmers market last weekend. Their ruby color enticed me, as well as the thought of their sour taste on my chemo'd taste buds. I got them home on the subway, then washed and trimmed off the leaves. Cut them into about 3 inch sections.

Then I mixed together a cup of apple cider vinegar, a cup of rice vinegar, some honey, a little maple syrup, salt, freshly sliced ginger, peppercorns, cardamom pods, a few nutmeg cloves, and some sliced Serrano peppers for a little kick. I let this mixture boil for five minutes, then moved it off the heat, and added the rhubarb.

After it cooled, I packed the rhubarb into an empty glass peanut butter jar and poured the liquid over it all the way to the top of the jar. The result -- rhubarb pickles! They taste spicy and tangy and delicious (at least to my dull taste buds), good with a nice cheese, but probably not with your pickled herring!

Sounds great! (And I'm thinking about that herring - I love herring)!

@Gaelen: how did you manage to repress/remove that nauseau? Perhaps visualization exercises I think I heard you mention earlier?

I recognize a lot of these stories on anticipatory nausea - I think I smelled the newspaper ink or something near the chemo ward - it would make me queasy for monts after my last chemo...

[BrownBagger]

(I love herring)!

You northern Europeans are pretty damn predictable when it comes to herring. Danish ancestry, here. My dad's (born in America) uncle used to say the only Danish word he understood was "smorgasbord."

[SaveMyArchie]

Sorry to hear the chemo is working like that but glad that you have something to stimulate the buds that are left. I'm having the same reaction as Fletch so I'd probably lean towards Pat's dark pumpernickel bagel myself but if pickled herring gets the job done, it gets the job done. Good luck tomorrow.

[BrownBagger]

Something is agreeing with my digestive system, though it might just be that I was at the end of my two-week chemo cycle and feeling pretty good (that ended yesterday). But I'm thinking the herring might have something to do with it. Still investigating that theory. If true, I might try sardines next. The best processed fish I've ever had was smoked chubs that my mom used to buy at a butcher shop in Wautoma, Wisconsin when I was a kid. Must have been a local favorite, because you don't see them around much. They sure were good, though probably carcinogenic as hell.