Food and EC

Hi
I had my first round of EC on Friday and the nausea is pretty grim. My mouth has a horrid taste and I’m craving anything salty, carb loaded and dry! Any suggestions on what’s is and isn’t good to eat?

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Sorry to hear youre finding eating difficult after EC. My advice would be to eat whatever you feel you want. Important to get calories in so if there’s only one or two things you feel like eating eat it.
For some reason i ate quite a lot of mashed potato in the days directly after chemo & then went back to eating normally when i felt better.
Hope you’re feeling better soon. You can do this

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Hi, I lived off lemon curd on toast and pepperoni pizza for the first few days after my EC!! Everything tasted bland. I also went off milk in my tea so had it with lemon. I agree with Luskentyre1 that you should eat what you can and what you fancy. Fruit and salads went right through me but cooked veg were ok.
I struggled to drink enough as everything tasted awful. My Mum suggested a drinking straw which really helped as drinks bypassed most of my tastebuds.
Best of luck, it will pass sooner than you think.

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I also went off my usual gallons of tea, but found that i could enjoy a warm vimto…

Carbs, yes, chippy chip butty!.

A friend bought me a recipe book which is The Royal Marsden Cancer Cookbook. It is divided into recipes for different side effects from chemo. I only had the energy to make a couple of things from it at the time, but they are lovely recipes , including food which is less likely to aggravate a sore mouth, or where taste buds are affected.

If you have anyone offering to cook for you it might be worth a look!

All the best with your treatment, julie xx

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Sorry to hear you are struggling with food. I lived on beige food on EC. I just didn’t want. anything else. I had what I wanted. I did graduate to mushroom omlettes that I felt offered some good nutrients.

For the salty taste (or it could’ve been gone off milk - can’t remember which was with EC or which was with Pax), I sucked on chunks of frozen pineapple. Aldi’s were particularly good as the chunks were smaller and easier to manage in my mouth - less gobstopper-like compared to other supermarkets. They really helped.

Good luck with the rest of your treatment.

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Thanks all for your messages! Beige buffet it is! I’m all for the potatoes and salty crackers at the moment. Milk and sweet stuff is a definite no-no and drinking is hard, I’ve switched to lemon and ginger tea which is a bit more bearable I suppose! This is exactly like morning sickness from pregnancy isn’t it!

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Hi Tabbylou, I hope I’m using this forum properly (I much prefer using my laptop to my phone… easier to navigate). I had my first EC 2 days ago. The anti sickness meds have worked well so far, but I’m feeling quite queasy today. I’m sorry you had issues with taste etc. I’m hoping to get off lightly as I only have 3 EC in total and then 9 weekly Paclitaxel. The advice given by others is invaluable… I’ll be stocking up on beige food and frozen :pineapple:. Good luck to everyone - you’re all in my thoughts and prayers.

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Had my 1st EC last Tuesday. I had horrible smell in my nostrils for 4 days. Partner assured me I wasn’t ponging! He might have been protecting my feelings. Same taste constantly in my mouth. I’ve been on lemon sherberts, polos. Gone right off coffee. Sticking with lemon or mint tea. Lots of water seems to be diluting the taste.
I felt rubbish the last 48 hours, but feeling much better now. Might be able to do something tomorrow. X

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Sounds like you had quite an adventure with your first EC. That lingering taste and smell can be a real challenge, but it’s great that you’re finding ways to cope with lemon sherberts, polos, and tea. And kudos to your partner for being supportive!

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Hello all,

I had three ECs and avoided too many taste changes by sucking on ice during my infusions (I took it with me to my chemo sessions in a thermos flask). Thought I’d share as an idea in case it helps you. :heart:
I checked and my chemo team at The Christie were fine with me doing it. In the States they hand out ice chips and ice water to chemo patients to mitigate mouth problems. I understand it works similarly to the cold cap, but reducing your tongue temperature instead.

I also tried this with docetaxel too but that’s harder going on your mouth. But it did work for Ec xxxx