Lost my sense of taste during chemo and 8 years later it has not returned to normal

During my chemo I lost all my sense of taste.  This was 8 years ago now.  It took a couple of years to return but my tastes have changed completely apart from sweet things.  Everything else doesn’t taste right and it puts me off these foods.  There are still some things I can’t bare to eat like gravy for example which I never used to have a problem with.  Has anyone else experienced this or tried anything to improve it?  I’m so turned off by food now.  I just don’t enjoy food at all and it’s really frustrating.  I can’t just eat sweet foods for the rest of my life.

  • Hi, I also lost my sense of taste during chemo. My taste buds never returned to normal. The only thing that is the same is anything sweet. I cannot eat anything with vinegar as it’s tastes awful and too strong which is weird when most other things are bland.  I hate salt and vinegar crisps now and it was the only crisp I would eat during chemo.I can taste tomato sauce and tend to put that on a lot of my meals much to the disgust of my hubby lol. I make a Cantonese beef which is with a sweet sauce and I really enjoy that. Any sauce that has sugar in it is a winner for me. Hot chocolate and coffee have to be strong. I have to get my hubby to taste food for me, I make a lot of curries from scratch but I would defo overdo the spice if I didn’t have him as my taster. My sense of smell is also not good,I did read there are essential oils to train your brain to smell again which I’m thinking of trying and wondering if it would help my taste as well. Unfortunately my hubby has had a laryngectomy and now has no sense of smell. I just hope his chemo doesn’t destroy his taste buds or we will be in trouble. Best wishes

  • Thank you so much for replying.  I thought I was going mad.  Most people think I’m just being difficult.  I might try your suggestion of essential oils, it’s definitely worth looking into as my sense of smell isn’t great either.  
    Hope everything goes well for your hubby and good luck for you both