Just for fun! Chemo and cravings

[Coux92]

So, is it just me or did anyone else have food cravings during chemo?
After each treatment I craved serious CRUNCH! The same as when I was pregnant! What's up with that!

[TanyaRD]

Hope you get some responses on this Coux92. It would be interesting to hear other experiences. I've certainly heard this from patients.

Best wishes,

[Cat]

I couldn't tolerate my beloved coffee but loved tea that I normally didn't drink. My first chemo I craved cottage cheese and peaches. Ate them on a regular basis. Interestingly I grew up with eating them when sick. As soon as chemo was over they held no interest.
I still have more desire for tea than coffee. (I drink decaf except for green tea in am).
Cathy

[KeriK]

I'm a little over a yr on kadcyla. I come home from treatment, sleep for a few hrs then wake up craving salty popcorn! I've had a bowl after almost every treatment!

[Carol Ann]

Hi Coux92, not sure if its a craving as much as just wanting to hide/cover that yucky chemo taste in my mouth, but yes, CRUNCHY is good as well as anything chocolate and sweet! I've found popcorn really good too and it helps with that godawful constipation. It also seems like the bland foods I stick to the first few days are just tasting more and more awful, even things I loved before chemo taste "off". I also find myself wanting creamy noodle comfort ... like drained ramen noodles, not in the soup.

Cooked veggies are still good and also small fish fillets ... I read yesterday the fish has something in it that helps the stomach lining, so that's good! I've also craved bowls of cold unsweetened applesauce, so nice and refreshing.

Homemade chocolate chip cookies always go down well too. :) My husband made a batch last night.

The last half of the cycle I can eat fresh salad and spicy food again and I am looking forward to that!

Thanks for starting this thread!

Carol Ann

[crb]

I am mid-way through my first chemo and have had the opposite - no desire to eat and everything tasting off! And same thing with my beloved coffee...haven't had any in a week and green tea is my go-to now - iced, decaf all day. Bananas, yogurt, and applesauce are really the only things that sound appealing right now. Forcing myself to eat, since I've lost about 8 pounds so far.

[Saygoon]

SUGAR!!!!!! anything sugar. Cookies, candy, cake doesn't matter. I have to have my sugar fix. I also craved Peanut butter when I was on Taxotere. I still like peanut butter but now its more peanut butter cookies!!!! LOL!!!

[BrendaB]

I was never real fond of mushrooms till after chemo and radiation. Then I craved baby bella mushrooms chopped with onions and fried in olive oil or butter, with pepper or Kentucky Kernel seasoning. That went on for several months. Now I have no desire for them.

[bikermonie]

Cook and serve chocolate pudding - tastes especially good to me through chemo. Thankfully I can't drink my Pepsi anymore cuz it burns going down so cancer helped me kick the pop habit!

[Lucy]

It's funny to read what everyone craved or couldn't tolerate. I couldn't tolerate water products so I went back to my diet coke habit, only decaffeinated. I continued it after I got off the chemo. As for food, I craved things I rarely ate or hadn't eaten in years, like ice cream, macaroni and cheese, french onion dip (which required chips, of course). I'm sure there were other things but I can't remember at the moment. I know those were the big things I craved though and were staples in my diet during chemo. I couldn't tolerate vegetables during chemo either.

[cookie2]

I'm a newbie. Only just had chemo 4 days ago. Surprised my taste buds are already not working. Nothing tastes normal except mint/peppermint. Ate chocolate chip/mint ice cream for dinner last night.The ice cream taste ok, but the chocolate flakes taste like wax paper!

[Gabe]

I went through Chemo taxotere-cytoxan-herceptin and weirdly craved brats and sauerkraut with lots of sweet relish and I couldn't get enough watermelon! It took me awhile after chemo was over to look at sauerkraut again!

[richarddylan192]

I Agree with you because I also heard from many of friends

[J@net]

This is an old thread so I hope someone sees this and replies. I crave ice cream and canned peaches. I refused to eat or drink anything with sugar at first. The only sweets I ate was fresh fruit. I heard that sugar helps cancer spread. I was losing too much weight so I stopped being selective and nit picky with my eating. So now if I crave anything sweet, I'll eat it but I try to eat healthy most of the time. I guess my question is, is it ok to eat sweets every now then?

[thinkpositive]

I cant imagine eating sweets every now and again is really going to have any impact on your health. Moderation of course is the key. Eating healthy and exercising is important. However, while on chemo you may find that you need more rest. Listen to your body and give it what it craves. If it wants peaches and ice cream every now and again I'd say go for it!

Take care,
Brenda

[J@net]

Thanks Brenda

[MaineRottweilers]

Funny you should mention peaches. I detest canned fruit but ever since I started this round of chemo, in Oct, I can't get enough "canned" peaches. I actually buy the refrigerated ones packed in juice. I eat two to four cups of them every day. I drink gallons of OJ in a week, the fresh squeezed type and jars of dill pickles. Almost nothing else is appetizing. I force myself to eat other things but the only thing I want to eat is peaches and pickles. The only thing I want to drink is OJ. WEIRDO!

[jaykay]

I have a serious sugar problem - I love it :-). During chemo, the only things that tasted like food were chocolate danish and chocolate chip cookies. While I forced myself to eat "good for you" food, I didn't deprive myself either. I ate a lot of turkey sandwiches for lunch along with non-creamy soups - chicken, veggie, etc.

For me, the worst taste side effect was coffee. I am a coffee lover and I just couldn't stomach the taste. Starting drinking tea.

The good news is that your normal taste buds do come back after chemo.

Bottom line (to me), eat anything that you can get down and if you enjoy something - why the hell not? Chemo is hard enough without depriving yourself.

Best
Janis

[J@net]

Tracy I crave pickles too! And i drink a swallow of pickle juice when I'm feeling a little queasy. It really helps.

[MaineRottweilers]

Interesting. I hadn't noticed that it helped with queasiness. I'll have to pay attention to that, there may be something to it. I do admit to drinking pickle juice too. It's good.

[Colleen]

I find after an infusion, every 21 days for me, I want a beer! I guess its a reward for getting myself to my dreaded 21 day ball of chain of life giving meds. aA for sugar, I do indulge from time to time but only occasionally. I agree moderation is the key. I am stage IV so I have a tendency to justify things quite easily, who knows how long this life will be, so why not?

[ariana]

Colleen, Same boat. I enjoy a glass of wine. It keeps from going nuts when I have a pet scan every 90 days AND I CANT GET THE CALL IM SUPPOSE TO GET. Im do for one Tues. Feb. 9 and have not heard from the nurse about scheduling it. Yes I called 2 times.

I have a heart eco on the 8th and hercpetion the 15 th and see the onc. the same day.

SO YES I NEED MY GLASS OF WINE TO KEEP ME SANE.

[Colleen]

Ariana, yes staying sane is a key issue when you know this is your life.....until? Who knows, so might as well enjoy whatever it is that brings a smile to your face. I like to ride my road bike to my infusions and onc appointments, about 12 miles each way, makes getting there feel like an adventure rather than a chore in traffic. I am supposed to have a scan this month but know I have reached my "stop-loss" for the year, however my oncologist's office is slow to bill so I am delaying to ensure I am minimally out of pocket. Fortunately my scans are now every six months and same with my echos, which makes fewer medical appointments! Yay! My social calendar revolved around medical appointments for awhile. Hang in there and believe you will be okay, the mind is a powerful thing.