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CoolBreeze · 02-18-2014, 07:33 PM

What is your chemo? You don't get steroids? Those usually make people hungry!

I think you know the answer - you have to eat. You don't have to overdo it but you should try to eat nutritious foods to keep your body going while doing chemo, and if you are going to have surgery after you want to be strong. For you it's temporary so maybe you can find a few things that you can enjoy that are healthful, you just have to experiement.

I lost my desire to eat entirely after my gamma knife treatment and it won't return. I couldn't care less about eating and I was down to 88 pounds but of course, that's not good. My doctor has ordered me to gain weight!

It is not easy to eat when you have no desire for food but I give myself permission to eat what I want. I used to be a super health nut but can't do that anymore so I just eat what I can and what I want. I found a cheesecake I like and I have a piece every night to keep weight on. My husband cooks a healthy dinner and I eat some of that whether I want to or not - once we sit down I find that I can eat. But for me, it also hurts a lot so I can't eat too much.

I eat a piece of toast or something for breakfast and sometimes a piece of fruit for lunch. My weight has gradually moved up and I'm in the mid-90s.

I know when the food tastes weird it makes it worse, I remember those early chemo days! See if you can find something that satisfies you in another way - soup, steamy and hot, maybe miso soup would be something you can taste and help you eat. That's when I started liking sweets, because that was all I could taste, so maybe a milkshake, add some protein powder. I never had a taste for sweets before but now I do and so I let myself eat them - my doctor says any calories are good ones when you lose as much as I did.

Anyway, you don't have to eat the way you always did because after your chemo is over you'll get back to normal quickly but you should eat nutritious meals as much as you can tolerate. Watch your white counts, sometimes you can't eat raw fruits or veggies because it'll be too low.

Good luck.

02-18-2014, 07:33 PM	#3
CoolBreeze Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 562	Re: Just don't feel like eating... What is your chemo? You don't get steroids? Those usually make people hungry! I think you know the answer - you have to eat. You don't have to overdo it but you should try to eat nutritious foods to keep your body going while doing chemo, and if you are going to have surgery after you want to be strong. For you it's temporary so maybe you can find a few things that you can enjoy that are healthful, you just have to experiement. I lost my desire to eat entirely after my gamma knife treatment and it won't return. I couldn't care less about eating and I was down to 88 pounds but of course, that's not good. My doctor has ordered me to gain weight! It is not easy to eat when you have no desire for food but I give myself permission to eat what I want. I used to be a super health nut but can't do that anymore so I just eat what I can and what I want. I found a cheesecake I like and I have a piece every night to keep weight on. My husband cooks a healthy dinner and I eat some of that whether I want to or not - once we sit down I find that I can eat. But for me, it also hurts a lot so I can't eat too much. I eat a piece of toast or something for breakfast and sometimes a piece of fruit for lunch. My weight has gradually moved up and I'm in the mid-90s. I know when the food tastes weird it makes it worse, I remember those early chemo days! See if you can find something that satisfies you in another way - soup, steamy and hot, maybe miso soup would be something you can taste and help you eat. That's when I started liking sweets, because that was all I could taste, so maybe a milkshake, add some protein powder. I never had a taste for sweets before but now I do and so I let myself eat them - my doctor says any calories are good ones when you lose as much as I did. Anyway, you don't have to eat the way you always did because after your chemo is over you'll get back to normal quickly but you should eat nutritious meals as much as you can tolerate. Watch your white counts, sometimes you can't eat raw fruits or veggies because it'll be too low. Good luck. __________________ http://butdoctorihatepink.com 08/17/09 Dx'd. Multifocal/multicentric IDC, largest 3.4 cm, associated ADH, LCIS, DCIS HER2+ ER+/PR- Grade 3, Node Negative 10/20/2009: Right mastectomy, reconstruction with TE 12/02/2009: Six rounds TCH, switched to Taxol halfway through due to neuropathy 03/31/2010: Finished chemo 05/01/2010: Began tamoxifen, the worst drug ever 11/18/2010: Reconstruction completed 12/02/2010: Finished herceptin 05/21/2011: Liver Mets. Quit Tamoxifen 06/22/2011: Navelbine/Zometa/Herceptin 10/03/2011: Liver Resection, left lobe. Microwave ablation, right lobe - going for cure! 11/26/2011: C-Diff Superbug Infection, "worst case doctor had seen in 20 years" 03/28/2012: Progression in ablated section of the liver - no more cure. Started Abraxane, continue herceptin/zometa 10/10/2012: Progression continues, started Halaven, along with herceptin and zometa. 01/15/2013: Progression continues, started Gemzar and Perjeta, an unusual combo, continuing with herceptin and zometa 03/13/2013: Quit Gemzar, body just won't handle it. Staying on herceptin, zometa and perjeta. 04/03/2013: CT shows 50% regression in tumor, so am starting back on Gemzar with dose reduction, staying with perjeta/herceptin/zometa. Can't argue with success! 05/09/2013: Discussing SBRT with Radiology due to inability of bone marrow to recover from chemo. 06/07/2013: Fiducial placement for SBRT 07/03/2013: Chemo discontinued, on Perjeta, Herceptin and Zometa alone 07/25/2013: SBRT (gamma knife) begins 08/01/2013: SBRT completed 08/15/2013: STABLE! continuing with Perjeta, Herceptin, Zometa 06/18/2014: *** NED!!!!*** continuing with Perjeta, Herceptin, Zometa 01/29/2014: Still NED. continuing with Perjeta, Herceptin. Zometa lowered to every 3 months instead of monthly. 11/08/2015: Progression throughout abdomen and lungs. Started TDM-1, aka Kadcyla. Other meds discontinued. Remission was nice while it lasted. 5/27/18: Stable. Kadcyla put me right back in the barn. I have two teeny spots on my lungs that are metabolically inactive, and liver is clean. I’m beating this MFer. I was 51 when this started and had two kids, 22 and 12. Now I’m 60. My oldest got married and trying to start s family. My youngesg graduates from Caltech this June. My stepdaughter gave me grandkids. Life is fantastic.