Changing taste buds post surgery

Hi all.

I wondered if any of you had noticed a marked change in your taste buds post stoma op/ops?

I barely touched water, in fact I disliked drinking the stuff. I would literally have one mouthful on a morning to take my handful of meds and then the same thing in the evening.

All i drank all day was cups of tea.. lots of..

And I was eating at least 7-8 Royal Gala apples every day too.

Now...? I drink 2 litres of water minimum each day, 1st litre always has 10 dioralite sachets in.. the rest just plain water and i enjoy it.. and as for tea.. can't drink it.. tastes awful.. I tried and tried to drink tea but it just makes me quesy.. and I don't like to eat apples, they just don't taste the same now?? Of course I peel them now but I would still have eaten them before..

What's going on inside this thing is call a body?

I've noticed a couple of other things I'm not so fond of anymore.

My ,.H was very ill in 2007, she had heart failure, she was badly for a while till they figured her meds out etc, and now she's stable, not out of the woods totally but she's not IN failure..

She really didn't like pickles before that happened OR spicy foods.. now, the hotter the curry the better for her and for the 1st few years she craved pickled onions.... to the point she had a jar of them at her side of the bed... that at least seems to have subsided somewhat, but it just has me wondering.. how can things like that be affected by illnesses or surgeries not related to taste?

Maybe me and her are just a bit odd.... 🤔🤔🤔wouldn't be the 1st time someone called me odd that's for sure🤭🤭🤭

Won't be the last time either I'm guessing lol

Tony

Very interesting, Tony.

Thank you.. the human body is such a strange thing...

☺️☺️☺️

Tony

I also used to drink a lot of tea, and now it makes me terribly nauseous if I drink more than one cup.
I struggle with appetite problems. I just don't feel hungry anymore, and part of it is that food just doesn't seem to taste as good to me as it used to.

When I became ill, I completely lost my appetite. For 2 months I laid on the couch in pain at home and ate virtually nothing. It was SO weird. My wife would make my favorite sandwiches... could barely take one bite, and struggled to swallow that. Same with candy bars, ice creme... didn't matter. I just couldn't eat. It was like eating too much... then eating a little more; That full tummy feeling. I had it all the time. I could drink water no problem. After my 2 months at home, I entered the hospital for another month. Had a PICT line put in for TPN and wasn't allowed any food or water. By the time I had surgery... I lost 66 pounds, and I'm a small guy. And the whole time... Never hungry. A couple of days after getting the colostomy, I had my first liquid food, chicken broth soup. It tasted soooo amazing. A week later I was home and eating normally again, "tummy full" feeling was gone. Crazy.

As for taste... I'm still the same, no changes.

Words of Encouragement from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

Thank you for your reply Mary..

I appreciate it.

Tony

Thank you too Mr beach!

The body is certainly a freaky thing eh?

Tony

My tastes changed post surgery in a dramatic fashion. Suddenly I discovered the concept of too sweet. They gave me a protein supplement in the hospital and one taste had me screwing my face up so badly the nurse laughed. I had always had a massive sweet tooth and remembered people saying something was too sweet for them and looking at them like they were crazy. But now that was me! Lol

It took months but eventually my tastes settled back where they had been. I've always assumed it was just the shock to the system

Loss of appetite, yes, loss of the taste buds, no. In fact, when I go for dinner with male friends, I just have the starters, and save some so I can keep them company while they have their entrees. If rarely I have a main dish, I have it packed to take it home. Like you say the human body is a strange thing. I asked a Doctor who is a friend and whose advice I always take if the stoma causes it, and he said no. I have no answers, maybe someone else has. Best wishes.

I never used to like club soda/sparkling water, but now I go out of my way to find the highest sodium content. I rarely like sweet things except when I go through my don’t feel like eating phases then I live off ice cream for the calories. I used to drink a lot of unsweet iced tea and my stomach can’t do it now. Sometimes I think I want an ice cold Pepsi but then I taste and it’s too sweet for me. It could be worse so this change I accept 😁

I've had more surgeries than I can remember I never feel like eating after any of them for a month or so but from just having stoma nope tastes haven't changed, in almost 40 years of having my stoma my tastes in food have changed just as anyone would expect over time. Im still a coke addict the drink not the other one! Just as I was before having a bag. The comenest one most say at ostomy events I attend is they have a thing for wanting/needing more salt in there diet after getting a bag but never done that one myself either.

I didn't have an appetite for years before the surgery (due to Crohn's disease) so in recovery my hunger kicked in big time, I was eating anything that wasn't nailed down, everything tasted so damn good (and still does), so didn't have that issue of food tasting different. I've always been more a savoury than sweet person, but the salty foods did kick up a notch, which is apparently OK for an ileo. I don't drink a lot of water or chew much, but I'm a bit of an ileo outlier, can eat and drink anything and everything without issue, probably because I only ever had the one surgery so not a lot of scar tissue to cause probs.

The pickled onions by the bed made me laugh, reminds of an old Steptoe and Son episode when the old fella is in the kitchen sink having a bath (as you do) eating pickled onions and one goes missing!🤭

I to have a lack of appetite, it's a constant thing to stop and make myself eat, protein type drinks are a helpful addition for me. Although in the evening I am always hungry. I like food and have no issue with it but just no desire to eat during the day. And I drink a lot of tea.

Same here. I'm only hungry in the evening. I can't seem to get much down earlier in the day. A few bites and I feel so full I can't go any further.

Oh, those horrid protein shakes they give you in the hospital...the worst, lol!

Ditto .....

We do change over time ............ Maybe a diettician or food technologist can anser re chemical chains maybe .... and our hormonal systems will also have been affected I guess ..... cetainly pregnant bodies have some strage temporary cravings ................

IMHE eventually one settles down after an OP ..... I'm no medic, but maybe the GA also plays ts part in changing chemical balances.

Just enjoy what tastes good and respond to create what the body wants ........

I am a great fan of 'The Body Knows' what it needs ......

Trick: Make the time to LISTEN to what your own Body and your feelings are telling you.

;-) :-) :-)

Jayne

For a few weeks after surgery, I could barely stand water, now it is what I drink most of the time. I think all the antibiotics and IV fluids were still lingering in my body. All foods taste so good now that the infection is gone, but I get full very quickly. Unlike others, I am quite hungry in the morning, but not so much in the evening.