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Cravings! Anybody developed weird ones post transplant?

Mine is for big bags of prawn cocktail crisps, totally out of character given my eating habits pre-transplant (gym bunny) and actually pretty stupid given that I still have a mouthful of GVHD ulcers - I find myself unable to resist them. Nick

Answers

  • Hello Nick

    I had a craving for wine gums which really got the saliva working, those made by M and S should be avoided as they contain grapefruit flavoured gums. Grapefruit should be avoided by anyone taking cyclosporine medication.

    I also got a real urge for cakes which my wife used to get from the local bakery as a treat, in those early days after transplant I couldn't wait for her to come back from the shops with my daily paper and a cake. I used to kid myself that I needed to put weight back on after loosing so much anyway.

    2 years on and I still enjoy wine gums and cakes!.
    Enjoy the crisps you deserve them.

    Cheers, Peter
  • My husband hated pickles before his transplant but after he recovered from it,he developed a strong liking ,but not a craving, for pickled gherkins .
    Turns out that his brother who was his donor loved them!

    Maybe there are taste buds in bone marrow ! lol
  • During my time in hospital I had a thing for midget gems and wine gums. Most visitors knew to bring me a pack, though I preferred the softer ones, particularly when my mouth became sore post transplant.

    When I got home I was into pork scratchings in a big way and found myself regularly snacking on them when my appetite came back.

    I did go off chocolate for a long time. Pre-transplant I'd been a chocoholic but the effect that my treatment had on my taste meant I couldn't stand the taste of it. Thankfully my taste has now just about returned to normal and my chocaholic staus has been reinstated!
  • My wife was hoping I'd develop a liking for tinned tuna, which I've never been able to stand but she loves. It doesn't seem to have happened, though – but I tell her it just means she can have it all to herself...

    I've gone off omelettes and pork pies; the former may be because I have a terrible memory of a hospital omelette, or because it was what I ate just before the last time I was sick... As for the latter, I think I just ate too many in hospital, so perhaps psychologically they're somehow linked.

    I never used to snack on chocolate (though always liked it), but that's something I've started doing more recently.
  • Thought I would mention this refreshing drink.

    Before transplant I was advised not to have any alcohol because of low platelets. Post transplant the last thing on my mind was alcohol.

    However during recovery I saw an article reviewing a non alcoholic Merlot grape juice, a Waitrose product sold in their chilled juice aisle. It's an own brand and described as 'deep and full bodied'.
    I tried it and it tasted really good and looked the part in a glass with a meal, it's served chilled but if poured a few minutes before a meal it takes that cold edge off, but it's just as good chilled..
    I don't drink so much of it now but I did recently whilst on antibiotics and its still a refreshing drink.

    Peter
  • I ate loads of haribo on treatment, my weird craving however was mini cheddars with jelly ontop- I know weird right!!! Pre transplant I couldn't stand mushrooms now I love them I think it was down to my flatmate cooking them when I wasn't aloud them which drew me in. I never ate peas before and now I have them. I'm happy to say I've not gone off but don't eat sushi at all.
  • I developed a very strong liking to roast chicken legs after my transplant and I was a vegetarian before. My donor loves meat, so it must come from her cells :). Over 2 years on, I still indulge...
  • Further to river7 and renates responses above I had a chat with my stem cell donor (my sister) and asked her whether she had a thing for prawn cocktail crisps to see if there;s anything to this inheritance thing,- she told me that **** right she did - bit only when pre-menstrual! So I'm not quite sure where that leaves me.
  • Just wait until you get menopausal !! Lol
  • I should have developed a real ale craving considering my donor brother owns a real ale brewery, sadly it's not transpired!
  • i was a chocoholic pre transplant, but totally went off it during and post transplant. While i was in hospital i craved salt and vinegar crisps, pickled onion monster munch and cheese chedders, - i was never really a savoury person but now i love really strong cheddar cheese. I wonder if my donor likes savoury things.
  • I couldn't stand onions for years, the smell, the taste everything, I once had to run past a row of burger vans at Old Trafford (concert not football!) as they were cooking loads of the things. OK now but caused problems as I could smell them at 100 yards. I do often wonder if my donor has a dislike as well. I also couldn;t taste choclate or tea for about 18 months afterwards- made up for it since and I now drink gin which I wouldn;t touch beforehand. It's all very interesting.
  • From reading these posts I'm thinking that the donor cells have a lasting impact on taste changes that occur?......this is very strange!!....is it likely to be more than coincidence?
  • I guess the donor cells affect us all one way or another Cynthia and we possibly do inherit some of the traits of our donor. My blood group changed as a result of my SCT so other things may have too, so I guess the way our bodies deal with what we put in them could also be affected.

    One benefit for me is that I no longer get hayfever - which is a welcome bonus!

    Steve
  • Hello

    I agree with what Steve says, my blood group also changed, it also cured my hay fever which I had suffered with from being a teenager. My unrelated donor whom I have met is Welsh, I live in Cheshire and in the recent rugby six nations competition I found myself supporting the Welsh! But only when they won.

    It is early days yet for your husband but from the testimonies of other members and myself things will get back to normal eventually and tastes will return. My daily treat was a cake, and things like wine gums or fruits can help as can cordial drinks. Flavoured ice cream also helped.

    Be patient, and keep in touch on the forum and let us know how your husband progresses, we are here to support each other and share experiences.

    Peter
  • Thank you so much, I can see already that this forum is going to be very helpful, I'm sure there will be many more questions to ask as we get through this scary journey. It is early days for David but thank fully so far so good. He did have a bad start early in his first chemo cycle with pneumonia and sepsis which put him in ICU on life support for 9 days so you can understand our anxiety given the possible effects of SCT. We need all the help we can get.
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