November 25 2019
Yesterday was my 10month anniversary, or to be more precise 43 weeks and 3 days since my last radio session. While my general fitness marches on I am still working hard on the saliva front. I can manage most foods, needing a drink with only the driest but I am getting quite frustrated with my taste buds. Nothing tastes the way it used to and while I keep trying all the things I used to like I am frequently disappointed. I can tell you that spending a while in the kitchen creating a dish, enjoying the tempting aroma and paying attention to presentation then popping a succulent morsel into my mouth only to taste sawdust is bloody bloody annoying. My throat stays a bit scratchy and dry. I remember my oncologist telling me he was “going to really fry” the back of my throat. Errrrr…. I can imagine better ways of telling me but he was spot on! The mucous membranes are wrecked and my uvula and its important salivary glands is a distant memory, a stump. I have absurdly developed a real sweet tooth because perversely I can taste the very sweet foods that pose ruin to my teeth! What torture! On a happier note there seems to be more saliva. I can get through the night without glugging copious mouthfuls of water. One xylimelt sees me right through to the morning. I have been going out shopping with just a pocketful of chewing gum and leaving the bottle of water behind at home which is somewhat of a milestone. I was wedded to those water bottles for so long, in fact I have one “lucky” plastic bottle that has been with me on all my appointments………..It’s got to last five years!
These things are my daily standby. I have become absolutely compulsive about oral hygiene even setting my phone timer to 30 minutes after eating so I can rush upstairs to brush the food away.
I can’t use high fluoride Duraphat which brings my mouth out in ulcers so I replace it with a Oranurse which has no foaming SLS or flavour. A fluoride mouthwash is used in between brushing. At night time I use GC MI paste which replaces the calcium around my teeth. I discovered this on the Internet and my dentist says it’s really good for sensitive teeth and anybody at high risk of caries. I use this last thing to brush my teeth before bedtime then pop a Xylimelt under my cheek and that does me all night. Occasionally if I wake with a dry mouth the an inch of Xyligel sorts that out.
I also go through industrial quantities of gum…..sigh! I hate chewing gum but it really does work in keeping my mouth moist. Instead of frantic chewing I have been practising parking it under my cheek….with some success
Finally, at great cost from the USA I’m trying some CBD to help me sleep. I have been getting restless with daft and disturbing dreams recently; nothing to do with a dry mouth which is under control. Oh well……worth trying
