My mum has stage 4 breast cancer and is having palbociclib since March 2019, the treatment is working but her mouth is full of ulcers, which are very painful and making it quite hard to eat.
Does anyone know any solution for this? She has tried various mouth washes and gels.
thank you
I was told to use a soft toothbrush, and given Difflam / generic version mouthwash. It didn't totally stop them but it did help. You could also try a saline solution with household salt, but you may have tried all of those. Her GP might be able to prescribe something?
Hi - I will try this again . Just replied and lost !!! Has your mum tried alcohol free Corsodyl mouthwash? It is a good idea to use it at least twice daily as a preventative measure for ulcers even when no ulcers and can easily be used after tooth brushing Your mum has ulcers now so may find the neat solution stings and therefore she should dilute it . Difflam numbs the mouth so is helpful. Take the diluted Corsodyl mouthwash into the mouth and swish around gently . Also gargle a little . Doesn’t work instantly but using this and a numbing mouthwash should help the ulcers unless your mum has a yeast infection - oral thrush when something such as Daktarin oral gel is needed to combat the infection and sort out her mouth
Sorry to hear about the mouth ulcers- had a really nasty one myself a few weeks ago and have been told this is a common side effect. It was only 1 ulcer but took over the whole of my mouth making eating, speaking and even swallowing extremely painful which then made everything seem such an effort as I was Sooooo tired..My onco team have given me 2 different types of mouthwash- 1 for when there is soreness (green) and ulcers present and 1 (red-like corsydyl) just to use daily as part of mouth hygiene. (I can post the actual names if needed). When my ulcer flared up, these didn't help much so I went to the chemist and got some lidocaine which is a sort of anaesthetic. It's sold under the brand Anbesol ( not to be confused with ambusol for piles!) and this at least brought some temporary relief. Can I suggest you get onto either you mom's onco team or the breast nurse- they should be able to advise. Hoping she feels better soon x
Try Manuka Honey. I drink it with hot water and lemon juice when I have a sore mouth. Apparently it has antiseptic properties x
I was given a combination of nystatin drops (4 x per day), bicarb mouthwash (I used this every time I went in the kitchen), and a lidocaine gel to use just prior to eating. The gel made eating tolerable until healing from the other things kicked in.
After I had the first bad time with mouth ulcers, we started this routine immediately with future treatments instead of waiting to see whether they developed.
Hi Annie _2020
i am pleased to hear your mum has been seen by an oral medicine specialist . I hope their continuing care will help her get some relief and resolution for this difficult situation
You can make your own. It's just one teaspoon of bicarb in a cup of water. The more frequently you use it, the better.
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