Mouth feels like acid.

Hello there,  I can feel for you, my husband had treatment for head and neck cancer, he's now 4 weeks after treatment finished,his mouth is just as dry as your husbands,only can sip water. His throat is so painful,specially when he us caughing,it brings tears to his eyes,also he's is only taking liquid paracetamol,  everything else seems to make him throw up,he can put this through his PEG,as with other liquid meds and food, he's been fitted with,as to using the mouthwash, he had a follow up appointment with the dentist, as his mouth still has a few ulcers,  they actually recommend to use boiled,cooled down salty water. We have been told at the beginning that the side effects after this kind of treatment can be brutal, I guess they knew what they were talking about. At this point we are taking day by day. Some are better then others.Hope this helps. All my love and best wishes Mel

Hi DWjuststartedmycancerjourney 

Yes...put morphine in the RIG. I suggest he doesn't bother trying to swallow anything except his exercises. That is exactly what I did.

I was on Oromorph alternated with paracetamol so that I took something every two hours. By week five the pain was waking me in the night so I was given long acting morphine top take twice daily. It was an utter game changer. It kept the background pain away. Some people have Fentanyl or Buprenorphine patches.

What mouthwashes is he taking and which only four times a day? I had Gelclair, Difflam (which is an NSAID like ibuprofen) and Caphosol. I was also given antacid with Oxetecaine which is a local anaesthetic. You swill this around and swallow. I can't say it did much for me though.

Your husband could try holding the morphine in his mouth for a minute then swallowing that (mind, though....there is a short hit of the alcohol in the liquid which stings). The other thing to try is swishing soluble aspirin and spitting.

It sounds like he should be asking for more pain relief 

Hi 

Hubby is getting there.... the effects of the treatment will persist for a while yet, most of us have suffered like your husband but things should improve within a few weeks.... Oramorph and Oxycodone are available in liquid form...ask oncology team for supplies.... don't suffer in silence.

Others have covered your concerns well, keep the forum updated on hubby's progress.

Peter 

Hi yes all

ny medication went via my feeding tube. Either crushed in water or prescription changed to soluble. I did everything that Dani did as well. I managed withv30 mg Co coronal alternated with oromoroph  lukewarm salt snd bi carb helped to neutralise the mouth was a fine balancing act getting the quantity and temperature right.. it’s hard but it’s worth it I just put my head down and got on with it. Had a few meltdowns in kitchen floor at 0300 and me and hubby occasionally had words and we never had words. Remember take time out for yourself it’s hard on our other half’s. 
hugs 

Hazel 

Good evening, I am so pleased the feeding tube is doing its job, i was unable to swallow on a few occasions and found using a sponge mouth swab with a mild mouthwash (you can always add water if it's to strong) using the swab helped the dryness in the mouth, you could use water instead of the mouth wash as the stimulation from the mouth swab may help the saliva glands recover. All my meds went through my PEG as you can always crush any tablets and mix them with water. You need to ask for stronger pain meds in liquid form or as Dani mentioned pain relief patches are excellent and offer continuous pain relief, getting on top of the pain is one of the most important things to get sorted. I hope some of the meds the others have mentioned will help with the recovery. Good luck to you and your husband and well done to him in getting this far as we all know how difficult it can be. All the best.

                                          Chris x