Hi all I am currently in my 6th and final week of chemo and radiotherapy for head and neck cancer 30 radio + 6 chemo sessions, only have 2 radio sessions left now. mine was throat cancer related from some hpv virus. I can no longer swallow liquids or foods and can not tolerate anything fizzy or acidic otherwise it just dries my mouth out instantly
I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for any type of fruit drinks or anything really that I could maybe tolerate just swilling around my mouth every now and then just to have a small taste of something, 95% of my taste buds are non existent now but a small few remian on the one side under my tongue, its subtle but just tasting something thats not water is such a pick me up for me I cant even describe how it makes me feel. Also if there is anything that can add a scent to my water while im drinking it would be honestly just as good as tasting it atm, I've seen the airup bottles that add scent to water but they are no good to me as you need to suck through a straw which I am currently unable to do.
I have tried fanta fruit twist and letting it go flat, which I thought was going to work but no, like the same for most of these it has a lot of citric acid stuff in them which just dries my mouth out completely
I've also tried the volvic: touch of fruit range, lipton ice tea, watermelon squash with no luck also tried innocent smooth orange and tropicana smooth orange but they made my mouth quite sore especially the innocent one even when diluted.
finally I tried some off brand malt and barley peach squash which is the closest thing I've come to something I can tolerate atm, I can manage a very very small amount in my water which I can barely taste but the smell is definitely there.
My favourite drinks are 100% pure orange juice, milk, tropical fruit juices and monster energy ultra rosa + pacific punch (yes I know its bad but I love them)
EDIT: I going to try some almond milk today which im hoping won't make my very thick phlegm in my throat any worse and possibly even try some chocy nesquik in there. I can confirm that the unsweetened almond milk and chocolate nesquik is going down great, as is the honey water recommended by Beesuit, still waiting to try them in ice cube form which I think is may enjoy more though. If there are any more recommendations please please let me know. I will tidy this post up once it has died down to make it easier for people to read if they are just looking for what helped and what didnt
Have you tried honey? Proper honey not the rubbish from China you see for 75p a jar?
Cup of warm water with a teaspoon of honey, good for your throat too
You could try Manuka honey but proper local beekeeper honey is perfectly good and much cheaper.
Dani
Base of tongue cancer. T2N0M0 6 weeks Radiotherapy finished January 2019
PS. Husband has just suggested freezing the honey water in an ice cube tray and sucking on a frozen cube.
Dani
Base of tongue cancer. T2N0M0 6 weeks Radiotherapy finished January 2019
Let us know how you get on. Being thirsty drove me mad. Nothing seemed to help much but I could tolerate diet ginger ale. That helped a lot
Dani
Base of tongue cancer. T2N0M0 6 weeks Radiotherapy finished January 2019
I found ginger ale painful but weirdly, black coffee was okay and THICK chocolate shakes helped the phlegm. Which seems counterintuitive.
ok never mind, diet and regular ginger ale sounds like a nightmare to me atm, my mouth is way too sensitive right now for things like lemon/lime and the spice that comes with ginger.
Although that is being wrote in my book for things to try a few weeks post treatment to try and help wake some of my tastebuds up or to just see what type of of things I can currently taste as ginger ale seems like it has it all.
out of interest which ginger ale did you use? it says dry or golden when I look it up
thick chocolate shakes helped the phlegm? ok I need to know everything, when you say phlegm do you mean a very thick sticky phlegm? also was this shop bought stuff or homemade? and do you know roughly how far through treatment/recovery you were when you tried the chocolate shakes?
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