Week 3 of Treatment

Hi Ian...welcome to our little community.

The sticky stuff is horrid isn't it? I could never understand how my mouth could produce such copious amounts of stuff that defied gravity when you tried to spit.

What have you got for the mucositis (ulcers) ?

I had Caphasol which protects the lining of the mouth and used that four times a day. Difflam mouthwash helped anaesthetise my mouth before I attempted to eat but for the end of week three I relied practically totally on a nasogastric tube. It was alive saver.

Bioxtra mouthwash which you can buy OTC but can also get on prescription helps wash away the mucous too.

Drink lots.....3 litres a day helps rehydrate you and thin the mucous. Some people had a drug called Carbocysteine to help thin it but I'm not convinced it does much. What did help me was moist air and I used to sit over a bowl of hot water a couple of times a day. You can get a nebuliser from either your hospital or off Amazon which does the job a little better  but I managed with just the hot water.

Night time ....keeping the bedroom warm and having a bedside humidifier can be soothing as well.

Apart from that it's sip water and spit. At night I had a paper bag by the bed into which I threw spat in bits of kitchen  roll to burn on the Rayburn in the morning.

Keep your mouth as clean as you can, take your pain killers by rote rather than when you hurt and keep drinking.

Best of luck. I hope there is some ammunition  here

Hi Ian

welcome to our community and the club none of us wants to join. Can’t really add to what Beesuit has said she’s covered everything. I had a nebuliser from hospital bought humidifier ftom Amazon.Remember to brush your teeth snd keep on top of oral hygiene. I have a blog details below with links to other sites. You don’t say where your csncer is maybe next time you post a brief description might help us to ping you in right direction.  It does get better honestly. 
Hazel 

Thank you both I'll investigate, I have already bought a humidifier so will start using this. 

My cancer is Squamous cell carcinoma. 3 tumours one on the tonsil, one on base of tongue and lymph node. I have 30 sessions of radiotherapy and 2 cisplatin chemotherapy sessions

Thank you, I'll look at all suggestions , anything to ease the pain!

Hi Coopy Nice to meet you . I have similar base of tongue and spread to nodes so had 30rt and 4 cisplatin. which I finished on the 29th of Jan. I dont know how I have sweared the mouth sores etc. Something I did do was make a mouthwash every morning but it sounds like you have that sorted already. I am still getting the white and flem and it is driving me nuts but I think its just taking one day at a time. I make myself sounds like a coffee machine trying to coax stuff out of my throat , warm water does help sometimes on rinsing. A problem I find is trying not to throw up sometimes when using deflam mouthwash. Loads of water helps also Good Luck . All The Best Regards Min   

Hi Ian

I am a little behind you with treatment just done a week so far but have started with a little mucus already in the mornings which is making me gag and dry heave.  I did mention it to me team yesterday but they just said there isn't anything they can do to help with this but did suggest steam inhalation as Dani has advised also. 

Just curious about the salt/bicarbonate mix - is that something that was suggested to use by your team as wasn't mentioned to me yesterday but they did give me some Caphasol for my mouth. 

Thanks

Sue

Hi Sue. If you have Caphosol use it. It really does protect the mucous membrane of your mouth. Do you have liquid or tablets? 
I had tablets and used only half at a time but doubled up on rinses. 
The salt Bicarb mix is just to keep your mouth clean and alkaline. 

Thanks Dani - yes they gave me tablets too so am using those 4 times a day.  So the salt/bicarb is just a similar thing by the sounds of it I thought it might have helped with the mucus (well I was hoping it might!).

Thanks again

Sue

Try something fizzy for mucous. I got help from soda water and  diet ginger ale. 

Hi Sue

Yes my team told me to try the salt/bicarbonate mix and it does help me to break down the thick mucas. A pint of water with half a teaspoon of salt and the same of bicarbonate.