Burning up. Super sticky stuff in my throat. Dry mouth. And so tired and finding it hard to eat
Hi Odgy, welcome to the community. From your post I presume you are having or have just finished radiotherapy? Can you tell us how far along you are?
The sticky mucous you get is just awful. Drinking lots helps dilute it and I found simple bicarbonate/salt mouthwash was pretty gentle. Fizzy spring water is worth trying too. Lots of the time I just spat it out and even resorted to pulling it out with my fingers....yuk! Some people find a nebuliser helpful but I managed with steaming my head over a bowl of water a few times a day when it was really bad. Having a humidifier by the bed can be useful too.
There is also a drug called carbocysteine which thins mucous. It helps some of us. I didn't have it though.
As for eating, I'm again presuming you don't have a feeding tube? Maybe ask your team for some high calories meal replacement drinks? The usual ones are Fortisips and Ensures. They are 2 calories per ml so quite energy concentrated.
I swilled my mouth out with Difflam (Benzydamine is the generic form and is the same) fifteen minutes before trying to eat to help clean and anaesthetise my mouth. I had Caphosol and Gelclair to help with the mouth ulcers. There is also another product called Antacid with Oxetecaine which is like Gaviscon with a local anaesthetic. You gargle with that and swallow it. All these you should be able to get from your medical team.
Oh and if you are on Opiates for heaven sake make sure you take laxatives. The ones the teams usually give out are Laxido or Movicol which are gentle
Food is fuel at the moment. Get as much down as you can to help you heal
Fatigue is normal I'm afraid and can go on far past treatment end. I found it was better to listen to my body and rest but I did make sure I took some exercise...even if it was just walking the dog...every day.
I hope some of this helps
Berst wishes
Dani
Base of tongue cancer. T2N0M0 6 weeks Radiotherapy finished January 2019
