Mucus

Hi the mucus lasted for me until around week 10 when it went as quickly wit came to be replaced with the dreaded dry mouth. Personally I had no voice issues but many do. 

Well done on getting through treatment. 

recovery does take time but it’s worth it. 

best wishes 

Hazel 

Hi Stephen.

My fella is seven weeks post RT and still having problems with copious mucous secretions.  They're tough and really stringy but we knew it would be like this following treatment and are waiting for it to normalise.

Try and drink plenty of fluids as it helps to loosen it somewhat, and spit it out if possible rather than swallowing it.  You could also try sugar free gum to encourage saliva.

My H has a different cancer and has to use a nebuliser several times a day and takes carbocisteine x 3 per day to expel it from his lungs.  He'll have to do this for life.

Hopefully, your problem will calm down eventually but be patient as it could be a lengthy haul.  Good luck.

Gill xx 

Thank you Gill

Thank you Hazel

i don’t get a dry mouth but a dry throat at night

Did you get this?

I was given Caphosol for mucus issues, it helped me a lot.

Hi stephen l 

I had sticky mucous till about 12 weeks and it largely disappeared over the following 2. Simply sipping fizzy water or diet cola helped tremendously; that and spitting a lot. A few times I tried steaming over hot water with a towel around my head but I’m not convinced it did much. 
That was followed by a dry mouth that took a year to resolve enough to be comfortable. 

stephen l said:

i don’t get a dry mouth but a dry throat at night

That will come. 
The reason is that RT has a huge impact on the major salivary glands. Saliva is made up of two portions. Water and mucous. The watery portion takes much much longer to recover so at first you get a sticky mouth then later a dry one. 
Recover is never complete but it is manageable. I’m ok through the day but get dry at night, primarily because I sleep with my mouth open but also because saliva production naturally drops off at night. 

Thanks Dani, that really helps :) 

Hi yes I did was an expert at sipping water practically in my sleep. Once dry mouth started I found xyimelts invaluable I still use 1/2 of one  every night I’m 7 years oust treatment now. 
wr can’t get on prescription but can get cst free  if we buy from Hope to sleep online company  there’s a box to put in why yih need them  you havec ti search for Ora coat 

I’ll looking for link you  might not get on with them but many if us do  when if you get dry miuth

Hazel 

Hi

I hade 30 sessions of RT and 6 lots of weekly chemo.  The mucous kicked in around the end of the 2nd week, and I effectively lost my voice for about four and half months.  I could whisper but not much more.  My ENT consultant said it was unusual to go on so long, but the voice problem was caused by a layer of mucous over the vocal cords.  I actually saw the evidence of this when he did nasendoscopies and showed me the recording.  I also tried drinking fizzy water, and had a Speech and Language Therapist who tried to help me by telling me to blow through a straw into a glass of water, and to recite "my mother makes marmalade mainly in the month of May",  (Apparently the letter M is good to get the vocal cords moving).  I'm not sure any of it did any good.  However, everyone one agreed that it would just take time and the mucous would clear in the end, and my voice would return.  They were right of course, and it came back all of a sudden nearly 5 months later.   The best advice is really to accept it, try not to worry too much, and have faith it will get better - timescales TBC. 

Keith 

I still have mucus nearly 17 months post but it’s manageable. It eased off a lot around 4-5 months. It could be sooner for you . My voice also changed and although nobody notices it, I do and it’s never recovered completely . I can’t sing to save myself anymore