Ray the hypochondriac

Hi Ray

Yes it is starting a little soon for you, but like you said we are all snowflakes when it comes to treatment. Try to use a dry mouth spry it will help with the sticking problem and sleeping at night. I use Stoppers 4 dry mouth spray and could not live without it.

Wishing you the best
Hondo

sweetblood22 said:

I am down one salivary gland
I am down one salivary gland too. You may very well be feeling it after 4 rads. I started on 4/6/09 and that weekend was Easter. I could still eat, but I ate like a maniac, because I couldn't really taste. I had lost most of my taste by 5 rads, and smell too. That week, the next 5 is when I started to feel like my mouth was scalded. By 4/19 I was using my peg.

I remember a little dryness, but mostly, then the mucus kicked in. Months after treatment, when the mucus from hell went away, then is when the severe dryness kicked in.

What Sweet said...
Ya, give it a few more days, and the mucus from hell will kick in. I realized pretty early on that the only thing keeping me from Sahara desert dryness was the mucus. Then, a while after treatment ended, it went away. Hello Sahara.

Deb

RayTodd said:

gee thanks people looking forward
to the mucus from hell LOL had already lost some taste due to operation but it seems to be getting less and less taste oh well beats Jenny Craige.

Yep...
Works better than Jenny Craig too. That pesky ten pounds of 'baby weight' I've kept for 20 years... gone now.

Deb

Taste and Saliva
Mine started going down hill fairly fast also....and each day a few hours after treatment was whe nI seemed to notice the effects from that days rads.

More than likely you'll get a certain amount back. I've regained neary all of mine after two years...some arent so lucky though.

I was fortunate as for the thick mucous...I think it was probably due to the Amifostine Injections that I received in my stomach each day just nefore the rads session.

Keep that bottle of water with you at all times.

I also got the Biotene Spray to keep in my truck, it was always good when I needed a little shot of moisture and ran out of water.

Best,
John

robinleigh said:

Water
Water, water,water.....my husband tried everything but did not ever have any favorite remedy. He did become attached to sleeping with a humidifier. He still uses the biotene products. they make a toothpaste, spray, and gel so we have them all. Hondo's stoppers 4 is something I am going to shop for as well. Best wishes!

Stoppers 4
I get mine on line at www.drugstore.com

I believe Tim gets it somewhere else cheaper but can't remember where

Wishing you the best
Hondo

luv4lacrosse said:

DRY MOUTH
I am 10 months post treatment and have a very dry mouth. I had 30 IMRT's to both sides of my neck. I am planning to just get used to this for the rest of my life, and if over time it improves, then that is great too.

If I can take one positive thing from this, I have drank more water in the last 10 months than I had in probably 3 years. The dry mouth does not wake me up at night, it it the 3 trips to the bathroom.

Water is a good thing!!

Mike

Am I the only one that doesn't think water helps the dry issue?
I drink it, but I swear it makes my mouth feel worse.

Also, does anyone cough all the time? I get this dry tickle and it's in a spot where you can drink or swallow, but you can't get rid of the tickle! It makes my eyes tear like crazy, as I cough like crazy. It sometimes then triggers a sneezing fit that goes on for a while. Also, the first few bites of food seem to trigger a five minute sneezing fit.

I swear I think I am getting drier.