How do I get passed swallowing just liquids?

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davkel
davkel Member Posts: 20
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
Can anybody help here? I've been done with treatments since 10 Feb, and currently can only swallow liquids. My speech therapist has cleared me to go beyond liquids to anything I can get down, I just can't get anything down. I have thrush in my mouth that I'm taking Nystatin for. ( I can barely swish and swallow that). Every time I swallow something it's like a get a ton of mucus to hack up.

When I do swallow liquids I put it in the back of my throat and have to do a hard swallow to squeeze it down. Anybody had this experience? Any help at all would be appreciated.

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  • ekdennie
    ekdennie Member Posts: 238 Member
    #2
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    this might help
    I don't know for sure, but this wouldn't hurt to give it a try. if you have children then you will have done something similar when they were first learning to eat, but here it goes. go to the baby food aisle. get a box of rice cereal. it is a flakey product. add a little at a time to a liquid that you like the taste of (read the box and dilute as it says to for a first feeding). gradually thickening it until you can get it to an applesauce consistency. then try with soft mushy foods like apple sauce, mashed bananas, and overcooked pastas. after my radiation treatments it helped me to think of my mouth and throat as being very similar to an infants...i had to start with liquids, then eat items with soft textures and no spice. It worked well for me, i had a young kid who was learning to eat (probably why I even thought of it!) at the same time that I was going through treatment! if it doesn't work one day, wait a couple of days and try again. be patient and it helps to write down how much you can eat each day...that way you can see how far you have come from when you started. wishing you the best of luck! let me know if this helps at all. Hugs!
  • alaskanjan
    alaskanjan Member Posts: 42
    #3
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    ekdennie said:

    this might help
    I don't know for sure, but this wouldn't hurt to give it a try. if you have children then you will have done something similar when they were first learning to eat, but here it goes. go to the baby food aisle. get a box of rice cereal. it is a flakey product. add a little at a time to a liquid that you like the taste of (read the box and dilute as it says to for a first feeding). gradually thickening it until you can get it to an applesauce consistency. then try with soft mushy foods like apple sauce, mashed bananas, and overcooked pastas. after my radiation treatments it helped me to think of my mouth and throat as being very similar to an infants...i had to start with liquids, then eat items with soft textures and no spice. It worked well for me, i had a young kid who was learning to eat (probably why I even thought of it!) at the same time that I was going through treatment! if it doesn't work one day, wait a couple of days and try again. be patient and it helps to write down how much you can eat each day...that way you can see how far you have come from when you started. wishing you the best of luck! let me know if this helps at all. Hugs!

    Your advice
    I like your advice because it totally makes sense. And too, patience is certainly a virtue in this case. My husband finished radiation in February also and he keeps wanting some of his favorite foods...then he tries them and they just don't work. I consider it a big victory that he ate a whole cup of yoghurt today! Other than that it is just Ensure and milk. I have tried pureeing homemade vegetable soup and potato soup and those things seem not to work...oh yes, he did eat jello with whipped cream the other day. I will probably never get him to eat baby cereal though!
  • robinleigh
    robinleigh Member Posts: 297
    #4
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    One step at a time
    Maybe move to things that are thicker liquids like smoothies and shakes. Then progress to yoghurt and creamed soups. Just trial and error and you will eventually make progress! The journal idea sounds great so you can see your progress!
  • D Lewis
    D Lewis Member Posts: 1,581 Member
    #5
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    Very soft scrambled eggs
    Seems like I lived on runny-soft scrambled eggs and Carnation instant breakfast for weeks and weeks. When I first started, it could take me over 30 minutes to get down a single egg, in teeny tiny bites.

    This too, will pass.

    Deb
  • Grandmax4
    Grandmax4 Member Posts: 723
    #6
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    I didn't have
    radiation or chemo but, I had surgery to remove my epiglottis. For those that don't know, I didn't, your epiglottis closes when you swallow to prevent anything getting into your windpipe. Anyway, I had to learn a new technique for swallowing and I'm still on a soft food diet 8 months out.

    I recommend mashed potatoes and gravy, yogurt, scrambled eggs, pudding,V-8 soups in the box ( getting 2 servings of vegetables in each box) I crush up ritz crackers in mine, v-8 drink,applesauce,ice cream...boost,ensure, any type water and milk.

    To swallow, take a small bite,hold your breath,swallow hard...cough, swallow again ( your saliva)
    If you're still having problems tuck your chin down to your chest and then do the swallow...I'm surprised you weren't taught this in therapy, it's called the Super Supra-Glottie Swallow

    An exercise to strengthen your swallowing.... swallow saliva, freeze with voice box at top of throat, hold 2 seconds, complete swallow```DO NOT do this with food in your mouth.

    Hope this helps
  • Tim6003
    Tim6003 Member Posts: 1,514 Member
    #7
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    Grandmax4 said:

    I didn't have
    radiation or chemo but, I had surgery to remove my epiglottis. For those that don't know, I didn't, your epiglottis closes when you swallow to prevent anything getting into your windpipe. Anyway, I had to learn a new technique for swallowing and I'm still on a soft food diet 8 months out.

    I recommend mashed potatoes and gravy, yogurt, scrambled eggs, pudding,V-8 soups in the box ( getting 2 servings of vegetables in each box) I crush up ritz crackers in mine, v-8 drink,applesauce,ice cream...boost,ensure, any type water and milk.

    To swallow, take a small bite,hold your breath,swallow hard...cough, swallow again ( your saliva)
    If you're still having problems tuck your chin down to your chest and then do the swallow...I'm surprised you weren't taught this in therapy, it's called the Super Supra-Glottie Swallow

    An exercise to strengthen your swallowing.... swallow saliva, freeze with voice box at top of throat, hold 2 seconds, complete swallow```DO NOT do this with food in your mouth.

    Hope this helps

    Davkel...
    It took me 2 months to get rid of my mucous ..it was horrible. I drank ensure for 2.5 months after my last rad in January 2012...so I think what you are experiencing is certainly normal. Only wish I could offer more help, but it will end my friend.

    I too ate mashed potatoes, soft scrambled eggs and heavy jelly on just white bread ...everything was followed by liquids :) and more liquids :)

    Hang in there ...

    Best,

    Tim
  • davkel
    davkel Member Posts: 20
    #8
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    robinleigh said:

    One step at a time
    Maybe move to things that are thicker liquids like smoothies and shakes. Then progress to yoghurt and creamed soups. Just trial and error and you will eventually make progress! The journal idea sounds great so you can see your progress!

    Thank you
    Thanks for the advice, i'm trying to do just that but I have a lot of mucus in the back of my throat that I can't get past. Maybe the thrush in my mouth is contributing to that. So far I'm concentrating on increasing the amount of liquids that I can get down in one swallow, hopefully that will allow me to get more solids down later. Thoughts? BTW...Happy 4th.
  • davkel
    davkel Member Posts: 20
    #9
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    Tim6003 said:

    Davkel...
    It took me 2 months to get rid of my mucous ..it was horrible. I drank ensure for 2.5 months after my last rad in January 2012...so I think what you are experiencing is certainly normal. Only wish I could offer more help, but it will end my friend.

    I too ate mashed potatoes, soft scrambled eggs and heavy jelly on just white bread ...everything was followed by liquids :) and more liquids :)

    Hang in there ...

    Best,

    Tim

    Tim6003
    Did you mashed potatoes cut through the mucus? Was there anything that you drank that would cut thru that mucus? So far the only thing that seems to do part of the trick is juicy juice boxes.
  • davkel
    davkel Member Posts: 20
    #10
    Options
    ekdennie said:

    this might help
    I don't know for sure, but this wouldn't hurt to give it a try. if you have children then you will have done something similar when they were first learning to eat, but here it goes. go to the baby food aisle. get a box of rice cereal. it is a flakey product. add a little at a time to a liquid that you like the taste of (read the box and dilute as it says to for a first feeding). gradually thickening it until you can get it to an applesauce consistency. then try with soft mushy foods like apple sauce, mashed bananas, and overcooked pastas. after my radiation treatments it helped me to think of my mouth and throat as being very similar to an infants...i had to start with liquids, then eat items with soft textures and no spice. It worked well for me, i had a young kid who was learning to eat (probably why I even thought of it!) at the same time that I was going through treatment! if it doesn't work one day, wait a couple of days and try again. be patient and it helps to write down how much you can eat each day...that way you can see how far you have come from when you started. wishing you the best of luck! let me know if this helps at all. Hugs!

    ekdennie
    Thanks for the advice. That makes a lot of sense. I'm going to definitely try that process. How much liquid could you get down at a time before you could go on to thicker things and solids? I'm gone from just the tiniest sips to maybe a 1/2 teaspoon or more of liquids. Because of the mucus, after a couple of sips the throat get clogged again. I think maybe a humidifier might help? Happy 4th, and be well.
  • Grandmax4
    Grandmax4 Member Posts: 723
    #11
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    davkel said:

    Tim6003
    Did you mashed potatoes cut through the mucus? Was there anything that you drank that would cut thru that mucus? So far the only thing that seems to do part of the trick is juicy juice boxes.

    8 months
    and the mucus, at times, is still driving me insane...I didn't have chemo or radiation, but I had surgery cut from ear to ear...the mucus has been my main complaint, nothing has worked and I've tried everything...it has slowed way down, but there seems to be a blob in my throat that will not budge...hope yours goes away

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