Dry Mouth

...and I'm three years out, my spit comes and goes....some days I'm dry as a bone, and other days it's much better.  The same can be said for my taste buds.  I used to carry a bottle of water every where I went....today, I have one by my living room chair, one by my bed...and I carry water in my car.  I don't always need it, but I know it's there if I do.  Also, have you tried Xylimelts?  They work for me (and a few others on here)....tho I couldn't use them until I was three months out of treatment because they stung. 

The first three months out of treatment are the baby steps....things come and go....but know....that the daily comings and goings are normal....you really ARE getting better.  It's just hard to see it at first.

p 

It does sometimes seem as if it's two steps forward and one back. Acupuncture helps by preserving the salivary gland function. I had it during the eight weeks of radiation and Erbitux therapy and for about eight more weeks. At the very first session, I felt the saliva flow. It wasn't quite as dramatic in later sessions, but I never lost my sense of taste and today, dry mouth is not much of an issue. My acupuncturist used a protocol developed by MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Another bit of advice is to continue to stay well hydrated. We tend to slack off when we don't have nurses and techs reminding us every day. It was almost four months after treatment ended that I felt pretty good,  so be patient with yourself. 

Rudy, I took Pilocarpine twice and didn't see much from it but my doctor said it helps ~80% of the people.  I just didn't think I was seeing the result so quit taking it.    You need to give it a few weeks to give it time to get into your system before declaring defeat on this one.  

I used to be jealous when reading about folks who had finished treatment and said they had 80+% of salavia back.   My mouth was like a desert and it just didn't seem to be improving, like my taste buds and everything thing else was starting to show improvement.   But here I am two years out and I can definitely see a big improvment over where i was and I can't tell you exactly when it got better as it was like so much else in that it was a very gradual improvement and I couldn't notice the day to day improvement but much more noticeable over a longer period of time.    I don't know if I'm back at 60%, 80% or whatever as far as salavia recovery but I am so much better and it took probably a year before I had a noticeable difference.

I know at 7 weeks out it seems like an eternity and you should be back to normal but the radiation and Erbitux beat the hell out of your system and it takes time, a long time, to get back to where you feel like you see a difference.   For me it was 5 months before I could eat a bite without intense pain every swallow but today, I can eat ANYTHING but spicy AND I don't need a gallon of water to wash it down with.   

It's a long road back but you've completed the toughest part without a doubt.   The body will continue to improve, but not as fast as any of us want.

All the best,

Keith