Damage to saliva glands

Probably it's easier if a person thinks...

in terms that radiation "affects the saliva glands" rather in terms of "destroy"....  My mouth was pretty darn dry by the end of the second week....tho I didn't lose my tastebuds for another week.  The time it takes to get it back after treatment varies....and some people never get it back....most do, however.

I'm 8 months out of radiation and still have dry mouth....tho I don't wake up in the morning any more with a tongue that I could use to knock on doors....LOL.  I can lick my lips, again.....too.  I still need water to get meals down....except for soup.  I fully expect to get more and more back as time goes on.

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Skiffin16 said:

Damages..

Rads defiitely damage the salivary glands, but they do heal to some degree, if not nearly entirely...

Some like myself, regain nearly if not all salivary function, a very few have nearly no damage..., but no damage is not the norm.

Myself as with many, both taste and saliva were way off, to nearly non-existant for many weeks/months. Slowly...very very slowly, they both started to return. A few months post treatment, I could definitely survive on what I had regained.

It took nearly two years, but I'd say that I got back 100% taste, and maybe 95% saliva..., only drying at night during sleep.

Best ~ John

Most of us
Do have taste and saliva changes during treatment. I noticed my taste changing about 2 weeks in to radiation and I started getting dry maybe around 3 or weeks.
I am now 7 months out from treatment and I'd say I have about 85% of my taste back, definitely enough to survive and thrive if this end up being all I get back. My saliva is a bit slower to return but I'm hopeful that it will in the near future.
We are all different and some don't have many changes at all. Today I had Thai food and it was plenty yummy, there is life after treatment :-)
Billie