Throat cancer - Dry throat

oneill407

At present I wake every 15 to 20 minutes to sip water. Any recommendation on how to sleep better with dry throat?

shirely

Try entertainers secret it works for 30 minutes , might get an hour. I ordered through CVS pharmacy.

oneill407

shirely said:

Try entertainers secret it works for 30 minutes , might get an hour. I ordered through CVS pharmacy.

What do you do at night when your trying to sleep?

Mine is Squamious Cell, what type do you have and how are you fairing after radiation. Do you feel like the radiation has effected any thought functions?

God Bless
Dan

harold

i found out to use a cool mist vaporizer when i go to bed or sitting watching tv.

harold

harold said:

i found out to use a cool mist vaporizer when i go to bed or sitting watching tv.

my dr, offered me a pill thats put moisture in your mouth.i had cancer 10 years ago.i went threw it all. if anyone has any questions just e-mail.

txlas

harold said:

my dr, offered me a pill thats put moisture in your mouth.i had cancer 10 years ago.i went threw it all. if anyone has any questions just e-mail.

Would Harold please email me pdbraden@msn.com I had laryngectomy 11/2/00 and 7 weeks of radiation. Do you ever get to eat again I'm living om Ensure and vanilla milkshakes.

rickster

harold said:

my dr, offered me a pill thats put moisture in your mouth.i had cancer 10 years ago.i went threw it all. if anyone has any questions just e-mail.

I had cancer on my tonsil that sored to my lymphnode. I've had 32 lymphnode & Glands
removed from my neck. I've recived 42 Radiation and lot's of chemo.. My concern is, the Radiation burned 90% of my saliva glands and I have a very dry mouth & throat. this not only makes eatting tough, but sleeping is a real problem. I would love to hear from anyone on how there dealing with this. I've been off chemo 1 month.
That's to all in advance : )

Rick

dkeats

rickster said:

I had cancer on my tonsil that sored to my lymphnode. I've had 32 lymphnode & Glands
removed from my neck. I've recived 42 Radiation and lot's of chemo.. My concern is, the Radiation burned 90% of my saliva glands and I have a very dry mouth & throat. this not only makes eatting tough, but sleeping is a real problem. I would love to hear from anyone on how there dealing with this. I've been off chemo 1 month.
That's to all in advance : )

Rick

Hi Rick,
I've had a similar situation and know what you're going thru. I had cancer of the salivary gland 7 years ago and had surgery and radiation. I had dry mouth for a while but it eventually went away because the other salivary gland took over. It re-occurred 5/01 and I had all but one salivary gland removed plus did chemo and radiation.
Now I'm as dry as the Sahara. I always have a water bottle with me and when it really get's to me I rub Oral balance under my tongue beside my gums. Seems to last quite a while if you don't talk too much. I do the same at night and have also found that if I take a non-dripping sippie cup (like the little kids have) to bed with me, I can leave it right beside me a take a drink without having to wake entirely up to make sure I don't spill it. Sounds goofy but it has really helped me! I finished radiation in Sept and things still don't taste good to me. I pretty much take a drink of water after every bite before I swallows so it will go down. Room temperature water is the best. My surgeon tells me that it's the chemical reaction that saliva causes that makes food taste correctly and since we don't have those chemicals anymore, things probably won't ever be the same. I find the best thing to eat is chocolate. It said it's becuase it's a simple sugar and easiest to break down. The more complex the food (starches, etc) the harder they are to break down. Hope this helps a little bit. It has definitely gotten better than when I first finished treatments. Keep up your spirits and good luck! (P.S I had a classic neck dissection where they took out a muscle in my neck so that causes trouble sleeping. I have a foam rubber wedge that's about 8" high that I sleep on that really helps and for some reason I can keep my mouth closed while sleeping on it so that helps, too!)

jleider

I've been there. Has your Dr. prescribed Salagen? That might help somewhat. I,also, put a humidifier by my bedside and that seemed to help. I ran it most of the day whereever I was to keep the humidity up in the house. I, also try to breate through my nose, since this helps to moisten the air you breathe. Take care and good luck.

jaunty

If you are greathing through your mouth have you ever tried the Breathrite nasal strips? I don't have cancer but they sure help me to reduce mouth breathing.

karenleung

rickster said:

I had cancer on my tonsil that sored to my lymphnode. I've had 32 lymphnode & Glands
removed from my neck. I've recived 42 Radiation and lot's of chemo.. My concern is, the Radiation burned 90% of my saliva glands and I have a very dry mouth & throat. this not only makes eatting tough, but sleeping is a real problem. I would love to hear from anyone on how there dealing with this. I've been off chemo 1 month.
That's to all in advance : )

Rick

I just bumped into this message and hope that your condition is better now. I also received very intensive radiation and chemo for my tonsil cancer. My mouth is very very dry. In my daily work as a teacher, I chew sugar-free gum to moisten my mouth and it works a little bit. For eating, I need water or soup to go along with solid food. I find cereal with milk the best food I can take.Try sleeping pills if you have sleeping problem