Magic mouthwash

Laura23

Magic mouthwash is a combination of Maalox, Benadryl and lidocaine that numbs the esophagus so that our loved ones can eat. My husband squirts it into the back of his throat with a 2 tsp plastic syringe. He has to try not to get any in his mouth or it will numb his tongue and cheeks and make it more difficult to eat.

Right now it is a blessing for him to use this. He can take it as often as he needs to. Usually he uses it before eating but sometimes he needs it after as well. He uses this in addition to his regular pain meds.

Hope this helps!

Daisylin

thank you
That does help! Thank you.... I thought it was just a nickname for a good brand of non alcohol mouthwash, but after reading your post, I did a quick google search. There seem to be many combinations of possible recipes. Yet another thing to ask our doctor about. If it wasn't for all of you here, we'd be totally lost, and shortchanging ourselves on treatment options.
Chantal

BMGky

Daisylin said:

thank you
That does help! Thank you.... I thought it was just a nickname for a good brand of non alcohol mouthwash, but after reading your post, I did a quick google search. There seem to be many combinations of possible recipes. Yet another thing to ask our doctor about. If it wasn't for all of you here, we'd be totally lost, and shortchanging ourselves on treatment options.
Chantal

Magic Mouthwash worth a try when needed
From what I gather Magic Mouthwash is helpful in that it soothes the inflamed oral tissues by, as I understand, somewhat numbing, somewhat coating, and either has a medication that speeds healing or helps reduce the irritating acids or whatever causing the oral discomfort.

You are right as to the various recipes. Because my husband had a thrush or thrushlike infection develop during his chemo/radiation, they wanted to use one with tetracycline to get rid of whatever germ or bacteria causing it. When he explained of his allergy to tetracycline, they changed the formula. It did provide comfort for short periods of time.

If you have sensitivity to certain medicines, for sure ask what is in your physician's particular concoction. Good to ask anyway as the digestive system is in such an uproar, things that once were okay, oftentimes, don't work or cause pain. In my husband's instance: water!

I can't remember at what stage of the treatment he was prescribed carafate, but that seemed to be very helpful to him.

Do let your treatment team know of any discomfort or reaction you may be having. As treatment went on, my husband had more and more difficulty with swallowing and pain. We found that the physicians truly wanted to reduce my husband's discomfort and worked with us in every way. When he could not take anything by mouth and we had a storage box full of pill medications, our son-in-law explained a great many medicines have liquid forms or equivalents. We asked that liquid medications be prescribed rather than pill form, and without hesitation, they immediately changed all meds to liquids and administered through his jtube. Only one or two could not be changed and we dealt with it.

When he experienced random nausea and significant wretching, usual medications did not work. His oncologist had a pharmacist compound a little application tube with a gel form of phenegran that just a dab was applied to his wrist and he rubbed his wrists together. Immediate relief. We took it with us everywhere and treated it like gold. If he felt a wretching spasm coming on, he signaled me by rubbing his wrists together. I immediately got out the little tube and applied a dab of the gel.

Hopefully, none of you experience monumental wretching--it can halt any activity in a room, but if you do, let your doctor know. (Isn't this pleasant reading on a beautiful morning. All mornings are beautiful, you know.) He could never throw up. I don't see how he withstood the spasms.

So, Magic Mouthwash is just one of their little bag of tricks to help their patient get through the treatment and can be a real help.

jthomas233

Tried the Magic Mouthwash..
I see what you mean about the mouthwash. I'm done with my chemo rounds and I have three more radiation treatments. Right now, I can still eat OK and I have actually managed to hold my weight.

I feel like there is less friction at the tumor site, but the whole esophagus is starting to burn just a little. Someone on the site referred to the carafat as "swish and swallow" so that's what I did...I feel like I just got out of the dentist's office. I'll be looking for that 2 TSP syringe.

Good luck with the rest of your treatment and the surgery!

BMGky

jthomas233 said:

Tried the Magic Mouthwash..
I see what you mean about the mouthwash. I'm done with my chemo rounds and I have three more radiation treatments. Right now, I can still eat OK and I have actually managed to hold my weight.

I feel like there is less friction at the tumor site, but the whole esophagus is starting to burn just a little. Someone on the site referred to the carafat as "swish and swallow" so that's what I did...I feel like I just got out of the dentist's office. I'll be looking for that 2 TSP syringe.

Good luck with the rest of your treatment and the surgery!

Glad your treatment is going
Glad your treatment is going well. Sure hope it continues.

Of interest, just before my husband's last three radiation treatments, our radiation oncologist, a lovely woman who brought in treats for those waiting their radiation session, spoke with my husband and explained that the last three sessions were going to be shorter. Yay!!! We thought. She went on, "But more focused" I'm not certain exactly what she meant, but anytime a physician chooses to let you know there's a "little change" coming, be prepared. Yep. They were shorter, but they really zapped my husband.

Fortunately, or unfortunately as might be one viewpoint, he was already hospitalized for some complications so he came back to the hospital room completed zapped. Literally. To say he was fatigued is an understatement. But, hey, that, too, passes. Hope you don't encounter this, but if you do, it's transitory. It might be good to have a driver in the event the sessions change somewhat. This may not be the norm but rather a decision by this treatment team for whatever reason and perhaps to all that he had going on.

Even though he experienced some challenges during the treatment and surgical phase, he's out and about, being his hyperactive self, going to court, seeing clients, and spoiling our grandchildren. He has a PET scan coming up the first week of August. We continue to pray that he will continue to be NED fifteen months post op. : )