need encouragement...mucous

robinleigh
robinleigh Member Posts: 297
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
My husband has 4 radiation treatments left and 1 cycle of cysplatin. The mucous has gotten relentless. It's non-stop and he just wants some relief. He's trying to get Mucinex down but a lot of it comes back up because of terrible gagging problem. He's getting a PEG tube tomorrow so we'll be able to get medications down, more calories in, and more hydration. I've read about Mucomyst on the site but his doctor says that's more for mucous that is originating in the lungs. His is collecting at the back of his throat. He's sleeping with a humidifier but waking up every 2 hours to get up a clear the mucous out, which takes about 45 minutes. Soooo...not enough sleep and lack of sleep is exhausting him and bringing his spirits down.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Robinleigh

Comments

  • MarineE5
    MarineE5 Member Posts: 1,034 Member
    #2
    Hydration
    Robin,

    Hydration is a big part of all of this. We are suppose to try and take in at least 64 ozs. of fluid per day. If we can get that fluid in, the mucous seems to be a bit thinner. It will eventually subside but not until some time after his treatments end.

    One thing that I really believe in is the Baking Soda and Salt solution that I was recommended to use by my Nurses. They recommended to use 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of baking soda in 1 quart of room temperature water mixed up and then to rinse and gargle with this solution several times a day. I tend to over do things, so I was doing it as often as every 30 minutes. I would spit most of it out and then let a little bit slip down my throat. This took the edge off of the discomfort in my mouth and throat. It also helped break up the mucous. After some time, around the middle of treatments, I increased the amounts to 1 tablespoon of each in the quart of water. I still have to deal with the mucous, but nothing like it was.

    My Best to You and Everyone Here
  • susan0803
    susan0803 Member Posts: 90
    #3
    mucous
    Hi Robinleigh,
    My husband was up all night too with the mucous. I think he said the Mucinex was good and also had the humidfier on all the time. He slept propped up which helped. He also tried papaya juice and club soda with cranberry juice. I think that worked up until he couldn't tolerate swallowing it. My husband also swears that any thing with dairy (casein or whey, etc) made his mucous worse. Hang in there - almost at the other side of the tunnel!

    Suzanne
  • Kent Cass
    Kent Cass Member Posts: 1,898 Member
    #4
    susan0803 said:

    mucous
    Hi Robinleigh,
    My husband was up all night too with the mucous. I think he said the Mucinex was good and also had the humidfier on all the time. He slept propped up which helped. He also tried papaya juice and club soda with cranberry juice. I think that worked up until he couldn't tolerate swallowing it. My husband also swears that any thing with dairy (casein or whey, etc) made his mucous worse. Hang in there - almost at the other side of the tunnel!

    Suzanne

    Robinleigh
    Suzanne has some good suggestions. As others have noted, and I can vouch for- resting/sleeping on my recliner was friendlier than the bed, and getting too much sleep in one sleeptime is not a good thing for the mucous.

    I carried a mini-bucket with me to spit into frequently, but cannot advise on meds for the mucous, as others can. There have been several posts of recent to address this issue with suggestions.

    And, yes, I'm glad he's getting the PEG, though I wish he'd gotten before tx began. Though some advise against Jevity, and have some excellent alternatives, I used 2.0 Jevity that only required 4/day, and I think it did all right for me.

    kcass

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