Excess Mucus = No Sleep

neilswife
neilswife Member Posts: 27
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
My husband is 2 rads from finishing treatment. He cannot get any real amount of sleep due to excess mucus coughing fits. Has anyone had any luck in finding a solution to this problem?

Thanks in advance!
Tammy
«1

Comments

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #2
    Hi Tammy
    Look for Sweetblood Superthread she has a lot of information on it that will help you.

    Wishing you both well
    Hondo
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #3
    Excess mucus = no sleep
    I remember that stage. I'm in the no saliva = no sleep stage now.

    Some things that have helped others:

    The baking soda, salt and water rinse.
    Mucinex
    Suction machine
    Drinking lots of water
  • neilswife
    neilswife Member Posts: 27
    #4
    Hondo said:

    Hi Tammy
    Look for Sweetblood Superthread she has a lot of information on it that will help you.

    Wishing you both well
    Hondo

    I should've known
    Thanks Hondo! I just didn't think about looking there. She is so smart!

    Thanks again,
    Tammy
  • neilswife
    neilswife Member Posts: 27
    #5
    sweetblood22 said:

    Excess mucus = no sleep
    I remember that stage. I'm in the no saliva = no sleep stage now.

    Some things that have helped others:

    The baking soda, salt and water rinse.
    Mucinex
    Suction machine
    Drinking lots of water

    Thanks!
    He is having a problem with getting water down. In fact, we were at the local ER getting fluids earlier today.

    Mucinex sounds logical. We’ll look into that tomorrow!

    He is doing the baking soda/salt & water rinses, but probably not enough. I keep reading where that is a big help.

    All great ideas!
    Thanks!
    Tam
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #6
    neilswife said:

    Thanks!
    He is having a problem with getting water down. In fact, we were at the local ER getting fluids earlier today.

    Mucinex sounds logical. We’ll look into that tomorrow!

    He is doing the baking soda/salt & water rinses, but probably not enough. I keep reading where that is a big help.

    All great ideas!
    Thanks!
    Tam

    I don't know if he has a peg
    I don't know if he has a peg tube, but it doesn't need to be orally, could be through the tube as well.

    The mucinex dried me out too much, it didn't really help with the mucus, and it made my mouth bleed even more. As well as my nose. But my mouth was a mess, so that probably won't happen to him. Just a heads up in case it does.

    Also, I forgot. John, (skiffin) used a hydrogen peroxide and water rinse or something to that effect. You may want to search for that. I think most people have had the best luck in controlling the mucus from hell with the suction machine though.
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #7
    sweetblood22 said:

    I don't know if he has a peg
    I don't know if he has a peg tube, but it doesn't need to be orally, could be through the tube as well.

    The mucinex dried me out too much, it didn't really help with the mucus, and it made my mouth bleed even more. As well as my nose. But my mouth was a mess, so that probably won't happen to him. Just a heads up in case it does.

    Also, I forgot. John, (skiffin) used a hydrogen peroxide and water rinse or something to that effect. You may want to search for that. I think most people have had the best luck in controlling the mucus from hell with the suction machine though.

    Hydrogen Peroxide and Baking Soda
    Rinse, swish and spit....

    I'm over two years out post treatment, and have probably 95% of both taste and saliva back. But at night I still dry out.

    So like Dawn, I don't get any real good sleep. I wake every few hours pretty dried out. It's a cycle for me unfortunately.

    I wake, get up to take a sip of water or have a small bottle close by. But my two chocolate labs hear me, think they need to go pee. So then I have to get up, let them out, then go back to bed and start the cycle over again.

    But, all in all, it's much better than the alternative.

    Best,
    John
  • jim and i
    jim and i Member Posts: 1,788 Member
    #8
    Sorry
    Sorry for Neil's problem. Jim also started with the mucus from hell at the very end of treatement. The Mucinex helped thin the mucus so he could get it up without choking but it did not get rid of it. When he could not take the pill anymore, you can't crush Mucinex according to the hospital, I went to the pharmacy to see if it came in a liquid. It doesn't. However I asked the pharmacist about a substitute and she told me and showed me that Robitussen or Waltussin [Walgreens brand] is exact same ingredient and amount.

    Jim also uses the expensive prescription Capashol which dries up the mucous but also the mouth. The mucous is getting better but not the dry mouth and he is 15 days out of treatment. I ahve also hread that many here recommend a humidifier for the bedroom but havent gotten one for us yet.

    Praying Neil's side effects ease up quickly.

    Debbie
  • jim and i
    jim and i Member Posts: 1,788 Member
    #9
    Sorry
    Sorry for Neil's problem. Jim also started with the mucus from hell at the very end of treatement. The Mucinex helped thin the mucus so he could get it up without choking but it did not get rid of it. When he could not take the pill anymore, you can't crush Mucinex according to the hospital, I went to the pharmacy to see if it came in a liquid. It doesn't. However I asked the pharmacist about a substitute and she told me and showed me that Robitussen or Waltussin [Walgreens brand] is exact same ingredient and amount.

    Jim also uses the expensive prescription Capashol which dries up the mucous but also the mouth. The mucous is getting better but not the dry mouth and he is 15 days out of treatment. I ahve also hread that many here recommend a humidifier for the bedroom but havent gotten one for us yet.

    Praying Neil's side effects ease up quickly.

    Debbie
  • jim and i
    jim and i Member Posts: 1,788 Member
    #10
    hate these double post
    hate these double post
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #11
    jim and i said:

    Sorry
    Sorry for Neil's problem. Jim also started with the mucus from hell at the very end of treatement. The Mucinex helped thin the mucus so he could get it up without choking but it did not get rid of it. When he could not take the pill anymore, you can't crush Mucinex according to the hospital, I went to the pharmacy to see if it came in a liquid. It doesn't. However I asked the pharmacist about a substitute and she told me and showed me that Robitussen or Waltussin [Walgreens brand] is exact same ingredient and amount.

    Jim also uses the expensive prescription Capashol which dries up the mucous but also the mouth. The mucous is getting better but not the dry mouth and he is 15 days out of treatment. I ahve also hread that many here recommend a humidifier for the bedroom but havent gotten one for us yet.

    Praying Neil's side effects ease up quickly.

    Debbie

    Mucinex does come in liquid
    Mucinex does come in liquid form.
  • Puggle
    Puggle Member Posts: 88 Member
    #12
    Fluids, fluids and more fluids
    Hi Tammy,

    My husbands is 2 weeks out but his mucus was also extremely bad the last 2 weeks of treatment. Nothing totally stopped it but he got IV fluids every day and also tried to take in as much by mouth as he could (he did not get a PEG). He also refused any type of narcotic pain medicine but he found that taking Gabapentin helped make him drowsy so he could catch a few hours of sleep.

    Please also check with your Dr. before taking mucinex or any over the counter drug in case it could interfere with his other medications.

    And lastly, it will get better. My husbands mucus is still there but no where near as bad as the last few weeks.

    Good luck!
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #13
    Puggle said:

    Fluids, fluids and more fluids
    Hi Tammy,

    My husbands is 2 weeks out but his mucus was also extremely bad the last 2 weeks of treatment. Nothing totally stopped it but he got IV fluids every day and also tried to take in as much by mouth as he could (he did not get a PEG). He also refused any type of narcotic pain medicine but he found that taking Gabapentin helped make him drowsy so he could catch a few hours of sleep.

    Please also check with your Dr. before taking mucinex or any over the counter drug in case it could interfere with his other medications.

    And lastly, it will get better. My husbands mucus is still there but no where near as bad as the last few weeks.

    Good luck!

    Hi Puggle
    Welcome to the family here on CSN

    Hondo
  • Puggle
    Puggle Member Posts: 88 Member
    #14
    Hondo said:

    Hi Puggle
    Welcome to the family here on CSN

    Hondo

    Thank you Hondo
    Thanks for the welcome Hondo! There is so much information and wonderful people on this site. I just wish I would have found it sooner!
  • robinleigh
    robinleigh Member Posts: 297
    #15
    My husband's mucous was so horrendous that he had to carry a small cardboard bucket everywhere and a whole box of tissues. It seems like it will never get better but it does in time. He did use high doses of guaifenosine (mucinex) crushed through his peg tube. He used the baking soda rinse. He slept with a humidifier. None of them were miraculous cures but at least all together gave a bit of relief. Time and patience...trying I
    To keep remembering it gradually gets better. Promise!!!
    Robinleigh
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #16
    robinleigh said:

    My husband's mucous was so horrendous that he had to carry a small cardboard bucket everywhere and a whole box of tissues. It seems like it will never get better but it does in time. He did use high doses of guaifenosine (mucinex) crushed through his peg tube. He used the baking soda rinse. He slept with a humidifier. None of them were miraculous cures but at least all together gave a bit of relief. Time and patience...trying I
    To keep remembering it gradually gets better. Promise!!!
    Robinleigh

    I carried a 20 ounce plastic
    I carried a 20 ounce plastic cup. I had a pack a day habit. A pack of 100 heavy duty napkins a day, that is.
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #17
    Puggle said:

    Thank you Hondo
    Thanks for the welcome Hondo! There is so much information and wonderful people on this site. I just wish I would have found it sooner!

    Puggle

    I was the same way my last treatment was in 2006 and I did not find CSN till 2009, just wish someone would have told me about it back then when I needed it. But that’s OK a lot of us here stay to help other who are just starting there journey and see them through to the finish line and become survivors. Hope you plan on staying there are a lot of people here that needs input for those of us who been there.

    Wishing you the best
    Hondo
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #18
    sweetblood22 said:

    I carried a 20 ounce plastic
    I carried a 20 ounce plastic cup. I had a pack a day habit. A pack of 100 heavy duty napkins a day, that is.

    Plastic cup

    I am with you on that sweet, I made as if I was chewing tobacco, and wipe my mouth on my shirt no one seams to notice as much as all the guys were chewers.

    PS: Wash the shirt everyday :)

    Hondo
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #19
    Hondo said:

    Plastic cup

    I am with you on that sweet, I made as if I was chewing tobacco, and wipe my mouth on my shirt no one seams to notice as much as all the guys were chewers.

    PS: Wash the shirt everyday :)

    Hondo

    I think they thought I was chewing tobacco.
    People used to give me the strangest looks on the shuttle bus on the way into the hospital. I think they definitely thought, "what the heck is some woman in a dress and four inch heels doing with a spit cup?" Looks pretty incongruous.

    There are a couple of women round these parts that chew tobacco, but we don't dress or act the same. Lol. Used to drive me nuts when my ex would chew tobacco. Him and his friends. Blech.
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #20
    sweetblood22 said:

    I think they thought I was chewing tobacco.
    People used to give me the strangest looks on the shuttle bus on the way into the hospital. I think they definitely thought, "what the heck is some woman in a dress and four inch heels doing with a spit cup?" Looks pretty incongruous.

    There are a couple of women round these parts that chew tobacco, but we don't dress or act the same. Lol. Used to drive me nuts when my ex would chew tobacco. Him and his friends. Blech.

    Play Ball
    You could have grabbed your crotch, turned your head and spit a big wad and yelled, "Play BALL"...
  • osmotar
    osmotar Member Posts: 1,006
    #21
    Skiffin16 said:

    Play Ball
    You could have grabbed your crotch, turned your head and spit a big wad and yelled, "Play BALL"...

    ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwweeeee...hah
    ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwweeeee...hahahaahah

    :)

Discussion Boards