Magic Mouthwash

osmotar
osmotar Member Posts: 1,006
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
I'm going to pick up a script for "magic mouthwash" I envision Shakespears witches standing around a cauldron strirring and chanting double, double toil and trouble...oh well. I've been reading about the MM and have a question; do you swish and swallow or do you swish and spit, different articles show one or the other. What has anyones experience here been?

Thanks,

Linda

Comments

  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #2
    My Magic Swizzle bottle says
    My Magic Swizzle bottle says to swish and swallow. I had to swish and spit because swallowing it made me gag, and you can figure out why that wasn't good. There are different combos of drugs for these magic mouthwash and magic swizzle things, so you may not get the full benefit of the magic if you don't swallow it, when it says to swallow it. I called mine "notsomagic swizzle".
  • osmotar
    osmotar Member Posts: 1,006
    #3
    sweetblood22 said:

    My Magic Swizzle bottle says
    My Magic Swizzle bottle says to swish and swallow. I had to swish and spit because swallowing it made me gag, and you can figure out why that wasn't good. There are different combos of drugs for these magic mouthwash and magic swizzle things, so you may not get the full benefit of the magic if you don't swallow it, when it says to swallow it. I called mine "notsomagic swizzle".

    Says
    Says to swallow mine..may have to hold my nose on the swallowing part.
  • DrMary
    DrMary Member Posts: 531 Member
    #4
    osmotar said:

    Says
    Says to swallow mine..may have to hold my nose on the swallowing part.

    It is usually part lidocaine, part benedryl and part Maalox. Indeed, if you don't swallow, the lidocaine can't numb your throat enough to eat.

    Doug mostly used it to help with the pain after barfing - he did a lot of that. For a bit, he also used it to help with eating but I don't know how much was mouth and how much was throat.

    Later on, when his throat was healing but he'd developed a deep ulcer at the tongue/jaw juncture, painting pure lidocaine on with a cotton swab worked well.

    In any case, MM really can only work for 10-30 minutes. Some doctors don't like it because they worry about biting numb tongues/cheeks or aspirating food because of a numbed epiglotis. We didn't encounter either problem.
  • NJR
    NJR Member Posts: 82
    #5
    It depends
    I had both spit and swallow. My radiation oncologist's concoction was different from the Chemo doc but according to the head nurse it isn't going to hurt anything by swallowing both. She said the only time it really matters depends on what they put in it for thrush and how far down your throat the thrush extends. If the thrush extends into your digestive tract it becomes a much larger problem than just a painful annoyance.
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #6
    Swallow
    Mine was rinse and swallow....like Mary said it was short lived, just long emough to get some hydration and calories in your body.

    The solution I used was called Larry's Solution, consisting mainly of a mixture of maalox, benadryl suspension and viscous lidocaine or xylocaine.

    Or to be more specific, three equal parts diphenhy-dramine hydrochloride elixir (Benadril), magnesia and alumina oral suspension (Maalox), and visous lidocaine)...

    JG
  • jtl
    jtl Member Posts: 456
    #7
    MM
    I found it to be very good for numbing the throat prior to eating, then it was a life saver for numbing the mouth sores that I developed. I still have an unused bottle that I hopefully will never need again. As an aside and to show how crazy medical costs are my wife picked up my refill for the MM and it was $69. The first time I ordered it was $2 under my insurance. I called the pharmacy and they called the insurance company and got it reduced back to the $2 price.
  • osmotar
    osmotar Member Posts: 1,006
    #8
    jtl said:

    MM
    I found it to be very good for numbing the throat prior to eating, then it was a life saver for numbing the mouth sores that I developed. I still have an unused bottle that I hopefully will never need again. As an aside and to show how crazy medical costs are my wife picked up my refill for the MM and it was $69. The first time I ordered it was $2 under my insurance. I called the pharmacy and they called the insurance company and got it reduced back to the $2 price.

    Insurance Craziness
    When the rad doc wrote the script he said don't be surprised because it's pricey..when I picked it up I only had to pay $12, my insurance discounted it by $79.
  • jim and i
    jim and i Member Posts: 1,788 Member
    #9
    swallow or spit
    Jim was like Sweet, had to spit it out. If he swallowed it it came right back up. He stilled gagged some when he spit it and only used it if desperate. But as with everything else, everyone is different.

    Debbie
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #10
    osmotar said:

    Insurance Craziness
    When the rad doc wrote the script he said don't be surprised because it's pricey..when I picked it up I only had to pay $12, my insurance discounted it by $79.

    Emend & Neulasta
    Emend was something like $150/pill.... Neulasta in the $1500/injection...
  • osmotar
    osmotar Member Posts: 1,006
    #11
    Skiffin16 said:

    Emend & Neulasta
    Emend was something like $150/pill.... Neulasta in the $1500/injection...

    Neulasta
    Each injection I had ,3, my isurance was billed over 5k, with the discounts that my insurance negotiated they paid the doc a bit over 3k, I didn't have to pay anything..Each time I look at my EOBs I say thank you for havinga great insurance plan and an employeer who lets me work from home at well less than 8 hours a day and still maintain all benefits and full time pay
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #12
    osmotar said:

    Neulasta
    Each injection I had ,3, my isurance was billed over 5k, with the discounts that my insurance negotiated they paid the doc a bit over 3k, I didn't have to pay anything..Each time I look at my EOBs I say thank you for havinga great insurance plan and an employeer who lets me work from home at well less than 8 hours a day and still maintain all benefits and full time pay

    Billed Prices
    Yea, my total billed prices for 2009 were in the 260,000 range. Contract price was around 97,000...total out of pocket was 3,750.
  • osmotar
    osmotar Member Posts: 1,006
    #13
    Skiffin16 said:

    Billed Prices
    Yea, my total billed prices for 2009 were in the 260,000 range. Contract price was around 97,000...total out of pocket was 3,750.

    Pricing
    My first 3 rounds of chemo have come in around 57K, out of pocket $645. 2 seperate PET scans out of pocket $619 each, nothing on the rads yet.
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #14
    jim and i said:

    swallow or spit
    Jim was like Sweet, had to spit it out. If he swallowed it it came right back up. He stilled gagged some when he spit it and only used it if desperate. But as with everything else, everyone is different.

    Debbie

    Magic Mouthwash

    I had to cut it 50/50 with water in order to use it, just could not get it to go down any other way.

    Hondo
  • DrMary
    DrMary Member Posts: 531 Member
    #15
    Hondo said:

    Magic Mouthwash

    I had to cut it 50/50 with water in order to use it, just could not get it to go down any other way.

    Hondo

    Talking about prices and pharmacists
    Our pharmacist urged us to ask for the magic mouthwash, as she saw us go through so many painkillers in 10 days (actually, the problem was that Doug couldn't keep them down, not that they didn't work). She was so happy when we finally got a script for the mouthwash that she made it up as a special order within an hour (when they normally require a day). She always asked me how things were going when I went in for drugs, and always made sure everything would go through. At one point, the guy who rang up the drugs told me he was praying for Doug - I realized that I'd been in almost every day and they all knew me. Wow.

    Months later, I was in buying some Boost Plus and a few drugs for the rest of the family. The pharmacist came by and looked at the order - she seemed afraid to ask how things were going until she saw the Boost. She realized Doug was still with us and so asked how we were doing. When I let them know that his last scan was clean, she and the guy ringing up both beamed. Nice to know they were in the fight with us. . .
  • tommyodavey
    tommyodavey Member Posts: 728 Member
    #16
    DrMary said:

    Talking about prices and pharmacists
    Our pharmacist urged us to ask for the magic mouthwash, as she saw us go through so many painkillers in 10 days (actually, the problem was that Doug couldn't keep them down, not that they didn't work). She was so happy when we finally got a script for the mouthwash that she made it up as a special order within an hour (when they normally require a day). She always asked me how things were going when I went in for drugs, and always made sure everything would go through. At one point, the guy who rang up the drugs told me he was praying for Doug - I realized that I'd been in almost every day and they all knew me. Wow.

    Months later, I was in buying some Boost Plus and a few drugs for the rest of the family. The pharmacist came by and looked at the order - she seemed afraid to ask how things were going until she saw the Boost. She realized Doug was still with us and so asked how we were doing. When I let them know that his last scan was clean, she and the guy ringing up both beamed. Nice to know they were in the fight with us. . .

    What's In It?
    I am very curious about this Magic Mouthwash and what is in it. My doctor prescribed Lidocaine Viscous 2%. Nasty stuff. Very thick and gets stuck in my throat which makes me gag and cough for half an hour. It says not to eat for 60 minutes after dosing. I've only taken it three times and regretted it each and every time. Just not worth the pain of coughing.

    Is there a brand name I can ask for?

    Thanks All,

    Tommy
  • osmotar
    osmotar Member Posts: 1,006
    #17
    tommyodavey said:

    What's In It?
    I am very curious about this Magic Mouthwash and what is in it. My doctor prescribed Lidocaine Viscous 2%. Nasty stuff. Very thick and gets stuck in my throat which makes me gag and cough for half an hour. It says not to eat for 60 minutes after dosing. I've only taken it three times and regretted it each and every time. Just not worth the pain of coughing.

    Is there a brand name I can ask for?

    Thanks All,

    Tommy

    Hi
    The script was written by my rad doc, there is lidocain, malox, benydrl and a 4th ingrediant that I can recall , this stuff is supposed to help numb throat and mouth if they are really sore, to give you a chance to eat and swallow. From what I've been told it gives you a window of about 30 mins to eat something, I have not had to use it yet.

    Linda
  • osmotar
    osmotar Member Posts: 1,006
    #18
    tommyodavey said:

    What's In It?
    I am very curious about this Magic Mouthwash and what is in it. My doctor prescribed Lidocaine Viscous 2%. Nasty stuff. Very thick and gets stuck in my throat which makes me gag and cough for half an hour. It says not to eat for 60 minutes after dosing. I've only taken it three times and regretted it each and every time. Just not worth the pain of coughing.

    Is there a brand name I can ask for?

    Thanks All,

    Tommy

    Hi
    The script was written by my rad doc, there is lidocain, malox, benydrl and a 4th ingrediant that I can recall , this stuff is supposed to help numb throat and mouth if they are really sore, to give you a chance to eat and swallow. From what I've been told it gives you a window of about 30 mins to eat something, I have not had to use it yet.

    Linda
  • jtl
    jtl Member Posts: 456
    #19
    tommyodavey said:

    What's In It?
    I am very curious about this Magic Mouthwash and what is in it. My doctor prescribed Lidocaine Viscous 2%. Nasty stuff. Very thick and gets stuck in my throat which makes me gag and cough for half an hour. It says not to eat for 60 minutes after dosing. I've only taken it three times and regretted it each and every time. Just not worth the pain of coughing.

    Is there a brand name I can ask for?

    Thanks All,

    Tommy

    MM
    It is pretty thin, not like water but more like cream. There is no brand name just Magic Mouthwash and it is a common prescription.
    Good Luck
    John
  • DrMary
    DrMary Member Posts: 531 Member
    #20
    jtl said:

    MM
    It is pretty thin, not like water but more like cream. There is no brand name just Magic Mouthwash and it is a common prescription.
    Good Luck
    John

    MM Recipes
    I've been told that Magic Mouthwash has several recipes; the most common one seems to be Xyloxadryl, or BMX - equal parts lidocaine, benedryl and Maalox. I've seen others that add in nystatin and prednisolone. The BMX is thin and coats everything pretty well for that 30-minute window.

    Agreed that the viscous lidocaine is nasty stuff by itself. They give it to folks to gargle with for strep and mono; we found it worked for topical mouth sores but not so great for throats, simply because it's hard to get it there.

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