Mouth sores

during the adjuvant chemo part of my treatment, I used L-glutamine powder mixed with water....I don't know what all it does for healing them, but it was the one thing I could put into my mouth that didn't sting, and allow my swallower to keep on swallowing.  At that time I couldn't even handle plain water in my mouth....and the only thing I could stand to drink from was a styrofoam cup, since my lips were like hamburger.   You can get L-glutamine powder at the health food store.

p

donfoo said:

salt - baking soda

If she has sores or ulcers try a 50/50 salt/baking soda mix in warm water. Works great at soothing things a bit and helping with the healing.

You said her mouth is sore, if it is her tongue, make certain it isn't thrush.

J.R. and June said:

Thanks, P and Donfoo

I just bought the L-Glutamine.

She mentioned using the baking powder solution, but I will check to make sure. She lives 2 hours away, so it is tough to monitor from afar.

Speaking from experience, L-Glutamine is good but 1000 times less effective than a product called HEALIOS that contains the L-Glutamine plus special disaccharides that enhance absorption.  I heard about this product from a another patient.  It was a godsend.  All natural and you can find it online.  People who undergo radiation or chemo will get bad mouth sores called mucositis or sometimes esophogitis if deeper down the throat.  The cells of the mouth are quickly dividing (just like cancer cells) so the chemo and radiation stresses those cells big time.  The HEALIOS works by preventing the damage from progressing and healing the already damaged cells by shuttling extra nitrogen to them.  I definitely would have needed a feeding tube had I not gotten my hands on this stuff in time.  Best of luck to everyone.

My Cancer Timeline

2013

2/11:  ENT Doc performs biopsy of swollen lymph node; pathology report finds “atypical cells.”

4/5:  Surgery—Excision biopsy to remove lymph node which measured 3.5 x 2 x 2 cm.

4/9: CANCER DIAGNOSIS—

        Surgical Pathology = Metastatic Poorly Differentiated Squamous Cell Carcinoma (TxN1, Level 2, Stage 3)

4/16: Full PET/CT Scan

5/10:  Surgery— 16 biopsies to throat and tongue + tonsillectomy.

6/5 (my 44th birthday): Started Radiation.  Duration = 10 minutes every week day for 6 weeks.  Specifically, Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) consisting of 6300 cGy in 30 fractions to the right neck and 6000 cGy in 30 fractions to areas of potential primary tumor site.

7/17 Completed Radiation Therapy

9/30 Larnygoscopy tests look good thus far.

10/14 Full PET/CT Scan scheduled.

J.R. and June said:

Thanks, Dave

Do you happen to have a brand name for Healios? I didn't have much luck finding it on the internet. Thank you.

www.healiosproducts.com they have it in two flavors.  Check it out.  I know the other patients swear by it; and I do too.

J.R. and June said:

Good Stuff!

Thank you so much everyone for all of your support. I have ordered the Healios  (http://healiosproducts.com/). It looks like a wonderful product as Dave said it increases the absorption rate of the Glutamine by 1,000. I also sent her the L-Glutamine to start with. I bought a bottle from GNC. I sent that next day and she should get the Healios in 3 days. I think I ordered the grape flavor, which she can't really taste anything, so I am not sure it matters which one I went with. 

I also ordered the CURE magazine.

I will be sure to keep Y'all posted on the progress.

 

Best regards,

-Robin

Sounds like she has everything she needs!  Make sure she takes the Healios as instructed, twice per day even for a week or two AFTER she finishes radiation as the temporary side effects keep lasting even after radiation is finished.  I think it helped protect/heal my taste buds as I was able to start tasting my food again right after radiation when the normal time, my radiation oncologist said, is 7-9 months after treatment to get most of your taste buds back most of the time.  I also took some broken cell wall chlorella tablets each day after radiation that I believe helped heal my body from the radiation poisoning.

What people without cancer don't understand is that being able to taste your food is not just a delightful pleasure or a luxury...if you can't taste your food it will be like trying to eat dirt.  You won't do it and you will inadvertently starve yourself to the point of needing a feeding tube.

Please keep me posted on her progress.

Regards,

-Dave.

Ruben had both mouth and tongue sores. We tried everything mentioned, except Mugard. What worked for him was chloreseptic mouth spray and Abreva (for cold sores). Both are over the counter. Abreva says it's not for the oral cavity, but what the heck, we tried it and it worked! I figured if you can use it on your lips, why not the tongue/mouth.

Also, he used (and still does to this day) Colgate Peroxyl mouth sore rinse. Not only does it help with the mouth sores, but it greatly reduces the bacteria that causes tooth decay and mouth sores.

Hope this helps. (BTW, Abreva costs about $20, Colgate 16 fl oz $10, Chloreseptic spray about $7)

ruben and (me) jude