Mouth dryness at night with teeth pain

Purplemountain
Purplemountain Member Posts: 119
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

I'm into the second week of radiation treatment for my NPC.  I notice my breathing that air exhaled out of my nose with some escaping through the mouth.  This cause the mouth to be open at night to allow the air to escape.  I noticed this cause my whole mouth and tongue to be dry.  Had to wake up and drink water to wet.  But the process repeated itself in an hour or two.  Restless sleep as a result. 

Does anyone have a solution to this?  Is there any product where you can put in your mouth like an absorbing sponge that has Biotene like liquid that keep the mouth moist at night?  Tonight I will try for the first time with mixing Biotene with water in a cup and put it next to me in bed.  When the mouth gets dry and teeth ache,  I will suck some up via straw then spit out into another cup to see that keep my mouth moist preventing teeth pain which could be teeth decaying due to radiation and dryness with air blowing at them?

If anyone has any other suggestions, please help.

 

Comments

  • Duggie88
    Duggie88 Member Posts: 760 Member
    #2
    Night time dry mouth

    I tried many of the dry mouth products and found non to be of any help. But........many have found one to work for them. Maybe if you can find one of those chin straps that helps to keep your mouth closed during sleep would be a big help.  I have seen them advertised on the internet but not sure of the name.

          Jeff

  • shugytx
    shugytx Member Posts: 10
    #3
    dry mouth

    i heard alot about magic mouth ,i used act for dry mouth,sore mouth ulcers on tounge worked good for me was rebalance ca oncology care oral mucositis, mouth sors, pain sore gums, dry mouth. $9 abottle order online www.vaxcopharma.com to order. use 6 times a day swish up to 1 min in mouth it helped me . i hope you do well our preyers are with you   

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #4
    Hi Again Purple

     

    Sorry I did not see this post, yes try using the Stoppers4 Dry Mouth Spray, I can get up to 3 or 4 hours of sleep before waking up to a dry mouth. It is the best thing I found so far, hope it helps

    God Bless

    Hondo

  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    #5
    I can think of a couple things....

    Hondo hit on one....Stoppers 4 spray.  I still keep it on my night stand for those middle of the night dry-up's....it really works well for me.  I couldn't find it locally, but did find it at drugstore.com.  Another product that helped me during and right after treatment were Breathe Rite stips....those little bad boys you wear on your nose at night.  They really do open up air passages so you don't end up breathing through your mouth.  Xylemelts are another product that work for folks....a little tablet you stick to the side of your cheek....Matt used those all through treatment and still does....

    Night time dry mouth is a real problem during and after treatment.....it does get better, tho.....well, at least I don't wake up these days with my tongue so dry and hard I could use it to knock on doors.....LOL.

    p

  • Ingrid K
    Ingrid K Member Posts: 813
    #6
    dry mouth tips

    Hi Purple......

    as Hondo and Phrannie mentioned, Stoppers4 and Xylimelts (sp ?) are both great to keep on the nightstand.

    Since I didn't know about them when I was going thru treatments, I just kept a water bottle by the bed every night, and I got pretty good at just rolling over and hanging my head over the side of the bed, take a swig, kind of swish it around to wet everything and then swallow in tiny sips.   I still now keep water close by, but now I use one of those insulated plastic cups with the built-in straw.

    Hang in there !  it does get better.   I couldn't even sleep in a bed the first 2-3 weeks; I had to sleep sitting up in a recliner so if you can actually lay down, you are doing great !

    Keep up the good work.

     

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,724 Member
    #7
    dry mouth

    pm,

    I am looking at a pack of Xylimelts right now and I’ll probably take one before I run to town here shortly.  For me they work great.  I use to wake up with the driest mouth possible, but not anymore.

    I am getting ready to go “cold turkey”for a night, but haven’t gotten brave enough yet.

    You are early in treatments and your side effects may preclude you from trying them, but the Stoppers 4 is available.

    Hang in there, it may get worse, but then it definitely gets better (soon).

    Matt

  • Purplemountain
    Purplemountain Member Posts: 119
    #8
    Dry mouth products

    Thank you everyone.  I will try them all.

    Purple

  • nick770
    nick770 Member Posts: 195
    #9
    Purplemountain said:

    Dry mouth products

    Thank you everyone.  I will try them all.

    Purple

    yep a huge +1 on the

    yep a huge +1 on the  Xylemelts. You can get them on Amazon.com 

  • hwt
    hwt Member Posts: 2,328 Member
    #10
    nick770 said:

    yep a huge +1 on the

    yep a huge +1 on the  Xylemelts. You can get them on Amazon.com 

    Xylimelts

    If you want to try them without much expense, go to the mfg. and ask them for a sample. They charge you $5 shipping but that way you will know if they work for you.

  • Roar
    Roar Member Posts: 269 Member
    #11
    Velcro on tongue and roof of mouth

    I just keep a glass of water by my night table- I am use to it by now- it's like I have Velcro glued to my tongue and roof of mouth when I wake up In the night. As a matter of fact I carry a water bottle everywhere I go- 10 months out and I still have dry mouth and sticky salver 

  • aprilshower55
    aprilshower55 Member Posts: 31
    #12
    i too learned about

    i too learned about "xylimelts" from reading this blog. it works great for me at least i can get

    2 to 3 hours of sleep before i wake up to pop couple of tablets. i usually use about 6 a nite.

    i found i could special order at costco pharmancy cheaper than amazon. i order 6 pack at a time.

    can't sleep without it. my original cancer was back in june 2011 and the side effects is pretty much

    the same with most people with this cancer.

     

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