dry mouth

electricman
electricman Member Posts: 2
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

New on this forum, just signed up today. My treatments ended mid October last year for stage 4 base of tongue SCC. ( 35 Rad W/ Cisplatin Chemo). I still have minor swallowing difficulties at times and dry mouth. I do take pilocarpine and it seems to help a little. Can anyone out there tell me if your salivary glands come back anywhere near what they were before treatments and how long does it take. Thank You ,   Electricman

Comments

  • caffinated1
    caffinated1 Member Posts: 32
    #2
    Hey there, I'm new to this

    Hey there, I'm new to this site too but I am no stranger to HNC. I'm in remission from nasopharyngeal carcinoma (9/12, yay!) and I've had dry mouth ever since radiation started. Your salivary glands should recover (I say should because I'm not a doctor, bear with me) it took mine over a year. They aren't anything close to what they were but definitley better. Side note, brush your teeth a lot. After every meal and before you go to bed your dentist should have told you, either way, do it.

  • MrsBD
    MrsBD Member Posts: 617 Member
    #3
    Dry Mouth

    Welcome to the group. My treatment also ended last October, so we're at about the same stage of recovery. I had acupuncture to preserve my salivary gland function and it really helped. The saliva diminished a bit, but now it's nearly 100% as long as I stay properly hydrated. It still takes me longer to eat because I need to take smaller bites and chew thoroughly in order to swallow, but I no longer need water with every bite. There are lots of other products people on this site have used such as Xylimelts, Remin Pro, and Biotene. It does seem that time helps most.

  • fishmanpa
    fishmanpa Member Posts: 1,227 Member
    #4
    Acupuncture here too!

    At almost 2.5 years out, I'm about as close to normal as I'm going to get concerning saliva and eating. I had acupuncture for about 6 months (January - June this year) and it really helped my saliva production as well as chronic pain. I feel it's worth checking out. Just be sure to find someone whohas experience with cancer patients.


    Positive thoughts and prayers

    "T"

  • electricman
    electricman Member Posts: 2
    #5
    fishmanpa said:

    Acupuncture here too!

    At almost 2.5 years out, I'm about as close to normal as I'm going to get concerning saliva and eating. I had acupuncture for about 6 months (January - June this year) and it really helped my saliva production as well as chronic pain. I feel it's worth checking out. Just be sure to find someone whohas experience with cancer patients.


    Positive thoughts and prayers

    "T"

    dry mouth

    Thank you all for the info, the accupuncture sounds promising. I will check with Moffitt ( my cancer center) and ask them if they have any recommendations

  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #6
    Welcome Neighbor~

    I was STGIII SCC Tonsils, HPV+.., similar Tx.., nine weeks of Cisplatin, Taxotere, daily 5FU for three cycles of three weeks each cycle. The an additional seven weeks of Carboplatin weekly and radiation daily.

    That was all in early 2009.., six plus years now, clean and clear, and in remisssion..

    It did take awhile of not having to carry a bottle of water with me.. But it took all of two years to get I'd say 100% of my taste back, and around 95% of my saliva..

    But not two years for all of that.., I was pretty well off after 6-8 months..

    Just hang in there and keep the hope alive..

    Oh.., I say neighbor, as I'm in Lakeland...

    John

  • Roar
    Roar Member Posts: 269 Member
    #7
    Be patient

    glad to see some of the steadies- I too about 2 1/2 years after last treatment- identical to yours - saliva still not the same- but a lot better- same with taste and other side effects of chemo and radiation- hang in there and live life- good luck fellow survivor 

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