Dry mouth

NorcalJ
NorcalJ Member Posts: 187
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Hi all,
anybody have any suggestions for the dry mouth that seems to be on going with chemo and Emend and heaven knows what else? Other than walking around with my constant glass of water, I really don't want to suck on candies with sugar, too much, because that'll cause as many dental problems , as dry mouth.
Thanks for the help.

Comments

  • chenheart
    chenheart Member Posts: 5,159
    #2
    Sorry about the dry mouth~ I did eat alot of those frozen fruit natural popsicles...I believe they are called Fruit-A-Freeze. Good source of water, felt good on my mouth, real fruit and little to no sugar. Chemo can cause mouth sores; I do not know if this is a precourser to that...Drs prescribe a "Miracle Mouthwash" to combat that. I would certainly run this side effect by my Dr; if you don't have chemo coming up really soon, you might want to put a call in to the cancer center.

    It's always something, isn't it?! As if cancer isn't humbling enough!

    Hugs,
    Claudia
  • dancingfan
    dancingfan Member Posts: 19
    #3
    I used popsicles and kept a glass of water by the bedside at night for sips if I woke up feeling parched. My doctor recommended rinsing my mouth with a little salt in a glass of water or a little baking soda mixed with water if my mouth felt like it was burning or if sores developed. Forgot to mention... I did used tic tacs to moisten my mouth because there is little or no sugar in them and they are lo-cal. The mints freshen your breath too. Best wishes..... dancingfan
  • mmontero38
    mmontero38 Member Posts: 1,510
    #4
    Hi Norcal: I found that ice chips worked better than water for me. I also had frozen fruit popsicles and lemon sorbet would help with the dry mouth. Hugs, Lili
  • seof
    seof Member Posts: 819 Member
    #5
    I have not had exprience with that, but I have heard of people freezing fruit juice in ice cube trays and crushing them in a food processor. I suppose you could get sugar-free drink mix of some kind and water it down if you want flavored ice. If you are having trouble with nutrition, maybe you could do it with vegetable juice too???

    Chemo nurses have good ideas too. Hope it doesn't last long. seof.
  • jmerel
    jmerel Member Posts: 10
    #6
    I found sugar free werthers candy to be pretty effective, but you still have to drink the water!

    Joanie
  • NorcalJ
    NorcalJ Member Posts: 187
    #7
    jmerel said:

    I found sugar free werthers candy to be pretty effective, but you still have to drink the water!

    Joanie

    Thanks to you all. Great suggestions,as always. I also found some toothpaste, mouthwash and even gum for dry mouth.

    Just got my head shaved this morning, so now I'm getting used to the chrome dome look, while dealing with the dry mouth thing----always a challenge, and never a dull moment. Some day I hope my new "normal" will be "boring"! Thanks again for all your support!
  • base61ball
    base61ball Member Posts: 125
    #8
    I use Biotene mouthwash, gum and toothpaste. There is also one called Prevention but it has to be ordered. It works well for me. Good luck to you.
  • Kathryn in Houston
    Kathryn in Houston Member Posts: 20 Member
    #9

    Coconut water helps. It's an acquired taste but it really helps dry mouth. Swish it around a lot before swallowing. It helped me.. I hope it helps.

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