Dry throat, chocking and throwing up

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Sam999
Sam999 Member Posts: 319 Member
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
I thik i have posted this earlier but i forgot if there was any idea i missed to try. I try milk/buttermilk suggested by Phrannie and that definaltely works. Right now I am Drinking few sips of butter milk every 30 mins.

Water does not work eiither. If i forget to wake up, i get a very dry choking throat and will end up with painful bloody mucus throw up.

I know milk is not at all good for teeth but dont have any other option. I do just gargle with water and spit in a container by bedside.

I dont have too much mucus, i wad wondering if this is a common problem. I was also wondering how do people who cannot swallow handle this situation.

Thanks,
Sam

Comments

  • Billie67
    Billie67 Member Posts: 898
    #2
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    Well I'm really new here but
    Well I'm really new here but I will tell you what works for me. Water is too thin and I just choke on it. The only thing that seems to go down is soda of all things. I talked to my speech therapist about it and she said they do refer their patients to soda when thinner liquids cause problems. I have very thick mucous tho, it wouldn't hurt to try it. Good luck
  • Ingrid K
    Ingrid K Member Posts: 813
    #3
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    milk vs. water
    Sam
    water is one of the hardest things to swallow, so don't beat yourself up over not being able to do water right now. That's why the buttermilk is working; it's much thicker. If you have been cleared to swallow water, see if you can find a thickening agent you can add to the water, that will literally thicken it and change the vescosity of the water enough so that you can swallow it.

    I don't remember either if you had mentioned about getting Stoppers4. I know you have to get it online (order it from drugstore.com) but folks have had good luck with it especially for use at night/overnight.

    GOOD LUCK.
  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,722 Member
    #4
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    mouth problems
    Sam,

    I use to cough so hard I would start having dry heaves, not pleasant at all. I was only trying to cough up the mucus and/or phlegm and it was like watching a train wreck. I knew what was going to happen but could not stop. I was always searching for the perfect, throat clearing, hack-up lugie that would make life great. It wasn’t to be, I think you just learn to live with all spit related problems. How about the glue spit I have now, it just hangs out my mouth, stuck to my lip. I’ve never gone through so many boxes of Kleenex in my life. Couldn’t you just see a room full of all of us, what a hoot (or a cough).

    I never had the additional problem of not swallowing and always managed to drink at least one meal a day (the rest by PEG). I never quit drinking water either, still drinking 1/2 gallon a day minimum.

    Dry mouth at night, the driest; It is if a team of elves are taking turns running a hair dryer in my mouth. Lately, I’ve been using the Xylimelts with good luck. They are kind of funky; they are like a little mint you put between your cheek and gum and they stick where you place them. I have found that two at a time works pretty well. In addition I spray with Biotene. This morning when I got up my mouth was pretty decent, I would have to put a check mark in the win column.

    I love the milk, it is soothing.

    Trying to help,


    Matt
  • Mrs. Sarge
    Mrs. Sarge Member Posts: 206 Member
    #5
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    CivilMatt said:

    mouth problems
    Sam,

    I use to cough so hard I would start having dry heaves, not pleasant at all. I was only trying to cough up the mucus and/or phlegm and it was like watching a train wreck. I knew what was going to happen but could not stop. I was always searching for the perfect, throat clearing, hack-up lugie that would make life great. It wasn’t to be, I think you just learn to live with all spit related problems. How about the glue spit I have now, it just hangs out my mouth, stuck to my lip. I’ve never gone through so many boxes of Kleenex in my life. Couldn’t you just see a room full of all of us, what a hoot (or a cough).

    I never had the additional problem of not swallowing and always managed to drink at least one meal a day (the rest by PEG). I never quit drinking water either, still drinking 1/2 gallon a day minimum.

    Dry mouth at night, the driest; It is if a team of elves are taking turns running a hair dryer in my mouth. Lately, I’ve been using the Xylimelts with good luck. They are kind of funky; they are like a little mint you put between your cheek and gum and they stick where you place them. I have found that two at a time works pretty well. In addition I spray with Biotene. This morning when I got up my mouth was pretty decent, I would have to put a check mark in the win column.

    I love the milk, it is soothing.

    Trying to help,


    Matt

    Ditto the "hacking/coughing"
    Does anyone hack up throat tissue? Several times in my coughing fits I have coughed up bits of tissue that is white, looks like a blister "cover", sometimes tinged with blood, most times not, just assumed it was normal sloughing off of the radiation damage? Three weeks out, ONC said he could give me a steroid shot after a month if the pain/swelling/coughing still bad. May do it, has anyone else been offerred this option? It's only my lower throat, not my mouth since I only was irradiated on my vocal cords. I'm still taking Hydrocodone and Mouthwash to go to sleep, but Tylenol if needed during the day.
  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    #6
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    Sam....that was the stage when I first picked up
    the milk...start coughing, move into gagging...and then throw up....it is a stage, tho...so don't worry about milk and your teeth at this juncture. Your throat will start healing, and the gagging dryness will leave. It's one of those "first things first" kinda deals...

    p
  • longtermsurvivor
    longtermsurvivor Member Posts: 1,842 Member
    #7
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    Mrs. Sarge said:

    Ditto the "hacking/coughing"
    Does anyone hack up throat tissue? Several times in my coughing fits I have coughed up bits of tissue that is white, looks like a blister "cover", sometimes tinged with blood, most times not, just assumed it was normal sloughing off of the radiation damage? Three weeks out, ONC said he could give me a steroid shot after a month if the pain/swelling/coughing still bad. May do it, has anyone else been offerred this option? It's only my lower throat, not my mouth since I only was irradiated on my vocal cords. I'm still taking Hydrocodone and Mouthwash to go to sleep, but Tylenol if needed during the day.

    not unusual
    I did that for several months after rads. One day it just stopped.


    Pat
  • CajunEagle
    CajunEagle Member Posts: 408
    #8
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    I can recall from years back....
    doing the subject of this thread while standing at the free-throw line.....shooting a one-and-one.....and the state championship on the line. Somehow, I did make both, and I'm sure everyone here is thrilled. LOL !!!
  • Mrs. Sarge
    Mrs. Sarge Member Posts: 206 Member
    #9
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    longtermsurvivor said:

    not unusual
    I did that for several months after rads. One day it just stopped.


    Pat

    I was hoping so!
    I was hoping it was pretty normal....haven't been back yet for checkup but thought it would make sense after the "cooking" I got!! Thanks for replying!
  • longtermsurvivor
    longtermsurvivor Member Posts: 1,842 Member
    #10
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    CajunEagle said:

    I can recall from years back....
    doing the subject of this thread while standing at the free-throw line.....shooting a one-and-one.....and the state championship on the line. Somehow, I did make both, and I'm sure everyone here is thrilled. LOL !!!

    I'd have missed the first
    so this story impresses me.
  • Laralyn
    Laralyn Member Posts: 532
    #11
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    phrannie51 said:

    Sam....that was the stage when I first picked up
    the milk...start coughing, move into gagging...and then throw up....it is a stage, tho...so don't worry about milk and your teeth at this juncture. Your throat will start healing, and the gagging dryness will leave. It's one of those "first things first" kinda deals...

    p

    I take it back!
    A couple days ago I said I had about 50% of my saliva. I take it back! The past two days have been super dry. What little saliva I have seems to be the sticky, thick kind. Unfortunately, not only did my doctor say nothing by mouth but water until after the speech pathologist on Friday, but I'm also allergic to milk so it's out for me.

    Matt, I have some of the Xylimelts. I'll try them tonight. I tried them during treatment and they made me cough like mad but maybe that was back when my throat was still really sensitive to things burning.

    I don't really understand why I seem dryer at this point. My doctor asked me to come in to have orthostatic blood pressure taken twice last week, and the second time I didn't seem dehydrated. I'm taking five cans of Compleat and a medium sized bottle of SmartWater a day via tube (so... full... LOL). My "cooking" should be over, right? I'm just over five weeks out of treatment and otherwise improving, so the extra dry weekend kind of came out of left field.
  • SueBinBend
    SueBinBend Member Posts: 6
    #12
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    Help for dry mouth
    My Initial throat cancer was 15 yrs ago and now I have been revisited (I'm going in for salvage surgery on the 18th at OHSU). In that time I have discovered that decaf Chai Tea, (with cold milk, not hot) and allowed to get to room temperature is just perfect for my throat. I have almost no saliva. I drink about two tall ones a day and go to bed with one as well so that I can sip on it throughout the night and not awaken with that awful, painful stuck together mouth! You might want to try it. It has worked for me for a looong time. I have been buying Oregon Chai Tea (decaf), by the case, for years. Take care, SueB
  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    #13
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    SueBinBend said:

    Help for dry mouth
    My Initial throat cancer was 15 yrs ago and now I have been revisited (I'm going in for salvage surgery on the 18th at OHSU). In that time I have discovered that decaf Chai Tea, (with cold milk, not hot) and allowed to get to room temperature is just perfect for my throat. I have almost no saliva. I drink about two tall ones a day and go to bed with one as well so that I can sip on it throughout the night and not awaken with that awful, painful stuck together mouth! You might want to try it. It has worked for me for a looong time. I have been buying Oregon Chai Tea (decaf), by the case, for years. Take care, SueB

    I put the chai tea on my
    list....I'm willing to try anything!! Thanks.

    Laralyn, can you do that Soy Milk?

    p
  • Laralyn
    Laralyn Member Posts: 532
    #14
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    phrannie51 said:

    I put the chai tea on my
    list....I'm willing to try anything!! Thanks.

    Laralyn, can you do that Soy Milk?

    p

    Yes, soy milk is OK for me...
    ...although I try not to eat too much soy because of the hormonal effects. Then again, I think chemo sent me into early menopause so maybe a little extra estrogen is just what I need. ;-)
  • RogueHorse
    RogueHorse Member Posts: 4
    #15
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    phrannie51 said:

    I put the chai tea on my
    list....I'm willing to try anything!! Thanks.

    Laralyn, can you do that Soy Milk?

    p

    saliva
    My husband had stage IV tonsil cancer and treatments ended about 18 months ago. We lived in a very dry climate. I found that if I had humidifiers, (3-4 in the summer heat) going all night that it helped him sleep a bit better. He has gone through several drink combinations, that work, then don't work. Right now apple juice is good and so are starbuck mocha frappacinnos (the store bought ones in bottles). sometimes root beer, if it had "flattened" a bit. He seems to be good on something for a couple of months then it stops working and we try to find something else.

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