Well, that escalated quickly. How to manage pain when swallowing?

donka
donka Member Posts: 15
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

Hi all,

I posted in another thread on Thursday about having a 'lump' in my throat feeling while eating.  Well, now it's very painful to swallow anything.  Water, ice cream, doesn't matter, anything that makes me do a swallowing motion is very painful.  I can get food down fine but it just hurts like a bugger.  I think it might be more my epiglottis that's sore than my esophagus.  Saw my doc and he prescribed liquid acetaminophen and codeine, and gave me Xylocaine to swish and swallow when necessary.  The Xylocaine doesn't help much because it doesn't feel like it's hitting the spot that hurts.  Is this where pain meds come in, I guess?  I really don't like taking codeine or acetaminophen for that matter, but did pain meds help with swallowing for you folks? 

 

Thanks,

Donka

 

S1 SCC, Vocal cords

Comments

  • debbiejeanne
    debbiejeanne Member Posts: 3,102 Member
    #2
    Donka, ask your doc for Magic

    Donka, ask your doc for Magic Mouthwash.  It numbs your mouth for about 10-20 minutes so gives you time to eat w/o pain.  many of us here used it.  my cancer was also of the vocal cords.  i had recurrence tho and now live as a lary.  i pray your pain gets better.  try the mouthwash.

    God bless you,

    dj

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,722 Member
    #3
    throat discomfort

    Donka,

    Sorry about the discomfort.

    I used magic mouth was religiously,  I went through 6 bottles of the stuff and I sipped swallowed every drop of it.

    While I did have a PEG, I did manage to drink one meal a day.  There is nothing wrong with switching to a liquid diet (temporarily) if drinking one’s meals is easier.  I happily lived on smoothies for many months. I did not give up on eating, it is just that drinking was pleasurable not painful.

    Keep your doctor in the loop, you want to stay on top of the side effects.

    Matt

  • Guzzle
    Guzzle Member Posts: 710
    #4
    CivilMatt said:

    throat discomfort

    Donka,

    Sorry about the discomfort.

    I used magic mouth was religiously,  I went through 6 bottles of the stuff and I sipped swallowed every drop of it.

    While I did have a PEG, I did manage to drink one meal a day.  There is nothing wrong with switching to a liquid diet (temporarily) if drinking one’s meals is easier.  I happily lived on smoothies for many months. I did not give up on eating, it is just that drinking was pleasurable not painful.

    Keep your doctor in the loop, you want to stay on top of the side effects.

    Matt

    Pain

    Dinka, if mouthwash wont work it may have to be something that gets into your system either orally or as as patch and managing side effects, G

  • PJ47
    PJ47 Member Posts: 376
    #5
    You can swallow the magic mouthwash

    but I do not know that it will coat the vocal cords.  Guess trying it won't hurt?  Hope you get some relief soon,

    PJ

  • donka
    donka Member Posts: 15
    #6
    Do lidocaine inhalers exist?

    Do you guys know if lidocaine inhalers or something like that exists?  The liquid lidocaine (Xylocaine they called it) that he gave me (a main ingredient in the magic mouthwash I think) works great for numbing my mouth, but I think it's inside my trachea somewhere that is causing the discomfort.  It doesn't hurt to talk so much, so I don't think it's the actual vocal cords, but drinking and eating are both equally painful.  Any swallowing action hurts.  I tried swallowing the lidocaine and it numbed a whole bunch of stuff but just not the part that is painful so it's not helping much :(

    I think some kind of numbing agent that I could inhale would be the most useful.  Anyone know if that exists?  I will ask him about it of course but I won't see him for another couple of days and I'm just curious if there's hope :)

  • Noellesmom
    Noellesmom Member Posts: 1,859 Member
    #7
    donka said:

    Do lidocaine inhalers exist?

    Do you guys know if lidocaine inhalers or something like that exists?  The liquid lidocaine (Xylocaine they called it) that he gave me (a main ingredient in the magic mouthwash I think) works great for numbing my mouth, but I think it's inside my trachea somewhere that is causing the discomfort.  It doesn't hurt to talk so much, so I don't think it's the actual vocal cords, but drinking and eating are both equally painful.  Any swallowing action hurts.  I tried swallowing the lidocaine and it numbed a whole bunch of stuff but just not the part that is painful so it's not helping much :(

    I think some kind of numbing agent that I could inhale would be the most useful.  Anyone know if that exists?  I will ask him about it of course but I won't see him for another couple of days and I'm just curious if there's hope :)

    that's an interesting question, Donka

    I can't say I've heard of an aerosol numbing agent but I do know when my husband has his throat scoped they spray it several minutes before to allow it to become numb.

    I would definitely ask my ENT or radiation oncologist about this if I were you.

    Let us know what you find out.

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