| | Joined: Sep 2002 Posts: 642 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) | OP  "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts)
Joined: Sep 2002 Posts: 642 | Help! I have gone from excessive spitting of mucous at night to now being awoken by a severely dry mouth. I read old posts on the topic that recommended certain products. I have the Biotene toothpaste but no other dry mouth products.
Does anyone have any specific ideas of how to address the dry mouth problem during sleep? Would a vaporizer work, or cause problems with its moisture?
Danny G.
Stage IV Base of Tongue SCC
Diagnosed July 1, 2002, chemo and radiation treatments completed beginning of Sept/02.
| | | | | Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 206 Platinum Member (200+ posts) | | Platinum Member (200+ posts)
Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 206 | Hi Danny, I drink water late a night and find it helps a lot. Don't know about a vaborrizer.
Cathy
Cathy
SCCA Stage IV diagnosed 01/90
base of tongue with 1/2 removed.
With neck resection, radiation and chemo
| | | | | Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 4,912 Likes: 52 OCF Founder Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | OCF Founder Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 4,912 Likes: 52 | The vaporizer works, but it will not do it all. You will still be waking up all night long with your mouth dry as a bone. You have to learn to sleep with your mouth closed. This took awhile for me. After about a year, things got a little better for me. My one functioning salivary gland kicked back in, and while not enough to keep my mouth wet, it helped. I used nasal decongestant sprays whenever I had a stuffy nose which made it easier to not mouth breath. Eventually things will settle down, but you will always wake up several times a night to drink and swish your mouth.
Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2002 Posts: 642 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) | | OP "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts)
Joined: Sep 2002 Posts: 642 | Brian,
Thanks for your reply, as usual. I think that I have been breathing through my nose for so long that I must , as you said, " learn " how to breathe through my nose. God game me this big nose for a reason!
Funny the natural stuff that we must learn to do. I ran into my cousin the other day on the driving range who is a radiologist, very experienced with head and neck cancers, and every time I spit, he kept encouaging me to swallow the mucous to practice my swallowing. It was easier said than done.
Danny
Stage IV Base of Tongue SCC
Diagnosed July 1, 2002, chemo and radiation treatments completed beginning of Sept/02.
| | | | | Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 4,912 Likes: 52 OCF Founder Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | OCF Founder Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 4,912 Likes: 52 | This may sound a little weird but try this. I was a chronic mouth breather, and relearning to breath at night through my nose was difficult but here's what finally worked. Touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth and then without moving it swallow. This creates a very small vacuum or rather a suction within your mouth. Try to relax with this situation in place, breathing through your nose. It worked for me.
Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.
| | | | | Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 3 Member | | Member
Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 3 | Try Biotene Oral Balance Mouth Moisturizing Gel. It works fairly well. Brealthing through your nose is a real help. Sudifed helps with this. | | |
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