I have completed 12 Radiation treatments and already I am having trouble swallowing. I was hoping that I would get a little further before this problem would start.
I have 21 treatments left, I guess I should be glad I have a peg tube, but I thought it would come into play further into treatment.

I was prescribed something called magic mouthwash, I am also using salt, baking soda and water. The only thing that goes down easy is milkshakes.

Anybody have any other ideas to ease the pain.

Thanks, Ray C

Hi Ray,

I was in the same boat as you 4 years ago about this very time. The doctors can tell you what most people experience, but they can never tell you exactly when the symptoms will hit you because you body reacts differently.

I too had a mouthwash that had 4 meds in it two being Benedryl and a topical anesthetic to basically numb everything in the mouth. I don't remember what the other two were but it worked. I was not on any other pain killers through the whole process.

As crazy as it sounds now, I wish I had been stretching my mouth and continue to use it during the radiation. You really want to avoid trismus if you can at all costs. Talk to your doctors about it and see if they can recommend a swallowing therapist that may be able to help you through the radiation. I did my swallowing therapy afterwards which worked, but I wish I had kept my mouth moving during radiation. It would have made recovery mush easier.

Hang it there and feel free to ask me any questions on or off the forum.

Jim

Ray the actual "magic mouthwash", or "pink magic" as it is sometimes referred, typically has liquid morphine and lidocaine in it.

You may need to graduate to something stronger.

It is a swish & spit - you don't want to numb your gag reflex anatomy. Effects lasy for about 1/2 hour at a time.

Keep swallowing by mouth if you can - keep the muscles from atrophy.

The only relief I got was the majic mouthwash and I swallowed it to help reduce the pain all the way down the throat when I ate or swallowed boost or milkshakes. Although it seemed the majic mouthwash only helped for a couple of minutes. 3 advil or other pain killers helps to. Talk to you doctor about any other pain management they can recommend but there isn't too much. This was the hardest part of the treatmenttrying to eat solids or liquids and getting through the pain of it.

Ray-You will come to really love milkshakes! Frappachinos from Starbucks were my second choice. Keep the weight up while you can during treatment, just remember to brush your teeth and use your flouride treatments. Can't tell you enough to keep stretching open your mouth even if it hurts. It is really a bummer to find out you can't open it wide enough to get a sandwich in when you get to eat again! Best wishes to you with your treatment! - Kris

Ray,
I am right there with ya! I am 10 treatments in(33 total) and have lost my sense of taste and my saliva glands are on strike big time! I do not yet have a PEG and want to be as hard headed about getting one as I can be. Thanks to everyone who has mentioned the mouth stretching exercises, I hadn't thought of that and am sitting here now stretching and feeling it! The worst thing for me right now is yawning, OUCH! But anyhow, Ray, we will get through this crap and be better off for it!

BILL

Ray, since you are being treated at Winship, who is MO, and ENT? Maybe we have a couple of docs in common.

Bill,

For a while I had to keep my mouth closed while yawning because it hurt to much. I learned to control how wide I would let my mouth open on yawns and eventually I was back to yawning full mouth. Shaving and turning your neck like looking over your shoulder also helps to stretch out the tightness.

Bill, My son also had trouble yawning and had to be careful not to open his mouth too wide for a while. Also, watch out for sneezes. When a sneeze would come unexpectedly, he would try to suppress it while looking for a tissue or towel and it really hurt. I kept telling him not to worry about the fall out from the sneeze - that it could be cleaned up - but after that we made sure he had plenty of tissues or small towels wherever he was that he could reach for.

Ray - My son also used Magic Mouthwash. It worked for a while and then it wouldn't, but when he went back to it it worked again. He drank lots of milkshakes, too but his taste for the the different flavers changed constantly. I'm so glad you and Bill have each other to compare notes.

Hi Ray,

Last fall I had 6-1/2 weeks of radiation (both sides) for tonsil cancer (I first had surgery which removed the tonsil and many lymph nodes on the left side of my upper neck), with a daily Ethyol shot and weekly chemo (cisplatin and Erbitux).

I would highly recommend Boost Plus (or equal) rather than milkshakes due to greater calories with less volume. I had typical eating problems, then settled on 3 identical meals per day, each consisting of 2 Boost Plus (360 cal each), egg-beater omelet with cheese (sometimes added cut up ham lunchmeat), and tea with honey - about 2700 calories per day. I used less than 1 tsp of the magic mouthwash per meal (I swallowed it), although the eggs went down quite easily. I also used the salt/baking soda mix which was very helpful. I got some topical canker sore medicine from my dentist, but only needed it a few times.

With this diet I was able to hold my weight and avoid a PEG.

Best wishes,

Chris