Last night I experienced the driest throat I've had. When I woke up this am, it took about 15 minutes of rinsing with water and magic mouthwash to lubricate my mouth back to a reasonable level of comfort. About an hour later, I experienced the diametrically opposite effect: a sudden increase in the amount and thickness of mucus. I am 2.5 weeks post 33 radiation treatments (post-op for the successful removal of the squamous cell carcinoma from my tongue), and this feels like I am regressing in terms of my general comfort level rather than improving. Can anyone relate a similar experience and tell me how long it might last, and, what if anything you did to cope with it?

That is pretty much what I experienced, so I wouldn't get too worried about it. From start to finish, my wall paper paste lasted 21 days exactly. At times near the end, it abated for a while, then would come back. It eventually ended for me and will for you too. In my case it was just like someone flipped a switch and it was no more.

As for what you can do, I found that using those external nose strips (Breathe Right) enabled me to keep my mouth shut while sleeping, thus avoiding the horrible dry throat. And five years ago Brian posted a tip I found worked for me too -- press your tongue against the roof of your mouth, then swallow (while mouth is closed) and that helps to keep it closed.

Welcome to this forum. Just about any question you can post will get a response from someone with personal experience to relate.

The dreaded mucous!!! We could have decorated the whole house with the amount Robin had, but dont worry it is a natural progression in your recovery and will pass like everything else.Just dont be fooled if it appears to have gone away one day and comes back the next.Its sneaky like that.

Thanks very much.

Hi. Has anyone had blood in their mucous after the treatments? This just started with my mom last night after not seeing any blood for weeks. She finished 37 radiation treatments on Thursday and is on Levoquin antibiotic for an infection in her trache area. We are going to ask the doctors, but just wanted to know if anyone has experienced this.

Yes, on occasion I saw a bit of blood in the mucous I coughed up from my throat. I asked my oncologist at the time and he said it was normal. But certainly worth mentioning to your doctor on the next visit.

Blood in the coughed-up mucous is normal, if it's only a bit of blood and not some drastic amount. Your whole throat is raw and in fact it is amazing that more people don't have lots of bloody mucous.

If you are not taking guafenesin to thin your mucous, give it a try. Either the Mucinex tablets (guafensenin only, NO antihistamine) or the readily-available syrup will work. The tablets are time-release so help for 12 hours BUT they are big things that cannot be cut or ground up so if you can't get them down, try the syrup. The latter will burn if you take it neat as it's strong stuff -- the important thing is getting the dose inside you so dilute it in about 4 oz. water and take it that way. The syrup has to be taken every 4 hours, again guafensein ONLY and NO antihistamine.

Our RO didn't know about Mucinex, his RO nurse who had come from MD Anderson did -- he saw how it helped many (not all) so now recommends it to everyone with mucous issues.

Gail