Hi everyone,

I have a few questions and was wondering if anyone can help. My 71yr mom finished her IMRT treatments on 7/3/06. She had some pain in her mouth and on tongue a few days after last treatment which have resolved. But recently she's started having pain on both sides of her jaw up to her ears. She said sometimes it just occurs on the one side and sometimes on both. The pain just comes on without any warning.

She describes them as a sharp intense pain and she takes 2 vicodin when they come on and then it goes away in about 1 hr. It gets so bad that she applies ice packs during these episodes.
The strange thing is she only gets this pain in the evenings around 8-9pm. Otherwise she is fine during the day and might take an occasional advil.
Any ideas on what could be going on?????


GARY wondering if you experienced this?
This just started about 1 week ago.
I'm guessing this is side effects from radiation??? Nerve pain???
I thought side effect were sapost to get better not worse.
She did have surgery before radiation with 1/2 of tongue removed with skin graft.
Otherwise she was doing pretty well. She said her taste is slowly coming back.
But her appetite is just not quite back either.

She even started going back to the YMCA to exercise. She said she feels fine during the day.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Michelle

Michelle,
She's tougher than I was!!!!

I had moderately severe pain from my eustacian tubes being burned out and until they healed, I had fluid build ups. Morphine acts in 30 minutes and is much more powerful than Vicodin which is just a medium strength pain releiver. I was on the patch fot almost 2 months post Tx.

She's taking a big risk excercizing in a gym. Those places are crawling with germs, bacteria and fungus and her immune system will be tore up for some time. I didn't go to public places for several months post Tx. Not even to church on Sunday.

The radiation also does a number on the muscles in the radiation field but it took a couple of years before that caught up with me.

Hi Michelle,

I'm nor sure if this will help, but I am two (almnost) years out. I still find myslef clenching my jaw and biting hard with my teeth. It is VERY hard to relax the muscles once they haved been radiated. It could be tension and cramping. A masage of the area (if it is not too tender) or concentration on relaxing the jaw muscles may help.

Steve