Hi Barbara --

Here are some things my husband did, and others have also tried them:

1) Get a room-sized humidifier (warm-mist is best) and set on "high" about 1 hour before bed-time to keep room humid. We have always had a whole-house humidifier running in winter but the room model seems to put more moisture in the air where it's needed.

2) Try Breathe-Right strips, as your husband's nasal passages may be congested -- the radiation can affect this -- and thus mouth-breathing, which will give anyone dry mouth! My husband used these strips for several months after treatment. If your husband is snoring a lot, and didn't before treatment, he is almost certainly mouth breathing. I couldn't even sleep in same room with Barry for a couple of months due to this, but the strips helped him and as his mouth and throat recovered he stopped snoring (well, mostly!)

3) As others have suggested, elevate head slightly (2-3 pillows).

4) Make sure he does not have a urinary infection, his immune system is suppressed and these secondary infections are thus much easier to catch -- Barry also was getting up a lot, and not due to water intake, they checked and no obvious urinary infection (but not all urinary bacteria will culture out) and finally, was suggested he might have mild prostatitis by his urologist. After several months and as his immune system kicked in, this went away. He did take soy/cranberry capsules (GNC) to help with this.

5) The newer and superior drug for dry mouth is Evoxac, our ENT uses it herself (she had XRT head radiation for a neuroblastoma and has pretty significant dry mouth). Fewer side effects than Salagen, and more effective. Barry took 3x a day for about 9-10 onths, is now down to 1 at bedtime or two if it's very dry weather.

6) The new Oral Balance liquid seems to be better to keep mouth moist. Use at bedtime and keep by bed to squirt in night if needed.

7) Finally, although this won't help during the night, suggest your husband try chewing xylitol gum during the day to increase mouth moisture (also helps prevent cavities). The brand Barry uses is widely available at dentist's offices, XyliMax, try the mild fruit flavor.


Hope this helps,
Gail