I had day number 9 of IMRT today. I have been having some mild discomfort in my mouth the past two days and it is getting hard to swallow. My RO said my mouth still looks good and gave me Magic Mouthwash to try (offered pain meds but I said I wasn't at that point yet). Can't tell much difference with the mouthwash. Tonight,my tongue feels like it is on fire. It still looks the same in the mirror-- I don't see any sores or redness. The fluoride gel just about killed my gums and tongue when I used it tonight. Any suggestions?

Also, I feel like the sides of my esophagus are now set at two different speeds. It feels like it takes forever for any thing I swallow to go down-- I keep picturing a snake that has eaten a rat whole! I am trying to stick to regular food as long as I can. My stomach is hungry but it hasn't figured out my mouth is not cooperating.

You could try rinsing your mouth with a combo of 16 oz water, 2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp salt. If the salt burns decrease the amount or omit it. Swish around in your mouth for about 15 seconds and spit it out. Repeat this at least 4 times per day, tit will help with mouth sores.

Magic mouthwash has several different combinations. I used one made of lydocaine, malox and benedryl. It worked great for me. It numbed my mouth for about 20 minutes so I was able to eat. I used it the same way, swish about 15 seconds and spit out.

Make sure you are keeping your doctor informed about every change like this. Try drinking chocolate milk. I would drink that and yoohoo to soothe my sore mouth. It would soothe the burning when I ate something too spicy. Your mouth is beginning to get ultra sensitive. Thats from the radiation.

Even if it get difficult to swallow, keep doing it. Even taking small sips of water several times per day will help keep those muscles active. It will be much harder later to relearn to swallow. Try a thicker liquid like the chocolate milk, that may be easier for you to swallow.

Hang in there. Its a rough road but you can do it.

The 'magic mouthwash' I was a prescribed was a 'swish and swallow' teaspoon dose of a prescription 2% Lidocaine Hydrochloride Oral Topical Solution containing 20mg or Lidocaine HCL per mL.

The manufacture was Hi-Tech Pharmacal (NDC 0383-774-04).
http://www.hitechpharm.com/product

It works OK, but a noted side-effect was it seemed to numb the whole throat and made swallowing a lot less painful but a bit more difficult for a half hour or so.

Believe it or not, Slippery Elm Bark Lozenges found at any health food store were the most helpful to my Aunt during that burning stage. For a couple bucks, definitely worth a try.

D

Thank you all for the suggestions! I have been using baking soda/water-- I'll have to try adding salt.

My magic mouthwash is a mixture of lidocaine, benadryl,and maalox. It did seem to help a little as far as the swallowing today, but only lasts about 15 to 20 minutes. I'm only supposed to use it every six hours, so trying to stay hydrated is a challenge. I have to work up the courage to take just a swallow of water,and then it takes me five minutes to recover! On top of that, the benadryl makes my mouth even more dry than it already was, so I feel like I am darned if I do and darned if I don't. I'm starting to think I may need to go ahead and get some kind of pain medicine other than the tylenol/ibuprofen I am already using. I'll have to look for those mouth lozenges also!

Thanks again!

If you are having difficulty in getting 2500+ calories and 48oz water daily you need to let your doc know. If you do not have a feeding tube it may be time to think about getting one. Either type a peg tube which goes into the stomach or a nasal tube thru your nose will do the trick. Your body needs extra calories to fight the cancer.

Without proper nutrition you will feel awful. Its a viscious cycle, it hurts to eat and drink but without it you will get malnourished and dehydrated. This can sneak up on you. I spent several nights in the hospital due to malnutrition/dehydration. I really felt terrible, my whole body ached from head to toe and that was with taking pain meds.

For nutrition, try Carnation VHC. It can be purchased thru the Amazon link. Its 560 calories per can which is alot more than ensure.

My RO told me at the first visit that my "job" was going to be to keep eating. His exact words were: "It will be a job, because there will be nothing pleasurable about it." He said he did not want me to become dehydrated, because then he would have to put me in the hospital to rehydrate me. He also said he did not want to put a feeding tube in because a lot of patients become too dependent on the feeding tube and then have problems swallowing even after the radiation is done. I told him I did not have a problem having a PEG. He didn't respond to that. Do most people end up with a feeding tube?

Look into the nasal tube. I had one for about 2 weeks and it really made a difference when nothing else worked. There is no surgery involved. They just slide a plastic tube with a metal insert through your nose and into your stomach. Then they x ray you to make sure it's in a proper position and then they pull out that thin metal "rod" from the inside of the tube and you are good to go. Other than waiting the obligatory 2 hours to get an x ray the procedure itself only takes a few minutes. I was able to take showers, etc. When I didn't feel like I needed it anymore meaning that I was eating on my own without any problems I just pulled it out myself at home.

Bottom line.... whether you get pain meds that work; a PEG, the nasal tube, etc YOU NEED TO GET 2500 CALS AND 48ozs OF WATER EACH AND EVERYDAY.

the most important thing here is weather you are able to get enough calories and water daily. It sounds like you are not meeting your daily requirements and that means you must get nutrition another way. It sounds like your doctor is the one who has an issue with peg tubes. Its imperative that you talk to him about your problems and tell him that you cant handle being able to get enough water and calories daily. Do not wait, talk with him immediately. Dehydration and malnutrition can sneak up on you very quickly.

I did talk to him today-- we did not talk about the tube at all, though. He put me on the duragesic patch starting at lowest dose and gave me oxycodone for breakthrough pain. I'll see if I can increase my intake with that.

If I have to have a feeding tube, I'd prefer a PEG. I had a dobhoff tube (nasal) three days post op and it gave me horrible heartburn. As soon as they pulled it-- heartburn was gone!

Right now I am still trying to stick to "real food" although I am seeking out the softer stuff. I don'tknow why, I just feel like I need to avoid switching to the liquid as long as possible. The chocolate milk did help, by the way!

Thank you both for your dedication to this site and to helping people get through this!