Hi my name is Amanda and my husband has tongue cancer he has finished his chemo and radiation but he is having more pain than he has throughout the treatments he has a peg tube his doctors don't want to prescribe him any more pain meds I am not for sure if they work or not I just wanted to know is there any other ways to mange his pain any info would be greatly appreciated

Welcome to OCF, Amanda. You have found the best place for info and support to help you and your husband get thru his treatments.

It does not help the patient one bit to be in pain. Its actually detrimental to them. Poor guy!!!! Ask the doc for the fentanyl patches. They come in strengths ranging from 12.5 to 100mg. Most of us have used them successfully. Make sure to read and follow the directions exactly. Never bend or fold the patch and your husband needs to avoid long hot showers or baths while using the patch. Those things can cause the patch to release too much medication. The good thing about the patch is that it gets changed every 3 days. So his pain should be under control. He should have some extra pain meds in case he has breakthru pain. I would guess that if he is in a lot of pain that he would need to start at 50mg or 75mg. It will take about 24 hours to begin working after he puts it on. If after one day it doesnt work then ask to move him up to 75mg or 100mg. That should help your husband significantly. When I was had just finished rads, I was on 150mg for about a week.

Just cuz he is finished with chemo and rads doesnt mean he will be better immediately. His body has been thru the war and will need time to recover. Keep up the good nutrition and hydration to help him bounce back. Every single day he should be taking in a minimum of 2500 calories and 48 oz water. Try adding some high protein whey powder to his formula to help with healing.

Best wishes with your husbands recovery.

When did he finish his Tx? Most of us suffer the greatest the few weeks POST treatment so that is a critical time for pain management. This needs your immediate attention as there are drugs that can help him thru this period.

I was blessed in that I didn't have a lot of pain post treatment. So I'm no help on this front... but welcome and Christine is right... there is no reason he should be in pain. I have a friend with peritoneal cancer - prior to going to my hospital (PMH) she was at a local hospital where they had her on TYLENOL 3??????!!!! She kept telling me she was in pain. I had pushed her to move to a CCC - which is PMH here in Toronto and she had so I told her to call her dr. and have them prescribe her something for pain. They did so immediately and she's a lot more comfortable. They gave her either oxy (which doesn't work at all for pain for me - puts me to sleep!) or hydromorph... she's great now.. No pain at all. But everyone else here can tell you what they use and how effective it is. And as David says... usually the first two to three weeks post rads is the worst. take care

Push for pain management. He should not be made to suffer.

welcome Amanda. It's true that when tx end, things keep getting worse for up to a few weeks as the soft tissues in the mouth and throat continue cooking, but it does get better. Our other friends are right, living with pain is unneccesary and bad for morale, which is needed to get through this time.

I agree Amanda. Healing will come slowly if he's in pain. It is very normal though at the stage he is in. I remember how scared Kevin and I were because we thought something was wrong he was doing so bad. That was when I found this site!! There is so much support here you will be able to get answers to most, if not all, of your questions.
I know where you are as the caregiver. I know how hard this is and you are doing the right thing by advocating for your hubby. Push for the pain meds. The patches are great. What is he using now?
Hang in there Amanda, you're almost there. Hopefully 3-4 more weeks, give or take, of yuckiness, then he should start turning the corner. Please keep in touch.
Blessings,
Kathy

Welcome Amanda...I"m new to this site but go thru it daily..and I print out the info I think my mom & us caregivers (daus) might find useful...and I'm printing out this pain management suggestions too. My mom's 87 & had done 5 of the 7 Erbitux treatments..it has slowed the growth of the HPV...but she has 4 new areas....We didn't think she'd do the rad treatments...but she has now decided to. She doesn't want the cancer to eat her face out. No nice way to say this. It's gone thru her hard palate and is on the sinus floor..in her chin & 3 other new areas in her mouth. Never smoked, never drank..married to my dad 64 yrs (& 15 minutes)...She & we are terrified of the rad treatments & in reading the posts, we have reason to be. But she has the PEG tube..it's keeping her weight steady now..at 102 lbs.! Can't get in the 5 feedings...but doing the 4 & is able to eat a little by mouth. She's tried to start picking up her fluid intake since I've read what I have here. She takes the a med before feeding for the nausea. So, i guess I'm feeling more "prepared" to help her since I've been coming here for help. Her Drs are 100 mi away...and no cancer support group that I know of in our town. So my 2 sisters & I will do the best we can for her. I just am thankful for the people & information I've found here.

Welcome Amanda! I think everyone on here has already given you great advice. I hope the docs can get the pain under control.