My husband was diagnosed with cancer of the tonsil and has spread to lymph nodes on one side. he has had 2 induction chemos, 7more weeks of once a week chem and 7 weeks of IMRT radiation. march 10 was his last treatment. Upon beginning the radiation this constant flow of mucous has been the worst side effect. Doctor says it is caused by the destruction of a salivary gland.He spits up every few minutes, eventually gags and then vomits. He is on zofran, lorezapam (sp) and several other meds. He has been hospitalized twice for this and is in the hospital now. He sleeps sitting up for fear of choking. They have given him differrent swish and spits but nothing helps. Any ideas? Can you tell me how long this may last?

Jordan, what you describe certainly brings back memories. Start to finish, mine lasted exactly 21 days, although toward the end it was not constant. Here is what I did to help myself through it. First, Puffs brand tissues are the softest and strongest for wiping out the gunk. Second, roll up clean gauze and put it in the "gutters" of his mouth. This will soak up a lot and allow him several hours of sleep, in a slightly raised position. This is a messy thing to go through, but as soon as it ends, you will see major improvement.

Jordan,

Sounds like normal stuff. I am two years post and still have that problem on occasion. But I remember how frustrating it was at first.

I used baking soda and warm water. It really helped for me. Just gargle a whole 12 oz glass (a little at a time). It wont last forever (about 45 min to 1 hour) but it does tent to ease some of the frustration.

It does go away after a while try to be patient.


Talk to you soon,
Robert

I had Lorezapam.

The best thing Barry and I found, in fact we told his RO nurse and she now tells all her patients, is over-the-counter Mucinex. This is a timed-release table that contains guafenesin and which causes the mucous to thin greatly and become easier to swallow or expel. One-two tablets last 12 hours so it really helped Barry sleep. The bad thing is that the tablet is BIG and cannot be cut or ground up because of the time-release coatings. Barry managed to swallow it with water but some folks have not been able to handle it. If this isn't an option, get the guafensin syrup ("Tussin") which is made by several companies. It is a rather thick syrup which can be diluted with water to make it easier to swallow and less apr to burn a raw throat -- just make sure that you take the recommended dose. It lasts about 4 hours.

Also, it is the plain Mucinex, not the type which contains an antihistamine, that will dry your mouth. (Also, same caveat for the syrup, make sure there is not antihistamine in it).

Really bad phlegm may require the use of a suction machine; some on this forum have had great help from one of these, and were able to rent from a medical supply facility.

Finally, salt and soda rinses to get the gunk out also help -- our dental onc said do them as often as you can.

Gail

It will get worse before it gets better. I still have mucous problems.
Darrell

Jordan,Sounds just like my situation. I am only about a month or so ahead of you. I had the mucous problems for about two months after treatment but it eventually it got better, it is not totally better and I have more problems now with dry mouth. Some of the things that I used were rinsing with salt water and using crest alcohol free mouth wash and them some hard lemon candy like "lemonheads". Hang in there Jordan you will see some improvements, I always had to be reminded to look at my recovery in terms of months and not weeks.
Lenny

Jordan, I had pretty bad mucous/phlegm problems for about three months after treatment, although they got noticably better after about 6 weeks-two months and as soon as they got better when I didn't have gunk in my mouth, it was sandpaper-dry! I still get thicker-than-usual phlegm in my mouth that I have to spit out about once every 2-3 hours during the day and at least once at night I wake up to spit out gunk in the back of my throat (but I am sleeping without any head elevation anymore and sleep through pretty much fine otherwise, though I wake up very dry). When I had the bad phlegm I was constatnly rinsing with the salt water and baking soda solution. I also used the Tussin syrup with Guafenisin to break up the mucous a little. I didn't find the suction machine worked all that well for me because my mouth was still extremely sore on the inside and the scution thingue would grab on to cheek and gum tissue and that hurt, but everyone is different in terms of what works for them.

For a while I also sipped white tea quite a bit--not only is this good for your mouth in other ways but it has a drying effect and seemed to cut through the mucous a little. Now I can't drink it anymore because it dries up my mouth too much, but it worked well when I was in my phlegm-factory stage :rolleyes:

Nelie

Jordan,

Several of my contempoaries had the same problem. They were given a portable suction device to get rid of the mucus until they healed. Seemed to work well for them.

Steve Daib

I find that staying extra well hydrated helps as well. I know I need to take in more fluids when my mucus starts to get thicker...I know its obvious, but some days its hard to drink as much as we should and those tend to be the worse mucus days for me as well...

Jordan,

Sounds much like our situation. Still after being 8 months out from the end of chemoradiation the thick mucus flows. It was realy bad for the fist six months post treatments and it is just now beginning to ge better. The mucus accumulates in the throat, triggers the gag reflex and causes nausea and vomiting. We have tried different nausea meds (Compozine, Zofran, Ativan) but the meds did not seem to improve the nausea much.

Our ENT told us that the mucus was caused by the irritation in the mouth to the chemoradiation and the destruction of salivary glands that produce thin saliva.

Hang in there as the mucus flow will get better with time.

I am so glad to read these posts. John is still having severe mucous problems almost a year past
his 1st surgery and radiation.The "gunk" in his mouth is a constant battle. We keep thinking it would go away, and while I am sorry anyone else has to deal with it, it is comforting to know he is not the only one dealing with this. Sometimes it just drips out of his mouth. We are trying all of the suggestions we read on the forum. Amy

Thanks for all your suggestions. Today marks 2 weeks post tratment. he was in the hospital for 10 days and developed blodd clots in both legs. he has been home since Tuesday. he is glad to be done for now and is snuggled on the couch with our golden retriver- his best friend- besides me. It makes me feel stronger to know there are folks going through the same thing and have enough strength and compassion to help us.he is t2/n2b/m0