Horrible coughing fits

Hello,

I had many radiation treatments and chemo as well for Laryngeal cancer. I had a PEG/ Feeding tube to take in nutrition. I had hellacious and unbelievable coughing fits during treatment, and for some time afterward.
During treatment the fits were of the kind that lasted 10 or even 20 minutes of non stop extreme coughing, saliva and snot flying, blood coming up and flying also. I could gain no control, nor stop whatsoever until the fit let me go. I do not know how to remedy this. I did use Mucinex through the feeding tube fairly extensively. This helped calm the tickle ( inciting event for cough) in my throat. This relief was short lived, however, in the intensity of all I had going on twenty or thirty minutes of peace was very worthy for me.
Can he get liquid down his throat?

Wishing you all the best in this very difficult time.

Welcome, @jt54. Nice way to enter the group with a helpful post for @phyllisg and her husband. JT, are you finished treatment now? When did the horrible coughing end?

Phyllis, how is your husband doing? Has he tried Mucinex?

His coughing is not as bad l but he still has terrible mucous and secretions to deal with since he can't swallow. He's been on guaifenesin which helps thin secretions and I think it did help coughing. But he's had aspiration pneumonia twice and more recently mrsa. May have to resort to a trach.

Hello,
I too experienced the horrible coughing jags during my treatments.
One day while in the infusion room I began coughing and one of my nurses asked if I was prescribed anything for the coughing. I said no and she went and got me a prescription for Tesselon Pearl (not sure the spelling or the actual name). This really made a difference!

As for mucus, absolutely nothing (prescription wise) helped me…
I found that hot water rinses, gargle, swallow, hacking up and brushing my teeth frequently did better than anything else. Muscinex did absolutely nothing for me.
I still use this regimen daily even at 7.5 years out from treatment!

Also note that oral hygiene is very important and frequent extraction of that gunk is good. I brush my teeth with sensitive toothpaste as well as prescription fluoride toothpaste first thing in the morning, after each meal, mid morning and afternoon and before bed.

Hope this helps

MOJO

Hello again,
If he is in a situation where his mouth is constantly filing with salive/ sputum whatever the correct word is I have a remedy that worked for me. Not very nice, but, none of this is as far as I can tell.

Mix MEAT TENDERIZER with warm water and gargle and spit. Leaves a terrible taste, but this would curtail my insane sputum production for a spell. One teaspoon with 6/8 ounces of water is what I used. I used this daily for quite a while so i could stop drowning in my own liquids, and also stop spitting every three seconds.

Good luck!

Hi Colleen,

Thank you for the welcome.

I finished treatment in February of 2023. I still battle significant issues with soft tissue in my throat swelling egregiously. This swelling leans on my airway ( hospitalized me twice/admitted) and also greatly intensifies my swallowing difficulties. I also get Lymphedema, but that has lessoned the real and primary issue is the soft tissue swelling. Wildly unpredictable and can incapacite me. I dont get enough breath, exhaustion is right behind...So we go! I am currently doing Hyperbaric Therapy ( HBO) for 2 hours a day , five days a week with fingers crossed.
I have had 21 sessions thus far. I do have on major improvement. This is that I no longer have to have water , tea, yogurt, sugar free juice every minute or two. This is a true blessing as I was drinking over 200 ounces of water a day. Spend your life in the restroom! I am hopeful other improvements will follow.

Thank you