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Phlegm and Saliva filling in the mouth after tongue sarcoma
My husband had a sarcoma of the tongue and throat He was diagnosed in 10/20 and has been cured by radiation and immunotherapy. Now his mouth fills with mucus in great Quantities preventing him from being able to swallow food and also affects his speech. He has been on a feeding tube for over a year. The doctors do not know how to stop the flow. Next step to try is hyperbaric. Any one out there that has success with dealing with this problem.
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There was no medication to curb saliva production, only medication to help make more saliva now that he has next to o saliva.
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1 ReactionIn my experience, muscarinic receptor antagonist like atropine or scopolamine, or tricyclic antidepressants like Elavil may help with excessive salavation. Chewing or sucking on ice cubes and pilocarpine will stimulate salivary secretion. Ask your doctor about these agents.
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2 ReactionsThanks for getting back to me.
We're going to the ENT on Tuesday so I will suggest this. Thank you.
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1 ReactionSo very sorry for what your husband is going through… This may not be related to the particular issue but .. Sometime after my SCC surgery a ‘redness’ appeared in chin n neck area, Drs thought that it it was some kind of infection, though they could not find anything…. But was put on antibiotics and it didn’t help, had MRI which found damage to transplanted bone n blood vessels, this due to Radiation treatments… Drs suggested to redo operation!.. naturally I said NO THANK YOU.. then another Dr took me aside and suggested H.O.T.- Hyperbolic Oxygen Therapy.. and darn if this was the ‘key’ … it cleared the redness and it never has reoccurred… something to Consider…
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2 ReactionsThank you for responding. My husband has had 35 HBO treatments of 2 hours a day. Unfortunately there has been no improvement so he has decided to stop the treatments. Also he is now dealing with a bone infection in his cervical spine. This has not been an easy journey.
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1 ReactionI’m 6.5 years out and still suffering from dry mouth, mucus, speech issues and eating difficulties.
Xylitol, other meds and Mucinex did not help.
What I found best is; first thing when I get up in the morning I do a rinse with nearly hot water. I swish several times and then do several sips and hack up the throat mucus. Some days are much worse than others.
After my mouth and throat are clear I brush my tongue and teeth with Crest. After the Crest I brush again with prescription Colgate Fluoride toothpaste and I don’t rinse that one out.
After I eat breakfast, which was oatmeal for well over 2-3 years post treatment I repeat the brushing routine.
I drink water throughout the day as well as repeat my brushing routine a few times daily and always after each meal, coffee or any sweet foods or dessert!
Don’t be discouraged with the need for the feeding tube for this many months, I too had one for nearly a year.
Speech therapy did not help me at all and my doctors allowed me to stop going. It was a waste of money for me!
When my throat was ready to swallow food it began to swallow food and not a day sooner.
Hang in there and fight the good fight!
MOJO
Interesting. I have tried a number of things to rinse my mouth. I have started rinsing with water as hot as I can stand it and find it helps loosen things up. My tongue feels like there is a coating of something holding it down but since I can't open my mouth more than one tongue depressor there is no way to determine what the solution is.
I’m on a muscle relaxer to loosen my jaw and it helps greatly!
MOJO
What is the name of the muscle relaxer you are using?