Getting frustrated with throat pain post radiation

Is it just your throat that causes pain? Same things as you, but my tongue is still numb and sore on the radiation side. I can’t push anything as far as food down without a lot of liquid. I’m so frustrated! Five months since chemo and radiation and I’m down 87 pounds. Good thing I was overweight or I’d have really big problems!

It is just my throat that is sore. I still am tender on the right side of my neck but not painful. I am in the same time frame as you from my last radiation. There are days that my throat is more painful than other days. I do chase most foods down with water or juice. I lived for almost 4 months on Boost 520 topped of with Carnation Instant Breakfast High Protein. I drank 4 to 5 of those a day. Still lost weight.
Today i might have 2-3/week. A good meal for me is some sort of very tender crock pot roast with lots of gravy over mashed potatoes. I eat a lot of steamed veggies like squash or broccoli covered in olive oil. For breakfast i eat oatmeal, juice or scrambled eggs. For snacks I eat peanut butter and bananas. The main thing i have noticed is a chew everything I put in my mouth a lot. I also take much smaller bites as I think my throat has shrunk some. My stomach has shrunk a lot so i eat much smaller portions as well. I'll ask my Dr. next time about that. All in all, it does get better, yet I just don't enjoy eating like I used to. Maybe that is not all bad. Hope you improve as well.

Hello,
I’m coming up on 7 years out from stage IV treatments.
My oncologist managed my pain with narcotics and fentanyl patches which I was very hesitant to participate!
My oncologist insisted I follow the pain management protocol or pain will be unimaginable.
I followed the management regimen for several months post treatment and then weaned myself off from the pain meds.

I actually ended my pain management program much earlier than what my oncology team had expected.
My throat was still sore but I could deal with it, I was determined to NOT get dependent upon the narcotics!

Eating however, took nearly a year before I could eat any foods. I remained on a feeding tube until I could eat oatmeal and then oatmeal was my meals for a very long time!

MOJO

Sorry i just read this.
I have improved since Oct. 6 to the point i am eating more solids. Pain is not the issue. I have changed the way I eat however.: Small bites, chew well, chase with water or juices. I definitely do not eat as much as my throat seems to be smaller. I will ask my Dr. next checkup. Could be scar tissue or it just is smaller?
Hope you are seeing improvements.

Sugar is a big category. I know reducing sugar must be a good thing yet natural sugars, any chemical ending in ose are present in most foods.

Hello, My husband had 35 radiation treatments which ended 9 weeks ago. He had the same issue--able to eat some with pain pills, then better, then all of a sudden more pain, back to liquids. It turned out he had Thrush on his tongue. This is a fungal infection on the tongue that arises because the bacteria in the mouth is out of sync and is exacerbated by low saliva. This is common apparently in patients such as him and you. It causes a white coating on the tongue and painful ulcers on the tongue. Check in with your oncologist and see if you have Thrush. In our case all we had to do was text a picture of his tongue, and they put him on a 14 day course of anti-fungal medication which has helped tremendously.

Other than that, we are taking this day by day. It is frustrating because always two steps forward and one step back. He got his PEG removed yesterday, but he still requires Hydrocodone to eat and is still on a low dose pain patch. So this is not over yet......I guess we all have to be patient but it is frustrating.

Hoping you see progress. I was very fortunate that i did not have the dry mouth so many experiences. In fact I had the opposite. Loads of saliva and phlegm. I carried a spit bottle around for a while. I even had a relative ask me if I was dipping tobacco after throat cancer.
My radiologist said she has seen it both ways but more common to be dry. After about 4 months, it has normalized, still my throat feels like it does when you are getting over strep throat. Still tender but tolerable.

I just discovered these postings and appreciate the information that my pain post radiation is probably normal. Let me offer a couple of comments for others. I'm 71 now and was diagnosed with the infamous squamous cell carcinoma in my tonsil about a year ago. Had surgery to remove the tonsil, etc. in May, 2023, followed by 33 radiation treatments ending mid-August, 2023, which puts me now at a little over 4 months post radiation. Lots of throat pain and weight loss, but years ago I discovered studies that promote acetaminophen and ibuprofen together as working better than either one alone. I think they helped me, along with the hydrocodone for a few weeks. For the weight, I still heavily eat Greek yogurt with honey, which is common in Greece as we found in our travels. I weaned myself off the pain pills about a month post radiation and dealt with the discomfort, but the pain returned about a month ago and I'm trying to avoid going back on the pain pills. It's probably common, but as with all of you it sure is frustrating. Even with the pain and weight loss, I'm still walking the golf course 4 days a week so don't let it slow you down.

Hello @mytwocents and welcome to the head and neck group. Your input is always welcome.
Sounds like you are on the uphill to recovery, which can take a couple of years and then some, particularly if you developed neuropathy from the radiation. I wish you well. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.

Not sure about you, but I can sample a lot of ice cream in two years...lol