Getting frustrated with throat pain post radiation

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

@samp590, how is your mom doing? Are things improving slowly but surely?

I think you will find the normal recovery is two steps forward and one step back. Very slow and seemingly endless for a long time. Not like a broken bone or a twisted ankle which heal well because the body is healthy. You are trying to heal in an area that is sick. It will take a lot more time than the optimistic doctors will tell you.
Some of the discussions in this group lately have many good ideas to deal with throat pain and cough. Magic mouthwash (a prescription needed), certain teas, warm saltwater rinse, etc help a lot.
Sending hugs from the www as I know how difficult this all is to deal with. Tough times never last but tough people do.
Or if you want a laugh today, remember all good things have an end. A bratwurst has two.

I finished my radiation treatments two weeks ago. For several weeks, my throat pain terrible, I had a nasty cough that produced blood and fleshy chunks, and it was most difficult to eat. I also couldn’t speak.

Over the last few days, things improved quite a bit. Believe it or not, it coincides with drinking marshmallow root tea. I am not big on natural remedies and the like, but I can’t ignore the results.
If you are looking to try something out of the box, check your medical team and see if something like that is worth a try.