Mouth Sores from chemo: When do they go away?

my sister gets infusions for 3 years now for lung cancer and she keeps having really
bad soars in her mouth, she has tried a lot of rinses for the mouth, nothing has worked.
they kill, but nothing she can do about it, it is a side effect. look it up.

P.S. From esperanzam: So far I have had this blood type cancer I have in control with this treatment. I have regular bloodwork to make sure the chemo dose is enough to keep the platelets from proliferating to a dangerous level. It has been a roller coaster at times but for my age (72) I am doing fairly well. What I have is not curable but it is treatable. If not treated I could have blood clots/stroke/etc.
I have read a lot about it and other similar type cancers and I try to be aware of any changes in my body. I think it helps to know more about the type of cancer one has and what to do and not do in order to help in the treatments.

I have Essential Thrombocythemia. I take oral Hydroxyurea capsules twice daily. I also take an oral inhaler for a separate pulmonary condition. SO I have several possible reasons for occasional mouth sores. Right now they seem to be a little better. I do get heartburn with the oral chemotherapy and have ever since I first started taking it 7 - 1/2 years ago. SO I hava to take an acid reducer as well. When I have mouth sores, using a solution of 1/2 water 1/2 peroxide for 3-4 days several times a day seems to help.

I have invasive ductal carcinoma and am doing 4 infusions. I finally started noticing an improvement yesterday and am much better today. So I guess my duration is 5-7 days. Got a plan for prevention next infusion which is the salt, baking soda and water rinse followed by StellaLife rinse and gel 4X a day.

Welcome @walkingmom, in addition to @latebloomer’s suggestion, I think @loribmt @adanab @esperanzam and others have experience with chemo-related mucositis (mouth sores) and may have helpful tips and how long they had mucositis.

Walkingmom, may I ask what type of cancer you have? How many infusions are planned for your treatment?

You could try the amino acid L-glutamine. I took it for chemo effects on my intestines, but it is said to help with oral mucositis. I took 500 mg capsule form, but it's available in a powder so you can use as a mouth rinse.

I'll give the salt water a try. I would have thought it would have irritated the sores but if it worked for you, I'll give it a go. This is awful.

I have not had sores but this last session caused Thrush, yeast infection, in the mouth. My team did not think the Miracle wash was enough so gave me a higher concentration of a Nystatin mouth rinse that swish and swallow. That has certainly helped. Warm salt-water rinsing also helps with oral issues. Do it several times a day and do not drink anything for a while after rinsing.

yes, that sounds like the "miracle" mouthwash they gave me. I use it 4 times a day and it does help some. I know it will take a few days to heal but it's just so painful in the meantime.

Hi @sammy15 , I had awful mouth sores with chemo, my doctor ordered a rinse from the compounding pharmacy. I understand that that the medicines were in there to help it heal but there was also something in it that took the pain away immediately so that I could eat. It was kind of thick and flavored with fruit. You swish for a minute then spit and do not rinse. Have you talked to your doctor yet about these sores?