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Any solutions for hypersecretion to be able to sleep?

Posted by grconner @grconner, Nov 22, 2025

My wife has esophagus cancer and has been getting chemo for 2 months now. She can't swallow anything (on a feeding tube). For the last month or so she has been suffering from hypersecretion and constantly spits out a foamy saliva. We've tried a patch behind her ear and claritin. Benadryl is next on the list to try. Anyone have any other suggestions? It is difficult for her to sleep with constantly spitting.

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earle | @earle | Nov 30, 2025
In reply to @bob5246 "My husband had an esophagectomy a year ago. No chemo or radiation, because the cancer was..." + (show)
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My husband had an esophagectomy a year ago. No chemo or radiation, because the cancer was just in his esophagus. His first surgery was robotic surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering. At first, we thought it went well, but he developed scar tissue that needed to be removed. The doctor did a thoracotomy for this procedure, and in doing so, created a hole in the conduit. At that point, he was unable to eat or drink anything. He then had a J-Tube inserted. From the hole in the conduit, he developed a fistula into the right lung. Hence, another thoracotomy was performed to close the hole and remove part of the right lung. Well, the fistula was fixed, but they could not get the hole in the conduit to heal. He remained in MSK for 6 months, finally coming home this past June. They have tried everything they could, from dilation to stents, to help him eat; unfortunately, he developed massive amounts of mucus and thick phlegm, which causes severe coughing, vomiting, and aspiration. He does his tube feedings at night, but because of the severe coughing, he has no energy to do anything but stay in bed. Well, just when you think that it's as bad as it can get, they wanted to do a colon interposition surgery for esophageal replacement surgery. When they started working him up for the surgery, they found he had metastatic liver and lymph node cancer. Surgery obviously was canceled, and he is beginning Chemotherapy. I'm telling you this story because not everything works out for everyone. However, we still have hope that the chemo will work and he can eventually get the colon interposition surgery and someday eat and drink again. There is always hope.

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@bob5246 Wow! That's a gruesome story. It's not the first one I've heard where surgery revealed cancer spread. As I've posted, I went from having my esophagus almost closed with a III ESSC to having one almost closed with scar tissue. I've had two dilations and can eat normally, if carefully, although I'm due one more dilation. I had painful spasms which closed off my esophagus, giving me the problem your husband has. I tried a number of different drugs, everything but Botox. The only one which worked was glycopyrrolate. It's given for drooling problems with Parkinson's and CP. The main side effect is a mouth which is as dry as cotton and it must be taken every day. It's probably worth a try...

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Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Dec 6, 2025

Excess mucus and hypersecretions is a side effect that people who have had treatment for head and neck cancers have discussed too. Here are a couple of related discussions:

- Inability to swallow and never ending foamy saliva https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/inability-to-swallow-and-never-ending-foamy-saliva/

- Hypopharyngeal cancer -management of saliva and mucus at night https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/hypopharyngeal-cancer-management-of-saliva-and-mucus-at-night/

This discussion might also offer some tips:
- 2 years post surgery: Any tips for sleeping and eating? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/2-years-post-surgery/

@grconner, how is your wife doing? Did you find any solutions that help her get better sleep?

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grconner | @grconner | Dec 6, 2025
In reply to @colleenyoung "Excess mucus and hypersecretions is a side effect that people who have had treatment for head..." + (show)
Profile picture for Colleen Young, Connect Director @colleenyoung

Excess mucus and hypersecretions is a side effect that people who have had treatment for head and neck cancers have discussed too. Here are a couple of related discussions:

- Inability to swallow and never ending foamy saliva https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/inability-to-swallow-and-never-ending-foamy-saliva/

- Hypopharyngeal cancer -management of saliva and mucus at night https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/hypopharyngeal-cancer-management-of-saliva-and-mucus-at-night/

This discussion might also offer some tips:
- 2 years post surgery: Any tips for sleeping and eating? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/2-years-post-surgery/

@grconner, how is your wife doing? Did you find any solutions that help her get better sleep?

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@colleenyoung I haven't read these articles yet but to this point I haven't found anything that helped. I've tried the patch behind the ear, claritin and benadryl. So far nothing has helped. Hopefully your articles will shed some light. Thank you for the reply!

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earle | @earle | Dec 7, 2025

Glycopyrrolate worked for me when my esophagus was closing up with spasms. It gives you a very dry mouth and side effects should be discussed with your doctor...

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grconner | @grconner | Dec 7, 2025
In reply to @earle "Glycopyrrolate worked for me when my esophagus was closing up with spasms. It gives you a..." + (show)
Profile picture for earle @earle

Glycopyrrolate worked for me when my esophagus was closing up with spasms. It gives you a very dry mouth and side effects should be discussed with your doctor...

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@earle Thanks for the reply. It scares me but I'll check it out.

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earle | @earle | Dec 7, 2025

My salivary secretion rate is such that I can sleep exactly eight minutes before I start to choke. That was back before my dilations during my spasms which totally closed my esophagus. Glycopyrrolate stopped that but at the trade-off of a very, very dry mouth...

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