Hello for those of us in the UK I visted my doctors yesterday and we have found that the vast majority of things you need to help you through feeding, gels and mouth washes are available via NHS perscription.

If you register and obtain a £32 NHS Certificate you can get most things for free which includes, Ensure, packs of 27 at a time, a full range of biotene products including replacement get, mouth wash etc.

Just ask your GP and get a three month certificate and stock up!

More at NHS Prescriptions (UK)

Can any one help? My mother is at the end of her tether with my father's medication and how to administer his ucler medication without it washing away the other medicines! She says she doesn't want to admit defeat but it is giving her a headache. This is what he has to have:
ORALDENE MOUTH WASH (4 times daily)
DOCUSATE SODIUM (20ml daily)
SENNOSIDE B (10 to 20mls daily)
DUFLUCAN SUSPENSION ( 1 5ml spoonful daily)
ADCORTYL in ORABASE (applied to mouth ulcer 3 time daily)
ASPRIN + HYDROCORTISON SUSPENSION (10mls 4 times daily)
Plus plenty of liquids!

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Dear Leigh

Hope the explanations will help your mum understand why and so use the medications appropriately. Some are for swallowing, others are not and are for pain relief or oral hygiene.

ORALDENE MOUTH WASH, red, hexetidine 0.1%, (4 times daily: Hexitidine is an antiseptic mouthwash and helps compensate for difficulties with achieving good oral hygiene. Note: Superficial infections of the mouth are often helped by warm mouthwashes which have a mechanical cleansing effect and cause some local hyperaemia. However, to be effective, they must be used frequently and vigorously. A warm saline mouthwash is ideal and can be prepared either by dissolving half a teaspoonful of salt in a glassful of warm water or by diluting compound sodium chloride mouthwash with an equal volume of warm water.

DOCUSATE SODIUM (20ml daily)
SENNOSIDE B (10 to 20mls daily)
Both are stimulant laxatives, swallowed. Docusate sodium probably acts both as a stimulant and as a softening agent.

DIFLUCAN SUSPENSION ( 1 5ml spoonful daily: a TRIAZOLE ANTIFUNGAL used for controlling fungal infections. Fluconazole is very well absorbed after oral administration (swallowed).

ADCORTYL in ORABASE (applied to mouth ulcer 3 time daily:
a CORTICOSTEROID oral paste, triamcinolone acetonide 0.1% in adhesive basis. It is applied a thin layer 2–4 times daily to oral and perioral lesions (ulcers).

ASPRIN + HYDROCORTISON SUSPENSION (10mls 4 times daily):
Used as a mouth wash, the topical corticosteroid and aspirin helps reduce pain and inflammation of oral ulceration.

Plus plenty of liquids: sipped and swallowed to keep hydrated and mouth moist.

Best wishes
Vinod

Dear Vinod

Thank you very much for this. I have passed the information on to my parents. Mum says things are slowly starting to fit into place with knowing when to give what and when etc. Dad has now also been prescribed with the Oramorph (hope I've spelt it right).

Best wishes
Leigh