Hi,

I am from india aged 32 and diagnosed with SCC in december08 and underwent surgery and also had 27 fractions of radiation. my problem is over secretion of saliva. i had developed oral thrush from the last two weeks and gettig treated for it.
I am facing a problem of over secrition of saliva and was told that by my rad doc that it will subdue in a week or so.

my questions:
i have read that there will be dry mouth conditions for RT patients ... did anyone faced similar problem like mine of over secretion of saliva.
will oral thrush effect the secertion of saliva.
can anyone suggest any medicine or remedy to keep my mouth dry.

Hi Sri,
I too had the same problem to start with. I just kept "blowing" my mouth, instead of my nose! It was a nuisance but mine is the opposite now and constantly dry. In a way that is a lesser problem because you can get a synthetic saliva spray.I didn't get thrush though so I can't help you there,but someone else may. Love Elaine x

Hi Elaine,

can you let me know how long did this problem exist for you before you started having the dry mouth.
regards,
Sri

Hi Sri,
My problems started in 2000 with cancer of rt.tonsil.I had r/t and chemo.This left me with a very dry mouth which gradually improved over 2/3 years.However in 2005 I had a hemiglossectomy which had the opposite effect on my saliva.This was caused,I was told,by my inability to swallow the saliva.Siobhan,the Speech and Language therapist told me that we produce quite a lot of saliva (1 or 2 litres/day, I can't remember now)
So I don't think the r/t is causing the problem but the inability to swallow the saliva as well as you did before----the r/t should reduce saliva not increase it...
I hate saying something negative like this as you were hoping a more encouraging response.
I'm sure your speech and language therapist will give you advise on ways to build up the remaining muscles of the tongue to improve the situation.
This is my experience ,for what it's worth,Sri but what's right for me may not be right for you.


Slainte,
Caliban

thank you very much for the reply.. but let me tell you that i started this problem just two weeks back and that too after i developed oral thrush...is this anything to do with oral thrush...

Hi Sri,
If you only finished treatment recently,going from my experience you should still have a dry mouth but maybe the radiation field was different to mine......it took a long time for my saliva to come back!!
I did have a problem with oral thrush both during treatment and afterwards but this cleared up without any problems.

Caliban

Hi Sri.I had exactly the same problem as you.About a month after radiotherapy I had problems with too much saliva and then awful oral thrush which was about 4mm thick all over my tongue.My doctor prescribed some liquid to place in my mouth every few hours to get rid of it but I cant remember what it is called,but it was lovely!! It did clear up but then within a month and still now 12 months on I have a very very dry mouth which is horrid.you never get used to it,you put up with it but a bottle of water and special oral spray and tablets go with me everywhere now.I remember the excess saliva well,just keep lots of tissues with you at all times and I had to wash my bed pillowslips every weel and had to buy new pillows every week as I'd dribbled so much.I know its hard but it does pass.Just try and stay positive.I used to just think it was my body's way of healing and you will get better.Good luck x x

the medication is called nystatin and should get hold of the thrush fairly quickly.

Dear Sri,
I'm sorry for the delay in replying to you.The dryness in my mouth started 3-4 weeks after I had finished r/t.My mouth constantly feels like the morning after the night before.I just rinse my mouth round with water a lot.Whether rinsing with salt water helped prevent thrush I have no idea,but I never suffered with that.It is a problem I think from what the staff at the hospital I go to have said.I am really sorry I cant be of any help to you,and hope that things do improve for you.You do tend to just get used to it to be honest. Take care love Elaine x

hi
i am still getting thrush almost 2 years since treatment ended and my g.p has given me a repeat prescription for nystatin so i don't need to make an appt.at one time the thrush was so bad it went all the way down my throat too and was very painful.like elaine i have a dry mouth although my oncologist said he has seen worse in people.i just keep drinking.there was a time when i had too much saliva during the rt at the early stage but by the time it finished i was starting to get a dry mouth.i don't know which is worse to be honest too much or not enough.either way i hope this is just a tempoary thing and gets better for you.love shirl xxx