Yesterady I just got up from having a nap. I felt thick saliva stuck in my throat & started retching and trying to bring it up.This carried on for a LONG time. 5thinking that I as going to choke and die. I was (and my wife) were so frightened not knowing what to do ! Eventually it stopped and nebuliser made it better. Last night I woke up every hour just in case the whole episode didn's start again and used the nebuliser to keep my throat moist.Has anybody had such a horrible experience??
Until know I was also just about making up the calories with supplements and creamy soups which make the saliva worse... Now I don't know what to eat.
Moan ...moan...moan..Here we go again I feel dreadful and helpless.I am not looking for any miracle cure, just to share this with you as nobody else can provide me with the same support and understanding
I will go and have another nap & set the alarm clock !
Bye for now
LONI

Dear Loni, this is a horrible part of the recovery process,& it is scarey, but be reassured, it will pass.Our GP prescribed Mucodeine, which helped to thin out the mucus & we kept a large supply of tissues for Brian to spit into.
We found milk products made the problem worse, but found Rice & oat milks were fine. Hope you enjoyed your nap Fran

Hi Loni

This is going to sound really strange, but have you tried sleeping with your head slightly elevated? That, as I recall, seemed to help me. Also, in the early days, I used a vaporizer with tubing that brought the steam directly up to my trach.

Fran is spot on about not using dairy products. Before surgery and after my feeding tube was removed, I used soy milk for EVERYTHING (tea, hot cereal, cold cereal, et c). I switched to soy, though, because regular milk was actually kind of painful to drink.

Have a good nap.

Julia