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Mouth issues

jeppy
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Hi. I have Non Hogkins lymphoma under base of tongue. I finished chemotherapy end of December and started radiotherapy  which finished-nearly 4weeks ago.Initially my mouth became extremely sore, but ulcers are improving. But these last few days my mouth has become really dry and really thick saliva. I assumed these would improve as time went on but these seem to be getting worse. I still have no taste and find it difficult to build up an appetite. I literally have to force food into my mouth as everything tastes awful and can’t eat solids yet so I’m living on Ensures, soup and soft pasta. I have been told that taste will come back but I’m so impatient is there anybody out there who have ,or have had the same issues ? 

  • Hello jeppy

    I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling with the side effects of treatment at the moment. It's obviously a difficult time. 

    The problems that you've described in your post are familiar sounding as I know we've had a number of members post about these kinds of issues. I'd suggest having a look at this thread about radiotherapy for throat cancer. Whilst I know the diagnosis is different to yours, you'll find lots of members who have had radiotherapy to their mouth/throat have shared their stories in this thread about their struggles with saliva management and diet/appetite. There are a lot of posts to read through but you might also find it helpful to post to share your story there as well and hopefully some of the members will reply to offer their advice and support. 

    If you think it may help to talk things through with one of our nurses you're welcome to call them on 0808 800 4040, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. 

    I hope that things will improve for you over the coming weeks jeppy. Do speak to your clinical nurse specialist if you have any further concerns. 

    Best wishes, 
    Jenn
    Cancer Chat moderator 

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    I used to work in a dental environment and we encountered this a lot.

    You want to eat bland foods. Mash potato, eggs, rice, plain noodles etc. Adding butter in can help matters too.

    What you're describing is altered taste, and as you have come to realise, it can drastically impact what you are able to eat. The more flavour a food has, the worse it tends to affect you. So stick with bland food. Not saying this will magically make your tasting difficulties disappear, but the food should be easier to stomach.

    Another thing that won't be helping matters is eating soft foods or swapping foods out for liquids. Eating hard foods naturally removes most of the bacteria on your tongue as it scrapes it away. But when on soft foods, this doesn't happen and you can end up with a furry tongue that adds to your tasting difficulties. If you're able to, use a tongue scraper once per day to help remove any build up on your tongue.

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