Hi Bear and welcome to Cancer Chat.

I'm sorry about the mucus/phlegm issues you've been having since finishing treatment but I'm glad you've joined us as we have a lot of members on this discussion that will be able to help. As you'll see they are a nice group of throat and tonsil cancer members at various stages of their journeys who give each other a lot of support and advice and I have no doubt they will do the same for you if you decide to join in.

One of our tonsil cancer regulars is [@RadioactiveRaz]‍ who is very helpful so hopefully she'll stop by when she can to share her top tips and ideas with you.

I hope you're able to find some ways to make this more manageable but if you'd like to have a chat with someone about this do give our cancer nurses a call. You can contact them on 0808 800 4040, Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m.

Kind regards, 

Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi Bear this is hazel I am 9 month post radiotherapy for tonsil cancer I can relate entitly to your problems. Post recovery is harder than treatment. You need to see either your Macmillan nurse irvdr I was given carbuststin to help thin the mucus down it did work. Also are u on top of pain medication? 

I wasn’t offered a peg as I was told nasal feedingvtuyif I needed and I had one until 4 weeks post treatment z. I have a blog detailing week by week my experience 

www.radioactiveraz.wordpress.com pop by u may get some more tips. Re the drinks I had ensure which I thinner down with bottled water made easier to swallow.  the mucus phlegm is also doing a job of protecting our throats from the brutal treatment. In my blog there is a referral to an article entitled lifecafter radiotherapy what happens next dr Peter Harvey from Leeds give it a resd

hope thus helps keep in touch Hazel 

also a blog link on mine to a guy who had a thread on here Anchor1707

hazel

Thanks Hazel - actually, the pain is fine - I am taking cocodemol x 4 pd anmd that's fine. I can swallow this down - and swallowing liquids is fine, but the problem is I retch when I swallow down the mucus which is making me feel sick quitev a loty of the time. I'll read your blog though. Thanks a lot.

PHi Bear on the blog scroll down to the bottom for the start as last entry is the recent one .

keep on painkillers yiu will know when time is right for coming off them do ask about the carbusistine they did helpmme thin the mucus down.i used to get through a box of tissues a day at your 3/4 week period so I do  send sympathies .Do you have a nebuliser? If you do use it at least 4/5 times a day and nduring night if u are still like I was getting up to clear mouth out .plus I had a humidifier in bedroom which helped immensely Amazon about £25 creates moist atmosphere during night which in turn helps.

good luck I am proof that their is light at the end if the runes no matter how bad you are feeling at this moment in time. Recovery rarely takes the 10/14 days  that the drs quote !i am in touch with quite a few people and we are all inndiffering stagss

hazel 

Thanks Hazel - in the nebulizer, how much saline do you use or do you just use boiled water?

Hi I used both when thecssline dried me out I used plain boiled  tap water not mineral water. I used 5 mil atvs time that lasted about 10 mins I’d need be woukd putcsnother 10 mil in hope that helps hazel 

OK thanks

Hi Everyone just looking through an old post from end of  May 2019 my husband has the identical problem that @Bear42 was asking advice about . The mucus and thick phelm I know everyone is different up to a point but my husband is also post 3 weeks treatment.  Still feeding with peg able to drink okay and swallow. But the mucas also makes him throw up  but can anyone give us a time scale to when it starts to get better. We have a humidifier he tries to use a nebuliser but this sometimes makes him sick. He is feeding overnight with a pump  has tried food but everything tastes horrible still. Also has very sore mouth the roof and throat especially sore. He is taking high strength co cordormal 4 times a day . Pain is not the problem . I have checked Hazels blog for tips but he wants to know when he can expect to get an improvement. He has a treatment review tomorrow so will ask for medication as Hazel suggested. Just asking any advice to give him a bit of hope feeling low at the moment trying to deal with it. Seems never ending having to spit the awful stuff out that collects in his throat day and night. Thanks

Hi Evie 

hubby has my deepest sympathies I used carbusistine from about 3/4 post treatment right upto Christmas from memory 4 times  a day he has to be able to take it orally. I used to dilute it in lukewarm water I had it in sachets think 10 mil . What it does is dry the mucus up worth asking at your review. It doesn’t take it all away I still remember but I g a box of tissues every other day not very lady like. In my case it was May when we drove to Spain and I was still spitting in tissues then all of a sudden it stopped. Re nebuliser try just plain water not the saline sachets that may help. 

I liken this period like being thrown to the lions we’ve gone from seeing medical people daily to being given the odd appointment. Do you have a Macmillan nurse I found them excellent in recovery albeit only saw them every 2 weeks. In my case it was 36 days from last treatment to what  I termed my return from the dark side. Ok wasn’t anything like my normal self but we did mans get our first trip away brave or foolish I still can’t decide but it did take me out of my comfort zone . I could liken it to bring institutionalised in a way. But remember baby steps look at me coming up to a year ok am not 100% but if a dry mouth and 20 mjn naps is the new me I will take it. Ps the acupuncture does seem to have given me a slight improvement in saliva another session tomorrow.

hope this helps 

Hazel

Hi Evie

Sorry to hear your hsban is having a bad time - I can really empathise with him. He needs top realise that everyone is different so he probably needs to be cautious about hearing how quickly some people recover from the various stages of recovery, of which there are many. For me, the mucus went on for some time post treatment, possibly week 9: I thought I was going to be the 1 in a million where the mucus stays for ever. However,  he needs to be patient, rinsing out mouth with saline/ bicarb solution (or what Hazel suggest below, which I didn't use) frequently. I tried to use a nebulizer but like him I was sick, although using it with water instead of the saline did make it slightly better. As Hazel says, this is a dreadful period - you think you should be recovering, but actually it just seems to go on for ever. I was on the PEG for all food for about 6 weeks after treatment and then began slowly to have soup/ ice cream etc. I still cannot take solids, although chew up strawberries with yoghurt, and have readybrek/weetabix, so now only very rarely use the PEG at all. Taste is coming back, but a bit dodgy on some foods. I am nowjust 13 weeks post treatment. You are both going through a very stressful period, but talking to others who have  been through it, or are still going through it is, I found at least, very helpful. It will get better, really, but it is I am afraid a gradual process. Sometimes the mucus disappears overnight for some people, but certainly not for me (I now have dry mouth), so again, don't panic if it  doesn't suddenly happen. People saw improvements in me before I felt it. If you or your husbamnd ever want to talk, then just let me know and I will give you my mobile number.

Best of luck

Jonathan