Chemo mouth

[Sebsmum]

Any suggestions with sore mouth nothing broken yet tongue sore and feeling little my mouth is on fire 🔥

[Lainey66]

If you are here in Ireland you can get a mix called BMX that numbs the whole mouth and throat. Also kingingival antiseptic mouth wash. However if you rinse with salt water after each meal that will help keep bacteria away. I also used to suck crushed ice too. All the best with your treatment. Lainey66 xx

[Sebsmum in reply to Lainey66]

Thanks 💕

[biddenden_sue]

If your tongue is sore, you could be developing oral thrush, a common chemo side effect. There are various things available over the counter and on prescription. Corsodyl and Diflam are two products I used in my mouth, but like Lainey said, gargling warm salt water does also help. Make sure you do something though, because it's silly things like this that can develop an infection and put you in hospital.

[JCwarrior]

Dear, try pineapple frozen cubes, helps a lot!

[Nixh]

I'd ring your surgery, they'll prescribe some anti thrush medicine which I found works quite quickly. Agree with using Corsodyl I used throughout chemo. It also helped me with the metallic taste that came about midway through chemo 👌🏻

[Susan-o]

I agree with all the above BUT it is imperative that you take your temp. If you are even 0.5 of a degree higher than normal take yourself off to a&e, explain you're having chemo and that you need to be put into a separate room rather than wait in the general area, and that you think you may have the beginnings of neutropenic sepsis. This is how I was after every course if chemo and had to be hospitalised every time. I'm not saying that you will but, oh my goodness, it's better to be safe than sorry. Apparently I left it so late the first time that, if i had not gone when I eventually did, I would have been dead by the end of the day, which is why, even now, I am mega cautious. I really don't mean to scare you but, in my opinion, I'd rather be inconvenienced by going to a&e than not be here at all. Good luck with all your treatment - it's worth it in the end. Xx

[SueandEmber]

I used Diflam regularly and to very good effect. I gargled with it two or three times a day for about a week to 10 days at the beginning of each cycle of chemo. I did get a few ulcers but the Diflam stopped my mouth becoming too sore. Also, as Susan-o says, keep an eye on your temperature and if it goes up ring the hospital for advice immediately.

Good luck. You will get through it.

[Julie2233]

As already suggested, rinsing with warm salt water is wonderfully soothing. If you can, speak to your dentist, they are experts on the mouth not just teeth. Mine gave me a list of things to ask my gp to prescribe including mouth gel and tablets for thrush. A sore mouth is so uncomfortable, make sure you don't stop eating because of it. Hope it's feeling better soon

[CancerkickerKathy]

Same as others have said. If it's thrush you want to treat sooner rather then later. I was also given magic mouthwash which numbs mouth. My whole body felt like it was burning from the inside out. I react like that from steroids. Took Benadryl which helps me and also was eating ice like they were potato chips. That seems to have stayed a habit for me. Feel better.