Any advice on coping with mucous

[tonyp62]

My girlfriend has stage 4 squamous cell and the worst symptoms at the moment are breathlessness and continual production of mucous which causes her to cough a great deal, trying to cough it up, and sometimes being a bit sick with it. Does anyone experience this and what medications do they use to alleviate it? Thanks.

[hedgehoggy]

I suffer from excess mucous since I had lung cancer in 2012. More noticeable now so i try not to eat dairy foods. I don't take any medication for it but manage to cough first thing in the morning to clear it.

Best wishes

Hoggy

[JanetteR57]

I had mucinous adenocarcinoma and surgery to remove left upper lobe in December 2010. Since then I have more chest infections (although had them as a child with lots of mucous then ). I find sitting over steam (or in a steam room) helps loosen it as does keeping active (walking/swimming) - the main thing is to stop it settling on the chest which makes it harder to cough up (and painful). Like others, I avoid dairy products as I find this increases mucous production so switch to green/herbal teas, water and black coffee. I find hot drinks more soothing and help loosen it more than cold drinks. I didn't find any medication that helped at the time and find some of the meds actually suppress the cough, leaving the mucous sitting on the chest so it takes longer to recover/breathe. When I was a child, my parents put a Vicks vaporiser in the bedroom to release vapours into the room at night as my cough usually worsens when lying down. Don't know if they still exist but might be worth a try. Sucking cough sweets also help me with the cough reflex. the breathlessness probably worth relieving with inhalers/nebulisers but do speak to your doctor about this.

[livvyloot]

Hi, I know the problem, it's usually first thing in the morning and I find it hard to cough up and as you say sometimes near to being sick. Mine tends to get stuck more in the throat and I have found that a quick shot straight down the back of the throat with lemon juice (jiffy lemon) actually starts to break it up and it's a lot easier to cough up. Hope this helps.

[Brogan-12]

Hi my partner used a nebuliser and had a blood tranfusion fo his breathlessness this helped him tremendously.

[jillygirl]

If your girlfriend has a word with either her oncologist or lung cancer nurse specialist, they should be able to prescribe some carboceistein tablets which are used to loosen the mucus.

They certainly worked for me.

[Vivienneann]

I have the same, my breathlessness is difficult at times especially trying to do normal day to day stuff, I've been told to slow down! It's due to the treatment etc. Make sure the mucous isn't green etc as could be a chest infection. A nebuliser helps release the mucous. The cough is tough, I just use over the counter cough medicine & sip water.

Sorry can't be more helpful

All the best

[RoyCastleHelpline Partner Ask the Nurse Roy Castle]

Dear tonyp62

Sorry to hear about your girlfriends current symptoms and you have had some great responses from all your replies.

You can buy Vicks Humidifier on Amazon and Ebay, Boots also sell some humidifiers. this will loosen the secretions, sometimes it is more difficult for females to cough up mucous than it is for men, which can make you feel sick it it is swallowed and not coughed up. It may be worth asking for urgent Chest Physiotherapy to assist with this. You can do this either through the nurse specialist or GP.

If you wish to discuss anything you can call us on our free nurse led helpline number on 0800 358 7200

Kind regards

The Roy Castle Support Team

[tonyp62 in reply to RoyCastleHelpline]

We send our thanks to everyone for their helpful advice in this matter.

[YorkiieJo123]

Thank you every one for your replies I have had this trouble for a long time. When vomiting the mucous I run a temperature but once it is brought up I rapidly go back to normal. I am going to ask my GP for those carbonceistein tablets. All the health professionals have assumed it was stomach problems.