Hello! I have a major drooling problem! I have tried different medications and nothing seems to help! My doctor is now suggesting removing my salivary gland! i was wondering if anyone has had this problem and had their salivary gland removed?
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My fear is that my mouth will be totally dry!
That would be my fear also maidar. I'm going to follow this thread and see what people say.
Absolutely do *NOT* have your salivary glands removed, or otherwise tampered with, by surgery. Count your blessings that your salivary glands are working so well. PD has dried up my saliva and as a consequence I have had rampant tooth decay. I am having about $4000 in dental work done just now and that is not necessarily the end of it.
Per Drooling of saliva: A review of the etiology and management options at sci-hub.bz/10.1016/j.triple...
"treatment of drooling can potentially complicate oral health. Such effects, notably the impact of decreased salivation, must always be taken into account. Saliva contributes significantly to oral health. It functions as a buffer and a source of ions used for remineralization of teeth. Complications such as gingivitis, burning sensation of the mucous membrane, *rampant caries*, *rapid tooth destruction*, cheilitis, commissure fissuring, tongue and palate crusting, and occasionally paresthesia of the tongue or mucous membrane should be addressed. Regular dental examination for caries is recommended for all patients, and fluoride supplementation might be helpful."
I have had a sore tongue at times due to lack of saliva and that alone can become a serious problem.
Yes please keep drooling. My mouth is so dry from all the meds I constantly have a bottle of something with me. You know what thy say, I would rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy. I know old joke.
The dryness may be from PD although amantadine can do it too. I take Cevimeline which prompts my salivary glands to put out what they can.
Botox is the answer for some.
sounds extreme.......saliva fights tooth bacteria...maybe it's just your teeth. I have this problem occasionally and I 'm going to pull a tooth, as soon as I test for mercury, (I have a lot of mercury amalgams)
Never heard of such a drastic measure to treat this common problem.
Maybe you could try taking NAC. I have been taking it for 10 weeks now with great results in my PD symptons, but the annoying side effect of a dry mouth.
What exactly is N T please
Thanks
It is a supplement used mainly by body builders I think. You can get it at health food shops or on line. It helps your body make glutathione which is an anti oxidant. It occurs naturally in Brussel sprouts, but you need to eat 1.5 cups a day! Also other cruciferous vegetables.
What is NAC?
Natural Molecule Could Improve Parkinson’s
jefferson.edu/university/ne...
N-acetyl-cysteine in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. What are we waiting for?
I had a severe drooling problem during the day and at night while sleeping. My pillow would be wet in the morning. I started taking vitamin d3 because I thought it might prevent the flu. Amazingly my drooling problem ceased and has not returned. It has been going on three years now. I take 10,000 iu of d3 daily but you can start with 50,000 iu as a loading dose for a week or two, then lower dosage to 5,000 to 10,000 iu daily. I would think it would work as well for you
This may sound like too simple a remedy for such a complex problem but have you tried chewing gum? It reminds our automatic swallowing process to reduce the excess saliva. Not always socially acceptable, but better than the alternative.
We all produce 2-4 pints of saliva a day and failure to automatically swallow it is the problem as has already been said. My PD nurse recommended a boiled sweet. Which is worst chewing gum or sweet I don't know but having no saliva would have widespread effects which a GP should realise. Speech therapists specialise in all manner of swallowing problems and this would be where to get advice as well.
Removing the salivary gland would be a very bad idea, research indicates that the other glands will simply start to ramp up production to compensate. Botox is extremely effective and it's usually with recommended when traditional treatments including medications fail. I would suggest using Botox on the parotid and submandibular gland's. It's the subject of at least 20 articles in the Parkinson research literature. I have no idea why this person's suggesting removing glands but I don't agree at all. In fact, I disagree so strongly that I wonder whether you should have a consult with a new doctor, I have strong disagreement with his/her clinical thinking.
Surgery should only be considered when the condition is like threatening,especially for people who have pd. Get speech and swallowing therapy; try breathing exercises, drink more, practice swallowing.
Hi Maidar. All you need to do is to consciously swallow, regularly. You need your saliva glands and would be foolish to have them removed.
Your brain is not telling you to swallow regularly. When you realize that you are dribbling, then swallow the saliva. Also try not to hold your head down, so that you are looking at the floor. Keep you head up and the saliva will not run out of your mouth.
Please try sucking and chewing whole cloves several times a day. This has helped my husband and they are very good for your gums. No surgeryplease
Hi,
My husband has severe drooling,
We were recommended to try the hysione patch,
A small patch worn behind the ear.
Well as a precaution,we only used half of one, the first time,
That night.
I was woken up in the early hours to all the lights in the house on, and objects moved and placed all over the furniture, and my husband walking round Hallucinating, to the extreme..
He had to be taken into hospital where he was left lying in A&E trying to get of the bed all day, and trying to find imaginary food to eat..
it was an absolute disgrace, I personally had to stop him falling of this make shift trolley several times, whilst staff stood by, more intent on looking at the computer screen.
He was eventually diagnosed as having to much dopamine, in his body,
Needless to say, they have never been used again..
But is there another answer to the constant drooling,
It is absolutely awful, and restricts him from doing a lot of things ...
Mostly if he's standing, which I use loosely has he has the permanent stoop of PD, also if he drops of to sleep, without lying back,
In his chair..
I did not realise how ones drool can actually take the colour of furniture either..
he has lost the will to live.. every day just exsists, nothing I do or say
Makes any difference .any more ..
I'm devastated.. to think this is our life now.. he was diagnosed 6 yrs ago.
I hate PD with a passion
Does anyone have any solutions to the drooling problem at all..
Thank you and God bless
drooling is the result of not swallowing frequently enough. Speak to your Movement Disorder Specialist about it. The Loud Program may help. I just bought water repellent Pillow covers and changed the pillow cases daily. Removal of salivary glands should NOT be done.
Drooling has been traditionally treated with anticholinesterase inhibitors like Artane:
duckduckgo.com/?q=artane+dr...
It just so happens that the herb sage, Salvia officinalis has anticholinesterase properties:
Effects of cholinesterase inhibiting sage (Salvia officinalis) on mood, anxiety and performance on a psychological stressor battery.
"In a concomitant investigation, an extract of the sage leaf exhibited dose-dependent, in vitro inhibition of acetylcholinesterase and, to a greater extent, butyrylcholinesterase."
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/162...
Acetyl- and butyrylcholinesterase activity in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Parkinson's disease.
"BChE activity in CSF correlated with these clinical parameters, and patients with cerebral atrophy had higher BChE activity in CSF than those patients without atrophy."
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/369...
Here is a link to Demeter Whole Foods with more information about sage:
demeterwholefoods.co.uk/p12...
More on sage: newpharma.ch/sites/default/...
When Parkinson's disease patients have excessive drooling, hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating)....it is because of a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system and it is called Dysautonomia (in Parkinson Disease):
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...
And dysautonomia is largely caused by a malfunction of the hypothalamus:
oxfordscholarship.com/view/...
biology.about.com/od/anatom...
Here is a prior topic link to healthunlocked on the topic of Autonomic Dysfunction and I posted a sage product called Dermiday which is specifically compounded to counteract hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating).
healthunlocked.com/parkinso...
Back to work here....
I've got to say that anticholinergics have pretty serious side effects, particularly in older adults. There are a couple of options such as like glycopyrolate that I see occasionally, mainly because it doesn't pass the brain brain barrier. More often, if someone's going to use medications, I see them using atropine drops and occasionally ipatropium spray (Under the tongue).
However, in my experience, folks usually try speech therapy For behavioral approaches to treatment (not LSVT, which, although excellent, is targeted towards voice).if that's not successful, their neurologist usually progresses to Botox unless they get resistance. I've had exactly one patient successfully talk to Dr into giving them Artane but it was discontinued because it wasn't a good enough outcome for the side effects it was causing.
Pfizer booster, flu and PD
Do you know a toe nail fungus solution that works?
Swallowing or choking problem
Very thick phlegm that I can not cough to move 
HDT & TTFD–In my case, HBP was a return of symptoms and not a side-effect of TTFD.
