Mouth sores beginning - what can I do?

[Lifes2short]

Hi all,
I'm a bit more than a week after my third round of Folfox and I think I'm developing a couple sores in my mouth. My doc recommended that I take L-Lycene and I've been taking it.

Any other advice or remedies to help keep these things at bay?

[Ron50]

Hi L2S,
I had real problems with the inside of my mouth splitting and bleeding. An older chemo nurse suggested I mix a spoonful of salt and a spoonful of sodium bi-carbonate in a glass of water and use it as a mouth wash morning and evening. I certainly worked for me ,regards .
Ron.

[Pollyanna]

I just used regular baking soda & warm (not hot) water. I rinsed about every hour or so. It seemed to be very soothing.

When things got out of hand, my oncologist prescribed a mouthwash - it's a compound that the pharmacist has to make up (Tetracycline, Nystatin, Solucortef, QS, distilled water) - it was great at clearing things up. I used it to numb things a little, I would wait about 10 minutes, then I could eat.

I also changed my eating habits a little during this phase - only soft foods. Room temp or warm - never hot. Stock up on soups, puddings, ice cream, tapioca, rice pudding, oatmeal. You won't be able to keep up a great food plan during this, but with the soups you can some nutrition (and protein), and the others can keep your calories up.

Even if you're really not hungry because of the sores, try to drink and have a little soft food. It's easy to get dehydrated at this point, and that's one more thing on our plates we don't need.

Good luck, and know that they'll go away in 4 -5 days. It sounds like a long time now, but in the grand scheme of things it's not.

[ASTEPHENS33]

I had both upper and lower night guards made. (I told a dentist I was on chemo and he did them at cost.) I found that my lip resting against the plastic rather than my teeth really helped.

[Hannah]

This isn't "proven" but some patients find that it helps to chew on ice or eat popsicles during infusion. The idea is that the cold keeps blood flow low to the mouth, and therefore there isn't as much chemo getting through to that area.

Hannah

[Lifes2short]

I've heard about the ice chips and it sounds like a good approach. Unfortunately, it won't work with Folfox because the Oxaliplatin makes us extremely sensitive to cold. Funny - when I come home from a round of chemo, all I can think of is popsicles and cold things - it's what I really crave. But eating anything cooler than room temperature is a very painful experience.

[CBLACK]

My husband was told to use Breath RX brand of mouthwash, because it kills the bacteria but doesn't have alcohol. Also, using a soft bristle toothbrush is important too. Good luck!

[BlessedGrl]

Ask your doctor about Gelclair--it's a "bioadherent gel" that you swish around your mouth specifically for chemo side effects.

Let me know if you want some, since I think we have a bunch left.

Good luck,

Sima
Miss you my angel, Paul
5/27/56-11/26/06

[Lifes2short]

Thanks for the kind offer, Blessedgirl. I will ask my doctor about it. The sores cleared up last round, but now I have a new one with my latest round of chemo. So far they haven't been too terrible - just a bit irritating and some foods seem to make it worse.

Thanks for all the great responses.

[MissKim]

Lifes2Short,

I used something called "Magic Mouth Wash" that my onc. prescribed for me. I just swished 2 teaspoons of the mouth wash around my mouth and it helped with the mouth sores. My mouth became somewhat "numb" but it did help me get the food down.

Miss Kim