Docetaxel thick saliva

Hi All just started my first round of docetaxel 6 days ago and developed a very sore throat also have lots of thick saliva and muscus it’s a really unpleasant feeling and it feels like it’s constantly coating the back of my throat and won’t go down it’s making me retch and no matter how many times I spit it out more comes straight away. Has anyone else had this and any ways to help it? The doctor is also giving me a mouthwash to try, thanks xx

@skt4 I had a similar problem when i was on Docetaxel, though it didnt make me retch. My mouth was dry, yet had thick saliva - very weird. I also had a furred tongue and lost my sense of taste, especially for savoury things. The good news was that it all resolved on the 10th or 11th day after the treatment and everything went back to normal until the next time.

The things I found helped a bit were drinking iced drinks, sucking boiled sugar free sweets - I had butterscotch ones and some lemon ones. I was given Corsodyl mouthwash which seemed to make things worse. For the last treatment the chemo nurse suggested trying Nystatin in case there was an element of oral thrush - this seemed to help the dry mouth and my tongue was a bit less furry.

Hope you feel better soon xx

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Try Duraphat toothpaste. You can buy it from your dentist, it is brilliant to cut down on this claggy mouth. You can probably buy online too. It’s not expensive. Best wishes.

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I’m on paclitaxel and had the same. I was prescribed benzdamine hydrochloride
Mouthwash and it completely sorted it. This was alongside gel clair oral rinse gel sachets which gave my tongue a protective coating.

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Thank you all for your help purchased some boiled sweets and they gave me the diflam mouthwash to try so hopefully will help till it goes :blush: xx

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Hi @skt4
I also had 4 rounds of docetaxel but had mild mouth issues. I remember the dry but mouth full of saliva feeling :nauseated_face: Docetaxel also knacked my tastebuds but they recovered after about 10/11 days.
Glad you got some difflam, was going to suggest this as it can help numb any soreness temporarily. I also used oraldene mouthwash as its antibacterial. If I felt my mouth started to feel a bit furry, which can be a sign of thrush, I would use it for a few days till it cleared up.
Can I suggest you try sucking on ice cubes or ice pops whilst getting your chemo. I found this helped lessen the mouth soreness following treatment. It may not work for everyone but worth a try!
Docetaxel is tough going so don’t suffer in silence! Do let you care team know if anything is bothering you.
Good luck with the rest of your treatment xx

I had that when i was on Docetaxol and it was a form of thrush . I was given tablets and it was gone within a few days , i was then given a course of tablets to take after each course of Docetaxol as if it happens once it will probably happen again. Good luck with the rest of your treatment x