Hey! Im messaging on behalf of my mum who is diagnosed with grade 3. She is on her 4th cycle of Chemo and has suffered really bad with a sore throat. Her taste buds have been off but she cannot eat as it hurts when she sallows and even talking it hurts her. She gets this burning sensation and feels as if her glands are swollen. We went to the hospital and the doctor gave her a medicine to help but it’s not working at all. If anyone else has been through the same side effect and knows anything that can help I’d be so grateful! Thank you x
Hi Evie
I’m sorry I can’t help directly but I didn’t want you to feel you were being ignored. I developed swallowing problems but didn’t experience sore throats. In my first cycle, I felt the lining of my mouth peel away, my gums shrink, my mouth and throat dry…taste went pretty quickly. Eventually I was just left with a choice of tasteless, salty, sweet or sour - no other distinctions and no textures, so I can empathise with your mother. I was plagued by ulcers and no amount of hospital medications helped. My weight plummeted. The best I can offer is that it changed with my change in chemo (EC, then paclitaxel), didn’t necessarily improve, but it stopped quite quickly after my final treatment. (My throat problems began with radiotherapy as I had to have it to my collarbone.)
Your mum’s oncologist and her adjuvant oncology nurse will be monitoring her side effects and health closely so just make sure she keeps reporting in specific terms - sometimes they do change the type of chemo or the dosage or even give you a break to recuperate. You have to weigh up what you can tolerate against the benefits of the treatment to fighting those nasty b****rs. She might consider alternative therapies - I used homoeopathy - but this has to be done with the oncologist’s knowledge and agreement. I hope she finds a solution and that others can be more helpful.
Hi I am the same have had 3 cycles of 3 weekly doses of chemo, used cold cap twice, hair fell out anyway but still i tried. Since the first one I have a constant cold cold, sore throat and coughing so much I end up heaving. I have have had 2 lots of antibiotics off doctor at hospital and also my doctor.
At last the cough has eased a off a bit but my throat is constantly sore and feels red raw, even though I try and explain how sore my throat is I just get the feeling that im just moaning. Dont get me wrong they are all fantastic but its really getting me down, the constant pain in my throat.
Any ideas anyone
Thanks
Marie
I had a transient sore throat when mouth sore are developing in week 1 post chemo. Altered taste I saw is quite common in chemo and nothing taste good anymore. I drank a lot of liquid and help myself with Boost during the sore throat and family cook chicken soup and keep drinks cold. All that kind of helped.
Sorry to hear your mum can’t eat due to her sore throat. I agree with Evie, definitely go back to doctor/oncologist. Having a sore mout/throat causing you not to eat is one of the side affects in the BC book coloured red asking you to seek immediate medical attention.
Hopefully they can change her medication or add something to give her a bit of relief