I have a dirty mouth.

[hisno1girl]

Heh heh.

I feel like my mouth is always dry and dirty. Even if I don't eat any thing, I get this disgusting slick feeling to my tongue, like it's coated with...something.

I have tried Arm & Hammer baking soda toothpaste, I've tried using my regular toothpaste and dipping that into baking soda.

I have tried kits of rinses and mouthwashes but my mouth still feels gross.

I regularly use a tongue scraper and that helps a little but my gag reflex is very low and I don't want to puke every time I clean my mouth.

I do drink water constantly, but it's just a side effect of the chemo and radiation.

Is there any toothpaste or tricks that help you have a really clean mouth?

[sunnysally]

I like the lemon mouth swabs you get in the hospital.

[tellmesomethingood]

Have you tried a sugar free gum?

[mich1]

I was on IV antibiotics for 6 months, and the drugs left the most disgusting taste in my mouth, despite toothpaste, rinses, etc. The things I found that helped the best were ginger ale and water with half a lemon in it. Crystal light lemonade worked pretty good too. Peppermint candies and lemon drops were what I sucked on when I wasn drinking.

As I needed help getting to the bathroom, I generally used the candies during the day when I was here alone and would drink more at night when my SO could help me.

I never got rid of the taste, just covered it up.

[Deleted]

Have you tried antiseptic listerine mouth wash?

[cville]

I hate that! Ugh. I don't have much advice. I liked those lemonhead candies when I was on a prescription that gave me that feeling.

[pandangie]

Have you looked into the biotene line? They have rinses, sprays, gels, washes, pastes, etc. that are all made for dry mouth. I don't know if it works or not, but maybe worth a shot? I've seen it stocked at Rite Aid and Walgreens.

[mrs.jacinthe]

My dad had that problem when he was in the hospital. It's not the best for dental health, but he rinsed his mouth with pepsi a few times a day (he wasn't allowed to swallow it because of his condition) but apparently it was the only thing he found to be helpful. NO idea if that was more psychological than anything else, but there it is.

He also switched to cinnamon toothpaste with xylitol and found that was helpful too. This: www.vitacost.com/now-foods-solutions-xyli-white-toothpaste-gel

[sonrisa]

How frustrating.

Have you tried gum with xylitol? I've heard that can help.

[starshine1977]

My DH was having this problem when he was on some medications. He didn't like some of the mouth wetting mouth washes or lozenges he tried but what he found eventually that he did like were ACT Dry Mouth Lozenges in the Soothing Mint flavor. So that is the recommendation from someone who has the same problem. Hope it helps! 

[humpforfree]

I don't go here, but I literally just saw on a FB group I'm in that someone else had that cottony mouth feeling from chemo maintenance meds. She gave a PSA that skittles helped!!

[bex1973]

Did you try our tried and true cure all of Vernors?

Otherwise my Grampy used the mouth swabs from the hospital a lot and they seemed to help him.

[jmc325]

Biotene helped my dad quite a bit when he was going through treatment. Also, he swore by lifesavers hard candies (the fruity flavors, not mint). Hope you get some relief soon!

[jennistarr1]

try biotene ...I'm tagging lemons to see if she has some other ideas.

Are you sure it's not thrush?

[hisno1girl]

Jun 2, 2017 8:26:44 GMT -5 bex1973 said:

Did you try our tried and true cure all of Vernors?

Otherwise my Grampy used the mouth swabs from the hospital a lot and they seemed to help him.

Girl, I think I'm the only person in MI who doesn't like Vernors

[hisno1girl]

Jun 2, 2017 10:11:15 GMT -5 jennistarr1 said:

try biotene ...I'm tagging lemons to see if she has some other ideas.

Are you sure it's not thrush?

They checked and it's not. Is just a side effect.

[pegasuskat]

Jun 3, 2017 19:23:00 GMT -5 hisno1girl said:

Jun 2, 2017 8:26:44 GMT -5 bex1973 said:

Did you try our tried and true cure all of Vernors?

Otherwise my Grampy used the mouth swabs from the hospital a lot and they seemed to help him.

Girl, I think I'm the only person in MI who doesn't like Vernors

I'm from Michigan and never cared for it either. But my grandmother went through chemo in Detroit back in the 70's and practically lived on vernors. Back then she stayed in the hospital for months and we would bring it to her: