may be a silly question?

[sdsyd]

This may very well be a silly question, but I'm gonna post it anyhow because I know I've seen sillier.

Okay- here goes.
My latest problem is that when I take a drink- if someone says something funny I CANNOT hold it in my mouth and it sprays everywhere.
I know it happens to everyone on occassion, but this is different.
I have had some increased saliva with drool accumulating at corners of lips, but this is ridiculous, especially because I am a LAUGHER. I have been making sure not to bring a drink to our team meetings at work. Family and friensd are much more forgiving. LOL

Oh wait- I have another question too. What a rebel- a;ways breaking hte rules. When speech troubles begin- When I am on the phone especially, and the conversation is flowing I do pretty well. BUT- when its time to hang up and they say " See ya later" or whatever-It takes me a minute for the words to form to say it back. (Bye, love ya! is what I usually say) I don't know if thats because this is the "quick" part of the conversation or what?

Thanks guys!

Love,
Cindy
-----------------------------
Undiagnosed
last Dx- suspect MND have appt. @ ALS clinic in Jan.

 

[BethU]

Hi, Cindy ... oh, boy, do I do that spraying thing. Although it hasn't happened for a couple months (knock wood). It wasn't just when laughing ... it would happen spontaneously and without warning. That is why I always put a paper towel or tissue over my mouth when I take a sip of any liquid.

I have thought it might be connected to my formerly overactive gag reflex, which has now gone away and so has the spewing of liquids. Maybe the liquid triggers the gag reflex. Another problem that contributed to it, I'm sure, is my deteriorating lip seal. (Lip seal is now kaput ... another reason for the napkin mouth.) I can't close my mouth tightly enough to keep food or liquids in while I try to swallow.

The worst is when you're with people ... a couple incidents when I sprayed the whole dining room table were enough. My ALSA rep said she didn't want me eating alone, and I told her there was no one (including my husband) who would consent to eat with me twice.

I haven'thad the problem with parting words, but my voice does sometimes just fade away to a whisper at the end of a long sentence.

 

[lovelily]

Beth....I love your sense of humor! And by the way, I have wanted to say this for a while....it's wonderful to see your beautiful face when you post! :-D

Cindy...I am sorry you are 'spraying' people when you laugh. I spit when I speak, and am always saying 'sorry' when I hit them in the face.

 

[planningguy]

Cindy,

How long did you have saliva at the corners of your mouth before you started "spraying?" Around the time I began having occasional twitches in jaw and lower lip, I also began to feel saliva at the right corner of my mouth. I really notice it when I chew gum, and am talking at the same time (nasty habit my dear mother never broke me of). The saliva runs over the edge of my lip. Have you noticed any difference in the way your mouth feels?

I've had saliva build up with the dysphagia, but any difficulty swallowing would result in a build up of saliva. Other than some occasional trouble with the "s" sound or hesitency when I think I'm going to stumble on a sentence, I have had no trouble speaking (thought once on a bad day a coworker asked me if I had had dental work done). Like Lovelily, my bigger concern is spitting on the people I am talking to.

Robert

 

[lydia]

A comment on drool:

I have been spraying on my students for nearly 9 months now. To my face, they are good troopers. They don't even grimace. I was spraying before actually drooling. In the past 3 months I have begun to have spit collect in the corners of my mouth (especially the right side) and will, when preoccupied, drool. At the computer, watching a movie, doing the dishes....I drool. This happens at least once a day now. I was pretty upset at first but have decided if this is the least of my worries then I should count my blessings. I am not trivializing it but focusing on symptoms that cause me more grief (like stiffness/soreness) and in the meantime I catalogue it on the WTF list. I mean really, drooling? My neuro didn't care one bit. How can you not take notice when your 44 year old patient reports drooling?( Sorry, letting anger with neuro spill over...wonder what she would do if it was her....)

Lydia

 

[sdsyd]

Hey- thanks for the replies, guys. Always nice to know I'm not alone. I actually think the spitting drinks out happened first. It is just becomming more evident that it wasn't a one time occurance sorta thing.
The drool has been for about 1 and 1/ 2 months now. And yes, it is definately increased with gum or when I am talking alot. I think somebody hit it better when they mentioned poor lip seal, but maybe a combination of excess saliva. because when I drink a BIG drink of coffee ( with a large mug) it ALWAYS spills over the side, so I use a straw frequently.
And during a meeting last week I did have to ask the person next to me ( a speech therapist how FUNNY IS THAT?) " Did I just spit on you?" She said no, but I know damn welll I did.
Anyhow- off to bed.....Monday tomorrow. WORK. yuck. The disability paperwork is crazy you guys. I don't care if they deny me this time around, at least I've got the ball rolling somewhere.

Thanks again and take care-
Love,
Cindy

 

[rose]

See.... reading the posts in this thread actually makes me thankful that I have dry mouth.... I too think the lip seal plays a part in it (I even manage to spit on someone occasionally) also, when we swallow something, it triggers salivation, so the mouth is actually having to deal with more liquid than what is actually being taken in from the cup.

BTW, before we realized what was wrong with me, and that my swallow process had miscoordination, my rheumatologist prescribed Evoxac, which is a medication to help with dry mouth.... I spent one of the absolute most miserable nights of my life choking on saliva all night long. It made the salivary glands that did work go into overdrive, but didn't do anything for the rest of my mouth, so I basically still had dry mouth, with water pouring down my throat. If this is what you guys that have extra saliva deal with, I feel for you!

Good luck at work today Cindy ~ and with the disability red tape!

 

[BethU]

lovelily ... thanks for the kind words! The photo is 6 years old, before my hair mysteriously turned brown. Another ALS symptom, I guess ...

Rose ... sometimes the saliva does what you're describing ... you can't mop it up fast enough. That's when I jam paper towels in my mouth and clamp down for a couple minutes. Oddly, it shuts it off. My husband doesn't mind when I'm walking around with a mouthful of paper towel, but the cats look at me very strangely. But they're always a little critical of how I run the house ...

 

[Shane the Pain]

pint

Hi Cindy:

i was gonna buy you a beer, but forget it now !

Shane

 

[BethU]

Shane ... all you have to do is get out of the line of fire

 

[planningguy]

Sigh... no way to delete a post. I've edited because my lame attempt at humor was bad even for me.

Robert

 

[sdsyd]

I'll take that beer, Shane. I drink Corona with lime. :O)

Robert- I'm sure your joke wasnt that lame. It takes quite a bit to offend me, I luagh at myself all the time.

You guys are great!
Love,
Cindy

 

[Al]

If you really needed something deleted guys send Cindy or I a PM. We can do that for you. I kind of thought it was funny myself Shane.

AL.