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What medicine dries saliva?
My friend has ALS and desperately needs a medicine to dry her saliva so that she doesn't drown. Two that the doctors have given her have had unbearable side-effects. So can you tell me what you have used that dried your saliva terribly? Thank you.
I don't know the names of the 2 meds the doctor gave her but both caused bad side effects. She has had ALS since 2011.She is a real fighter and is praying for a miracle. The doctors want to reduce her saliva, so she doesn't choke. She is posting daily on facebook. She can't use her hands and has a suction machine and hospice as of a few days age. She has excellent care. i cut and pasted your answers to her private messages. Thank you for the answers!
2 Answers
- TweetyBirdLv 77 years agoFavorite Answer
I wish you'd listed which medications she's already tried, that's what people posting here usually do. I'll start with meds I'm familiar with. There's glycopyrrolate (Robinul). This has been ordered for and administered to patients with MS and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease with no side effects. We also use it for trach patients who have excessive secretions. It's hasn't caused a problem yet. It should work for some one with ALS. Glycoprryolate can be taken by mouth or by injection. Glycopyrrolate shouldn't be used by people with certain conditions but I don't believe ALS is one of them.
Some more that I'm familiar with are atropine oral drops (Sal-Tropine), amitriptyline (Elavil), nortriptyline (Pamelor) and the scopolamine transdermal patch (Transderm Scop). Along with one of these medicaitons, adding imipramine (Tofranil) given at bedtime, reduces anxiety and saliva and promotes sleep.
One med I'm not as familiar with is propantheline (Pro-Banthine), I've never given this to a patient.
I also need to know how advanced her condition is. If she can swallow or spit out/wipe away the extra saliva, she should do so. If she's reached the point where it's gotten to be too much, she should have a suction machine at home with a canister and a few Yankauer suction catheters.
Source(s): I'm a nurse.
