What Causes Very Dry Mouth, Chapped Lips, Hoarseness And Thirst?

Posted on Mon, 18 Dec 2017

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 18 Dec 2017 Answered on

Fri, 25 May 2018 Last reviewed on

Question : I had to swallow a radioactive iodine capsule after having my thyroid removed (cancer) ten years ago. Since then, I have had very dry mouth, chapped lips, hoarseness and now I am experiencing an uncomfortable sensation when I eat or drink. The dry mouth and excessive thirst during the night has become more frequent. I did a barium swallow and was told I had esophageal motility. I can not find a doctor in my area that is eager to do more testing. What do you think?

I do not believe I gave you my email address. It is YYYY@YYYY . Thank you in advance.

Answered by Dr. Mirjeta Guni (41 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
About your symptoms;

Detailed Answer:
Hello and thank you for asking!
I have gone carefully through your concern.
First you should check the thyroid hormones ( TSH, FT4 and FT3) to be sure that you are taking the right dose of levothyroxine.
An over dosage of levothyroxine can be manifested with exessive sweating.
If the dry mouth persists since you have swallowed radioactive iodine, than it may be a side effect of it but if it got worse lately you need to check glucose level to rule out Diabetes and check calcium level to rule out a high level calcium.
A neck ultrasound and a thyroglobulin level would be needed to be sure that there is no cancer recidive.
So, i would suggest;
-TSH, Ft4 and Ft3.
-Thyroglobulin
-Glucose
-Electrolytes
- A neck ultrasound.
Will be a pleasure to help you further.
Kind regards,
Dr.Mirjeta

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T