Aphthous Ulcers

[plumbago]

At first I thought it was an infected or clogged (with a stone) salivary gland, but after taking a gander at my tongue late this afternoon, I see it is a large aphthous ulcer on the right side of my tongue, and it hurts. Any micro-movement, even, seems to cause pain. Swallowing is no fun. Eating lunch was a challenge, eating dinner tonight, much more painful - to such an extent that I'm not sure how breakfast will go tomorrow. Will I have to drink it?

I have gotten frequent ulcers in the past, even the recent past. I have heard they can be caused by stress, autoimmunity, some ingredients in toothpaste (SLS) and possibly citrus. Before I realized the pain was coming from my tongue, when I thought it was salivary gland-related, I drank lots of raw lemon juice. Possibly the exact wrong thing. While eating dinner, I got another one on the other side, more toward the front and not as painful. Still, incredible.

I just cleaned out CVS of anbesol, orajel mouthwash, and two different kinds of toothpaste without SLS.

Does anyone have any thoughts? I feel sure I have not been "glutened" recently and am always doing my utmost to eat gluten-free.

Plumbago

[Feeneyja]

I believe acidic foods can cause them, so the lemon juice could be the culprit.  I get them if I eat a lot of tomatoes or drink a lot of coffee (again, the acids) or if I am sick. And definitely stress/illness.  Many autoimmune diseases come with these ulcers and it is thought that it is a result of the inflammation.  My gluten challenge brought on a mouth full of sores and swollen gums that affected my teeth (nerve pain and loose teeth).

I have always found that gargling with warm salt water helps quite a bit with the healing process.  Don't swallow it!  Also, you can get a paste from your dentist that you put on it at bed time that also helps it heal, but I have no idea if it's gluten free.  

 

[plumbago]

10 hours ago, Feeneyja said:

I have always found that gargling with warm salt water helps quite a bit with the healing process.  Don't swallow it!

No, I won't swallow it! Right now, the wound is not really open, and cold relieves the pain more than warmth, so I'm not sure how much good salt water will do. I guess I get to anticipate the day when it does open, if it does. O goody. The pain is incredible. And I'm very hungry because I'm not eating enough. This really sucks, I must say. Thanks for your other words. Yeah, it was the citrus, and the stress, and some sugary things probably did not help either. Ugh.

[cristiana]

Just recently I've had a lot of soreness in my mouth. I have small apthous ulcers on the underside of my tongue (even when I'm well I find I can get them by just eating salty potato chips).  I also have had to have a lump removed from my mouth which turned out to be benign.  Most of this I put down to stress, not enough sleep and I'm badly anemic at the moment - women's stuff.  I have just started to supplement B12 and ferrous glucanate again which has helped in the past.  My consultant tells me that often celiacs with blood iron under 50 can suffer from these sores and if I have an infusion it should sort out the problem.

Silly of me but I've just made things far worse, I believe, by consuming a few pure (i.e. gluten free) oat cookies in the last couple of days. I've avoided oats for a long while now but thought I'd give them a try again and my mouth is tremendously sore this evening.

[plumbago]

I have just purchased Dr Bronner's All-One Toothpaste, and plan on using it. I have heard SLS in toothpaste can cause these kinds of ulcers.

[Victoria1234]

I use a little bit of baking soda and mix it into a paste and put it on the offending area. Try to not swallow as long as you can, then rinse out. Makes mine go away by the next day.

[plumbago]

Thanks.

The ulcer has been slowly shrinking so I'm more or less ok now, but for next time. The toothpaste is for mainly just avoiding future flares, that is, if the ulcers are caused by the SLS. However, it does not have fluoride, and I do want fluoride.

What I did to manage it was to use a lot of listerine - it just withered it, as best I can describe. Used light nsaids before eating, and drank only water for the last week, no juice, no carbonated water, no coffee, no coca cola, just water. It's been boring!

[Posterboy]

Plumbago,

Invest in some Lysine an amino acid.  It can be used prophylactically to keep sores at bay.

Taking it in high doses say 1,000mg two or three times daily can help them heal quickly.

Here is an old thread about this topic.

There are many other threads that talk about this.

Here is a newer thread about the same topic that has some additional ideas.

But in essence apply the three week rule.  If it doesn't get better in 3 weeks go and see your doctor about it.

But Lysine helped even my most severe ulcer/mouth sore outbreaks in less than a week when I used to get them all the time especially if I swilled salt water in addition to the Lysine.

But Lysine keeps them at bay for me.

*** this is not medical advice but I hope this is helpful.

posterboy,