The Good news... after 3 months of constant (and I mean very constant) cankers, my mouth is now canker freeeeeeeeeee! I've been canker free for almost a month now. Yippee!
The Bad news... the cankers were directly related to my birth control pills. Arrrgggg! So now what?
Seriously - for 3 months I would get a sore or two and as soon as it would heal, I'd get another or 2 or 3. We're not just talking little canker sores, we're talkin' full blown painful ulcers. Can you tell I've been murmuring about these way too much? Don't worry, I didn't take a photo... this is one of those unphotographable moments!
What happiness and relief came to my mouth when 4 days (yes - only 4 days!!!) after stopping my birth control pills, my sores healed right up. And then I ravaged the sweets bin because I could finally eat chocolate again. I think I had lost a few pounds from all my cankers and having a cough for a month. But alas... those pounds found my waist again!
Anyways...
Why am I discussing this on my bloggie? Well, when I called the nurse to talk about my cankers and that I thought they were related to bc, she seriously did not believe me. She had never heard of that before. I told her that I had read about and talked to others who linked cankers with bc. She said I could finish the round of pills and then see if my cankers stopped. And then she suggested I get my blood tested. I'm like, 'get tested for what?' She said to get tested for herpes. Yes, cankers are caused by herpes, but goodness sakes, it's not the STD kind. Ok - way too much info already. Moving on...
back to why I am sharing this...
just to pass on the info that if you do suffer from cankers, you might want to look into the reasons behind it (other than stress, sugars, eating sharp foods such as chips). Oral ulcers can be caused by hormonal imbalance (hence the bc problem) and other chemicals or foods.
This is the first time I've had a problem with severe prolonged cankers. But it's also the first time I took this specific generic pill (Trinessa). And because I couldn't stand having my cankers for another moment longer, I stopped in the middle of the first week of pills (which, by the way, will send your hormones into major conniptions).
Partially for my own reference and anyone else who needs the scoop on oral ulcers, here's a summary of Wikipedia's info on Cankers.
There are many processes which can lead to ulceration of the oral tissues. In some cases they are caused by an overreaction by the body's own immune system. Factors that appear to provoke them include stress, fatigue, illness, injury from accidental biting, hormonal changes, menstruation, sudden weight loss, food allergies and deficiencies in vitamin B12, iron and folic acid.
Sugars
Eating large amounts of sugar can also lead to oral ulcers. These are not a general worry because these subside within a day or two unless large volumes of sugar continue to be present in a person's diet.
Chemical injuries
Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), one of the main ingredients in most toothpastes, has been implicated in increased incidence of oral ulcers.
Viral
The most common is Herpes simplex virus which causes recurrent herpetiform ulcerations preceded by usually painful multiple vesicles which burst.
I did some research and asked family members (cankers do run in our genes) about prevention and healing for these mouth sores.
Lysine was recommended to help prevent. I tried it, but only for a few days but I don't think it was meant to heal them...just prevent. And the pills I had were huge horse size pills and I had a hard time swallowing. Go name brand on these babies...
Tincture of benzoin was recommended to help put a coating over the canker so it can heal and so it won't rub on anything in your mouth. If I remember correctly, this is found in products like Zylactin-B. I found out about this right before my cankers went away but I couldn't find any at Target or Walmart. The pharmacies are weird about this because it has iodine (which i guess is used to make meth or something) but you can just tell them the use it has for oral ulcers (I would recommend showing them all your cankers so they believe you!!) :)
Baking Soda/Salt/Warm Water rinse a few times a day. This I tried and though it hurt like crazy temporarily, I think it really did cleanse the ulcers. I totally recommend.
So the blessing I am recognizing in my life right now is the absence of oral ulcers. Hey - it's the little things that make the difference - eh?
6 comments:
I once had a problem with prolonged cankers. You reach a breakign point. It nearly drove me crazy. It was one of the more annoying things that have ever happened. Plus, it just cankers, so no one feels that bad for you, and there is nothing you can really do about it.
I'm glad they went away. Good for you.
So glad your cankers are gone, Heath!!! Aren't they just terrible? I'm so happy for you to be able to enjoy chocolate again. (And I'm SO sorry I didn't mention the bc pills sooner. I somehow thought your cankers were related to moving to Utah.) Also . . . love the blog header! It's cool!!
I once had a canker, and I don't know if this really was what helped it, but the day after doing it, my canker went away. I took a really hot spoon (I was drinking hot chocolate, so the spoon from that was in the hot chocolate) and "burned" the canker. Several times I touched the hot spoon to the canker (and held it there) and it hurt, but crazy enough, the next day it was gone. Don't know if was good to do or not...
man o man, bc causes cankers too? HELLO! I get them from sodium laurel sulfate...so we all must have a predisposition to them and then they're brought out by different things!
Very interesting. It doesn't surprise me though. Herpes is also the cause of cold sores. Crazy. Glad they are gone for you!
We do NOT like cankers! So glad yours are gone. Very informative post, Heath!
Post a Comment