Wtf does my mouth keep doing this?

[Coralreef1]

Hi! I’ve had a bit of a problem on and off for a while. The insides of my mouth- specifically around the insides of my gums, are SO red, raw and irritated. It comes and goes and there aren’t any triggers- for example it’s been fine for a few days, has been absolutely fine today and now tonight all of a sudden it’s red raw and irritated and agony to try and eat. There aren’t any triggers- I avoid the area when brushing my teeth and it’s not the edge between my gums and teeth, it’s the insides of my mouth but closer to the bit that the inside of the gums sort of curves and becomes the roof of your mouth. Sometimes I get the same raw patches and pain on the roof of my mouth too.

it’s so painful and I have no idea what’s causing it. I mentioned it to my dentist and had X-rays and my mouth is completely healthy so he wasn’t sure but this keeps happening and it’s horrible

ill try to post a photo below if I can get a clear one

really hoping someone has any sort of knowledge or experience or advice because it’s driving me mad!

thank you in advance!

Could it be SLS in toothpaste causing it?

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35506963/

Right, managed to get a photo-, please excuse how sqeamish is! it’s difficult to see but just where the blue scribbles are there’s like cuts and redness, I haven’t scratched or injured it at all and it’s been keeps flaring up and happening and I’ve no idea why

Vitamin deficiency?

Are you sure it's not a reaction to something you've eaten?

I ate a single boiled sweet the other day and I've no idea what was in it, but my mouth felt like it had papercuts all over for a good couple of hours afterwards!

I also get it sometimes if I eat a lot of citrus, especially lemon.

Do you have acid reflux? Or other symptoms of a digestive disorder?

I don’t think it’s the toothpaste because I’ve tried so many different types and tried to cut out all the ingredients that I’ve read can cause it, including SLS. I’ve also tried different types and softness of toothbrushes and even once tried not brushing my teeth for 24 hours and it still flared up out of nowhere.

don’t think it’s a reaction to food either - I know exactly what you mean though because as a child I used to get a cut tongue if I ate an ice lolly so I know the paper cut feeling you mean but I’ve tried cutting out different food groups and good types and it isn’t caused by anything. Today for example it’s was absolutely fine at first- I had soft porridge for breakfast and water, then I had to sit an exam so was doing that until lunchtime, then I had a banana and some sliced chicken and buttered bread with no crusts- my mouth was totally fine at this point, then i was out and came back home and it suddenly seemed to start out of nowhere, then I went for a nap and ate something afterwards and had to stop because it was too painful so I couldn’t even eat anything

it’s so frustrating 😫

@LakeFlyPie agree, would also suggest sodium laurel sulphate causing it.

I have ibs and usually get bad diarrhoea- I’ve had multiple calprotectin tests and 2 years ago had an endoscopy and colonoscopy and which were all thankfully fine, to be fair the IBS has been better recently but flares up and down whenever I’m stressed etc but generally it’s been ok recently x

Fruit allergy?

This might be totally unrelated but I kept getting a really sore mouth, just really randomly but I'd also get small ulcers too! Turned out to be a Vitamin B12 deficiency so maybe worth getting a blood test at your GP to check. Hope you get it sorted, there's nothing worse! x

Wheat/gluten allergy or intolerance? My mouth felt similar when I used to eat bread.

B12 deficiency... definitely..

That’s good you’ve already had that done. I was thinking about Chrons as it can have effects like this but sounds like that’s ruled out then.

What toothpaste are you using, at the moment?

Last year, I got very sore gums. Turned out it was the toothpaste I was using...

I can think of around 200 different things this could be.

Make an appointment to go back to your dentist , taking pictures of when your mouth is bad. Do not scribble out teeth etc because it makes it very difficult to see exactly what is going on properly. Also tell them if you have rashes anywhere else in your body . They will refer you for blood tests and to oral medicine . From an informed standpoint you will then be given a course of action that will help things.

Unfortunately gps have very little training in oral medicine and quite often misdiagnose this sort of thing as thrush . However once you've seen and been referred by your dentist to oral medicine they should suggest you go to gp for various blood tests , to get the ball rolling. I would not be surprised , given your history, if you have some deficiencies .

Do not go on an elimination diet without being diagnosed as having coeliac or similar problems . However the suggestion to cut out toothpaste with sls (sensodyne do quite a few as is Superdrug own brand I think) as people can be sensitive and it does make thinks like lichen planus worse. Cutting down on spicy food can sometimes help.

Do not start on supplements until you have blood tests as that can mask some problems ie differentiating between iron/b12 deficiency.

For the pain/discomfort plain yoghurt is very good whilst it is healing and difflam spray can be bought over the counter. However these are only masking symptoms , you need the cause sorting. Good luck.

Do you definitely have IBS or could you have an inflammatory bowel disease that's also affecting your mouth? Worth asking the question of your GP
Thrush was my first thought though you have no white patches