Mouth ulcers

[happytoseeyou]

My DS (11) had a mild cough about 12 days ago (negative covid test) and a couple of days later complained of mouth ulcers.
The ulcers have got progressively worse and now cover the inside of his cheeks, tongue, throat and his lips are caked with dry blood and he is finding it very hard to swallow anything.
We have been to hospital twice but they have said they see 3/4 patients a year with symptoms like this and there is nothing they can do as it's his own antibodies over reacting to the cold/cough he had.

If he can't consume any water they will put him on a drip, but if he can manage to swallow even small amounts to keep him at home and dosed up with paracetamol / Ibuprofen, which we are doing but he's losing so much weight and is so listless it's horrible to see.

He has managed to drink about 250ml of water so far today.

Does anyone have any ideas of something else we could try to at least get something into him - its been 9 days since he ate any solids.

He has managed a small glass of milk most days (some days with milkshake mix but usually plain)
He can't swallow jelly

We have tried to get him to drink Dioralyte but he says it stings.
Scambled eggs are a no
He can't face trying soup or yoghurt.

Also - what is best for his lips? we are dabbing them in water and trying to clean them up as best we can but 20 mins later they are solid with dried blood and make it hard for him to open his mouth.

I feel so sad for him, on top of the pain and discomfort he's missed the first week secondary school and will likely miss this week too :

I've been googling this precise problem for a friend earlier. Toothpaste is your answer. Most toothpastes have an ingredient that you're sensitive or unwell cause mouth ulcers. Sodium-lauryl-sulphate (although I may have spelt that wrong) is the detergent that causes toothpaste to froth. You can get toothpaste without it which should help. Most sensedyne toothpastes are SLS free.

Alternatively Colgate toothpastes do contain it however Colgate Total also contains antibacerial stuff to reduce mouth ulcers. But only the Total one.

Could he manage to suck on an icepop?

I would try vaseline on his lips.

I developed allergy to SLS in toothpaste myself in my 30s. It does indeed cause horrible ulcers in the mouth. I use Ecodenta toothpaste which is SLS free, but does have flouride. Holland & Barrett sell it in UK. So that could be a cause.

However, I am surprised the hospital did not do any mouth/throat tests or cultures because there are other causes of mouth ulcers. For example he could have oral thrush- a yeast infection which also is brought on by tired immune system. Or it could be bacterial infection, there is a human hand-foot-mouth bacteria that causes mouth ulcers.
I’d get him to GP and have a throat culture done.

@FatCatThinCat @PlanDeRaccordement
That is so interesting about toothpaste - I had no idea about that so will be looking into that straightaway.

He can't actually suck at the moment so ice pops are out of the question. He was trying to use a straw to drink but can't quite manage it, we picked up some feeding syringes at the hospital so that's what he is using to drink at the moment.

@PlanDeRaccordement I was surprised they didn't do any tests too but have been relying on their diagnosis, but you are right I should take him to GP and ask them to look into this further.

Yes, I don’t see how they could have done a proper diagnosis by sight alone/without a throat culture. He sounds very miserable and it’s not getting better, so definitely take him to the GP.

Could he suck ice cubes?

I also get mouth ulcers from SLS in toothpaste.

Also has he been prescribed anything for the actual pain of the mouth ulcers?

I was given Difflam mouthwash and so was my friend who had mouth ulcers due to chemo.