Periods and mouth ulcers

[ImNotAnsweringIt]

Since the return of my periods after pg and bf-ing I get lots of nasty, sore ulcers in my mouth. Some are red/yellow spots on the roof of my mouth and are sore enough to effect eating/drinking and also make my glands swell a bit. They arrive with my (very heavy) periods and gradually go over the week.

I presume the cause may be hormonal but can anyone shed any light on why I am getting them and what I could take to prevent them?

what you are describing is almost certainly recurrent aphthous ulceration (RAU). There is no definitive cause, though it is not unusual to find they are related to a woman's menstrual cycle. I w ould recommend the following...

1. take a food supplement containing iron, folate and B12. Deficiencies in these are associated with RAU, and are may be caused by menorrhagia (heavy periods). Some high dose vitamin c could be useful too. By all means get a blood test for anaemia, looking at folate and b12 as well as iron, however levels within normal parameters on blood tests may still not be high enough to prevent ulceration. Excess iron intake is not good long term, but extra folate and B12 should be OK.
2. topical treatments for the actual ulcers: hot salt water mouth rinses (half a cup of water as hot as you can stand with a teaspoon of salt in), repeated till the cup is empty as often as you like. Corsadyl mouthwash is good, but tastes awful and may feel too "strong" on your ulcers. A specialist mouth wash or spray like "difflam" is good. It contains an antinflammatory as well as a local anaesthetic.
3. painkillers if they are that bad.
4. Tetracycine capsules broken and the contents dissolved in water was a remedy touted when I was training. I have never actually seen it used in practice, and you would need a prescription from your GP.

Oh and there is the old chestnut of adequate diet, exercise, sleep and "you time". easier said than done but cannot do any harm.

Thank you, that's wonderful advice. I have been on a very restricted diet for 6 mths as bf-ing allergic baby so vitamin deficiency and anaemia certainly not unlikely.

Thank you, lots of things to try.