Dry mouth

[OvalCanvas]

Since the birth of my youngest I've had a dry mouth on and off. It's not thrush , I've been treated for that and it makes no difference. It's more like a feeling of having very little saliva in my mouth.

I've tried boots dry mouth spray , replacement saliva spray , sucking mints...eating moist food , sipping water etc and it's still happening. I've had blood tests and whilst low iron was found and treated , nothing else has come up.

This may or may not be relevant, but I also have much drier hair and skin too. I'm in my late 30s if that helps also.

Does anyone have any tips on coping with this and/or experience of dry mouth?

I don't have it myself, but as a GP, it always makes my heart sink when a patient comes in with it, because while there are loads of products that claim to treat it, none of them really work. It's very frustrating.

The only thing I can think of that you haven't tried is Salivix pastilles - they seem to work a little for some of my patients, but still aren't a perfect solution.

I have this amongst many other symptoms and was fir tested for Sjogrens Syndrome. Negative and the next thought was Non-Hodgkins - thankfully that came back negative. I don't know where to go for help next. This may help with your diagnosis.

Thank you both for responding. @ViaSacra I may try what you've suggested but on reading reviews they seem to be not much better than a pack of sugar free polos. I appreciate your response though , as I was getting frustrated by lack of resolution when I visited my gp , it makes more sense to me now.

@percheron67 I was tested for sjogrens but that came back negative. I will push for further investigation. Thank you.

I'm upping my water intake at the moment as I've read that dehydration can cause a dry mouth but I'm not very hopeful that it'll work.

I was curious about whether perimenopause could be causing this as I also have started having irregular periods for the first time in my life too. It's a mystery , and I hope to have answers soon.

I don't suppose you're on any medication that can cause this? Antihistamines can give a very dry mouth. Do you sleep with your mouth open?

Have you tried changing your toothpaste to a dry mouth toothpaste? That sometimes helps as they don't have SLS - the foaming agent - in them. You can get them in pharmacies. Biotene and BioXtra are common brands.

If you also have dry skin and hair you may find avoiding SLS in shower gel and shampoo makes a difference.

I use antihistamines and two inhalers for asthma. I rinse my mouth after using these though. I have no idea if I sleep with my mouth open.

@AnnaMagnani I use biotene toothpaste, I've used it for about a year now. I also use Maui moisture shampoo and conditioner for dryness , they work well.

Oh, you are ahead of me

Thanks for your post though , it's really nice to have suggestions made.

In my case I know I sleep with my mouth open. I have a glass of water on my bedside cabinet also tiny sugarfee mints which seem to help.

Have you had your thyroid checked? Dry mouth can be one sign of hypothyroidism. Obviously you’d probably have some other symptoms as well.

I would think it is the antihistamines. Have a look at the side effects.

How much water do you drink, out of interest? My partner insists that he drinks plenty, but when he logged it over a day he only drinks half the recommended amount!

Blood tests for autoantibodies aren't very sensitive for detection of Sjögren's syndrome. They produce a lot of false negatives. While there may be lots of other possible explanations for your symptoms, don't let your GP rule out Sjögren's on the basis of a single blood test results. It would really need something like a salivary gland biopsy to do this, but that's only worth pursuing if you have other Sjögren's symptoms, e.g. dry eyes.

Re the skin and hair, are you eating enough healthy fats? The body does need them.

And YY to cutting out commercial skin and hair products. It's helped my skin no end.

I might stop the antihistamines for a while , see of that helps.

I'm not actually sure how much water I drink , I'm starting to keep an eye on it so I'll see if it's too little.

I'll also book in to see my gp about investigating further.

The amount of water you drink isn't usually a major issue. As long as your hypothalamus, pituitary gland and kidneys are working okay - and as long as you actually have access to food & drink, obviously - you will have the correct balance between the amount of water going in and the amount going out. If you eat a lot of high-water-content food or drink lots of fluids other than water (e.g. tea) you don't then need to force yourself also to drink loads of water: it will just make you pee more.

What do you take the antihistamines for, OP? It's not a good idea to stop taking these if you're then going to be suffering from allergic conjunctivitis/rhinitis.

I take antihistamines for general allergies , so I could probably cope without them if I had to.

It might be better to take topical anti histamines so if you have itchy eyes get eye drops, runny nose get a nasal spray, wheezing get inhalers etc