horrible recurrent mouth ulcers,

[peacelily]

Myself and dd periodically get a crop of painful ulcers on our tongues. first got them 4 months ago, like small white raised blisters.

V painful and annoying, Dr. said they were a virus, does anyone else have any experience of them?

Yes, my DD gets them sometimes. When she was a toddler, she got them so bad and so often the doc gave her some thick gel/paste. Can't remember what it was called, but it cleared them really quickly.

I get a crop when I am run down or pre-menstrual in the same place on my lower gum. I find they also occur if I eat too many sweets or indulge in alcohol... Sookie sweets are the worst offenders.

dr won't prescribe anything, not really bothered about me but they stop dd from eating, do you know how to treat (I am run down at mo too)

Difflam is the best thing I use. You can get it over the counter and I have used it for years. Is a spray. Not sure if ok for DS though.

Definately recommend it as have had them for years.

I have suffered with them since I was a child. I buy Adcortyl in Orabase. It's a thick paste best put on at night. It has a steroid in it so I don't know if it's suitable for your DD. HTH

Would second adcortyl in oralbase, only that I've found that works. Would definitely not recommend anbesol, just inflamed my ulcers. I don't think there is much you can do as a preventative, I think someone suggested vit c to me once. I think you get them when you are run down.

Avoid acidic food. Boots do 'sore mouth pastiles' that are antiseptic, and really help.

peacelilly - i suffer dreadfully with these, they can get so large - probably about the same size as the emoticons on here (which in your mouth feels HUGE!)

I used difflam oral rinse, just keep using it, and they will go. Mine have caused problems for 2 weeks before, then i have the difflam and within 2 days they are almost gone.

You can get it over the counter from boots etc

My dr's always laugh and just say, 'dont be silly its just an ulcer' Just a fecking ulcer, my tongue looks like a scene from the gremlins!

Interestingly I read somewhere that for people with VERY serious mouth ulcers (think entire mouth, tongue and gums completely ulcerated permanently) thalidomide was the only cure....

I've also found Adcortyl in Orabase the best thing for ulcers. If the ulcers are really bad then another thing to try is Corlan Pellets, available to buy at the chemist. They contain a mild steroid which you dissolve against the ulcer, thus aiding healing. Hth.

It's probably a red herring but I thought I should mention it! If you or your daughter develop digestive problems you should be tested for coeliac disease. Recurrent mouth ulcers is one of the symptoms associated with coeliac disease (the ulcers clear up once on a glutenfree diet).

another vote adcortyl in orabase - the only thing that STAYS on the bloody things... marvellous stuff

My mother used to get hideous ulcers all over her mouth, so bad she couldn't speak or eat solids. They lasted for months at a time. She would lose pounds.

Oral steriods were the only cure. I still don't know the name of the condition she had. At the time (1970s) it was a mystery to the doctors.

Thankyou everyone for your adice, I'll get the remedies suggested.

Flaming toaster I'm really pleased you mentioned about coeliac disease, I think i'm ok but dd does get bad constipation at times and whitish yellowish stools. The chirpractor also asked if she had digestive probs after doing an examination. All I get from the GP is the usual oh it's just toddlers etc etc. she's crap. Think I'll change gp and look into it.

the main problem would be that she LOVES bread and bread type product but I know there are tasty alternatives, she likes ryvita and rice cakes!

Peacelily - don't change her diet at all until she has had the coeliac blood test/biopsy or the results will be inconclusive or negative. A normal gluten containing diet is necessary (and it sounds like she is having it at the minute!) so that the antibodies show up. Constipation and pale stools are also indications of possible coeliac disease. (By the way if you do end up with a coeliac diagnosis avoid Ryvita - barley, oats and rye also contain the gluten which damages the coeliac's villi.) Hope you can get your daughter properly investigated soon - it took me seven years with my son to get a diagnosis!

I would second the coeliac link. We have it in our family. It is very prevalent in Ireland and Italy and often gets misdiagnosed as IBS.

whitish stools are signs of pancreatic deficiency, this can alo be potentially celiac symptom, maybe it's only temporary, but if the damage is prolonged and serious it can endup in diabetes, so better get some tests

I've just googled coeliac disease and seen about the rye. It says another of the symptoms is muscle wastage and failure to thrive she certainly isn't suffering from that!! However I'll ask one of the peads at work what they think, won't go excluding any food groups either.

I don't want to put her thru unneccessary (sp?) tests and things but I've been concerned about her digestion for a while so I'm going to be more assertive at the docs.

Peacelily - expecting all coeliacs to be thin is a common misconception and why many go undiagnosed. Many are normal weight - or even overweight on diagnosis - so the fact that DD isn't thin doesn't rule being coeliac out.

I know it's not always the case, I definitely think the ulcers are a virus because none of us had had them until 4 months ago then we all got them at the same time. dh hasn't had them since, dd has them occassionally and quite mildly but I get vicious ones!

The pale solid stools are a concern tho as well as the acidity of them (effect on dds skin sometimes after a nappy change). I just hope gp doesn't dismiss me this time.

pale stools = ~ low bile flow

Your daughter didn't have any spots on her hands and feet did she - could be something like Hand, Foot and Mouth.