I quit smoking September 30th, 2008.

This was after dealing with what I believed to be burning mouth syndrome since June 2007.

Almost instantly, my mouth began to 'heal' from the scorched burning state it had been in.

Silly me to not see a connection... when I woke up, it wasn't burning terribly (after 8 hours of sleep)... as the day went on it got worse. Well, naturally.. since I was smoking!

My wake up call was when I saw white patches in my mouth, lacey lines included. I freaked! I was thinking 'Oral Lichen Planus', so I went to the dentist, was seen by a couple of them in the office, and they ruled out OLP, thankfully, and said what they believe it to be is a benign condition, but sent a referral to a dental specialist for Feb. 09 (long wait).

Anyways, as of today, I barely rely on chewing gum like I did previously to stop the burning pain. In fact, sometimes I don't have burning pain what so ever!

My tongue that was white-ish (or brownish due to cigs and coffee) is now cleared up and pink! I still have the odd patch in my mouth that occasionally gives a sharp little sting, but as each day passes, the mouth is feeling better and better.

Keep in mind.. I was smoking at least 1 pack a day to 2 packs. That is a lot of mouth irritation that never let up. For a long time! Often I was dealing with insomnia as well, so I just smoked and smoked non stop with not letting up.

Things I have noticed (negatives, lol)... I've had 'odd' mouth issues since I was a kid. It was in grade 1 my mom was told "Oh, your daughter has geographic tongue". So that's something I've dealt with off and on my whole life. It CAN be painful, depending on how bad it gets. Sometimes it shows up as well with fissures. It's when the fissures show up that it is more painful.

Also, little white bumps (tiny things) that show up on the tongue for a day or 2 that are sore. I got these from when I was a kid till when I began smoking. Oddly, smoking kept those away the entire time. Same with canker sores. I got a lot of cankers as a child. When I began smoking, I'd still sometimes get cankers, but they'd disappear after a day or 2 and were not where as painful as before I was a smoker. Well, the cankers are back, 1 big one in the back of my throat actually which is quite painful!

So there are pluses and minuses to the entire ordeal. Naturally, quitting smoking and stopping the constant burning that I had imagined was burning mouth syndrome was top priority, and that has been accomplished for the most part (the mouth is still in the 'healing' process it seems, but it is going well). All those other little uglies like cankers returned, but nothing a little salt or Chloraseptic can't handle right?

So that's my mouth story to date! I'm now a proud ex-smoker, and I can assure you I will never again, smoke another one after this ordeal.

CONGRATULATIONS dmplaura!!! Woo Hoo for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The canker sores that you are getting can be related to one or more of several issues......

1) Hormonal imbalance. If you notice that you get them around the time of your period, then that is a good indictor of hormonal imbalance.

2) Stress. If you get them at stressful times more so than other times, that could be a culprit.

3) Toothpaste that contains SLS, sodium lauryl sulfate, can cause or contribute to the recurrence of canker sores. It certainly does make them worse!

4) Vitamin deficiency. Especially zinc, folic acid, B-12 and vitamin D.

5) Women on the birth control pill get more canker sores than anyone else in the population! This is due to the imbalance of hormones.

6) Friction from an ill fitting orthodic appliance or dentures can cause canker sores.

6) Diet. Certain foods that you may be sensitive too can cause sores to develop on the oral tissue. Some of these foods are..... chocolate, nuts, acidic, spicy or salty foods.

7) Lack of healthy intestinal flora such as acidophilus and others can cause oral lesions.

Hope you find the culprit!! Keep us posted....

Bryanna

Thanks Bryanna! I still have white marks on my insides of my cheeks, really really fine white lines that run vertically. I'm hoping they'll clear up eventually. My dentists didn't think much of them at least.

Cankers are definitely caused by acidic stuff. If I drink orange juice, bam I get cankers. If I drink low acid apple juice, I'm good to go

I'm on Depo Provera (at my GPs suggestion, versus going with BC pill, because this is apparently discouraged by some neurologists where MS is concerned apparently). We'll see how this pans out.

I have the vitamin D3 covered (1000 IU daily and I'm out for walks and such regularly). I took b12 sublingual with folic acid for quite a long time. Zinc levels were excellent when that was tested, so never played around with those supplements much. Acidophilis, daily! At least 2 capsules, sometimes 3 or 4.

Toothpaste is the 1 bane thus far. I'm now on Crest. I love the nighttime stuff that's got the grainy texture to it. It calms my mouth pain when I brush with it too. Maybe that's a good sign? Haha!

I'm going to explore the possibility of loading up on beta carotene supplements, and see if this has a positive effect, since this is often used to treat leukoplakia (and while I don't believe this is what I have, it's worth a shot).