Burning tongue syndrome

Hello Sheena , I have BMS about 4 months now and I have found your posts most helpful.
I had bad oral thrush which lasted 10 Weeks after a wisdom tooth extraction and it started then. I am taking a day at a time and feeling lost and scared. Thank you for posting.

My friend has got this, and it’s so debilitating for her. Her tongue is shiny and sore looking. She’s been told it’s hormonal, so menopause. No cure unfortunately, just lots of cool things, and she avoids spices....anything hot really. She hopes it’ll go once hormones have stabilised.

Thirty years ago I experienced burning mouth and then it just disappeared. Now I’m 74, it’s returned. Most annoying. I’m am very anxious at the moment, so maybe tied in. I’m hoping it will disappear again.

Hi I had BMS back in 2009 after a tooth extraction. I saw every consultant in Britain before it was diagnosed. I was given antidepressants for the the pain. It settled down for a few years so I stopped the meds! This January it came back again. I am now back on meds but hope it will go again!

I had this years ago and stopped eating nuts this solved tge problem more Recently I couldn’t taste my food properly and lost a good few pounds. This was found to be as a result of a medication I was taking. Once this medication was removed my youngest got back to normal. Hope you soon recognise what’s causing this problem sheena

Have sent you a private message Pandagran

Hi there I came across this post while looking for something else, I was diagnosed with a condition called Geographic tongue, it got its name from the map like patterns on the tongue, symptoms are a burning sore tongue, I just have to live with it as seemingly there is no cure, I now know what foods to avoid or pay the price with a tongue that feels on fire, I would appreciate if anyone else has heard of this and can offer any information.

This is not a generalisation .. but .... there appear to be two forms of BMS .. Primary and Secondary.

Primary is a result of some nerve damage and secondary is from an underlying medical condition, and both are extremely difficult to treat. Stress and anxiety and depression only exacerbate the symptoms and sadly it often it becomes a vicious cycle.

Nerve pain/damage can only be treated really by antidepressant also amitriptyline or the drugs such as gabapentine or pregabalin... all have various unwanted side effects, and very often really don't help. I am one of those sufferers, have had this condition for years, and have found that nothing helps.

The secondary cause of bms of course can be from a cause of a multitude of different reasons, and those need to be treated in their own way.. often with little improvement.

We sufferers of this horrid condition spend a lot of time and effort sourcing treatments, and self -help ... there is a wonderful UK facebook group where we all help and support each other .

As it seems to affect mostly women .. and very often in middle age, the menopause gets blamed (very handy ! ) as there is hormonal changes .. but this condition often affects younger women, and men too . Most doctors and dentists are at a loss to know how to treat it (that's if they've even heard of it ! ) .

Frustrating !

Someone i know who suffered with this was found to be low on B12 and after being treated for this the BMS greatly improved. Just a thought for all you sufferers.

Hi to all. I had BMS a couple of years ago and it was awful. I felt like my whole mouth and at times my throat were on fire. I had it every day and the only relief I got was eating, chewing sugar chewing gum and ice cubes made into ice lollies.
It was so depressing. I tried medication for oral thrush, pills for acid reflux, special mouth rub from dentist and nothing helped. I saw a consultant who said it was not an uncommon condition and anti depressant could help. I did not take these as by the time I saw consultant my BMS had improved. I would say it took around 5months to go. I occasionally feel a little bit of burning but nothing like before. I did lots of research and my observation is that it is partly menopause and after a period of stress/anxiety.
Finally do hang in there all you sufferers and try any tips given.
I can really sympathise. It is an awful thing.
X

It’s one of the symptoms of menopause, very rare, but does happen. Don’t know if it’s applicable to you. Google it for advice.

Hi Sheena
Just joined and cam across your post....yes I have very similar symptoms very annoying and makes me very depressed just don't feel normal...it's mainly on one side of my tongue had it for nearly 12 months...GP now referred me to Maxi Facial to investigate further....but it's really got me down
I sympathise with you.....Jane

There is also this more recent thread you might want to read www.gransnet.com/forums/health/1253925-Burning-Mouth-Syndrome?msgid=27117054
Personally I think it’s neurological.

hi are there any people suffering from burning mouth syndrome.
mine started in February. I am 57 and the threads i have read said it is common in post menopausal woman.
any tips on how i can reduce the burning would be very welcomed.

I recently read that this can be connected to Vitamin B deficiency. Maybe worth querying.

Hello ladies .. well I first put this thread up three years ago ! and it truly helps me to know that there are others of you out there who know how ghastly this complaint is, and understand. I feel that it such a hard thing to admit to anyone ... it sounds so wierd . I am convinced it is a neurological problem , and nerve pain is just about the most difficult pain to treat.

As others have said, I find coffee makes it worse (and I do love coffee) so I just drink decaf tea now, but do have wine (red) and other drinks too. As for toothpaste I find the only one for me is the Corsodyl daily toothpaste.... very much an acquired taste, but the minty ones just make things worse, and make my mouth so dry.

I can't chew the sugar free gum for ditto reasons, nor sweets, and I do find the problem fluctuates daily.

I can go several days and it's not too bad at all, then suddenly for a few days, my tongue burns so badly ..... and why? goodness only knows. But yes, the more stressed I get about it again, the worse it is.

I feel now, as with all chronic conditions, we just have to accept that it is there and try not to let it get us down (not easy ) and just "go with it" as best we can... and like some you I hope and pray that it will eventually just disappear , maybe as suddenly as it appeared.

I do hope you all aren't suffering too badly at the moment. I have just had three days of hell with it, and thankfully today it's calming down.......again, no idea why.

My thoughts are with you all xxxxxxxx

Maranta, my sense of smell has almost gone as well.

I had a very mild form many years ago and I blamed it on stress as my father had just died. It gradually went away and I only get it now very infrequently

I have had this for at least 15 years. I had all sorts of investigations and took a low dose of amitriptyline for a while, which didn't seem to help. My sense of smell went at the same time. It has calmed down a lot now and it just feels slightly numb on my tongue towards the end. But I now have acid reflux and am wondering whether there is any connection....?

I had it about 12 years ago - shortly after a tooth extraction, so there definitely seems to be a link with dental work. I became extremely anxious, thinking it could be oral cancer, and eventually was referred to an ENT consultant who could find nothing wrong, but mentioned BMS. An online search threw up this syndrome which seems to be more common in women over 50, and my symptoms fitted exactly. It can last several years - which it did for me, and even now, sometimes my mouth is sore. I found coffee, spicy food and alcohol made it worse. There's no cure, unfortunately, although it's often treated with anti-depressants as it can make the sufferer really miserable.

I have had this for a couple of years although it does seem to be easing off. I blamed statins which I felt were poisoning me but at round about the same time, I had a crown fitted so it could be either of them.

Thank you tanith, I've found chewing sugar free /additive free gum helps, bit ackward in the middle of the night!!! Coconut water chillled is very soothing also. I can just about cope with it during the day, but during the night when you can't get slept for drinking chilled water, then visiting the loo, is exhausting, I've sent for fluoride and SLS free toothpaste done by Green People company, so will just have to keep trying as the GP although very kind, doesn't seem to have an answer to this horrible syndrome!!!

Sorry you're suffering with this granmalala its awaful isn't it. I have it intermittently sometimes it last a few hours and other times its days , I've found nothing to alleviate it apart from sipping cold water it drives me up the wall too and I have trouble eating when its really bad. My GP can't find a reason for it either..

I have had burning mouth syndrome for 5/6 weeks now 24/7, after a visit to the dentist, had X-ray as was told teeth were fine, bit of information on gums, gave me Ampicyllan which I took for five days, two days after finished Ampiciyllan I took this burning mouth syndrome, have just had blood tests back from doctor, and all normal!!! It really is a relief to know there are other folks out there who suffer with this, I'd never heard of it before, but it's really driving me up the wall some days and through the night!!! I'm starting to think that my doctor is thinking it's all in my head!!!

I have never heard of it Sheena but it sounds horrible! I always like to know what others do and usually check out EarthClinic, scroll down a bit and there are some interesting comments people have posted.