Ulcers

Are mouth ulcers a potential side effect of inhalers and/or pred?

I've been on some doseage of pred pretty much solidly since November- originally 40mg PD now tapered down to around 5mg (finally!). Im also on ciclesonide 160 2 puffs twice a day and seretide 250 2 puffs twice a day and have been at that dose since December.

Just lately I have noticed i've been getting real trouble with mouth ulcers. Not sure whether it is meds related or not but it is bothering me. I suspect it probably is as my teeth as also in a right state. In the past week alone I've had 8 filings which is just an emergency patch up job- the rest of my teeth are also decaying at an alarming rate. My Dentist says my meds are responsible and I also have very weak enamel. In the past month my eye sight has suddenly deteriorated dramatically, and I've now been given glasses to wear full time although even with them on things are still a little blurry at times :/ again the optician attributed this to meds.

Feel like I am falling to bits piece by piece. Its hard when you have the pred hunger, but a very sore tongue/cheeks/gums and trouble chewing due to a mouth full of new fillings!

Any recommendations on how to relieve the ulcers if they are meds related?

[yaf_user681_30355]

Are they definitely ulcers or could it be thrush? I get thrush occasionally from my steroid inhaler and it is very sore and red and can be on gums, tongue, roof of mouth or inside of cheeks. If it may be thrush, I use daktarin sugar free gel which I get from the pharmacy counter in Sainsburys.

You really sound like you are having a rough time at the moment.

[Hidden]

Aww that sounds horrid

I am on two steroid inhalers and have never had an ulcer - I'm not aware of a link, and it's not mentioned as a causative factor here:

patient.co.uk/doctor/oral-u...

My cousin has awful trouble with them, and has had up to ten a t a time, she is never without them in her mouth. They have been unable to find a cause and she was referred to the hospital. One thing the dentist told me when I asked her, was that many folk are allergic to the sodium laureth sulphate in toothpastes. She recommends getting a SLS free toothpaste and trying it for at least a month, so acts what my cousin is doing. I've read that it's been very successful for others too.

As you can see, there are a lot of potential causes for mouth ulceration!

[Hidden]

thanks for the info

I guess its not the meds then, so I will mention it to the dr next time I see her, although I've recently had full bloods etc so would think that they would have picked up any deficiencies then if they had been lurking. I don't *think* it is thrush- having been to the dentist 3 times in the past month i'd have though she would have mentioned the thrush if she thought I had it. Should have mentioned the ulcers to her really but I was distracted worrying about impending fillings and possible extractions- strangely the dentist is the *only* medical thing that makes me nervous. We have decided this is because I had around 10 years of dental work where I wasn't properly anesthetised, which was rather painful. It was only when I had a couple of operations under local anaesthetic that they worked out that I don't respond to normal levels and need double or quadruple doses to have a ""normal"" effect. Until that point I'd thought that it was normal for dentist work to be painful and that I must just have very sensitive teeth!!! I have a really high pain threshold so I used to just sit there and take it and not say a word- oops!

My 8 fillings this past week were virtually pain free but I couldn't help getting anxious during the drilling as I am always expecting it to hurt. Everything else sort of flies out of the window at that point! I did wonder if some of the ulcers are just wounds related to the dentist trips/work as I have had work done on all 4 quarters of my jaw this past week. But my tongue is also quite sore and I wouldn't have thought that was related to dentist work. who knows!

I will give the SLS free toothpaste a google, as I need to make sure I have high fluoride toothpaste to try and protect what is left of my teeth. If compatible I will give it a go!

miss virgo I have to admit I am struggling. 15 drugs, 17 different drs and clinics at 5 hospitals. Really don't feel like I am coping with things anymore but struggling to get any support. Its the little things like mouth ulcers that just break the camel's back.

[yaf_user681_30355]

When my gums were sore with thrush, my dentist didn't mention what it could be at the time. I had only had thrush at the back of my throat before that but with a much higher dose of steroid inhaler I get it anywhere in my mouth now! I hope you get it sorted soon!

[Hidden]

The sensodyne toothpaste I have is SLS free, but do check the label as I don't think all the sensodyne ones are. Hope it helps.

[Irishboy]

Sorry to hear ur feeling so rough my resp cons said steroid meds do cause mouth ulcers I get them pretty bad there horrible so I no how u feel..my cons giv me a mixture called tripple mouthwash.u mix betnosol,nyastatin and soluble doxycycline together and rince it's really good