Has anyone gotten this? ER dr wondered if I had Chrones instead of UC. I'm on mouthwash for it. It's slow getting better. Going on two weeks. Never had before. Sucks.
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Here's what I posted in February, responding to a similar question:
Mouth ulcers (aphthous stomatitis) are much more common in Crohn's than UC, though there are some different mouth sores that can crop up in UC. For some folks they can be used to diagnose or monitor Crohn's. I used to get them when my IBD was acting up. I don't know what these new things on your tongue might be , though. Here's an article that's probably more technical than you were hoping for:
Since my UC diagnosed, three serious flare ups, one which lead to bowel removal and a Stoma but I never had a sore or swollen tongue, other than painful pimples/spots that I think everyone gets from time to time.
Since takedown, I've endured a sore, swollen tongue, quite a few times; totally different to spots/pimples; feels like I've bitten one side of my tongue, in fact, that's what my Doctor thought.
Coincidently, my blood test revealed a low iron level and a sore or swollen a tongue can be a symptom of an iron deficiency,
My tongue has only ever been sore for a couple of days but really painful, uncomfortable and annoying.
Consultants and surgeons have often asked whether I suffer from mouth ulcers, which I don't and they've never asked if I've had a sore tongue.
Have your iron levels checked; see what that reveals.
Hi HALO 52208,
I have experlenced mouth ulcers several times before. In one particular case, I had to be admitted to the hospital because the ulcers were extremely painful and they started spreading all the way down to my throat. I was unable to speak, drink and eat. It took the docs several days to figure out what was going on. Finally, a ENT consultant said I was having a severe case of herpes simplex infection! For I could not swallow anyting including tiny acyclovir tablets, I was put on IV acyclovir infusion. Within 24 hours, the white center of the ulcers became reddish and they also got smaller. In the next 48 hours, I was able to speak, drink and eat soft food such as pudding etc. In a week, I was back to normal. The stuff they gave me cleared up the infection miraculously. My parents were in tears of joy...
Now I am not saying that you have anything like mine, but keep in mind that there are various reasons for mouth/tongue ulcers and sometimes infections may be the cauase as UC & CD are auto-immune diseases and our immune systems are all messed up.
Also, STRANGE has a point. IBD patients usually have low levels of iron resulting in chronic disease anemia, which may present itself as mouth ulcers. I once had multiple ulcers in the back of my cheeks and the docs thought I had them due to a UC flare-up. When topical corticosteroids failed, they checked my blood iron levels. They were so low that the docs put me on IV iron infusions. It took me a couple of weeks to get better, but this time the ulcers did not disappear as quickly as they did in the Herpes infection.
I hope they soon find out the root cause of the problem and you finally get a relief.
Take care,
Halo, long term Cipro use gave me thrush. I couldn't take it anymore without the mouth infection starting and having to start a swish and swallow. As mentioned above by Strange, I also developed a sore tongue from severe iron deficiency.
Thank you guys so much. You have put my mind at ease. It's slowly going away. I get my blood checked in a couple weeks. I will definitely check my iron.