Hi everyone,

I posted on here quite a long time ago about possibly having oral thrush. I went to my dentist, and he did say I had an infection, but didn't mention the name of it. He gave me a mouthwash to use, so I did, and my problem went away, but came back as soon as I stopped the prescription mouthwash. A couple months later, I asked my doctor about this, and he said that it is indeed oral thrush, and gave me a different type of prescription to take to get rid of it (stronger than the mouthwash). He was baffled when I came back to him and said that it didn't get rid of my problem at all. So, he took a swab of my mouth, and it came back negative! He said it's possible that the test he took was a false negative, because he's sure it's thrush. So, he gave me a stronger prescription to take, for over a week, and it's still not gone! I haven't been back to see him yet because he's on the other end of the city, and with me not driving, and working, it is really hard to get there. So, in the meantime, I'm wondering if anybody else has any ideas as to what this could be or why it's not going away? I use regular mouthwash everyday, and have very good oral care. I DO bite my cheeks, however, but I mentioned that to both my doc and dentist, and they both said that's not the reason the inside of my mouth looks like this. I've even been really good about not biting for the last couple of days to see if it would begin to clear up (hoping that maybe that's been the issue all along--although if it was, I don't know why the mouthwash I tried in the first place cleared it up), and it's not clearing up at all. So, I'm completely frustrated, and confused at what's going on here. If anybody has any ideas or suggestions, I'd LOVE to hear them! Please respond, I'm really not sure what to do next. :confused:

Whiskers

I had a bad case of thrush and got rid of it w/ mycelex (prescription required). I also kept it under control by eating coconut (non-sugared variety). I have heard others way that coconut worked for them, also.

But, I wonder if you really have thrush? It sounds as though you should see your MD, rather than your dentist, and have test done. If you do have thrush, ask for mycelex.

Also, if you have thrush, you need to figure out why you have it. Do you eat too much sugar? Have you been on antibiotics? Do you have other health problems?

Lu

Usually thrush is seen on the tongue. the insides of the cheeks (if that is where you see the problem) is not commonly involved unless you are suffering from some other disease in the body. It may be "Lichen Planus". Do you have burning on eating/drinking hot stuff or spicy things? Thrush looks like curdled milk stuck to the mouth. It can be scraped off leaving red, tender spots. hope this helps

I agree with the Lichen Planus, to some degree. Also, the original post said that you use regular mouthwash..... that is not so good. Regular mouthwash has alcohol in it, which is very drying and if you are getting sores in your mouth, it can be made worse by drynes. And oral thrush thrives in a dry mouth. I have a prescription of liquid Nystatin that I use in the a.m. and p.m. to control the oral thrush (or whatever it is). I too, get a negative for thrush with 2 out of 3 tests. Sometimes it is because they don't scrape enough of the 'tissue' off to get a postive test. Other times, well...maybe it isn't thrush. Mine is always on the underside of my tongue. With some immune disorders, your mouth builds up excess mucusal lining all over the inside of the cheeks and underside and edges of the tongue. Not true flush, even though a postive for thrush can sometimes be made. After all, we ALL have the yeast bacteria in our mouth, but when your mouth is dry (like with regular mouth washes) it allows the yeast to thrive. My sores come back every time I stop using the prescription mouth rinse. It is a swish and swallow kind of liquid. I'm still hounding the doctors to find the true cause so that the problem might be elimiated for good. There are mouth washes for dry mouth conditions that are much better than the regular mouth washes and they don't burn your mouth.

:confused: Hi everyone,

Thank you for your posts. To answer your questions, my cheeks, insides of my lips and sides of my tongue have a white coating (which does look like curdled milk--as gross as that sounds :o ), and it can be scraped off easily, so I guess that's why my doctor thinks it's thrush. My mouth doesn't burn if I eat or drink hot stuff, but I am going to research this "lichen planus", to see if I have any other symptoms of it--thanks for the idea!

Oh, and I also actually was using an alcohol free mouthwash--oral b, so I'm not sure if it dries out the mouth the same way as a mouthwash with alcohol in it does, but I actually ran out a couple weeks ago, and haven't gotten any more, and the condition of my mouth hasn't changed a bit.

I hope to get to my dr. ASAP, because this is really making me mad... Not only does it feel disgusting--it's also rather embarassing, because sometimes you can see it on the tops of my lips, and no matter how much I scrape it off, it always comes back..... Any other suggestions? :confused:

Thanks,
Whiskers

P.S. To amrbar--I actually was prescribed Nystatin, and used it as I was supposed to, but it didn't make a bit of difference. :confused:

If it is thrush that you have, try eating yogurt. When my son was a baby he had thrush all the time. After several prescriptions of Nystatin, it was still not going away. The pharmasist told me to try giving him yogurt and it was like a miracle drug! Everytime he would get thrush, I would feed him a few servings of yogurt a day, for a few days, and it would be gone in no time. Good luck!

Cristie

gentian violet .... it will dye your mouth/skin it touches purple.......... but it also works great and fast.

Put vaseline around your lips, chin, and the like just in case. Then use a q-tip to apply.

Should be able to find at a pharmacy, I'd call around first to see who has it.

LOL If you do a search you'll see it for breastfeeding babys that have thrush... but it will work on adults to.

Alot of times Nystatin does not work, but this does..... its worth a try. If you are worried about a purple mouth do it on a Fiday afternoon, so you'll have the weekend to fade and heal up.

The yogurt has acidopholus in it ...you can also buy acidopholus capsules, if you don't like yogurt. If antibotics are causing it, alway eat yogurt when you take them to help prevent.


HTH