LS and Gums. Any Connection?

Hi leona. I changed nothing as regards food intake, toothpaste etc. I eat very little sugar as I find it makes my LS flare. I think it is stress which has started this off, as caring for my elderly parents, particular my mother who has become both demanding and hurtful, is a growing problem, one which is not likely to improve in the near future. I really don't want to go the oral steroid route, but I have to eat!

I have had OLP for many years and I have had much success with Homeopathy.  Its worth a shot if you can get in to see a Homeopathist. Also with OLP I realised  that the number one  trigger for me  is stress, and it sounds like you may be finding the same.  And so I would urge you to give it a try, it worked for me anyway, if fact I always respond to Homeopathy really well, and you never know you may find the same.

Guppy, what were the 'ingredients' for you to heal or at least improve OLP?  The word homeopathy is perhaps the same as naturepath?  What kind of wisdom did you gain, would you be willing to share that?

Guppy and Hannah, I'd be very interested too in hearing about homeopathy and OLP

 

Hanny, Kate, I found this which I cut and pasted.. 

"Many people think that homeopathy and naturopathy are one and the same thing. Naturopathy is a 'broad spectrum' descriptor in which practitioners are more likely to prescribe multiple treatment approaches like supplements, herbs and dietary adjustments. Naturopathy is an umbrella term for many natural therapies, which include herbal medicine, massage, nutrition, iridology, and can include homeopathy.  Conversely, homeopathy is a single system of medicine in which practitioners focus totally on the application of homeopathic medicines. 

Homeopathy is a scientific system of medicine, which grew out of the orthodox medicine of the 18th century. It matches a medicine to the patient's symptoms. The unique characteristic of homeopathy is the specific selection of a medicine to correspond with the patient's symptoms according to specialised homeopathic case taking.

Homeopaths often consider diet and life-style as naturopaths do, but it is the prescribed homeopathic medicine, which is used to directly treat a patient's condition.

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When you visit a homeopath your consultation involves gathering detailed information about the patterns of your symptoms. Your treatment will be a homeopathic medicine prescribed according to how closely the medicine picture 'matches' your particular symptoms. Prescriptions are highly individualised - several patients with headaches may all receive different medicines to treat their headache, based on the headache symptoms

 The philosophy of homeopathy is to find a medicine based on the law of similars, or 'what a substance can cause, it can cure'. For example, a homeopathic medicine made from the honeybee is used to treat the symptoms of bee stings and swellings, which resemble bee stings"

I have had Oral Lichen Planus for about twenty five years, something like that!   I was diagnosed from a biopsy of my tongue.  Whenever I went through extreme upset and stress I would get a flare up which would  cause very painful  swollen gums, ulcers on the side of my tongue,  and a fine, lacy network of white lines inside the cheeks and covering my tongue.  This condition at its worst can cause  depression I think, as it effects everything!! you cannot eat, you feel dirty because you cannot brush your teeth properly, and you certainly don't feel like kissing your partner,  your mouth feels constantly woolly, and horrid, and so for me I found this hard to deal with.   

 Through a lot of research I stumbled upon an article on Homeopathy  mentioning the benefit of a certain Homeopathy product (PM for the name, although I recommend you find a qualified Homeopathic Doctor as Homeopathy offers a specific treatment for each patient's individual illness and symptoms) Anyway, I thought I would give it a try, I just went out and bought a bottle from a Health Store, and the way I used it was first thing in the morning, in the afternoon and before bed, but I always made sure that I had not eaten or drank anything ten minutes before taking and ten minutes afterwards, I believe if you can make that an hour even better.  I never took more pellets than stated (that's important) and I only did it for a week, maximum ten days.  Its important not to overdue it, and to only use it when you definitely have OLP, it should never be used as a maintenance product IMHO, you use it the once for a week, and that's it.  Also I never touched alcohol whilst I was treating myself.  Over the years I felt so thankful that I had this little  bottle of  Homeopathy to treat myself, and I have to say that it worked every single time...I was very fortunate (lucky) I think to stumble upon this product that worked for me.

Fast forward to today.  I am afraid its been a different and difficult situation.  The last time I had OLP it wasn't moving, and at first I could not understand why, I thought it could possibly be because I now had Ulcerative Colitis, and my immune system was being suppressed by the Meds I was taking, and that in turn was possibly effecting the Homeopathy.    My tongue looked really really bad, even for OLP and my Vjay felt wrong, but I just thought I had OLP and the usual feelings you sometimes get with LS.   But on closer inspection I thought it looked like thrush too, in fact I went to the doctors and he confirmed it! and so I had OLP, Oral thrush, LS and vaginal thrush all at the same time! Ha ha! 

Basically I had a serious problem with Candida which I believe was stopping the treatment of Homeopathy from working. I then had to seriously work on getting rid of the Candida, before I could even think of  using the Homeopathy treatment.  This was very difficult, I lost weight, nearly 10 Lbs as many everyday staple foods have sugar in them too.  I took a well known product that gets rid of oral thrush, and I also took a product that gets rid of vaginal thrush too, (its a one tablet treatment)  After  5 days I took another one of these one tablet treatments and continued with my strict diet.  Once the thrush had gone I then started on the Homeopathy and this time I managed to shift the OLP.

This is what worked for me, I am sure it wont work for everybody, but I am sure it will work for some.  I think if you are interested you need to find a well respected Homopathic doctor, because as I said  Homeopathy offers a specific treatment for each patient's illness,which means they take into account an awful  lot before prescribing something.

Thank you Guppy for the great explanation. I have used homeopathy for years for different ailments...and while it is not good for everything it is definitely worth a try. It is best to meet with a practioner...but if that is impossible there is a lot of imformation available to self treat...but be certain if you are experimenting and self-treating that you understand the ingredients in anything you are doing and know that it is safe for you and does not interefere with any other medications you are taking.

Thank you so much Guppy for your extensive writing.  I've always felt that my naturepath is doing a very personal form of helping his patients.  Maybe he's homeopathic inclined.  Hard to say.  He always searches for a long time to find a good match and am very happy with his guidance.  As your writing states, sometimes overlapping.  

The short of it is, that I understand that for each person the treatment of OLP might be different.  Not one size fits all.  

It seems like you are in good hands with your naturepath, and you certainly have made great strides with regards to LS, so it sounds like your on the right path.

I think with LS you cannot just rely on conventional medicine, you have to investigate other avenues and options,  which is why Homeopathic and Naturepaths doctors are so busy.

renee, sorry I thought I had replied....I agree it can be good for some ailments.   I think I read somewhere that it is particularly helpful for skin problems. Also I think bearing in mind the problems we encounter with LS its definitely worth trying alternative medicine, and your right you have to be carefull if you are taking other medications.

thank you all so much for the advice, especially Guppy for such a detailed explanation. Guppy, you've certainly been through the mill and my thoughts are with you. The Ulcerative Colitis connection is interesting as my mother had this so badly that she had a complete illiostomy many years ago (this is one of the reasons caring for her is now so problamatic - as she was a relatively early case, the surgery though life-saving was relatively crude and she is now having trouble with her stoma). It looks like basically LS, OLP, Crohn's and UC are all simply differing expressions of mocosal tissue inflammation, doesn't it?

I'm on day 2 of a glouen free diet, as I know 2 people who proved negative for Coeliac but whose mouth ulcers and oral pain cleared after going gluten free. I'll keep you all posted.

I went to the local health-food shop and after a detailed discussion of symptoms they gave me Ashwagandha capsules. I tried these for a couple of days and felt worse - when I checked on-line I found they were NOT to be given to anyone with autoimmune problems. I think we all have to accept we're largely on our own when it comes to our health management and have to take full responsibility for everything we do and eat!

 

Hi Kate, your welcome.  Sorry to hear about your mum, its a truly horrid condition to have, I am just grateful that I am in remission.  Unfortunately I have four family members with Crohns disease and so I have a genetic propensity to IBD.  I agree that there definitely appears to be a link though between all of the auto immune disorders you mentioned, in that they are all effecting  mucosal tissue. 

Sometimes when people are tested for Gluten intolerance they can get false negatives, and this can happen a lot, and so  I think you have to listen to your own body with these things, and do what feels best for you.  At first going Gluten free can be a bit overwhelming, you just need to make sure you give everything away in your kitchen that contains Gluten, and read up on it to avoid slip ups with food.

Discovering recently that I could never have Dairy again due to Casein intolerance pushed me over the edge, maybe it was "the straw that broke the camels back" but I felt very depressed about that as Dairy is in a LOT of things.  I have started taking some anti depressants (a couple of days ago) as I could feel myself spiraling downwards, Its funny how I have taken everything in my stride, and yet the "Dairy thing" brought me to my knees.

Do keep us all posted on how you get on,  I hope you start to feel a bit better soon.