Vitamin B12 and mouth sores

[natthai]

I have been getting an unusually large number of sores in my mouth (canker sores). They usually appear on the bottom side of my tongue or soft tissue inside my mouth. They are particularly annoying as when they appear I usually can't stop tongue the damned thing which just makes it worse.

Last week I started taking a sublingual B12 tablet (1000IU). Since then I have not had a single sore.

Has anyone experienced similar canker sores during the course of your infection? I have read that they usually appear when your immune system is activated which sounds about right, I am not sure why B12 seemes to have helped.

[Granny60]

I have been getting an unusually large number of sores in my mouth (canker sores). They usually appear on the bottom side of my tongue or soft tissue inside my mouth. They are particularly annoying as when they appear I usually can't stop tongue the damned thing which just makes it worse.

Last week I started taking a sublingual B12 tablet (1000IU). Since then I have not had a single sore.

Has anyone experienced similar canker sores during the course of your infection? I have read that they usually appear when your immune system is activated which sounds about right, I am not sure why B12 seemes to have helped.

No canker sores but hubby went to doctor time and again. Corners of mouth would split and bleed, tongue get sore,  nobody diagnosed it. Then he found reading a Reader's digest  medical guide that it was vit B deficiency.  He has taken B for  20 years now. If  he quits, mouth gets sore and chest pains start again. Supposed to be high stress levels trigger  high vit B loss and vit B is the fix.

[jcelvis]

I constantly have canker sores, the longest time i have gone without a canker sore since can remember is 4 months. I once counted eight in my mouth at one time. Two upper lip, three lower lip, one on the roof of my mouth, one under my tongue, and one on the inside of my cheek. Cankers sores are not related to HIV, and doctors and dentist do not understand why they occur more frequently in others than not.

Through anecdotal observations I notice I get multiple cankers sores before the onset of the cold or flu (normally on the inside of my cheeks or underneath my tongue). Generally the ones on my lower lip are because i bite my lip on accident (my canine teeth are sharp).

Licorice root tends to help if you want an herbal remedy, it helps with the inflammation.

The is best method, stole it from a website:
Licorice root can be found in both tinctures and tablets. For easy use on canker sores, crush the tablet and mix with a bit of water to make a paste then apply to canker sores.

[Hoover]

Sores galore here!

Our daughter used to get sores inside her mouth and we finally determined it was from her taking Claritin.
As soon as she stopped, so did the ulcers.

My sisters and I are allergic to citric acid. If we eat too much acid (mangos and oranges), we will get ugly fever blisters on the outside of our lips. One sister will even get this from sunlight. (Redhead)

My partner converted three months ago and has gotten thrush three times!
Last count his CD4 was 420.....

How is that for a mouth full?

Hoover and Dr. T.

[natthai]

So after I started having all those canker sores I started researching exactly what they are and what causes them. I didn't find a clear answer, there are some theories and correlation but they can't pin point them as being caused by a specific microbe or body state although it is suggested that chronic immune system inflamation (aka HIV) can cause oral ulcers.

Anyway, a few of the sources I was reading suggested B12 deficiency as a contributing factor to canker sores. Unfortumately B12 isn't orally active so the options are IM shots or sublingual tablets. I went and bought a bottle of sublingual tablets and I have been cold sore free since then (at least a month now).

If anyone else suffers from cold sores you might also wanna give B12 a shot and let us know your experiences. Also there are different forms of B12, the most bioavaliable form is Methylcobalamin. This is also the safest form so look for this one over the more common Cyanocobalamin.

[Granny60]

B complex vitamin will work. Kmart sells Sundown brand in a gel cap that is 1000 daily units per vitamin and swallowed whole doesn't taste as bad as the tablets. .   No doctor visit, can take daily so you don't have to deal with it wearing off, you can get 3 bottles for less than one office visit.  several have reported it working.  Hope this helps.

[Ann]

So after I started having all those canker sores I started researching exactly what they are and what causes them. I didn't find a clear answer, there are some theories and correlation but they can't pin point them as being caused by a specific microbe or body state although it is suggested that chronic immune system inflamation (aka HIV) can cause oral ulcers.

Anyway, a few of the sources I was reading suggested B12 deficiency as a contributing factor to canker sores. Unfortumately B12 isn't orally active so the options are IM shots or sublingual tablets. I went and bought a bottle of sublingual tablets and I have been cold sore free since then (at least a month now).

If anyone else suffers from cold sores you might also wanna give B12 a shot and let us know your experiences. Also there are different forms of B12, the most bioavaliable form is Methylcobalamin. This is also the safest form so look for this one over the more common Cyanocobalamin.

Nat, you need to get your terminology right. What is commonly called "cold sores" is actually herpes, and herpes is caused by a virus. B12 has no effect on herpes. Acyclovir does.

Herpes gained the nicknames "cold sores" and "fever blisters" because it's common to get an outbreak when you are sick with something else.

[natthai]

Nat, you need to get your terminology right. What is commonly called "cold sores" is actually herpes, and herpes is caused by a virus. B12 has no effect on herpes. Acyclovir does.

Thanks Ann, you are very right of course. I started out by using "canker" and ended up using "cold" which of course are two very different things. The cold part was a brain fart. I was thinking about and wanted to say canker but for some reason I typed cold. Thanks for pointing that out, someone who reads this thread can find it confusing. At lease I am not saying "Cancer sore" like I did in another thread (which your snarp eye also caught as I recall).

Yes I agree, Acyclovir is definately the treatment for cold sores AKK fever blisters AKA oral herpes simplex I.

[poz91]

Started taking B12 supplements two or three years ago and it worked like a charm!

[natthai]

Yes same here, it has been several weeks now since I started taking B12 (sublingual) and I haven't had any canker or mouth sores. So far so good.

[Javicho]

I have been taking Atripla and B12 for the last 10 years and i still have mouth soures, not much help for me