Jules (Buffalo, Ny) on 05/03/2017:
I few months ago I woke up with my tongue swollen and painful. I was on a cruise ship, so I chalked it up to too many mimosas/bloodies and maybe the acid got me. Well, it didn't really go away. Here's the chain of events leading up to this: 1. I had a cold sore outbreak about 2 weeks before I left on my trip. Then, I had some allergy issues from pollen in the air and used some Afrin nose spray. What I didn't realize was that the Afrin EXPIRED like 3 years ago!!! It was an old bottle. Well, I left the next day and came down with a TERRIBLE sinus infection...TERRIBLE!!! Obviously, I infected myself with something from old medication (that had been snuffed up my nose! ). The day after the nose thing cleared up, I woke up with my tongue swollen and on fire. Again, I thought it was too many acidy drinks on the ship. After I got home, about a week later, It sort of went down a bit and I thought I was on the mend. Then, I got my teeth cleaned at the dentist. Dentist ruled out Thrush..... She gave me these new tooth whitening trays to try out and see if my sensitive teeth could handle them. So, I picked a day and tried them out. Later that night, my teeth started aching, so no more whitening for me! Then, maybe 2 days later, my tongue was swollen and on fire AGAIN! It would kind of be better in the AM, then progressively get worse by evening. I read a bunch of stuff on the internet to figure out what this could possible be.
First things up were: Thyroid, Hormones or vitamin deficiency. I went for blood work, and it all came back fine. In the meantime, I started taking vitamin supplements anyway....Time passes.....I have used all kinds of things to get the pain down, really to no avail........Then............I remembered that in 2005 I had Shingles/Herpes in my right EYE!!! I know, weird, right? SO I looked up exactly which nerve Chicken Pox hangs out in and what it does. Well guess what? It's the same nerve that it lives in when it gets in your eye!!! And the symptoms I have been having match SHINGLES in my MOUTH!
I did a search for BMS and Herpes Shingles etc and all KINDS of stuff came up! SO, I called my dentist and started on Valtrex yesterday. Call me crazy, but I think it may be helping. It has only been a day, and it's early yet, so we will see. Apparently, you can get it in your mouth without having blisters. I'll update in a few days on how this is working! Oh, and I am a 49 year old female in good health, on no meds, not overweight, BP nice and low. I hope this helps someone!!!
