8 years of chronic burning pain. The anniversary has passed, and so we start on the 9th year.
I have always had this feeling that something good just might come out of all of this mess, and with the help of my friend Dennis from the Facebook Support Group for BMS, I think that “something good” may have made its appearance. Continue reading
If you are here for information about Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS) and my journey with it, you are in the right place.
I am continuing the information I shared in “A Pattern of Pain – Burning Mouth Syndrome, so feel free to read that post first if you haven’t already.
I outlined my experience with Klonopin/Clonazepam ODT Dissolving wafers and how much better they seemed to manage my pain. This is still the case, but I wish I could tell you that I was completely out of pain, or better yet, in remission. Neither is true, unfortunately. I have good days and bad days, but fewer bad days than I used to.
A couple of months ago, I became curious about these bad days. They had become more sporadic, but why? What was different on those days that made my usual therapy nearly ineffective?
Continue reading
As many of you know, I am very close to the 8th anniversary of my second bout with Burning Mouth Syndrome.
A friend I made on the Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS) Facebook group page is named Dennis, and I have stayed in contact even after I left the group.
(Trolling is bad, boys and girls; don’t do it because people like me will not hang around for it!)
He became interested in the syndrome after his lovely wife was afflicted, and has been keeping up with research, traveling to multiple specialists, and keeping others informed about any progress toward finding a cause or a cure, no matter how tangential it might be.
He shared a recent article with me about endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress) and the possible linkage to neuropathic pain.
“Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have identified a key mechanism in neuropathic pain. The discovery could eventually benefit millions of patients with chronic pain from trauma, diabetes, shingles, multiple sclerosis, or other conditions that cause nerve damage.
Continue readingMay 2016 will officially be 8 years of burning. – No celebrations are planned.
If you have checked into this blog from time to time, you have seen me try all of the medicines and supplements and coping techniques that have come my way or been recommended by any of my Neurologists (three, so far).
Back in August 2015, I reported to you that the orally dissolving tablet form of Klonopin/Clonazepam seemed to really be making a difference for me. And it did…until it didn’t quite so much. To be fair, I recently started using a seasonal allergy spray called Dymista, and it tastes horrible. The bitter taste seemed to worsen my BMS symptoms immediately, and I didn’t think I could tolerate it. I learned how to apply it correctly, and that made it better, but since I have been using it, overall my burn has been much worse. Dymista works very well for my allergies by combining cortisone with a topical antihistamine, and I am breathing easily and clearly through the worst of a very heavy juniper/cedar pollination season in Central Texas, but increased burning seems to be the price I must pay for that.
What a decision – to burn or not to be able to breathe?
Continue reading
If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know I have begun my 8th year with the chronic pain of Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS).
There are two types of BMS. Continue reading
Today is Mother’s Day.
I have received cards and flowers and even a surprise Starbucks coffee from our daughter who lives near us. It is a good day, filled with memories of the two beautiful, bright babies who grew into incredibly cute and inquisitive toddlers, went through their individual awkward teen years, and came out the other side as stunning and brilliant young women. Continue reading
I have been suffering from Burning Mouth Syndrome for nearly six and a half years now.
Every once in a while, what my Neurologist euphemistically refers to as “the persistence of it” overwhelms me and I have a brief, but intense pity party.
Instead of focusing on the optimistic side of the coin:
I occasionally dip into the pessimistic side:
I have been active on a Facebook Closed Support Group page for Burning Mouth Syndrome sufferers. It is a positive experience most of the time, but occasionally things take a turn for the worse, and I see people posting suicidal thoughts and deep despair. Continue reading
I told you recently in “The Patient Maze,” that I was filming a video interview about Burning Mouth Syndrome last month, and it is hitting the airwaves now. Continue reading
A Burning Journey 