Folic Acid

Kate Nelson alerted me to a discussion in which folic acid was mentioned as eliminating someone's Burning Mouth Syndrome symptoms after 3 weeks:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=16195

In a quick Web search, I learned that folic acid is a B vitamin which helps prevent birth defects. The CDC recommends taking no more than 1,000 milligrams per day but says there are no known risks.

My dentist recommended I take Vitamin B last summer, but he didn't specifically mention folic acid. I took Vit. B for a while, but maybe didn't take enough, or long enough, or the right kind. The Mayo Clinic's website also mentions folic acid as one of the vitamin deficencies BMS sufferers sometimes have. So I think I will try it.

Facial Muscles

My facial muscles have been very tight and clenched for months. I first became aware of it in September, after the oral pathologist told me that anxiety and stress could be a cause of BMS. I started meditating and realized how tight the muscles were. I had been clenching my jaw without even being aware of it, for months. Since then I try to relax the muscles every time I think of it, but have only had mild success. It's obviously related to stress because it's less severe on weekends or holidays. But what to do? You can't eliminate all stress from your life.

Social Implications of BMS

Since eating is such an important part of our social lives, Burning Mouth Syndrome is bothersome from the social aspect as well as physical. Now that I know I can eat some things like enchiladas and mild Indian food it's not so bad, but for a while I was worrying every time we had something planned that involved food. I agonized before deciding to go to the Indian restaurant; would I be able to eat anything besides rice and naan? When we went to a Mexican restaurant a few months ago I told the waiter I couldn't eat anything sour or peppery, and he told me that the roast chicken was about the only thing on the menu that would work. Fortunately it was delicious, but I didn't eat much of the salad, which turned out to have a vinaigrette and slivered almonds on it. (I forgot to inquire about that.)

Pot lucks are also challenging. I belong to a group that meets once a month at a different person's house; that person makes the main dish. Last time it was at my house so I made something I could eat, but at other times there have been a lot of hot and vinagery things. I try to take something I can eat a lot of if there's nothing else I can eat, like bread and cheese. I organized the last pot luck we had at work, so I made some suggestions to people who didn't have any ideas about what to bring.

And what if we're invited to someone's house for dinner? That doesn't happen much, but if it does, should I say anything to the host? I wouldn't want to dictate the menu, but I also wouldn't want to eat almost nothing of the food. Most of my friends know about my problem by now, so it's probably nothing to worry about. I guess I'll just cross that bridge when I get there.