What causes the mouth ulcers? Confused!

[marmalade22]

I was just wondering what causes people with crohns to have multiple recurring mouth & throat ulcers?

Is it the actual disease in the mouth? So they are the same ulcers that we would get in out small intestines and colon etc.

Or are they a symptom of the disease being elsewhere in the body? As I have read that mouth ulcers can also be caused by a number of different things like nutrition,vitamin defincency, anemia etc.

What are your opinions? It seems that doctors are quick to say that it's crohns and put you straight on the strong meds rather than explore other options or even do tests to see if you have disease elsewhere.

 

[Salad_Shooter]

It's really unknown why they appear in some and not in others. It has been known to be a precursor to IBD, and that's probably why doctors jump on the med wagon when they're discovered. There are many theories, but no scientific absolutes.

 

[Scipio]

This type mouth ulcers is called aphthous lesions and can occur in people with or without Crohn's, but they are also one of the hallmarks of Crohn's. Non-Crohn's aphthous lesions are usually mild and often confined to the mouth. In Crohn's the lesions can occur anywhere in the digestive tract from mouth to anus and can worsen from being mere aphthous lesions to full-blown bleeding ulcerations.

So if you have been diagnosed with Crohn's and are suffering from a lot of mouth ulcers they could very well be an oral manifestation of the Crohn's disease. But mouth ulcers can also appear in a person not otherwise diagnosed or suspected to have Crohn's and do not by themselves necessarily indicate the presence of Crohn's.

 

[wild_one353]

I used to get them in the winter but I don't anymore i wonder if it is related to vitamin d status do you take at least 1000 iu vit d during the winter?

 

[marmalade22]

I've never had my nutrients checked for defincency as far as I'm aware despite my insistence. I'm just a bit confused as I'm currently diagnosed as indeterminate colitis but the doctors are leaning more towards UC because of how my disease was presenting itself in my colon. I also had a pill cam test about 4 months ago and there was only disease in my colon.

I also had surgery on 20th January 2016 to remove my entire colon after being incredible sick. And since surgery the mouth ulcers appeared 5 days after and have got progressively worse and have spread from lips to the back of my throat. I have no other Ibd symptoms and despite waiting for the biospys from my entire colon my consultant wants to put me straight on methotrexate without doing any tests for defincencies or to see if I do have any disease elsewhere apart from possibly the mouth, which is why I asked whether ulcers are the disease or a symptom.

 

[my little penguin]

Mouth ulcers unfortunately can occur with diseases other than crohns as well
Once you have won the autoimmune lottery more tend to follow
Arthritis can have mouth ulcers
Sweets syndrome
Bechets etc...
Ds gets them a lot
But his are not correlated with a Gi flare per say .