Burning Mouth Syndrome?

Please help. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  I have been completely off of lorazepam since April 2019 and off Zoloft since Sept 2019. I don’t want either ever again. I feel like this withdrawal has targeted every part of my body pretty much as I just went through terrrible GI issues only to have them finally get a little better and now i’ve had this horrible burning in the back of my throat/tongue/chest since early June. I have tried all things to help which has led my GI doc to believe its nerve damage. I think it is burning mouth syndrome. Docs have suggested gabapentin but I won’t do it so I’m trying Vitamin B Complex and now my neurologist just also put me on magnesium oxide. Has anyone had this? Any suggestions for pain relief? I was doing a lot better for a while but I have just taken 1000 steps backward due to this and the GI issues. I’m desperate for relief. Thank you all. I wish you all nothing but the best as this is the worst thing in the world. I forgot to mention that I am 51 and peri-menopausal. I cant take estrogen due to migraines with aura. I also have had two dental implants which have been nothing but troublesome as well.

Hi, Squeeks6896.  You certainly have been through the mill with withdrawal and I am so sorry that you are this far out dealing with symptoms still.  I suffered terribly from burning mouth after a rapid taper.  It has just slowly gotten better over time.  I still have a slight sensation nearly a year out; what I experience now is like the tail end of how it would feel if I had burned my tongue and it was almost healed.  It's been the one symptom that has hung with me this entire time, but I know I am nearing the end of it.  When it was at its worst, I used xylitol chewing gum to help distract and produce more saliva (which helped quite a bit).  Capsaicin rinses are another non-medicine therapy.  I know of a couple Buddies who also dealt with burning mouth, so you are not alone in this symptom.  Some of them did comment that their burning mouth was correlated to acid reflux.  Mine was not.  I didn't have the back of throat burning but I did sometimes experience a globus sensation which was quite annoying.  Thankfully this was only a once in a while symptom, one I haven't had in quite some time.  Hope you find some relief soon! 

Hi Sunshine75 thanks so much for your reply back. Ive not tried the Capsaicin rinse. Did that help? I feel like I chew gum constantly and actually I was chewing black licorice a lot for temporary relief until my neurologist told me too much of that can cause heart problems … go figure. I had a ton of GI issues develop out of nowhere after losing a ton of weight and then gaining some back due to stress eating from the pandemic. I was on all kinds of meds for the GI issues and then suddenly developed this burning mouth syndrome. Mine is on the back of my tongue and also the back of my throat. It feels best when eating or drinking and Im constantly sucking on ice chips. Sometimes it is tolerable and sometimes I just cant take it. I put in a submission to Mayo and I am supposed to talk with them tomorrow. I really feel like this is all just so unfair. One thing subsides and another starts up. I just want my life back. If you can think of or here of anything else that is not a medication, please get back to me. Also, do you know if there is any way to get notifications if someone replies as I do not come back here that often. It was a Godsend when going through the worst of times but coming back here sometimes brings back the worst of times. It was so bad early on that I have no clue how I am still here but grateful that I am. Thanks again.

I don't have any remedies to offer, but I want to give you some hope! I also suffered form burning mouth syndrome intensely for a few months post-withdrawal. It was terribly distracting and painful. It went away on its own, and I haven't had it since. Hopefully yours will disappear as suddenly as it appeared.

Thank you so much for taking the time to offer me hope! I pray it turns out the same for me and I can be free of these awful symptoms once and for all. This was so unfair to happen to all of us. So unfair it ripped us of our quality of life.

Yes, I had this issue for a couple of months and then it came back.  Basically, my tongue burned, the whole tongue, not my throat and it even burned more when I brushed my teeth.  I now have awful GI issues, and this is my second round of Benzo Withdrawal.

Wow I just think it’s crazy that I was over 2 years off benzos for this to develop. I’m also have crazy issues with some dental implants I am getting/have gotten. Like why am I sensitive there still when supposedly there is no nerves? The dentist keeps doing procedures to stop my pain and it only gets worse. For me it is the back of the tongue and top of the throat but sometimes it goes down to the chest (acid? I dont know). I would still love to hear from people remedies to help the pain without medication. I hope this doesn’t last forever as it’s stealing my quality of life. I want to wake up and have it be gone. Also I was never truly diagnosed so I’m scared it could be something else