This is my first post and I don't know how much or what info to include. I'm already sure that I'm not including enough info. Please be patient with me.

I've had canker sores on and off all of my life, generally during stressful times. I had about 3 years without a canker sore and have now started getting them again since my first pregnancy and birth of my child. I am not mentally stressed out, but a baby seems to lead to less sleep and less relaxation time.

I only have 2 books on homeopathy for basic home care. Canker sores are mentioned in Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child, which suggests natrum muriaticum.

I am using it at 6x potency for myself (an adult) and it does seem to help a lot- very little pain, very small lesions. I'm very pleased with even this improvement. Are there more appropriate remedies to completely clear them up or another reference book that would be helpful?
-Kirsten

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kokairon@clear.lakes.com
www.kokametalsmiths.com

If a 6x works fine! Stop taking it as soon as the infection has stopped. Next time think of going up on the potency to 30C but just take 3 doses in 24 hours, one night, one morning and one the next night. That's it, no more without checking here.

leafy, it's possible that Nat Mur is a good remedy choice for you, but I cannot be sure from what you have posted.
Look through other posts to see the kind of information that is needed. In particular food and drink likes and dislikes, temperament and emotional characteristics, time of day, time of year that symptoms are worst. Fears, concerns, general health history.
For how long have you been taking Nat Mur 6, and how many have you taken in that period?
Even if Nat Mur is found to be the correct remedy for you, a six is too low a potency to cure and its long term use is unadviseable.

Here goes-
I am an overall healthy woman, 32 yrs. old, with an 11 month old baby boy. I’m
breastfeeding my son and still wake up anywhere from 1 to 3 times per night to nurse him.

I am an artist blacksmith, although I spend more time designing now than doing the
metalwork. My husband and I run an ornamental ironwork business. I still get about 15 hours a week actually in the studio.

I don’t like going to doctors and prefer to avoid medications- which probably explains my
timid 6x approach to home homeopathy. (I do much prefer homeopathy’s approach over
conventional medicine.) When I get sick, I generally feel mopey, sleepy, and want
sympathy from loved ones but not attention from anyone else.

my personality-
I’m a happy, optimistic, very laidback woman who feels rather goofy writing all about
herself online. I’m average height and weight, very fair skinned with lots of moles. My vision is great.

I have some general environmental nasal allergies, primarily to molds at this point in my life. They are worst in the autumn and in damp musty houses. My allergies have
improved dramatically over the past 3 years. I can’t identify any obvious reason other than making a conscious decision to ignore the allergies. Some factors may be a move from San Diego to Minnesota (better in MN), and a move from a carpeted space to a
mostly hardwood floor space. I don’t take any medications for the allergies. I decided
that the conventional allergy medications are worse than the allergies.

Canker sores- I used to get them a lot from about age 8-28. They would peak during
times of high stress, personal, academic, any type of stress. At the very worst times I might have 4 at one time in my mouth. Usually one or two was more typical. from about age 28-31 I didn’t have any canker sores- for no obvious reason. When I was pregnant I started getting them again and have continued to get them periodically, maybe once every
2 months or so.

Sleep and the business are my only obvious stresses at this point but they just don’t seem to have the same stressful intensity that used to bring on my canker sores in my twenties.

The canker sores are very large and painful, lasting about 10 days with lots of pain, then
I’ll be very tired with swollen glands (under each side of the lower jaw), and then the sores start to clear up, usually within about 4 days of the swollen glands. I have to emphasize that these are very very painful.

Red wine, coffee, and very acidic foods aggravate the sores, so I avoid them. I crave chocolate when I have the sores, but I also think that it aggravates the sores too.

Nothing makes them feel better except a rinse with plain water and a good minty
toothbrushing ( a strong toothpaste like Tom’s of Maine). They are most painful in the afternoons and evenings and least painful first thing in the morning.

For my emotional response- I just get irritated and don’t complain about them. Nobody wants to hear about mouth sores.

With the nat. muriat., I was taking the 6x potentcy 2 or 3 times a day for about 4 days.
I’ll admit that I was not very regular in taking the remedy. It did not eliminate the canker sores, but made the pain hardly noticeable and kept the lesions very small. It also sped up the healing process to about 6 or 7 days total and skipped the swollen gland stage altogether. I kept taking the remedy for more than a few days because if I stopped it seemed that I could feel the sores getting more painful again. I figured that any relief was better than no relief.

Please let me know if I’ve omitted any important info or if I’ve gone on far too long.
Thanks in advance,
Kirsten

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kokairon@clear.lakes.com
www.kokametalsmiths.com

Nat. Mur is a BIG allergy remedy so it is possible that this could be helped if you dare go higher. Tell us something about your favourite foods. People have a taste for sweet, salty, sour and bitter. Which do you prefer? Which environment do you prefer, mountains, seashore, country or town? How are you in the sun and in the cold? Have you ever had cold sores?

Is it possible that dental fillings were the start of all this ???????

I've been out of town for a few days. Thank for your replies.

I will dare to go higher on the dosages. I'll try the calc c or sepia with the canker sores. I'll use the suggested dosage and only take one.

I have plenty of dental fillings, but have not researched any link between the fillings and canker sores.

In response to a few more of the questions.
I've never gotten cold sores. I get that dry air winter excema on my legs when it gets below 30 degrees farenheit here. I prefer a rural country location near water, seashore or river. I don't like overly hot sunny days. I'm fair skinned so I stay out of the sun. I like cool weather, but not below 15 degrees farenheit.

For food, I like bittersweet chocolate (which I'll avoid while taking remedies), desserts that are not overly sweet, spices like ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, but nothing too hot. I do like a touch of bitter.

Thanks again. I definitely appreciate your thoughtful and obviously well researched responses.

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kokairon@clear.lakes.com www.kokametalsmiths.com

[This message has been edited by leafylady (edited 26 October 2000).]