diagnosed a few months ago. Usual symptoms of dry eyes, skin, some neuropathy. Now on plaqinel which is helping but I can't control very dry lips to the point where they are cracked in the corners. Not very much relief at all with various lip balms. Please, any suggestions are welcome. Help!
Hi Phyllis, I have had SS and very dry lips, cracked corners for 30+ years. For 26 years treated the cracks as extreme dryness and with lip creams. Then 4 years ago a dental surgeon said :"I see you have some thrush". What????? Now i treat outbreaks with Daktarin (for athlete's foot). This is the name in Australia. Magic! I guess it was fungal all along, although i never see any evidence of anything other than a split. Between outbreaks I still keep my lips as moist as possible with lip balms. Good luck!
Thank you sooo much! I will definitely try an athletes foot cream on the cracked sides of my mouth, do you think it's thrush on the whole lips or just in the corners???
I think just in the corners, but i dont know for sure. The rest of my lips are only dry, they are never cracked. My advice is to get the overall dryness better with good lip creams (I apply heavily for overnight and lighter during the day) and then just treat any cracks with the stronger cream. You will work out your regime and preferred lubricants with time and experimentation.
Vitamin E oil from the capsula you taking inside , now you can open it and use it in the lips also
Thank you jennifer09136
excellent idea! Thank you!
Hi Phyllis,
I use regular Vaseline from the jar during the day, and at night just before bed. But I have never heard of the athlete's foot creams the others mentioned...so thank you to those that mentioned that! I too have had SS for quite a few years now, and aside from the eyes, mouth, skin, neuropathy in my feet, and some organ damage, my lip corners have not been too bad so far. I work my tail off to keep my gums and teeth in good condition. My dentist calls me his flossing queen! LOL And of course, I chew sugar free gum every waking hour! I must own one of the gum factories by now! LOL I wish you luck!!
Hi Jennifer,
Yes, of course - I get it now! I wish I'd figured that out more than 20 years ago when I was suffering from those awful, painful cracks at both corners of my mouth. That really was one of the worst phases of SS for me. I've had repeated fungal infections all over my body all my adult life which I'm convinced are related to SS. In the end, the problem cleared up spontaneously after 6 months or so, and these days I always have Daktakort to hand (prescribed by my GP for assorted other fungal infections) so at least if this problem ever comes back, I'll know what to do.
A big thank-you for this info. I've mentioned the cracks several times on these boards, and have always been convinced they were SS related, but you and Phyllis are the first ones to mention having the same thing.