Deja Vu Canker Sores: For Those Like Me, They Are the Same Every Time

I've named the canker sores that I get "déjà vu canker sores," because every time I have them the experience is the same. To sum it up, I would call them horribly embarrassing. I've seen people who get what they may call canker sores that simply looked like a small sore on the corner of their lip, which would hardly be noticed if not pointed out to someone. All I have to say is that if that is a canker sore, then I must have gotten the mother of all canker sores.

Throughout middle and high school I would get a canker sore about four times a year. I really have no idea what my trigger was. My sister-in-law at least knows that dill pickles trigger her canker sores, so she can avoid them. My first clue upon waking would be that my lip was tingling. A trip to look in the mirror would always confirm my suspicion of yet another canker sore. I do not think anyone could miss mine if they wanted to. Mine was always right in the center of my top lip and would swell to the point of almost touching my nose. Like I said, it was horrible. The first thing I would have to do is to go get a piece of ice and put it on the canker sore to see if some of the swelling would go down. If it did, I would go to school; if not, it was a sick day. I always used lysine to treat my canker sores, both an oral dose daily and a crème. The first day of treatment was always devoted to using ice because of the large amount of swelling. I was not blessed with canker sores that went away in a timely manner either; mine lasted at least one week. Unfortunately, I always thought that the swelling was the most embarrassing part, but the scabbing up wasn't so great either. Oh well, mom would not have allowed me to be out of school for a week for a canker sore, but that sure would have been nice. After the canker sore would scab over I would have to put Neosporin on it to keep it moisturized, otherwise it would crack every time I went to talk or smile.

My diet has changed now, and I have not gotten a canker sore in a couple of years. I'm not sure if this means that some kind of food was my trigger or the fact that my body was probably pretty toxic based on my previous diet. Either way, I cannot complain, and the nightmare is still new enough for me to be thankful that I have not gotten a canker sore in a while. I still take a daily oral dose of lysine as well, just to be safe.