pregnancy tumor

[earthmama369]

Has anyone else had any experience with this?

When I was five months pregnant, I developed a pregnancy tumor (also called a granulosa). It's a benign tumor on the gum caused by an over-growth of blood vessels, pretty rare, that usually goes away within a few weeks of giving birth. It's more rare for it to continue to grow, but mine did, and at 6 months post-partum I had it surgically excised (when it become too big for me to chew without pain). It came back within 3 weeks and is now (at 8 months post-partum) almost the size it was when I had it removed. (The oral surgeon was hoping I'd have at least 5-6 months before it came back.)

I'm considering getting it excised and biopsied once again but, man, I do NOT want to go through the painful recovery period again just to have this come back within weeks. My dentist and oral surgeon both think, based on the one other case they've seen in their combined careers, that it's related to hormones from breastfeeding and once my daughter weans, it will likely disappear and not come back, even with a subsequent pregnancy. However, they're working from an awfully small basis of comparison. And I'm not planning on weaning anytime soon -- if she agrees, I'd like to continue to breastfeeding until she's 3-4 (5?) years old.

This has gotten long, so I'll wrap up with my actual question. Does anyone have any ideas for a natural, bf'ing-safe treatment that might help stimulate my body to shrink the tumor? Possibly a topical treatment (for example, fresh ginger applied to the gums is supposed to be good for reducing inflammation)? My dentist has given me the go-ahead to try some natural remedies to see if they help. There isn't anything he can do aside from repeated surgeries. I'm not going to try different treatments willy-nilly, as it were, but Qualia's teething, I'm sleep-deprived, and I just don't have the brain power at the moment to come up with new ideas to research. Many thanks in advance!



Sarah
Mama to Qualia, 8 months

[alegna]

Try PMing Smilemomma. She's a dentist and a dedicated nursing mom so she might have some good ideas for you.

good luck!

-Angela

[Harry's Mom]

lysine for mouth sores

Sorry, I've never heard of this particular conditon, you must be pretty annoyed and uncomfortable. I am, however, tremendously prone to cold sores etc. in my mouth. Any time I burn my mouth or get thwacked in the face by my toddler's head, I always get a really painful sore in my mouth tissue.

The only thing I've found that works is lysine. I don't know if it will help with your condition, but it's generally recommended to promote healthy mouth tissue. I take up to 500 mg 3x/day - you can get it as a "vitamin" supplement in any grocery store. As long as I take it regularly, I now never get sores. You can also get it as an ointment to use topically, which is really good for the pain. I also use Bragg's liquid amino acids (which contains lysine) on lots of food. It's kinda like a mild natural soy sauce (much less sodium) and really tasty. Finally, my diet seems to have a lot to do with it too. I was vegetarian until I got preg, then started eating red meat again. (long story.) As long as there's enough red meat in my diet, I don't even need the lysine supplement. As a veggie, I think I was deficient in my amino acids.

You could also try any natural anti-inflammatories. Flax seed oil? Maybe garlic too? Eating oatmeal always helps lots with pain when I get a sore, and now that I think of it, so does okra.

Oh, and be careful to avoid anything that might increase the inflammation in your mouth: really hot beverages/soups, salt, sugar/sweets, hot peppers/spicy foods (which might help or hurt depending on the person.) Even icy foods like popsicles can mess with your mouth tissue, as can anything too crunchy and abraisive like triscuits, which always do me in.

I'll see if anything else comes to mind.

If you do just one thing, try the lysine, it's absolutely harmless and is fine with breastfeeding.

Good luck!!!