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Many, many thanks to everyone who responded to my question about
whether there is a connection between gluten intolerance and canker
sores.  Several asked why I was subscribed to this listserver and am
still eating grains that contain gluten.

Well, I had no idea that I was sensitive to any grain at all
until I finally began putting 2 and 2 together.  Then, because I got
canker sores after having a pint of stout, I thought that I was
sensitive to barley. Only two weeks ago did it occurr to me that
maybe I should avoid gluten, and so I searched the Internet for a
place where I might ask whether gluten intolerance and canker sores
might be related.

It looks as though I came to the right crowd. Most of the
respondents seem to agree that there is a connection, although some
aren't sure about a connection. There are two Internet sites
exclusively devoted to canker sores or recurrent aphthous stomatitis.
The pioneering site is done by Dallas Eschenauer at:
www.users.uswest.net/~dallas7/aphthous.html

Then there is a canker sore bulletin board that is very large and
takes quite a while to download.  It is full of anecdotal
information and cures for canker sores.  My favorite cure is posted
by a man who cures his canker sore by lighting a match, blowing it
out, and stubbing the hot ember against the canker sore.  Ouch!
There are many more "cures" like this that are, in my opinion,
cautery agents.  They are treatments of the symptom, not cures, but
when you have one canker sore or a mouthful, you don't feel like a
discussion of causes, you want a quick cure!  The board is at:
www.saveyoursmile.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.shml

Here are the relevant parts of the responses from the celiac list.
Where I make a comment, I put it in square brackets and  put my
initials (T.J.F.) at the end.

Tom Fitzsimmons

***********
***********

"Canker sores are notorious for being a result of being sensitive to
gluten."
**********
"...we Irish have far more celiac than any other group"

[Definitely not encouraging news, although it's nice to be first at
something! T.J.F.]
**********
"Canker sores are caused by an allergy to something.  Sometimes acid
food will cause them. Are you a celiac?  If so, you are eating gluten
in wheat, rye, oats and barley. If not a celiac, then you are
allergic to something. Try to eliminate one food at a time from your
diet for a week.  If you still have canker sores, then try another
food, and so forth. I have found that plain baking soda applied to
the sore will help to heal them."
**********
"There is a phenomenon of MASKED food allergy. You have eaten wheat
all your life, just as I did. But you have also eaten hundreds of
other types of food. The other foods are MASKING the symptoms of
wheat intolerance. It is only when you go on an elimination diet, say
for two weeks, eliminating all gluten grains, then for 2 or 3 days
eat a LOT of wheat - at least something 3 times a day, e.g., wheat
cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, pasta for dinner....then
note what symptoms develop. The symptoms may only start on the third
day after your "binge" of gluten. Note whether you have a drippy
nose/sinusitis, headache, stomach ache, heartburn, joint pain etc. I can
suggest an excellent book that describes "masking" - "The Complete Guide
to Food Allergy and Intolerance" by Dr Jonathan Brostoff and Linda
Gamlin, published by Bloomsbury,  ISBN  0 7475 1260 4

[I suppose in my case, I would especially watch for canker sores
developing after the binge. Then again, maybe I have other symptoms
that I have lived-with that and ignored T.J.F.]
**********
"I...suffered with cankers for many, many years before
being diagnosed with celiac disease four years ago.  I would have
forty (no lie) at a time, down in my throat, on my lips, oh it was
horrible.  I use to think the tomato gave me the canker not the bread
in a sandwich!  I do not ever eat gluten to much knowledge, which
includes wheat, barley, oats, or rye.  I only have to have a drop of
it and I end up with mouth sores. My doctor gave me a prescription
that is called LYDEX.  It is in a tube, is a steriod so the doctors
were not happy to give it to me, but did under strict orders.  A
little tube lasts me for two or three years.  If I get a canker, I
put in on and the sore is gone the next day.  Nothing that I ever
tried helped, nothing."
**********
"...I have suffered through Canker sores since being a child and I
although I don't know what causes them, I have a fix.  I'm not sure
if you can get this in Ireland, but hopefully you can.  It's a
vitamin called L-Lysine.  I take one per day and when a canker sore
comes on, I take 2-3 per day.  I have pretty much been canker sore
free for some time.  However, I should mention that when I was
pregnant, they recommended that I not take this because they didn't
know a lot about it.  Also, you should know that I do not have
Celiac, it is my 15 month old."

"Adding l-lysine to the diet w/ help w/ canker sores.  It's an
essential amino acid.  You might not be getting enough (or absorbing
enough) from your diet."

[I tried l-lysine over and over again through the years and never
got any relief from canker sores.  Canker sores are not the same as
cold sores, and are not the result of a virus, and as I understand
it, l-lysine is only useful for treating cold sores.  However, I do
not have access to case histories and statistics on the effect of
l-lysine on either cold sores or canker sores, so I could be dead
wrong!  Maybe it hasn't worked for me because I can't absorb
it. T.J.F.]
**********
"The first year I was diagnosed with CD & DH,
I attended a conference in Seattle, Washington.  I was amazed to
learn that the canker sores I had dealt with for most of my life were
in any way related to gluten intolerance.  The doctor stated that
salt with iodine and kelp should be eliminated from the diet. He made
a believer out of me! Since eliminating them, I have had only an
occasional canker sore."

[This is interesting, because the only thing I have found that has
helped me clear-up a canker sore which is in the threatening or the
very early stages is an iodine compound chemically termed
povidone-iodine, and sold in Ireland as Betadine Antiseptic Paint.
Its packaging is like that for fingernail polish:  a small bottle
with a big cap and connected to the cap is a brush which dips into
the liquid.  It was not me who discovered povidone-iodine for
canker sores:  I have to credit Dr. Merrill Chernov, whose very
expensive version of Betadine can be found described at:
www.uspronet.com/joshua/index.html
A bottle of Betadine, on the other hand, costs about $3 US. T.J.F.]
**********
"I've had a problem with canker sores on my tongue since I was
little.  I discovered just last year (I'm 43) that nuts and oranges
bring them on for me, often within a couple of hours.  Small amounts
aren't a problem, just when I overdo it.  It may be an individual
sensitivity just for me....?"

[One of my sisters used to have a problem with oranges and orange
juice giving her canker sores.  So she decided to overwhelm whatever
it was that was causing the sores, and she went on an orange juice
binge, drinking gallons of it over a couple of weeks.  She said that
cured the problem. She is also very allergic to fresh-water
fish.  Salt-water fish are OK.  Another of my sisters says that she
always gets canker sores after eating walnuts.  T.J.F.]
**********
"These usually go away after 2 or 3 days of Vitamin B complex and
Vitamin C. They are a result of a virus in your body and flare up when
sugar is ingested. Most commercial cereals are high in sugar."

[As I said above, the general opinion is that canker sores are
absolutely not caused by a virus. I've also heard of Vitamin B
complex helping with canker sores.  But, thanks to this wonderful
list, I've learned that celiac disease can cause malabsorption of
nutrients.  Perhaps intestinal problems can cause malabsorption of
some of the Vitamin B family.  I've also read that canker sores can
be hurried to a cure by taking iron.  Isn't malabsorption of iron
also an effect of celiac disease?  When I was a young adolescent I
became very anemic and the doctors who treated me were at a loss for
a reason.  They ended-up giving me shots of Vitamin B-something and
I pulled out of it.  Perhaps what I was going through was a symptom
of intestinal malabsorption.  T.J.F.]
**********"
"All I can say is that I suffered from canker sores all my life, 5
years ago when I was diagnosed with celiac disease and went Gluten
free, and my iron and folic acids levels became normal,  I rarely
have had any more! (Acutally I only have had 2 canker sores in 5
years, but that was due to when I accidently bit the inside of my
mouth and kept biting on it).  Now I don't know if the fact that low
iron (anemia)  was a factor or going gluten free was, or a combination
of going gluten free and getting my iron levels back to normal helped
or both??"

[This comment came in after I had written the earlier comment
wondering about malabsorption of iron.  Honest.  T.J.F.]
**********
"The connection has been well described by a group from Trinity
about 13 years ago.  It is a recognised presentation of celiac
disease."

[Trinity is Trinity College, Dublin.  I'll have to look for the 13
year-old research. T.J.F.]
**********
"I don't know right off hand where to find a good reference, but a
presenter (a dentist if I remember right) at a celiac conference I
attended several years ago discussed a relationship between celiac
disease and canker sores. The canker sores were not her primary topic;
she was primarily talking about esophegeal cancer. You might want to
do some research on this. If true, your canker sores might be as a
result of gluten ingestion (I take it you are eating wheat) and might
be an indication of celiac disease.
**********
"I am also getting mouth ulcers / tender gums and had found that they
are assocciated with eating wheat / gluten. Perhaps you should be
tested of allergies to find out what is going on with your system."

[It seems that there are allergy testing machines in many of the
pharmacies in Cork City.  They look a little like "weird science" to
me, so if I get a test, I'll probably have to go to a medical doctor.
T.J.F.]
**********
"Are you a diagnosed Coeliac?  If so, imbibing ANY gluten will cause
mouth ulcers.  Beer, lager etc is particularly bad.  Also don't eat
oats! Or rye! If you are diagnosed, you should be able to get gluten
free foods on prescription from your GP."

[I'm not a diagnosed Coeliac.  I can certainly second the observation
that beer and lager is particularly bad.  However, I find that some
beers don't seem to cause canker sores for me while others are pure
poison.  I like the thought that I can get gluten-free foods on
prescription.  Now I will have to see what my insurance company says!
T.J.F.]