Low Vitamin D vs. Oral Lichen Planus?

by Catherine Duff
(Bowie, MD)

Is there any documentation regarding a link between low levels of Vitamin D and Oral Lichen Planus?

Comments for Low Vitamin D vs. Oral Lichen Planus?

Oral Lichen Planus...
by: Kerri Knox, RN-The Immune Health Queen!

Hi Catherine,

No, I have not found any correlation between them, but Oral Lichen Planus is not the most studied disease in the world and I always suspect that vitamin D can help in the case of ANY chronic infectious process if the sufferer has low vitamin d levels.

But what I DID find, was a correlation between Oral Lichen Planus and Celiac Disease.

Celiac disease is VERY OFTEN the culprit in ANY chronic oral lesions. Again, you are not going to find TONS of evidence of this because oral lichen planus just does not occur in the frequency of many other diseases and is not deadly and doesn't cause people to be hospitalized.

So, Catherine, if you ARE suffering from oral lichus planus, you may just want to try going on a Gluten Free Diet for a couple of months to see if it improves. I recommend that you get Essential Gluten Free Guide as a reference to help you in going gluten free- as you WILL need some help.

Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Health Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Easy Immune Health.com

Lichen Planus and gluten free diet
by: Erin

I am a dentist (periodontist) and see many patients with oral lichen planus.

I, myself, have been diagnosed with the dermatologic and oral forms of this condition.

I definitely feel there is a connection with Gluten Sensitivity and lichen planus in general.

I had been gluten free for about six weeks (was trying to lose weight and knew that flour containing products caused me to be unable to lose) when I "fell off the wagon" due to some stress.

I had a full gluten meal (pancakes, etc) and loved every bite. Unfortunately, within a day or two I had complete sloughing of the entire inside of my mouth, chronic diarrhea, anal itching and just plain felt lousy.

I then started breaking out with a rash on my elbow, wrist thighs and my buttocks (extremely itchy and then it would burn when I would itch it).

Going back gluten free has truly helped me and many of my patients with oral lichen planus. I think much more research will need to be done in order to connect all the dots but I am trying my best to find as many pieces of the puzzle to try and start finding some common denominators.

Good luck to you and God bless!

Sunshine has helped my oral Linchen Planus
by: Anonymous

I have been walking in the morning and getting a lot of sunshine.

The sores in my mouth are almost gone.

Celiac disease & oral lichen planus
by: Sally

Yes, I have both, along with other dermatological problems (uticaria, other rashes, edema and hives on exposure to sun). I've also had rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, anemia, Sjogen's syndrome, migraines, neuropathies (my doctor called them "extracranial migraines"), Hashimoto's, and infertility. I was fortunate to have one child, with less than ten menstrual periods in my life!

My autoimmune diseases have been in remission, for the most part, because I have used a low-carb diet for many years in order to control my weight. That unwittingly resulted in a non- or very low-gluten diet. During the fasting seasons of my church, I would use a vegan diet and always became dreadfully sick. The diagnosis of celiac disease came very late -- in my 60s!

And yes, vitamin D is very helpful for lichen planus.

There is nothing like the gluten-free diet, though, for celiac disease. The dreadful, unrelenting itching is gone, and all the horrible autoimmune disease symptoms have abated.

Need help and guidance for Lichen Planus
by: Barb

I have Lichen Planus and am very lost on what to eat. I am a border line diabetic and have to watch my blood sugar. I do not know if I should eat gluten free. I need receipies and guidance.

Everyone should try going gluten free
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

I believe that everyone with any health problem should at least TRY going gluten free for two months to see if it improves their health problem. If it doesn't help, then you can go back to the way that you were eating before, if it DOES help- well, you now know it and you can stay gluten free and control your condition. But unless you at least try a gluten free diet, then you'll never know if that is affecting your condition- and wouldn't you feel dumb if you found out right now about gluten but didn't try it and suffered for many years only to find out later that gluten WAS a problem for you and you suffered needlessly for many years? That's my thinking on this.

In any case, if you need help and guidance to go gluten free, the best help for this is Essential Gluten Free Guide. It will take you step by step and help you learn exactly what you need to know to effectively eat gluten free- even in restaurants. So get Essential Gluten Free Guide and follow the instructions there and find out if gluten is a factor in your condition.

Kerri Knox, RN

Oral Lichen planus and low vitamin D
by: Karol

My Oral pathologyst told me that most of his patients with OLP have a high deficiency of vitamin D. And he sees thousands of patients w this condition a year. My blood work came back w/ high vit D deficiency and also vit K. I was put on vitamin D replacement therapy. Its hard to tell if thats helping my condition bc I'm also using other meds for my mouth. Overall I feel a looooot better. 2 months I was crying in pain and couldnt eat. I also had problems w digestion end up in the ER. I put myself on a gluten free diet and feel so much better. My oral lichen is slowly leaving me.

Oral Lichen planus and low vitamin D
by: OLP20

Same thing happened to me Karol. Oral pathologist diagnosed me with OLP and low vit D and K. I also went to ER 3 times with digestive problems. After several appointments with the GI doctor, they found I had H. pylori and a high TSH level. Endo diagnosed me with Hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's disease.) I put myself on the SCD diet to control digestive issues and was told hypothyroidism slows down digestion and everything else.

It's been over a year still taking meds for OLP and doing better. However, I started Vit D supplementation again and my mouth started hurting badly. The same thing happened a year ago when they put me on Vit D therapy and had to stop becasue it was making my mouth hurt badly. Now I wonder if I might have a pancreas problem that caused this disease (OLP) to develop in my mouth? I just dont understand why vit D could bring back my symptoms of OLP.

OLP and gluten
by: Zelda

If you have OLP please try gluten free diet even if your MD states you do not have any issues with gluten. I did not have LP but some other unknown rash totally healed with GF diet. My mom had OLP for years, then tongue cancer....her MD insisted that gluten is not a problem for her, so she dismissed my advice for her to try GF diet...maybe it would not have helped but I really think it would have healed the OLP and maybe prevented the tongue cancer. Too many MDs are not willing to think outside of the meds box and disregard how diet plays such a huge role in our health. Low vitamin D is one sign of Celiac, was for me.

OLP AND VITAMIN D
by: Ann

I had OLP for over 30 years. It got worse and worse. I had vet low vit D levels. I asked that it be checked after reading a medical journal that found low D in breast cancer patients. I had a high risk. They tested me and I was at 7.

I read this level can cause bone crumbling. The Drs would give me high oral doses a few weeks and it would come up then go back down. During a year I did not have it checked and was low I did get breast cancer. One dr put me on 10000 per day from now on. After several months I found the OLP was gone! They biopsies for celiac but it was negative.

I am diabetic and must have some carbs but try to keep the good carbs.

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