I was searching the web for information related to canker sores and the Atkins Diet, and found this thread. Yes, I have been fighting canker sores for several months now, since I was about a month and a half into the Atkins diet. I have been off of the diet for quite some time now, but the canker sores keep on recurring.

I visited my dermatologist today. He told me that the Atkins diet could have caused my flora to be off balance, and that is causing the sores. He prescribed what he called a Magic Mouthwash that contains, among other things, tetracycline and benadryl. It is supposed to provide both relief from the sores and seal the sites temporarily.

He also told me to get a styptic pencil (like men use on shaving oops). He said to mix a small amount of water with the alum from the styptic pencil and dab it on the (dried) sores. He said this would also help close the sites and allow them to heal.

Finally he told me that research has found that smoking tends to suppress outbreaks. I have been struggling for several months to quit smoking, and have intermittently been smoking only a few a day. I haven't correlated the outbreaks to my days of smoking little, but that could be. Please note, however, that I was NOT trying to quit when I was on the Atkins Diet. I believe the diet triggered the first (few) outbreaks, and trying to quit smoking may be making them keep going.

MP