Biting inside of mouth while eating

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partials - 01 Feb 2006 15:21 GMT

Biting inside of mouth - cheek, lip, tongue - while eating!

I'm not talking here about seizures and where this happens during a
seizure. My seizures are currently "controlled" and this biting only
happens at mealtime while chewing my food. It doesn't happen at all
during many meals, but then sometimes I have a bad day where I will bite
the inside of my cheek several times. Other targets of the poor aiming
of the teeth are the inside of my lips and occasionally my tongue.

I know this happens even to people without diagnosed neurological
problems on occasion, but it is quite often with me. Anybody else out
there have this problem?

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Julie - 01 Feb 2006 23:56 GMT

> Biting inside of mouth - cheek, lip, tongue - while eating!
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> problems on occasion, but it is quite often with me. Anybody else out
> there have this problem?

What does the dentist say about your teeth and your bite? My bite was
very bad at one time. I remember my dentist saying "how in the world do
you chew your food?" So I got braces and the cool thing about it was
after the braces I no longer bit my tongue during a seizure.

I did have a seizure, however, while I was wearing braces. I have to
remember back and laugh at the orthodontist. You know they try to talk
to you with their fingers in your mouth and it makes it rather difficult
to communicate. So he says "why didn't you tell me that your braces
were bothering you, the inside of your mouth is all chewed up". I shook
my head no, and he said yes it is. Then I raised my hand to tell him to
let me speak and I informed them not to ask questions with their fingers
in my mouth and that I had a seizure a few days before and that was the
reason the inside of my mouth was chewed up.

After that they were very careful with me ;-)

Take care,
Julie

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partials - 02 Feb 2006 00:44 GMT

>> Biting inside of mouth - cheek, lip, tongue - while eating!
>>
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
> What does the dentist say about your teeth and your bite?

I haven't seen a dentist in recent times, but the fact that it only
happens sometimes makes me sort of rule that out. It's random in the
same sense that I have bad days and better days in the way I feel.

> My bite was
> very bad at one time. I remember my dentist saying "how in the world do
> you chew your food?" So I got braces and the cool thing about it was
> after the braces I no longer bit my tongue during a seizure.

Quite surprising. You didn't by chance change meds or dose around that
same time?

> I did have a seizure, however, while I was wearing braces. I have to
> remember back and laugh at the orthodontist. You know they try to talk
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> let me speak and I informed them not to ask questions with their fingers
> in my mouth

or else!<g>

> and that I had a seizure a few days before and that was the
> reason the inside of my mouth was chewed up.
>
> After that they were very careful with me ;-)

I'll bet they were. :) Thanks for the response.

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Malcolm - 12 Feb 2006 14:38 GMT

>>> Biting inside of mouth - cheek, lip, tongue - while eating!
>>>
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>happens sometimes makes me sort of rule that out. It's random in the
>same sense that I have bad days and better days in the way I feel.

Salt and carbohydrate in the diet causes water accumulation in the body
- one of the effects of this is to make the cheeks swell so you end up
biting them.

See if there is a correlation between cheek biting and body weight gain
- if there is, then it's time to cut out the salt and carbs and take up
jogging for a while.

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Malcolm

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partials - 13 Feb 2006 01:36 GMT

>>>> Biting inside of mouth - cheek, lip, tongue - while eating!
>>>>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> - if there is, then it's time to cut out the salt and carbs and take up
> jogging for a while.

You raise an interesting point, although the nip I took at my tongue
yesterday also comes with the problem, and it may be a bit difficult to
pin down.

One of the listed possible side-effects of the Dilantin I take, in
addition to the usually more well known "gingival hyperplasia"
(excessive gum growth), is "Coarsening of the facial features,
enlargement of the lips". The fact is that I've never paid that kind of
attention to my lips, etc. to actually know if there has been any change
in the past year and a half. I'm trying to avoid the phenomenon of the
med-school student who imagines having every disease that he reads
about<g> and I don't think I have that particular side-effect with my
lips. And besides, any Dilantin effect should be a constant? and the
biting is hightly variable.

Then on to water retention and swelling. I'm currently towards the
bottom of a 6lb range and that range has continued to be in effect even
though I quit eating a half gallon of caramel butter pecan ice cream
every day (for the calcium of course<g>). So yes, I do believe that the
weight fluctuation is now mainly due to water. But in spite of being at
the lower end, the biting was pretty active yesterday. What might be
significant is that it was at its worst while eating some chocolate chip
cookies. I suspect that sugar plays a role in the problem and not having
dessert for dinner has made for better sleep this past week.

These glitches aren't limited to chewing food though and it's simply one
case where the problem becomes obvious. Otherwise we do a lot of things
in our daily physical movements where minor glitches are ignored. Do you
possibly find that some days or times, you have more typos at the
keyboard than others? I notice it at the piano when I'm doing some
repetitive warmup exercises. Measure after repeated measure and
suddenly, the fingers are hitting the wrong keys for no reason whatsoever.

That all said, I now plan on keeping daily track of what the bathroom
scales say and will look for any relationship to the biting problem. I
should point out that I am neither over nor underweight and am within ~7
lbs of my lifetime average. I also never sprinkle salt on food although,
come to think of it, we do have bacon with eggs a couple of mornings per
week - Hmmmm.

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Malcolm - 15 Feb 2006 16:48 GMT

>Do you
>possibly find that some days or times, you have more typos at the
>keyboard than others?

My typing goes to pieces at approx 02:00 hrs, and I know that I'll get
no more work done and it's time for bed. Whatever I'm working on, and
however urgent it is, it's a sure indicator that my brain wants a rest.

>I notice it at the piano when I'm doing some
>repetitive warmup exercises. Measure after repeated measure and
>suddenly, the fingers are hitting the wrong keys for no reason whatsoever.

Probably the same sort of effect. Stand up, wave your hands round and
round like propellors, think yourself lucky you're not playing Philip
Glass and then start again.

OT:
Having just taken up the piano (at 48!), I'm interested in the opposite;
the first few overambitious pieces I worked on have been left untouched
whilst I grapple with more suitable material. Listening to a CD the
other day I realised "Oh, I recognise this, it's one of the pieces I
tried a couple of months ago" - I went straight to the piano and out it
tripped note perfect without me thinking about it.
With piano playing, is a 'leave-alone' delay beneficial between learning
and achieving (ie. a subconscious soak-in time)?

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Malcolm

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partials - 15 Feb 2006 19:48 GMT

>> Do you
>> possibly find that some days or times, you have more typos at the
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> no more work done and it's time for bed. Whatever I'm working on, and
> however urgent it is, it's a sure indicator that my brain wants a rest.

That's it - simply another example of flaws in the finer mmotor control and
coordination that causes the tongue, lips, cheeks, & jaws to fail to perform
according to spec.

>> I notice it at the piano when I'm doing some
>> repetitive warmup exercises. Measure after repeated measure and
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> round like propellors, think yourself lucky you're not playing Philip
> Glass and then start again.

Wouldn't work, or at least it wouldn't have the other day. I left and came back
an hour later with the same results. Gave up for the day after another
iteration. The neurological pathways were not working well that day.

> OT:
> Having just taken up the piano (at 48!),

It's never too late. But keep in mind that the concert greats all started around
age 5 amd it's hard to catch up with that kind of lead.<g> It's not the
instrument I studied as a child, so I likewise studied piano formally as an
adult when I could afford my own lessons. I've been off for a few years and am
attempting to get back to where I was.

> I'm interested in the opposite;
> the first few overambitious pieces I worked on have been left untouched
> whilst I grapple with more suitable material.

Right. There's no way to properly escape the drudgery part and attempting pieces
that are beyond one's current ability causes bad habits to develop including
lack of proper relaxation. If your hands & forearms tighten up and feel tired,
then you aren't playing properly. You've probably already heard it repeatedly,
but practise slowwwwly, one hand at a time.

> Listening to a CD the
> other day I realised "Oh, I recognise this, it's one of the pieces I
> tried a couple of months ago" - I went straight to the piano and out it
> tripped note perfect without me thinking about it.
> With piano playing, is a 'leave-alone' delay beneficial between learning
> and achieving (ie. a subconscious soak-in time)?

I don't have any scientific evidence to offer. I've had somewhat similar
experiences and yes, it's like a lot of other things that need a rest and a
fresh look at later so far as I can tell.

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Dave Keays - 04 Feb 2006 03:10 GMT

> Biting inside of mouth - cheek, lip, tongue - while eating!
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> problems on occasion, but it is quite often with me. Anybody else out
> there have this problem?

Funny, when my focal-point (and seizures) went away I had the same problem.

After a few years, it went away. I assume that while my head was busy refocusing
itself with a new situation I "suffered" from a few mishaps.

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Dave Keays

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