Dry Mouth Remedies

Fennel Seeds

Posted by Anne (Hawaii) on 02/18/2020
★★★★★

Chewing on fennel seeds is very helpful for dry mouth. They are tasty too.

Dry Mouth Causes

Posted by Dawn (Fort Worth, Texas) on 05/28/2015
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Dry mouth can be caused by several issues. One very large factor is many medications can cause from mild to very severe dry mouth. Another thing that has an enormous effect for dry mouth, feet, hands, skin, or any area of the body is hormonal changes. This can mean anything from having a baby to getting older and going through the change of life and that would be for both men and women, men look up andropause, these hormonal changes have a dramatic effect on our water content in our skin, nails, hair, etc. One last thing to mention is to make sure that the gut is balanced properly. The intestines are where the majority of our balance for health is maintained. Anytime there is something with the body out of balance this is a very good give beginning point to look. Balancing this hugely important but often overlooked area of the body can assist dry mouth along with any other remedies.

Potassium

Posted by Hayley3 (Magnet, Indiana) on 04/30/2013
★★★★★

Potassium for dry mouth. Thanks so much! I was taking an electrolyte pill already and it wasn't helping.. So I added an additional potassium pill after reading your post. So far it's helped a lot... My mouth was so dry at night I had to pry it from the roof of my mouth and I was starting to panic. Now it's much better although at night, my lips stick together a little.. So I'm gonna up my potassium again. My tongue was burning so I had started Vitamin B complex prior to the electrolyte pill.

Potassium

Posted by Rsw (Uniontown, Oh) on 11/17/2014

Ally,

Try a product called XyliMelts (40 tablets for about $10 OTC at a pharmacy). They adhere to the mouth and last a long time for dry mouth. They release 500mg of Xylitol, which may help prevent cavities which can be a consequence of dry mouth. They are not a cure but may provide some relief until you find one. Recommended by people with Sjoren's syndrome. Best wishes.

Coconut Oil

Posted by Janice (Coloma, Mi) on 11/14/2009

Thanks Kay, I appreciate your input. I know I'm not drinking enough water and yes, I am menopausal. I looked up sjogrens and I don't think I fit that (I hope). My Dad does have Rheumatoid Arthritis but I think maybe the biggest thing going on with me right now is a GREAT deal of stress. I didn't even realize how bad it was until this morning when I felt like I hit the wall and burst into tears. I've been holding a lot of stuff inside. Anyway, thanks again for your input.

Coconut Oil

Posted by Desy (Ny) on 09/25/2021

The terrible thing about baking soda is if you are not careful it will deplete you of potassium and you can end up in ER.

Cayenne Pepper

Posted by R. (Dallas, Tx) on 10/26/2009
★★★★★

African Birdseye Cayenne Pepper has cured my dry mouth problems! I had dry mouth from medications for a health condition. I originally bought some cayenne capsules for cholesterol and circulation problems, after doing research on this site, and other websites. I even found a reference to their website on earthclinic! My cold feet and hands are much better than they were. My skin was very dry, and is not anymore, and I am not using any lotion either. It is also suppose to be good for your heart! I have not had my labs done yet, to see if my cholesterol is better, but will let you know.. Do your research! One of the wonderful surprises for me, was no more dry mouth! I take 1 capsule 3 times a day with food, and sprinkle a little on my food first. I have had no side effects from Cayenne either! I also noticed a difference less than an hour after taking my first capsule!

Multiple Remedies

Posted by Nancy (Michigan) on 01/01/2026
★★★★★

Edited 1/01/26 at 2:04 pm

I started waking up at night and my mouth was completely dry. It got worse and I was waking up every couple of hours because of it. It was bad. I had been taking a very small dose of Melatonin before bed. I looked online to see if that could cause dry mouth and found out that yes, it can. I stopped taking the melatonin and the dry mouth did not get better. Since I quit taking melatonin, I started to use a Valerian tincture. I still had the dry mouth at night. I then found out that valerian causes dry mouth so I stopped the valerian. I had seen something online about mouth taping. The first night I tried that, I woke up with my mouth still taped shut and yet my mouth was completely dry. My doctor had put me on a new thyroid medication a few months ago. I looked online and found out that dry mouth was a side effect so I stopped taking it with my doctor's approval of course. I continued looking for answers. I had seen online that some people have used glycerin with some success, so I went out and bought a dry mouth moisturizing gel that contained glycerin. You use your finger to spread it around on the inside of your mouth right before you go to bed. I woke up four hours later and my mouth was dry again. Next, I went online again to find out if too much sodium in the body could cause dry mouth and found out that yes, it can. About a year and a half ago my labs showed that my sodium level was low. My doctor told me to use at least 1 t of salt every day. I did that for a long time and finally saw my sodium level come into the normal range. I also found out that drinking coffee can deplete sodium. I switched to using sole and loved it. I began to decrease the amount that I was using. I also found a supplement that contains bovine Parotid PMG extract, calcium lactate and magnesium citrate. Just in case some don't know, Parotid is what the salivary glands are called. I started taking this twice a day. I also found an herbal supplement called Blue Flag that is supposed to help increase saliva production. I have not even received the Blue Flag supplement yet. I had also increased the amount of water that I'm drinking. I was seeing a slow improvement and this morning when I woke up, I was amazed because I had not woken up at all in the night with dry mouth. This seemed to take a while, but I'm so glad that I didn't quit looking for answers.

Ginger

Posted by Tina (Princeton) on 10/04/2017

Hi MtM, Ginger is great for chai. In the cold season, we Indians make chai with a thumbnail-sized piece of crushed ginger. This is put into the water that is boiled for the tea and can be strained after steeping. Make sure to add milk either with the water or after straining the ginger, otherwise it will curdle the milk. I boil water and milk together with the crushed ginger.

I've found that candied ginger can be used to make ginger chai when fresh crushed ginger may not be available. In a cup of hot water add a piece of candied ginger ( I get mine from Trader Joe's) and let it steep. You can also steep a tea bag - black, green, rooibus or herbal - along with it. It's delicious and can ward off any germs while traveling in a closed space such as an air plane.

Thanks for all your helpful tips over the years! God bless.

Cayenne Pepper

Posted by Cynthia (California, US) on 06/05/2014
★★★★★

Cayenne pepper has been the best remedy for my dry mouth. I read this stimulates saliva, and it does! .. I'm now able to sleep and rest. Thank you Earth Clinic for caring enough to post good remedies.

Supplements

Posted by Ava (Boston, Ma) on 11/25/2013
★★★★★

Here are some things I have found that helped relieve my dry mouth/thrush:

Honeybush Tea
Olive Leaf Extract
Molecular Silver (a more potent colloidal silver)
Coconut Oil - both refined and extra virgin

Change Toothpaste

Posted by Ps (My, NY) on 01/13/2013
★★★★★

Dry mouth? Change toothpaste sensodyne makes my mouth dry and low saliva, I changed to natural one and saliva was back to normal.

Fennel Seeds

Posted by Lorica (New Albany, Indiana, Usa) on 01/22/2010
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Dry Mouth & Dry Eyes Help

My problems with dry mouth started when I began taking an anti depressant. It only affected me when I would lie down to sleep. The dryness was so bad that it was seriously interfering with my sleep. I do not like the idea of taking things with sugar, sugar substitutes or any kinds of chemicals and putting them into my mouth to stop the dryness, tho when I did give in and try some OTC products, they didn't help much.

What has helped dramatically with dry mouth has been fennel seed, organic. Right before bed I take about 1/2 tsp. and chew it a little to soften it, then use my tongue to tuck the seeds under my upper & lower lip, between there & the teeth. The flavonoids in the fennel causes me to salivate, but not to a bothersome extent. Sometimes the little seeds fall down onto my tongue at night, but that doesn't hurt anything & I never have come close to choking. Works every time! For dry eyes, I noticed one commercial product had castor oil in it, & some kind of chemical. Every night before I got to bed I wet my finger with castor oil, not so that it is dripping wet. Then I rub the inner side of the lower lids with the oil, close my eyes & roll my eyes around. It helps a ton!

Sugar Fast

Posted by HisJewel (New York) on 07/13/2024
★★★★★

Regarding Dry mouth and Burning tongue,

I have tried most of the remedies posted for dry mouth and burning tongue at one time or another. And most of them helped for a while. Some of the remedies I was already taking before I got the dry mouth which came first, then the burning tongue came later. For example, I have been taking Alpha Lipoic Acid years before this condition. So, it should have at least worked as a preventive. My guess is the condition was already in progress and my diet needed major improvements.

With the Lord's help, I managed to go on my definition of a 21 days "no sugar fast." I figured 21 days would be time enough for me to see if this "no sugar" would bring relief. The limited commitment was to make sure I did not give up to soon.

I used honey in my coffee, no sugar and no milk, no candy, no cakes, no cookies or crackers. I allowed myself bread and rice with meals. My slip-ups were raisins and apples.

For Breakfast I had eggs and bagel. For dinner, I had meat, rice and vegetables, and about half a glass of grapefruit juice. I had plenty of water throughout the day.

After 5 days my mouth already felt less dry. By the end of 3 weeks, I noticed much less burning when eating spicy foods.

I finished about a week ago. I did not go all the way off this fast because; I plan to start back on it in a few days. To be more helpful: I am in my seventies; I have a good heart. I am not diabetic; if you are, you may need to check with your doctor for permission. I do get swelling in my legs, the no sugar challenge actually made my legs feel less swollen.

At present, my tongue is no longer dry. However sometimes I get a little burning along the edge of the right side which tells me to stick with the plan. The right side just so happens to be the side that I had shingles on, which was located on my leg.

HisJewel

Black Walnut Wormwood Tincture

Posted by Gina (Florida) on 06/08/2022

Those 2 herbs are for assisting with eliminating parasites. You need to add clove. Take a look at Dr Huldas Clark website she has a parasite protocol that is excellent to follow. I only focused on the herbs, everything else she recommends I tried but not needed. https://www.curezone.org/clark/parasites.asp

Flaxseed Oil

Posted by Tina (Seattle, Washington ) on 02/15/2022
★★★★★

Flaxseed oil is amazing for dry mouth & dry eyes - I noticed a difference within just a few days - I highly recommend this remedy if you are suffering from these issues like I was.

Fennel Seeds

Posted by Taffy Valley (Santa Cruz) on 02/15/2015
★★★★★

Dry mouth is much better now with chipmunk style org. fennel seeds. I just tuck 5-10 seeds above teeth and now, ta-da, I salivate at night. I feel increasing my mineral intake helps too. Also, drinking plenty of water...and when I don't remember, I drink 3 glasses at bedtime.

I'm also making my own tooth paste from coconut oil, baking soda, EO, xylitol and just looked up DIY mouthwash after reading your post.

I have lots of essential oils (EO) including Cinnamon, Peppermint, Spearmint, Myrrh and Clove which I'll use (2 drops of ea). Based on the recipes I found, I'll add a good mineral salt, xylitol, citric acid and distilled water. Maybe some colloidal silver, too.

You could buy a few oils (they'll last a long time) or a bottle of thieves or good Samaritan oils and DIY. But beware! DIY is addicting. Fun. Cheap. Just be careful to use clean jars and the natural preservatives.

Celtic Sea Salt, Then Water

Posted by Francisca (Michelbach-le-bas, Alsace, France) on 08/11/2011

Mmsg, I also use Celtic salt (here sel de GuÃ©rande) but I was dissolving 1/4 of a teaspoon in a liter of water. It did nothing for me. In a book about water I read the author claimed he treated back pain, allergies and whatever more with it but it did absolutely nothing for me. And my eyes and throat kept getting drier and drier during the night. My skin is quite dry too, especially in winter something I never had before (the age doesn't help either, together with the menopause! ). I am now starting to think that maybe drinking a lot of water is not what my body needs. It is true that the dark circles around my eyes have disappeared but other than that nothing good came out of it. Maybe I am flushing my body too fast by drinking too much water, I don't know! I will try your trick of putting a bit of salt on my tongue before drinking water and see how it goes! And I am definitely going to drink less for a while and see what happens. I will drink at good intervals but not so much! And the big cup of tea before going to bed is going to change to a small one.

Dry Mouth Remedies

Posted by Bill (San Fernando, Luzon, Philippines) on 08/10/2010

Hi Eileen... In the old days doctors used to treat both hypo- and hyperthyroidism quite successfully with Lugol's Iodine. Read this link:

http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/IOD-08/IOD_08.htm

This article -- from the most current research from Dr Abraham's Iodine Project -- covers the older use of iodine, safety, history and something called "iodophobia" or the origins of the current fear of too much iodine intake. This fear of iodine has been spread by the modern modern medical fraternity in order that other more dangerous synthetic drugs -- ie Synthroid, Thyrogen etc. -- might be used instead of the cheaper iodine(which can't be patented), thus allowing more profit for the drugs industries.

You can treat both hyperthyroid and hypothyroid with lugol's iodine(using much larger doses than are recommended with the RDA).

If your TSH levels are normal with the thyroid output high, then your current "hot area" of the thyroid may be caused by excess flouride uptake rather than iodine uptake. This causes thyroid resistance in the iodine receptors which may cause this thyroid area to overproduce and upset the thyroid hormone balance in the regulating feedback loop. You can read all the research articles from the Iodine Project -- which is the most current research on iodine use and dosage -- from this link:

http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/opt_Research_I.shtml

Iodine will remove dangerous flourine and bromine form your body -- including your thyroid, so taking lugol's iodine is beneficial and healing in this respect. Your readings of the Iodine Project iodine dosages for hypertyroidism will give you some idea of the necessary dosage of iodine to take for hyperthyroidism -- and will generally be in dosages over 100 times more than the current RDA for iodine.

Borax also removes excess flouride from your body. See this link for Borax use:

https://www.earthclinic.com/remedies/borax.html

I also believe that you should do all you can to avoid letting the medical fraternity kill off your thyroid with dangerous radioactive substances. If this happens, then you will be taking synthetic drugs as recommended by the medical fraternity for life. You will also probably have incurable problems from hypothyroidism and become totally reliant on these thyroid drugs. Read the rest of research from The Iodine Project here:

http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/opt_Research_I.shtml

Dry Mouth Remedies

Posted by Beatrice P. (Massachusetts) on 12/09/2018

I would suggest you detox your body by taking Chorella and Bentonite Clay. Eat no carbs for a week, no flour, just greens including sprouts. No sugar. A little chicken and no red meat. I did this a time back to clear a spot I had on my lungs. Good luck.

Coconut Oil

Posted by Kay (In The Valley, Ca) on 11/14/2009

It could be that you are not drinking enough water, or maybe your hormones are changing (change of life?). Have you been checked for diabetes? If these things seem o.k., I would have your doctor check you for sjogren's syndrome. It is an autoimmune disease and the prominent symptons are dryness of all of the mucus membranes. The eyes, skin, mouth, vagina, hair, basically anything with moisture are all involved. If there are any autoimmune diseases in your family, you could be at risk. I wish you luck.

Coconut Oil

Posted by Bill (San Fernando, Philippines) on 11/16/2009

Hi Janice...Regarding your problem, it sounds as if you could have Sjogren's Syndrome. Have a look at Ted's remedies for Sjogren's syndrome at:

https://www.earthclinic.com/cures/sjogrens_syndrome.html

It may be that you actually have Candidiasis in the intestines. I had Candida a few years ago, and mainly used Ted's ACV/Lime/Lemon baking soda protocols to get rid of it successfully. I also used Milk of Magnesia(also advised by Ted) as an external application to get rid of tinea cruris(jock itch), athletes foot, psoriasis and other external invasive fungi and yeasts from the outside of my body. All gone now and it was quite easy and cheap, but took a little while.

Brushing With Glycerin

Posted by Lorica (Indiana) on 09/02/2015
★★★★☆

I tried brushing my teeth with organic vegetable glycerin before going to bed and it did help dry mouth a lot. However, it also helped to simply add about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of the glycerin to 2 cotton balls that I put on one side of my mouth by the molars. No, I never choke at all from the cotton balls. It seems we have an instinct to protect us from such a happening, even when we sleep. If you get really desperate also try taping your lips shut before you go to bed, too. You can use a band aid (I like Tough Strips) going in one diagonal direction so that the sticky stuff isn't pulling on your fragile lips, and a piece of Nexcare paper tape going in the other diagonal direction over that. Keeping the mouth shut at night does help with dry mouth.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Aceofspeeds (Middleton, Wisconsin) on 02/20/2012
★★★☆☆

WORKED TEMPORARILY

Hello all, Recently I started taking Flexeryl for back tension. One bad thing about this drug: for the last three days, I had the most HORRIBLE dry mouth you could ever get! I felt like I was choking and gagging all the time, and had that compulsive desire to swallow every couple seconds that really started to get on my nerves. In addition, this morning I woke up with a painful and sore tongue and an irritation of the lower lip. Later today the lip got swollen; also I lifted up my tongue and discovered that sublingular glands are tender and swollen, too.

I started to get anxious but then saw a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, the type you can use for "oral debridement" or 3%. I took a sip and started swishing it around in my mouth. The liquid almost instantly turned into foam (which means that bacteria are being killed), and I had to spit it out and get a new portion. This time the foam appeared only after 10-15 seconds. I repeated the procedure two more times, and looked at myself in the mirror. My mouth already looked much better and healthier, and my salivary glands were working! The effect did not last too long, however this is still a good "quick fix" if you want to eat, for example.

Vitamin E

Posted by Rebecca (Chicago, Illinois) on 11/18/2011
★★★★★

Vitamin E works wonders for a dry mouth! Try swishing a tablespoon of vitamin E around in your mouth for 5 minutes the way Ted suggests for oil pulling - so basically you are oil pulling with liquid Vitamin E! I felt better after the very first time. I don't know that I would do this all the time because it's a pretty large amount of vitamin E you're getting! I know I can't mention brands but the kind I get is a in liquid form called E-gems.

Dry Mouth Remedies

Posted by Francisca (Michelbach-le-bas, Alsace, France) on 08/10/2011

Hi Jeff, I have had a very dry mouth during the night for a while now. I am 54 and not a diabetic. I also have very dry eyes during the night. No idea why this happens! I have to get up and drink water but after a while I wake up with a dry mouth again! I drink enough water during the day and a big cup of tea before I go to bed!