Have the doctors ever diagnosed this as something like geographic tongue? I have these painful sores that look the same… mine flare up in a pattern that seems hard to pinpoint , but it really seems to correlate with my general stress level( which includes stress from illnesses and viruses) and gut health. Mine are very painful…. when I get my gut health under control ( for me this is with gluten/casein/ grain free diet with added ferments and probiotics) they disappear.
I have commented on your blog before asking if your boys and wife have issues with hypermobile joints. I am suspected to have ehlers danlos type three but have been diagnosed with joint hypermobility syndrome( fibro as well). Joint hypermobility also has connections with autonomic dysfunction ( which a lot of doctors still don't know… I thought I was dying. ) I also have two boys on the autism spectrum. I don't want to be a bother! I feel that my families symptoms are somehow interrelated…. I just know how helpless it can feel to have so many seemingly non related health issues. 🙂