What's your tongue look like?

Hi all,

   I'm sort of getting into looking at my tongue as an indication of the state of my GI tract, and the rest of my system.  I've had alot of oral yeast infections, ever since I had pneumonia and was on antibiotics for 2 months.  That's also when I developed Fibromyalgia and IBS.

       I was recently treated with Cleocin for "hairy tongue". (Yes, it's a really weird name!!).   I thought it was a yeast infection for awhile, but it wasn't responding to Diflucan, so I went to my ENT and he said it was hairy tongue.......which is a superficial infection of the surface of the tongue.    The course of antibiotics was over several days ago, and my tongue doesn't look a whole lot better, but it seems to be making slow progress.  I'm also taking "Threelac", which is a probiotic and eating yogurt with live cultures.   I'm thinking my GI tract is a mess,  and perhaps that's because the bad bacteria and yeast have over-powered the good stuff, and maybe if I replace the good stuff and eat right, my tongue will eventually look better.  And maybe my IBS will be helped too.

   But......I'm just curious.  We all have funky GI tracts here, and I'm wondering what everyone's tongue looks like.  Is it pink and healthy?  Is it red?  Is it sore?  Is it white?  Thanks for sharing!

Hi Cathy, i`m usually on GERD forum but i also suffer with IBS. My tongue is horrible. I have to scrub it with my toothbrush twice a day. Its thick at the back with a nasty coating. Its been like that for years but docs aren`t interested. Never heard of "hairy tongue". Vanessa.

Thanks everyone,
I like to think holistically......although I'm not a very good example of living it! But......since I'm having trouble with my tongue, and probiotics, antifungals and antibiotics don't seem to help it, I've started looking further. I think the doctors are so compartmentalized in their thinking. They only look at their specialty, and don't connect it to the rest of the body. Since my tongue just isn't looking better, I have to start looking further. From our lips to our bummies, it's the same organ. It has to all be effected by similar things.
I could probably live with a white, weird tongue, but my whole mouth has been burning and tingling, so I think this isn't something I should ignore. I have another appointment with the ENT on Tuesday, but he'll probably just give me more antibiotics. I guess I need to find a holistic doc.

Thanks Keri,
I might give that a try. I have a dentist phobia.......so we'll see! My teeth are in pretty good shape, except most of my mouth is crowns and fillings. I'm sure there are alot of people out there who would say it's those remaining amalgams that are causing the problem, but I'm not sure I agree.
I go back to my ENT on Tuesday, so we'll see what he says. I have fibromyalgia........which means we can have all sorts of weird things happening to us, and all the docs will say "oh....that must be your fibromyalgia"! :(
I just think the condition of our tongues is a really good reflection of our state of health.......so I'd like mine to be pink and happy!!

Hi Poopsie,
lol! Yes, I agree.......it isn't easy being weird! I usually have the opposite reactions to everything, compared to most people!
Actually, I wasn't going to go to the dentist, but I broke a tooth off last night, and now I have to go!! So........I'll ask him about my tongue too........if I'm not too incapacitated with my dentist phobia!!

Hi Marianita,
Welcome!
The only thing I can think of to combat excessive yeast is probiotics. Do you take any? If not, I suggest doing a little research and starting up on them as soon as you can.

Probiotics are "good bacteria" we need in our gut for proper digestion. They can be found at many drug stores and all nutrition stores. When doing research you'll find that taking probiotics will balance out the flora in our system and prevent yeast overgrowth, thus minimizing thrush and vaginal yeast infections.
Don't worry about taking probiotics because other than a little gas at first, there are no side effects. The most popular kind seems to be Acidophilus. There are many brands out there with a combination of several probiotics; for example, I take Kyo-Dophilus which has 9 different probiotics.
Good luck and please post again with an update.

Does swilling your mouth out with peroxide help the sores any? Cankaid and the like have a peroxide base and that's what really clears up the canker sores in your mouth. I don't know if it would help your kind or not, but it wouldn't be as expensive as prescribed mouthwash at least.

I am on the Lyme site usually but came across the burning tongue mouth issue and thought I would comment.My burning mouth tongue and lips felt like I had hot pepper in my mouth. It appeared better in the morning, but as the day went on got worse at night.This went on for months. I Went to several doctors who had no clue even the dermatologist was puzzled. OUt of desperation I plugged my symptoms onto the internet and was responded to by a doctor in London who suggested I had yeast in my gut from all the antibiotics I took for lymes disease and I should get the book yeast syndrome. I did and found out this might be my problem. As my doctors were in the dark, I went to my dentist who had the same burning problem (for 9 years) and persuaded him to give me a prescription for nystatin in the dose the book said. (I am not recommending anyone do this) just telling you what I did. He gave it to me in powder form which are mold spores that kill yeast. I mixed it with water and swished it in my mouth, at the same time I drastically changed my diet by illiminating anything that would feed yeast such as carbs, sugar, fruit etc. A note about nystatin, if you take it in pill form it will kill the yeast in the gut but not in the mouth, it needs to touch the problem area. I also got probiotics, good ones that need to be refrigerated, you need more than acidophilis there are a few more to balance out the gut and come in capsule form in the healthfood store MUST BE REFRIGERATED..Afetr a week 0of treatment and much herx reactions from the yeast dye off, the burning went away. The book also led me to my current lyme doctor to see if my lymes was ever treated right 5 years ago---it was not so I am currently being treated for lymes again along with a co-infection from the tick and am on antibiotics again, and the burning comes back when I eat certain things. It also appears I have developed food allergies that are causing the burning. When I stay away from ones that I know will cause it the burning goes away. When the immune system gets confused as some illnesses cause it to be, new allergies surface, especially in the processed food we eat so much of. Hope this helps someone, I'd be happy to share if you have any questions?God Bless Laura 

Mine is dreadful .... has a huge crack in the side

 

CathyA,

My tongue's got a white covering I attribute to Candida, and a bit of a crack in the middle.  Have you even been checked for Mycoplasmas?  That might possibly be the link between your pnemonia and fibro, unless you had a car accident or something, as that can trigger a chain of inflammation inthe body and turn on genes that express the fibro.  I have Mycoplasmas, Lyme, and Babesiosis from a tick bite, but one can acquire Mycoplasmas multiple ways.  I also have lung issues/asthma and fibro. 

I was on ThreeLac a few years ago.  It was yummy compared to a lot of other things I eat.  Sharing my experience with bowel issues:

I have an overgrowth of Candida in my gut, too. I had a history of being on and off antibiotics frequently throughout childhood, and I'm certain that is the primary cause of my case. I also had mercury amalgam fillings, vaccines with mercury.  Candida thrives on heavy metals, steroids, sugars, and carbohydrates.  Candida can also adapt itself to the antifungals that are being used to treat it if the antifungals are not rotated. (This aspect of rotation is often missed by people). I felt substantially better mood-wise after replacing my amalgam fillings with white ones and detoxing from the mercury, in particular. (Mercury is often the cause of depression/anxiety issues). Pro-biotics are helpful in re-populating the gut with good bacteria after the Candida has been cleared out. While the Candida is still overgrown, there is no room on the gut walls for the pro-biotics to take hold. They'll only temporarily change the pH of the gut.

Leaky gut was the cause of my laundry list of allergies. With leaky gut, food is not digested correctly, causing malabsorption issues. The Candida takes some of the nutrients before the gut can absorb them. This leads to slight mal-nourishment. Secondly, large, under-digested food particles are absorbed by the gut. Those under-digested particles make their way into the blood stream, triggering an immune response by the body, which results in a food allergy or sensitivity. The body sees the food as an invader. I find that I have to eat fresher, nutrient-dense foods, or I am hungry because of this. 

Thanks for the amusing thread!