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Discolored tongue for three months
Hoping maybe you can give me some answers. I have had a discolored tongue for three months now it started three days before I was diagnosed with it hat they thought was strep. It goes from yellow to brown to bright orange but it mostly stays bright orange all the time. I went to the ent and he did blood work. I have a follow up on the 19th to see what to do next. But the blood work from what I can tell was normal other than my glucose was a little high but I figured that was because I ate two hours before the blood work. I do have diabetes run bad on my dads side but I don’t think this would be a symptom. I have started to also get nauseated if I don’t eat so many times a day and I also feel really tired sometimes with achy joints. Not sure if this is all related. I know it isn’t fungal related cause I’ve been treated with three high powered meds and It didn’t even affect it at all so my ent said that’s why he believes it is something else. I have really good oral hygiene and go to the dentist all the time so he doesn’t think it is anything like bacteria collecting. No one can tell me what it is so this is extremely frustrating. I have also noticed my tongue has started to burn a little when I brush and eat or drink some things.
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Hi @jennibenni90 Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. It appears you’re not alone with having an orange tongue. There are a couple of members in the forum who have also experienced similar symptoms.
Posted below are links to some of the conversations with fellow members. @heatherme shared her story with orange tongue and the diagnosis of Acintomyces spp. bacteria. Her tongue cleared up after she was treated with penicillin. She also later was diagnosed with small intestine bacterial overgrowth.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/256126/
@pbeet had a helpful post with they used to help alleviate orange tongue symptoms
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/691910/
Here is the entire discussion with other members replying
~~Orange Tongue; https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/orange-tongue/
I hope you’re able to get to the bottom of this! It has to be really frustrating especially if you’re starting to have burning in the mouth along with the discoloration. For now, it might be beneficial to make a switch to non-minty toothpaste and try a children’s toothpaste like Tom’s or Bert’s Bees. Also avoid citrus, salt, spicy or crunchy foods. They can all irritate an already unhappy tongue. Using some warm saltwater rinses can sooth the mouth and tongue.
I know you mentioned that you’re diligent with your oral hygiene so that’s not the issue. Are you getting enough Vit B, folate or iron in your system? Do you know if you have acid reflux?
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3 ReactionsI do have acid reflux but I take something everyday for it so we kinda cancelled that out. Everyone I talk to just scratches their head in confusion because they have never seen it before. Lol I even used something for dry mouth thinking maybe that was one reason but it didn’t help.
There’s a possibility you could have Burning Mouth Syndrome
Hi Jenni, definitely read the post I wrote and there are some others that seem to be helpful. My symptoms are 98% cleared. Someone wrote that penicillin worked 100%. I do notice that sugars seem to bring it back just a little. Tongue is still sensitive at this point. It's been 6 months now. I'm still on over the counter pro-biotics. I'm on 3 different ones. When I go back to the doctor, I will see if he will give me the penicillin. I have the aches/pains and tired all the time but part of that seems to be unrelated. I started on Multi vitamin by Olley, B12, Two different pro-biotics by Garden of Life (one has 80 Billion CFU and the other one has 40 Billion CFU , they are different cultures inside) and I take one Natures Bounty Aidophillus Probiotic. Plus, I use a Tongue scraper from Grin. It's strong plastic which takes a tremendous amount off especially in the beginning. They are cheap and I was Calcium chews that I purchased at the Vitamin Shoppe. They are in a blue bag. It has cut all the other symptoms down a lot. Hope this helps.