Brown Tongue

[creatingkarma]

For the past couple of weeks, I have noticed that my tongue is brown. It doesn't hurt - it's just brown. Does anyone know what could be causing this? Any ideas?

[ICNDonna]

Usually it's caused by something you are eating or drinking. You might want to have a look at your diet to see if you can pinpoint a cause. Are you a smoker? Around anyone who smokes? That can discolor the tongue too.

Donna

[glenda]

Nope, sorry, no ideas. I hope someone does though. I'd be interested in knowing the cause, myself. It sounds strange....a brown tongue.Hmmmm. :loco:

[patricia1]

Never heard of this one. I have heard of Thrush and so forth. I hope you find out what is causing it.

[Sarojini]

Hmmm. No idea. Could it be a side effect of one of your meds? I know a lot of meds can cause discoloration of body parts and this effect is often in the fine print. You can go online to http://www.rxlist.com (one of my favorite drug reference sites) and see if any of them have this as a reported side effect.

If that's not it, and it's not diet related, maybe talk to your doc if it is worrying you.

This is a strange one! Let us know what happens :grouphug:

[Babs RN]

I think Donna's idea makes sense--are you a smoker? The only other thing I can think of is that some antibiotics make your tongue black or brown.

Hugs,
Barb :grouphug:

[creatingkarma]

I first noticed it after I had a cup of hot chocolate, but I think that would be worn off by now. I am a smoker, but is this something that just happens after so many years of smoking? I mean, I've never had a brown tongue before. I have a lot of friends who smoke & they've never had a brown tongue. Just wondering. I can't think of anything in my diet that I eat on a regular basis that would cause it. I've checked my med's side effects & nothing there. I was given antibiotics last week when I had my cysto/hydro, but my tongue was brown before then. I dunno?

[jazz]

I have it too! I am a smoker, and drink coffee and coke. I have one cup of coffee in the morning and I drink a few cokes during the day. I can use a toothbrush and brush my tongue a few times and it will go away for a little bit, or I can scrape my tongue down my front teeth and it will remove a little of the film on it.
So I attribute it to the coke..lets see if we take the same med too
I take
Oxycontin for pain
Klonipin for anxiety
Synthroid for thyroid replacement
Trazadone for sleep
Progesterone & Estrogen compounding pharmacy meds for hormone replacement
I know the trazadone makes my mouth dry, so that may make coloring stick to it.

Jazz

[creatingkarma]

I did some research & I think it is thrush that has turned brown because of diet/smoking. I usually take probiotics to keep the yeast at bay, but had been out of them for a while, which is why I got thrush (plus the fact I was given antibiotics). Since I've been taking my probiotics again, the brown tongue has gone away. Yippie!

[tigger_gal]

ok did a google search and found this link, it even has pictures.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003047.htm