white film lining my mouth, stinging tongue with dark yellow discoloration

About two weeks ago I started having a heaving coating of a whitle "film" in my mouth. I used my fingers to wipe it out but some days it is so thick that it might start peeling off while I'm talking and it's gross. About 5 or 6 days ago my tongue and insides of my lips started burning. My tongue has a dark yellowish discoloration. The film comes and goes but the burning/stinging of the tongue and discoloration never stop. Could this be a side effect of a medication? Or is this just a problem in of itself? My pharmasist suggested I try rinsing with ST37 which really burns but I don't see any improvement. Has anyone had this problem before?
sally

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

Unfortunately,without clinical examination it is very difficult to make a diagnosis.A few possibilities to your symptoms are leukoplakia(a white lesion that can't be removed simply by rubbing the mucosal surface—unlike candidiasis. It may occur in response to chronic irritation from dentures or from tobacco use or pipe smoking, or it may represent dysplasia or early squamous cell carcinoma) , geographic tongue(an area of erythema, with atrophy of the papillae of the tongue, surrounded by a white, hyperkeratotic border) , oral candidiasis(fungal infection of the tongue characterized by white coating on the tongue)  and lichen planus(painful white, erosive sores on the gums, tongue and throughout the mouth.)

Diagnosis can only be confirmed after clinical examination.So pls consult an ENT specialist for that.Fungal culture ad KOH culture may be needed for diagnosing candidiasis.

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing.