Orange tongue

[Delyce]

I've had a cough and a lot of phlem for about 2 weeks.  The couging has subsided, but there's still phelm in my throat. Yesterday I noticed that my tongue was coated in an yellowy/orange color!!  I scraped it, and brushed it, but to no avail.  Is this a common ailment?  Anybody???  Thanks.

[srbrown1x]

I still see a lot of posts blaming this or that, trying remedies and prescribed antibiotics, etc..

I think some of us had similar symptoms but different causes.  As I said in my earlier posts, I was tested by an allergist for a pin prick blood test for H Pylori and treated therein.  I haven't had a problem or discoloration on my tongue since.  I did the research on oral bacteria just as many of you have and had myself tested but the cultures came back negative.  Yet, some of us have posted that they have been diagnosed with oral bacterial infections.  Some have also posted that they have it and their other family members don't or vice-versa or even that they don't have it but their kids do.  To me this points to same symptoms for different causes.

Probiotics didn't help, brushing nearly constantly didn't help, homeopathics did nothing but drain my wallet.  I didn't think the allergist was going to do anything for me and I only went to her to make my wife happy.

By the way, my "gurgling" was cured when I went to a chiropractor and she worked me over good with pressure points along my spine between my shoulder blades.  I didn't even talk to her about my gurgle, I just spend a lot of time hunched over a computer at work and graduate school and wanted to work the kinks out of my posture.

Basically, I haven't had an orange tongue for quite some time, I don't gurgle or cough up phlegm anymore, and it wasn't an oral bacteria in my case.

Keep up the fight and you just might want to try the H. Pylori test if you at your wits end.

[liebekim]

I tried the non-drug route as explained in a previous post and it did not work.  

My daughter and I took a round of antibiotics with probiotics and brushing with toothpaste that has tea tree oil and we have no more orange tongue.  Flora was off in my body which made it an opportunistic environment for the bacteria to grow.  BUT, the acid reflux has not gone away for me.  For my daughter the acid reflux subsided except for when she eats sugar. She had OT only for 3 weeks before she started treatment. I had it for 10 months.  I know the GERD and OT are related because they started at the same time for both me and my daughter.  Either the flora is off in my GI tract or the bacteria is in my GI tract.

I am going to see a Digestive Dr. to see if he can give me a combo treatment with prevacid/prevpac/or something to treat the acid reflux and antibiotics at the same time. But, before do that I am going to try and fast for a couple days on jerky (which someone else tried above) to starve the bacteria and give them the opposite of sugar.

If anyone has had luck with curing OT and at the same time resolving the Acid Reflux, please post a comment such as lemonparade, guywithot, csaggie2000, or plantgrower.

[edith12655]

I still have my orange tongue and my primary care doctor has prescribed Nystatin, an antifungal...the liquid that you swish around in your mouth and then spit out. If that doesn't work, I will try gentian violet, which is an old remedy for thrush, and is available from a pharmacy. I have noticed a few things....the orange seems to go away when I refrain from sugar. I had made an apple pie (yum) and used a cup of sugar in it, and within a few days the orange was more prevalent on my tongue. I have purchased some beet sugar to use as a substitute in baking, and if it doesn't work, then I will try no sugar at all in my diet. Yeast feeds on sugar, so I'm thinking this might be the problem with me. I do have acid reflux and a hiatal hernia, and that seems to have settled down a bit....no more metallic taste in my throat. Although this condition is not life threatening, even my doctor is perplexed. I also had taken a "Z" pack back in March 2012 when this started. I also had pigged out on about 50 Easter "Peeps" candy in the spring. Eventually, one of us will figure this out.

[AcuteAngle]

Your comments were most helpful! I have a 5 year old who has suffered with acid reflux his whole life. The doctors try to control it with medication but nothing seems to work. A few weeks ago I noticed that his tongue was always orange, as if he'd been sucking on an orange candy or popscicle. This led me to research the issue and linked the acid reflux to the tongue discoloration. I am now trying your suggestions to see if this will help all of his symptoms and get his acid reflux under control for good! Thank you!

[RN_Janet]

I had an orange tongue after I was sick and took a z pack. I've been brushing my teeth and tongue at night for years, and I was able to clean most of the orange off every night with toothpaste and a tongue scrubber, but it came back by the next night. Sugar made it come back faster. I had probiotic yogurt while I was on the z-pack and afterward. I tried mouth wash, it didn't go away. I tried colloidal silver for a week and it came back. I tried hydrogen peroxide, it came back. I combined the three and still my tongue was orange. I washed my toothbrush and got new ones so that I wouldn't reinfect myself. After all these things it still would come back, but not quite as bad.

I asked my MD and PA about it, we took samples but the results only showed normal oral flora. They prescribed an antibacterial mouth wash chlorhexidine, a chemical antiseptic. I did it twice, still had the orange. By this point it was not quite as bad, but it was still there every night. I had had an orange tongue for months.

I tried french kissing to get another person's bacteria to help my imbalance (after I had cleaned my tongue of course, and yes, he knew about the orange-ness).

I STILL had a slight orange tongue.

Finally I cleaned and washed my tongue with the same things as before, kissed the same someone for a couple of days, and then later in an act of desperation I took an old, worn toothbrush that belonged to someone else with normal oral flora... I scrubbed my mouth and cleaned my tongue with my own new toothbrush, rinsed and used mouth wash, and then scrubbed my tongue and mouth with someone else's old toothbrush.

Yes, it was gross, but my orange tongue didn't come back after that. I do believe that I had an imbalance of normal oral flora.

I never want to take an Azithromycin z pack again.

[liebekim]

I agree with you on the dental work trigger.  It happened to me.  Can you post an update on how you are doing?  Did the OT come back or so far so good?