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Dry mouth Hypothyroid

Does any one has any issues with Dry mouth and kind of white tongue ?. Is this common in Hypothyroidism /Hashi or it could be a side effects of levoxyl ?.
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Avatar universal
I have been having similar problems with my mouth and tongue for almost 5 months now.  I was initially treated for oral thrush 3 times without any success.  I continued to do some research on my own because my mouth continued to get worse. After being treated for the thrush I started experiencing pain, welps on the inside corners of my mouth and my tongue started showing signs of cracks and  looked almost gray on the sides, unlike the white film caused by thrush.  My research took me to something call burning mouth syndrome.  Do some research on that and compare how your tongue looks to the photos.  Hope this helps.  
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Avatar universal
Also, I drink constantly,,,,,feels good while drinking but water doesn't moisturize the mouth/tongue, just kees the body hydrated,,,,,this is a nightmare and has changed my whole life .... My poor hubby, no conversation as it is too bothersome to talk and mouth dries out even more, again very very agitated,,,,, no fun , no interests, and can't sit still,,need to move to distract from the way my mouth feels,,,I wish this on nobody--I am becoming a different person, and not what I want
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Avatar universal
6 months for me now,,,burning mouth syndrome,,,,, severe dry mouth,,,, white tongue,,,,,, changes daily............... makes me very agitated, been to ENT dr, allergist and numerous visits to family physician..............  Lots of bloodwork done,,,,, only low in B 1 nothing else seems to be wrong,,,,,, not Sjogrens syndrome,,,,,, tired of this,,,,,,nothing helps,,,,,, talking so difficult,,,,even so dry that I have stopped hiking as breathing outside becomes an issue as the feeling is tooooo  dry............ 65 years old, good health, shape and eating habits.....cannot stand the feeling,,,,,,,,
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1 Comments
I know how you feel. It's fustrasting. Went to dr. and checked for hypothyroidism. Started synthroid. Helped some but still achy, horrible dry mouth. Dry skin, dry eyes. Drink contantly, used all kinds of things for dry mouth. I feel like they are under treating the thyroid. An endo. told me dry mouth was not a symptom. How come it's listed all as one all over the internet? I am going to try a thyroid supplement. Hope you find a solution soon. You're not alone.
Avatar universal
Please share your feedback as I have many of these issues also. Thanks!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
HI LIZ...IT'S 2012 AND DON'T KNOW IF YOU'VE DISCOVERED SOLUTION OR NOT SINCE IT'S 2012.  BUT I'VE JUST NOT FOUND YOUR POST.  LET ME KNOW AS I HAVE SOME FEEDBACK.

BLESSINGS...MARY
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Avatar universal
As I said before, I cannot pinpoint everyones thyroid levels but do know that it IS from the thyroid and use the aspirin as my Doctor has tried everything and told me it was ok to do this 1/2 tab rolled round the mouth.
1. It stops the inflammation of the tongue
2. It stops the extremely debilitating soreness of canker sores
and finally ...3. These sypmtoms only last a few days whereas before, I would have canker sore for up to 2 weeks at a time.
Yes I have cried over it all MANY TIMES.
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390388 tn?1279636213
P. S. Usually when this happens my throat also swells.  I think due to the lymph nodes.  My Dr. checked for Strep on many occasions and said not to worry about it.
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390388 tn?1279636213
Hi.  Well I just started Levothyroxine a month ago.  
My mouth for years gets very dry where it actually hurts to swallow at night.  I keep water next to me at night.  
I also have had issues for years off and on with ( I believe is thrush) my tongue being white and a white film on the in the back of my mouth and uvula (when brushed it bleeds).  My throat also gets red and inflamed and very sore.  

I don't believe it is connected with the Levo.; but, it may be connected with the thyroid.  I don't know.  For a while I thought it could've been heart connected.  

Now I think it's just when you run your body down.  ???? Just guessing.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Well I'm anxiously awaiting the results of that Sjogrens test.  Hopefully it'll be in tomorrow. I've had all of those things mentioned, the GERD, the Hashimotos, the whole 9 yards and I'm sick and tired of it.  I'm not taking it anymore, I want my life back whether my body wants to cooperate or not.
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2 Comments
I feel your. Pain, Gerd started mine but it has gotten a lot better, but mouth is  still horrible. It  burns and is dry as a desert. Low thyroid, put on synthroid. It didn't help my mouth and and eye's.  Checked for Sjogrens and it was negative. I'm going to the dentist next for answers. Good look in trying to find an answer. I noticed this posted a long time ago. I hope you got an answer.
Piper, dry mouth can be caused by many factors, including medications, illnesses, sugar, etc....  I do not know the cause of your dry mouth condition/discomfort, I have dry mouth, but not due to thyroid disease.  What helps me tremendously is sucking on crushed ice.  There is a product called Biotene dry mouth moisturizer, which works wonders, can be picked up at pharmacies.  Lemon water always helps.  

As for dry eyes, I've tried numerous eye drops on the market, what works best for me is Systane ultra eye drops, another product that works really well is Thermalon dry eyes heat compress.  Wish you well on your journey.    
523918 tn?1244549831
For the ones that have autoimmune thyroiditis, Sjogren's syndrome is always  a possibility, but I agree with other causes like hypo symptoms, etc.

"A common disease that is occasionally associated with Sjogren's syndrome is autoimmune thyroiditis (Hashimoto's thyroiditis), which can lead to abnormal thyroid hormone levels detected by thyroid blood tests. Heartburn and difficulty swallowing can result from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), another common condition associated with Sjogren's syndrome." Inflammation of the salivary glands can lead to mouth dryness, swallowing difficulties, dental decay, gum disease, mouth sores and swelling, stones and/or infection of parotid gland inside of the cheeks.

http://www.medicinenet.com/sjogrens_syndrome/page2.htm
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Avatar universal
I have recently been to my regular doctor for this problem because I'm sick and tired of it. But, my teeth also hurt very badly on one side of my mouth in addition to the burning tongue/canker sores.  My doc did a blood test for Sjourns snydrome (no idea on the spelling), a CT of my sinus cavity, an MRI of my left jaw and put me on Prilosec. She feels like burning tongue results from acid coming back into the mouth. This is probable for me as several years ago I suffered from a severe case of GERD and was on Nexium for 1 1/2 years.  However, I do not have those symptoms at this time. I've noticed that while I've started the antacid my teeth do not hurt anymore but my tongue still burns just as bad as always.  I'm starting to think it has something to do with my thyroid level. My tsh is very low right now and I know it's getting lower but my endo won't check it for 3 more weeks.  I believe I'm getting hyper and that's what causing all this nonsense.
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Avatar universal
I have had the dry mouth, the swollen tongue, lacerated tongue and also the mouth ulcers (cankers) very badly.
This only occurs when my FT3 level is high and I am hyper or heading hyper.
I have tried just about everything as it was so sore and just made me cry with the pain until last week.
I found a solution.
It is the acid from foods and the thyroid that causes this and the solution is ....
put 1/2 soluable disprin in the mouth and rub it up and down the tongue...and around the mouth with the tongue to form a sort of 'paste' in the mouth.
This eases the symptoms and believe me it worked for me.
If no disprin (soluable aspirin) then bicarbinate of soda (make a paste).
I have had these problems on and off for the last 14 months.
Try it...it cant hurt you

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Avatar universal
iv had thrush three times its not so much a white tounge but white patches around and inside the mouth. its raised white ****. my thyroids were abnormaly low and the doc increased my levothroxine from 200 to 250. i wonder if its because of the very low thyroid. i also was using my fast acting inhaler alot even at nite with out rinsing like i should. its a pain to get rid of for me. i hope this helps
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Avatar universal
I have hypothyroid and have been  on zynthroid for the past 2 years. I was wondering if anyone like me suffers for extreme leg pains and tiredness. I have to sleep during the day, because I get exhausted easily. I am 37 years old and weigh 123lbs 5'2". I also have the burning of the tongue and have been recently getting alot of sores on my mouth. I do rinse with peroxide which helps sometimes. But it is really annoying!
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200220 tn?1361951554
I am getting extremely dry mouth and I believe it is from the antidepressant Doxipin that I am taking.  The funny thing is I don't get it every night.  My mouth is so dry I have no saliva at all.  I mentioned above that I also had white tongue before they started me on any medicine.  I thought I had thrush and they treated me with antibiotics but it still havppens at times.  I think it must be thyroid related.  I hope to find a lot out from this new endo that I am going to.  She is in a endocrine clinic so hopefully she will have more answers than my last one.      I also have dry eyes at times.  The eye doctor gave me drops to put in when that happens and an ointment at night.  It really helped and went away for a long time and now it is back.  Who knows huh?  We sure all seem to get a lot of the same sym;ptoms.  Maybe they ought to use us as test cases.  This forum is full of symptoms and answers to them that we have found.   Hope some doctor reads this and notices the different symptoms that they don't think are thyroid related.   linda (:
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393685 tn?1425812522
It wouldn't hurt to go to the dentist and get that checked out.  I visited my dentist- GI - ENT- and my MD all in that year and thrush was not an option. You can see pics of actual thrush patients on a yahoo search / thrush/white tongue.  I suspected thrush also originally - but it didn't turn out that way for me.

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314892 tn?1264623903
The white tongue makes me think of thrush as well. It is caused by yeast overgrowth and is treated with anti-fungal drugs.
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429778 tn?1205273336
Do you think it may be thrush? I have gotten this many times when immune system low. The one sign is brushing some off and it returning white again after. If you find that it is, you may need medication (antibiotic?) and you must throw out old brush due to chance of re-infection. Just a thought.
hugs
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393685 tn?1425812522
I believe I talked with Liz on this issue with the dry mouth and burning tongue syndrome also. I suffered a year with agonizing burning tongue and white tongue. I have found since on Armour thyroid my symptoms are minimal but ocassional dryness is still there. I suffered also from severe acid reflux.  I believe when Hypo thyroid after digging for a year this is a condition related to hypothyroid and setting off our PH balances in our systems. I have found some natural remedies let helped to balance me out on the PH and took away the burning tongue. I am no longer on acid meds either.

I noticed , for me, on the white tongue, it really is not a coating on it. It is the tiny hairs on the tongue that are causing the tongue to look white. Brushing the tongue didn't help for me at all. In fact it made it worse.  Experiment on this: suck the saliva totally out of the mouth  then quickly look at your tongue in the mirror. Do you notice the taste buds raised a bit? they look like little tiny hairs. This is what is causing the dry mouth and white tongue. I believe between PH being out of whack with hypo- and - the thyroid meds given this is related. Found alot of non scientific proof - but nothing any medical doctor will put together.

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Avatar universal
jd2
i get a white tongue when my dose is too low.
before i was diagnosed (when i was hypo) i had a green tongue (and sometimes white)!! (scary!) and the doc said it was acid reflux and that i had to eat more often (which helped). he gave me some tablets for acid reflux and my tongue went normal.
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Avatar universal
So it looks like dry mouth is thyroid symptoms also. Is any have dealing with canker soar as well in mouth i had one last week ?.
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Avatar universal
My mouth was dry, swollen tounge and always thirsty until I started Synthroid.  I just assumed they were symptoms of being Hypo.
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456333 tn?1206973213
I forgot to mention that I switched toothpastes about 2 days after I started Levo....so either the levo is actually helping it or it is in fact the toothpaste.  But out on the net if you google it, there are lots of people with similar issues who don't have thyroid issues and they all say its the toothpastes (even biotene bothers some people which is supposed to be gentle).  I read a good test is also to just brush with water for a couple days, a dental hygenist told me its not the toothpaste that cleans your teeth (that is only for the fluoride), its the brushing.  And see if it improves.
Cindi
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456333 tn?1206973213
Hi,
Just a thought, have any of you tried other toothpaste brands?  I too had the white tongue, the swollen tongue feeling, sometimes my mouth hurt, once in a while it would peel.  My mouth felt so dry all the time I was even tested for srjogens it bothered me so much but it was neg.  I was using a sensitive toothpaste and switched to plain old aquafresh (not whitening, or tartar control or anything) and after a few days my mouth was much better.  I know years ago I had major issues with Colgate toothpaste also where it made my mouth peel.  I'm back to using the sensitive toothpaste only once a day because I really need it, and I rinse really well afterwards, I only use listerine once a day too.  
Of course coincidentally I have hashimoto's but my mouth was bothering me way before I was ever put on levo so I don't think its related....
Give it a try and see if it helps.
Cindi
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