Oral thrush or IBS?

Posted , 7 users are following.

My problem started 4 months ago when I had a bad cough for a couple of days, my voice went abit then the following week I developed a really dry mouth and a thick yellow coating on my tongue. My mouth and throat was so dry I could only eat fruit and yogurt. I developed really bad indigestion pretty much after everything I ate, it was so bad sometimes I thought I was going to be sick. This all led me to lose about a dress size in weight as I could hardly eat. 

I went to the doctor who had a look at my mouth and diagnosed it as oral thrush. So I was given a weeks course of nystatin. This didn't really have any effect until the last couple of days when it seemed to go abit patchier. So I booked another appointment this time with a different doctor, she ordered blood tests and gave me lansoprazole for the indigestion. The blood tests all came back normal. So she then put me on fluconazole to see if that would clear up the oral thrush and took a swab of my tongue to send off for testing. The fluconazole had no effect and the results came back inconclusive. So I tried nystatin this time for 2 weeks, again it went patchier but didn't go completely. I had another swab test taken and this came back + for candida. She then referred me to an ENT specialist who had a look, put a camera up my nose and said it looked like a normal tongue coating and was probably caused by acid reflux!! It's not normal!! 

So this has been going on for 4 months now, the dryness has got better I can actually eat most things now but the coating is still there. The indigestion has mostly gone. I've still not put the weight back on though and have been quite constipated throughout it all. I also feel very bloated and burp a lot still. There almost feels like there's air under my rib cage all the time. I'm just stuck as to what to do as my doctor told me it was oral thrush and then the ENT specialist said it wasn't?!!! Help!!

0 likes, 14 replies

14 Replies

  • Posted

    Does not sound like IBS at all. Quite often people have different illness and join the two together like 1 + 1 = 3. Everybody gets indigestion from time to time and lots of medicines will make you constipated. Probably you have Candida and coincidentally, GERD. Look up dietary changes for GERD. I would expect to hear other symptoms to correlate with IBS. Get plenty of sleep.
  • Posted

    Your symptons just make me think of Sjogren's. I don't have it but have a similar auto immune disorder. The dry mouth and thrush...the ibs symptoms. Wonder if you also hace dry eyes?

    The other thing it also makes me wonder about is diabetes but I am betting thst has been ruled out.

    • Posted

      I've been tested for diabetes in the blood tests and they all came back normal. I had thought about Sjogren's myself. It I don't have dryness anywhere else and my mouth has improved with dryness since the start of all this. It used to go so dry like there was no saliva at all in my mouth but that hasn't happened for the past couple of months now. The dryness seems to have improved as my indigestion has so I wondered if they were linked. The coating however hasn't really improved much at all since the start. It seems a mystery to my doctors really. 

  • Posted

    It's my understanding that you don't necessarily have dryness anywhere else. I know people immediately think of eyes with Sjogren's but think that you don't need to have all of the symptoms to have it. I have symptoms of Sjogren's though with a different form of vasculitis. They can have such overlapping symptoms . I would have said it would pay just to have those blood tests and rule out auto immune as well as other conditions. They should have done all the basics anyway. But ask to add in esr crp and ana. They can often not find anything remarkable but there may be indicators in those blood tests. 

    It is very frustrating to go through this with no answers I know. Took me such a long time to be diagnosed. Miserable really. x

  • Posted

    Lucy, one other thing that strikes me about your symptoms....I have gastritis and have twice had h pylori infection and it can cause pretty bad taste regurgitation and dry mouth. H pylori was identified through a gastroscopy and I wonder if you could push for something to look more closely at what is going on in your tummy. Doesn't need a gastroscopy as there is a simple enough breath test which can identify h pylori. I do believe though that gastritis needs a gastroscopy to be identified. Just a thought 

  • Posted

    If your swab came back positive for candida; you may need something stronger to eradicate it. See a different doctor.   It doesn't sound like IBS or GERD.  I have reflux and my tongue does not have a coating like this.  Push for tests to diagnose the bloating, burping and gassy feeling.

  • Posted

    Hi,

    I've the same symptoms since 4 years and i've done endoscopy 3 times, they diagnosed me with H-Pylori and i treated it but still have the same symptoms!,I even had melena (Bleeding in the stomach) and it recovered by itself within 2 days, the doctors told me that it is because of acid reflux which is not logic because i took nexium and i had no acid reflux for a long period but still have the same symptoms!

    Could you please tell me if you find out any solution for this?, thanks

    • Posted

      Have you been checked for gastritis or ulcers which can be caused by h pylori? Stomach bleeding can be caused by ulcers and stomach inflammation.  H pylori itself and the strong antibiotics you took for it can leave your stomach very sore for a while.  Try eating blandly and avoid rich, fatty and spicy foods.   Keep going back to your doctor for further advice.
    • Posted

      I've been back to the doctor and i made an endoscopy and everything is ok but still i have oral thrush and diarrhea, my stomach is not ok and i can't find the reason!, i have the same symptoms 

      Lucy mentioned but since 4 years and that's why i'm really curios to know if she found out anything

    • Posted

      If you have oral thrush, you will need to get medication from your doctor.  I had thrush down below and I had it twice within the space of a couple of months.  I had to get medication for it in both occasions.  After my second bout, I was fine.

      Try a food diary to see if a food is disturbing your stomach and causing diarrhoea. Stressing about your symptoms can also change bowel habits.

  • Posted

    100 per cent acid reflux causes white tounge ' and yellow ' get a tonge ckeaner and scape it off not to hard' it stays for months or years'

  • Posted

    hi lucy, ouch! i think like me you have gastritis, try antacids and NOT proton pump inhibitors - they eventually can damage your stomach. i ONLY use gaviscon, but the maximum dose i can, it will form bigger bubbles in your stomach and stop the burning, if you get the dual action one, it's called advanced. give it a go what have you got to lose? oh and find out what has acid in it and try to avoid them best you can!

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