White coating on tongue - Help, very scared

[angelique]

Hi everyone. I hope someone can help me. Since the beginning of this year I have been on and off on antibiotics due to surgery which required me to take them and also due to 2 UTI infections. I have noticed that I have a white coating on my tongue for some time now and I'm wondering if the antibiotics can cause this coating even though I am now longer taking them? Also I am suffering from depression and anxiety and not eating properly so I'm wondering if this can be a cause as well. I am so scared that it could be something very serious. Has anyone else had this? I'm terrified.

[Bruno58]

Hi angleique
No need to panic I have had the same...probably just dehydration and the overall effects of your medication and illness, I think its quite common.

Try drinking more plain water or if you feel...a mouthwash which I expect will help to reduce the amount of coating, brushing might not help much but you can buy a special scraper made for this problem from a dentist or maybe a chemist shop, I got a plastic one from my dentist, I think it cost about £2

:)

J.

[pb]

I have this somtimes, it is just dehydration. Also gently brushing your tongue with a toothbrush helps x

[angelique]

Thank you for your replies. I very much appreciate it.

[carlos2011]

Yep, he's right. Anxiety causes a dry mouth, thus causing a white tongue..my doc confirmed it. So don't worry about that :)

[Anxious_gal]

Antibiotics can cause thrush, oral thrush is often white but you can get a tablet for that.
Salt water often helps as does eating yogurts :)

[Ambers]

My tongue is coated yellow - used to be white. Doc wasn't concerned that I have a canary yellow smile... said it was diet related.

[Em.ma]

Hi. I have this A LOT. i panic about it to but my diet used to be poor and i didnt drink enough (or the right things) so proberly just that :) dont worry it sounds very common x

[Button1]

I had this too, right in the middle of a dreadful period of anxiety (not eating or sleeping), which didn't help! I was having to drink constantly as the white coating on my tongue made my mouth so dry I was having difficulty swallowing. Not nice! But I got some dry mouth spray and mouthwash which helped and I went to my doctor who said this was a classic symptom of anxiety and that it would clear up as I started to feel a bit better. It took a couple of weeks, but sure enough it did.

Please don't worry about it- it's TOTALLY normal. I hope you feel better soon! x

[molkogirl]

Antibiotics can cause thrust. I got it after just 1 course of them although my togue was yellow not white. I think it can be either. Got some oral gel from chemist for it and its clearing up now.