Sorry TMI, gross photos, but is this oral thrush or something else?

[RealLifeClanger]

I have a lot going on at the moment. I think I may possibly have Sjogrens, also have had antibiotics recently, also have reflux and I'm iron deficient so my mouth has become a bit of a mess.

Does this look like oral thrush or something else? My GP isn't sure. The end of my tongue is really sore, like a raw sort of burning sensation and my mouth in general feels off.

I'm seeing a dentist tomorrow in the hope that they might know more than the gp but I'm picking up some miconozole gel from the chemist later as gp prescribed it to try. Obviously I don't really want to use it if it's not thrush though. I might just use a bit on the end of my tongue and see what happens.

It doesn't look like thrush. It looks like strawberry tongue. Sorry im not sure what causes it, or how it's treated. I'm surprised your GP didn't pick up on that.

Burning mouth syndrome

It doesn’t look like strawberry tongue

What do you mean?

Do you have ulcers as well as the sore bits on your tongue? As I had a really sore mouth and ulcers when I had untreated B12 deficiency xx

@Mumofteensandcats i did have one, it's settled now but I do get them occasionallyIanyway. I've just been reading that nitrofurantoin can affect b12/folate/iron so I think it might be that. Probably need to supplement more and get more bloods done.

I have Sjogrens (and lupus and all sorts of autoimmune issues) and I also have long term invasive Candida for which I’m under an oral specialist. If you have Sjogrens the lack of saliva means you won’t produce the typical white coating associated with thrush - it’s more general soreness and redness. If you do have white lacy type patches this can be lichen planus - I have this too. Using the Daktarin won’t do any harm if you don’t have the thrush so it may be worth a try (I am on it daily long term alongside 50mg Fluconazole daily). Personally it doesn’t look like thrush to me.

@Pepperedpickles thank you, this is interesting. How did you get diagnosed with invasive candida? GP's are stumped as I have so many issues and their knowledge only goes so far.

I had a tongue biopsy of the white patches I had in my mouth and swabs done. I also had persistent vaginal thrush and lung infections which cleared up on Fluconazole (and came back when I stopped it) so they confirmed it via that.

@Pepperedpickles I also have oral lichen planus (had biopsy) but it's been mostly dormant for many years as mine came about as a reaction to metal dental fillings. I had them replaced with white ones, which thankfully improved things. I've also been diagnosed with lichen sclerosus but I never know if it's that or thrush causing issues down there tbh.

I have quite a few weird things going on heath wise but autoimmune bloods are all OK apparently. I've not had in depth testing done though, just standard gp stuff.