Okay, so I have had this gunk on my tongue for about six weeks. I went through two rounds of medicine for thrush but then a test showed that it wasn't thrush. My doc sent me to an ENT who said it was dead skin on my tongue and that I should brush/scrape off, which I hadn't done before because I had been told not to brush/scrape thrush. This was almost two weeks ago when I was told about the dead skin. I brush, I scrape, my tongue looks a little better, then next day it looks bad again. The ENT said it doesn't extend down my throat but, it is pretty thick in the way back of my tongue, from what I can see, and makes swallowing hard. Oh, it's white and spread unevenly across my tongue. Does anyone know what this is? Has anyone ever had something like it before? I appreciate the help. -Michelle .....PS.... For those of you who were helpful to me a couple of months ago when I just ended treatment, you were right; I am getting better but it has taken time. I drive a little now, have started eating by mouth (though I still have peg), I work in the garden, am able to care for the kids. I am still not 100% back to my old self - I sleep late and get tired easily - but am much better. Thank you all so much for your wisdom and guidance. Recovery is a slow and lonely process but one gets through it.

Hi there- I too had a sunburn on my tongue it actually looked a brownish color ( because I tan - don't burn - and the skin there is from my wrist - ) and yes it was peeling - i brush it gently when I brush my teeth. My regular tongue didn't get the brunt of the radiation so it didn't suffer as badly.
Mine starts and stops at my incision line since I've had part of my tongue replaced. - my drooling situation is gone thank heavens but my tongue is still swollen - mind you I'm 3.4 weeks out. Glad you have improved!!!
Healing vibes to you!

Michelle

I thought I had constant thrush at first because that "white stuff" looked like the original thrush infections that the lozenges cleared up. But my tongue was not cracking and splitting like it did with the thrush. I got the "dead skin" story too and told to brush/scrape. What works best for me is just wrapping a facial tissue around my forefinger and swabbing all that stuff up about three times a day. Can't hurt to try it.

Since you mentioned continuing fatigue, IMO you should have a blood test to get your TSH level it should be under 3 and it should also be close to what you used to have. My pre TX TSH was 1.6 but my CCC though post TX 4.6 was just fine according to the "guidelines" and "lab ranges". I went to an endocrinologist who graduated from medical school in the 21st century and she just shook her head at how outdated their info was. My fatigue and the constant being cold and tired just evaporated once I was on the thyroid pills.
Charm

Sunburn on my tongue... so it was burned by the radiation? Hmmm, seems to make sense. Thanks Cheryl. -Michelle

Hi Charm and thanks for the information. I will try the facial tissue trick. So it makes sense to you, the dead skin diagnosis? I just wish it would clear up, but like with everything since I ended treatment nine weeks ago, I want things to improve faster than they seem to want to.
-Michelle

Hey Michelle - SO VERY GLAD TO HEAR YOU'RE DOING BETTER! (the caps are to express my enthusiasm!!!)
The tongue gunk sucks - I bought a few packs of baby washclothes and scrubbed at my tongue several times a day. My tongue is still white and coated every morning -I don't swallow as much at night and my mouth gets very dry since the swallowing acts to clean and moisten the mouth(reduced swallowing = reduced natural mouth cleaning)
My own personal thought is that the protein base in all the Ensures, Boosts, Carnations and protein smoothies did and still do leave some residue on the tongue that's tough to get off. One last thing - I would have thought my Sonicare tooth brush would be the bomb in tongue gunk removal (it is supposed to move at a thousand brushes per second - or something like that :-)- turns out a manual tooth brush and a washcloth are way more effective!

Keep me posted! I can't wait to hear about your ongoing recovery!

I'm going to try Charm's Kleenex trick but I'll be honest, I'm expecting some of that Kleenex to stick to my tongue resulting in an unflattering imitation of a cat with a hairball! I will try it though!

Take good care!

Thanks, Jennifer, and good to hear from you. Funny what you say about the toothbrush because I have a Waterpik water flosser with all these fancy gadgets: tongue scraper, several brushes, but I also thing the regular toothbrush works best. The water flosser, though, is great for cleaning food debris from the sides of the mouth. Be well!!! -Michelle

Yes god bless waterpik

Michelle

I just got back from my regular 90 day checkup with my ENT/surgeon and I asked for an explanation of the "dead skin".
She was patient in repeating that the "white stuff" was not Thrush, and instead a good sign because it showed that the flap at the base of my tongue that was taken from my wrist was still alive and thriving. Unlike the regular tongue and cheek tissues, the skin of the flaps are not made to be constantly wet. Think about how shrivelled and white your skin got as a kid when you spent the whole day in the pool. So the healthy wrist tissue finding itself "underwater" just sheds the top layer and grows a new layer over and over every day. The dead cells sloughing off the flap mix with saliva and mucous to float to the top of the tongue where they just precipitate and stick. In fact my tongue flap is doing so well, it has a thick growth of hair. She pulled out a nasty dried up plug of skin & mucous. My prosthodontist does that also at his visits. He was the one who suggested using the tissue and toothbrush. So I wanted to update my prior post to clarify that it's not a warning sign or anything bad if the white stuff lessens but is still there all the time.
Charm