It started off as a small wee bump and just spread across the back of my tongue over the next few months.

I feel a bit helpless and scared. Now I don't think it's cancer but I thought maybe someone here could help me?

I am waiting to get an appointment with an oral surgeon to help diagnose me, I was told this can take weeks!

My doctor thinks this is yeast, so I am on anti fungal pills.

I am worried because so far it's only gotten worse, the swelling goes all the way down my tongue as far as I can see.
My taste buds are swollen but the tongue underneath is also swollen and I can't find any pictures online that look the same as the back of my tongue!

as a side note I've had a few lumps on my neck , n swollen glands for 2 maybe 3 years now that haven't gone away.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.

How mt tongue looked before

swelling

you can see sort of how the swelling goes back as far as you can see, plus there's a lot of blue/purple, maybe veins?

another picture

then it got worse

lastest pic

also I do feel like the underside of the left side of my tongue, near the back if I put my finger on the underside I can feel a slightly harder area, maybe just a swollen vein? or tense muscles? that is what it feels like, but the left side of my tongue does feel a bit swollen or too big.

I've recently had blood work done too but the results won't be back for 4 more days.

Hi...

Welcome to the forum hopefully we can be of some help.

My suggestion is to call your Dr. to see if he can get you in to see an Oral Surgeon ASAP. If I were you I'd be making phone calls and get a biopsy.

Keep us posted.

Take care,
Connie

Blood work will not show if you have oral cancer or not. Sorry but even with photos we are not able to do more than give you a guess about whats going on. The only way to get a definitive answer is thru a biopsy. Either an oral surgeon or ENT would be able to do the biopsy and get you a diagnosis. Yeast? That could be thrush.

Yes, it can take weeks from the start when you first notice the sore until you get diagnosed. Any sore in your mouth which doesnt heal within 2 or 3 weeks should be checked by a professional. First there will be the initial exam and consult in which they usually dont do the biopsy. They will want to check insurance coverage first and give you the option of having the biopsy done while put to sleep or with a local or without anything at all. It will take another week before results will come back.

Hope it turns out to be nothing serious. Good luck!

Consider Thrush.

I was thinking that too - a wicked case of thrush or some other infection. The one thing that concerns me is the area under your tongue you say is hardened. What does it look like?

Honestly skip the oral surgeon ask for a referral to an ENT, and then call them personally to ask for any kind of cancellation placement. Don't take this to mean I personally think its cancer, i don't... but realistically speaking this is worrying you and whatever it is needs to be treated. Best of luck.

Not a doctor, but seen and had a bunch of this, This looks like it is a Candida Albicans fungal infection. Get an Rx for Diflucan. This has had a chance to get out of hand, and should have been treated before. It may take a few weeks to clear it up completely rather than the normal 5-7 days.

Not a doctor either, but looks like it could be herpes simplex virus lesions in the first photo around the lip. HPV-1 is very common, and 90 percent have been exposed by age 20, and may harbor the latent virus. They can go away in a few days or may need antiviral meds. The Thrush looks pretty bad, and hope the anti- fungal meds work.

I would also skip the oral surgeon and get in to see an ENT right away. You need a tongue specialist now, not a tooth specialist...I would vote for this being a case of thrush....and a pretty severe one at that.
Hope you get some answers...and some relief soon.

wow thanks for all the replies!

Well I had my blood work, everything was normal except my hemoglobin was too high, which could be anything from dehydration to something up with the bone marrow.
they are are running another/new test, with my old blood in the lab.

I see my doctor next week, I guess to discuss the result, least I can show her my tongue again : ) I hate the feeling that they think I am being silly or something.

Any ways theres not been any improvement and my epiglottis is sticking up more than before.

I have some issues with my throat feeling tight and also feels like it gets stuck when I swallow n makes weird crunching n popping noises too.

It was so bad last night, I was tempted to go to hospital, I had swallowed in it seemed to get stuck and my throat started feeling like pressure was building up, but it eventually popped back up if that makes any sense.

It sucks not knowing if I am over reacting or everyone else is under reacting and due to my anxiety I tend to assume I am overreacting.

Yes I am hoping the oral surgeon will be helpful and listen to me and fully investigate and not simply give me a diagnoses without a test.

I don't know how long I have to wait for an appointment? I am going private and lucky to have health insurance. I have yet to ring my dentist and ask her if she'll try and get me seen sooner.
I was waiting for my blood test results before I called the dentist and it's my own fault there really.

I'm on tablets every day for 2 weeks for thrush, antifungal tablets. I was on antibiotics last year a lot and got some wicked lady yeast infections so it might just be a bad case of yeast.

I'm scared mainly due to being able to feel the swelling and that it's gotten worse and I worry about it cutting of my air ways than I am about cancer or anything.

I was at an ENT who was so useless but that was before the tongue issues, but my doctor had referred me back to him months ago and heard nothing yet, so I am sorta hoping maybe the oral surgeon will send me to an ENT or recommend one, as my doctors seem to view me as a hypochondriact or something

The tight throat started before I had my wisdom teeth out, and the lumps started afterwards so I wonder if there might be some infection around the
mouth, teeth, tongue area but I think that would have shown up in my blood test?

I also developed some sort of shadow, mass, possible cyst, polyp in my maxillary sinus too, it's perfectly round, the ENT totally dismissed that, despite it showing up on two x rays and was never there before.


I was wondering about that and I think I'll ask my doctor,
would the dentist and doctor not have recognized herpes?
How do they even test for that? I might try and "man up" and ask for maybe a swab to be taken.

The last time I had a cold sore was back when I was a teenager! So I guess I do have the virus.
The lumps aren't sore to touch at all, although my tongue can burn a little bit.

Yeah hopefully the anti fungal meds will eventually kick in, I am on 50mgs a day, I had taken two 150mg pills before that as well, so I wonder if maybe I need a better/different type of medication.

I've been eating a lot of probiotic natural yogurt as I heard it can help, I think I'll buy some apple cider vinegar tomorrow as I read that can be good too.

I can brush all the white stuff off with my toothbrush but can't reach the back as I gag too much.

I've also been rinsing with warm salt water.

I have been feeling very warm in the face and neck area, so much so that I didn't have my heating tuned on and I thought I might have a fever, when I found my thermometer it turns out my body tempter was actually low.
My lips and mouth were burning too and feeling rather hot.

Thanks so much for all the replies, I guess the plan is see my doctor, ask for a swab test? Ask about the herpes virus, discuss blood test results.
Ring dentist and ring the oral surgeon.

oh new picture, http://imgur.com/gtamtpP

You are not overescting, and the Thrush still looks bad, but glad you are getting medical attention, and treatment. I took 100mg at first, then another doctor upped it to 200mg of flucomizoe. Some develop a resistance, and the meds are then changed or dosage increased. Thrush can go to the esophagus, stomach, and if it goes into the blood system is desseminated or invasive candiasis, and difficult to treat, is dangerous, so it needs to be treated properly. Maybe that's causing the swallowing problems, but that needs to be looked into further. An infection usually shows by increased white blood cells, but maybe not always since there is an infection with the thrush. Do you smoke? That can cause elevated hemaglobin. The HSV is not normally checked with a complete blood Count. They can do a swab or test the blood for HSV antibodies. Sometimes it's hard to tell between that and thrush, but sometimes there can be co-infections. I hope you get to the bottom of everything, and rule out any major illness. If Thrush is persistent you can go to an infectious disease doctor, which may sound worse than it is, but are doctors more familiar with these chronic infections. A hematologist deals with blood disorders, if that is necessary too.

Thrush feeds on sugar, yeast, alcohol, and processed foods, so you may want to reduce or illuminate foods containinng them. Also, you should change your toothbrush often to keep from reinfecting yourself. Some disagree with use of probiotics since you are only introducing more bacteria to the body. If they are, the refrigerated type are recommended, and check the expiration date.

Good luck with everything, and hope this helps.