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Hi. I am Type 1 and have recently been diagnosed with geographic tongue. I have been advised to cut out tomatoes, spices, acid fruits and various other irritants from my diet and am struggling to adapt. I have been using beans and pulses, generally cooked with tomatoes and spices for years - find the slow release carbs help my control. Does anyone know anything about this and have advice re recipes? Thank you
Hi. I am Type 1 and have recently been diagnosed with geographic tongue. I have been advised to cut out tomatoes, spices, acid fruits and various other irritants from my diet and am struggling to adapt. I have been using beans and pulses, generally cooked with tomatoes and spices for years - find the slow release carbs help my control. Does anyone know anything about this and have advice re recipes? Thank you
My goodness I have never heard of that.
I have heard of beefy tongue caused by vitamin B12 deficiency. Have you been recommended any treatment.
You may have to substitute creamy sauces and herbs and see what you can tolerate of other foods, it might just be suck it and see what works.
Hi @Sue J
There is a piece HERE from the NHS which may or may not help,. it seems pretty vague wherever I look, but at least it isn't serious. Maybe try your normal foods but add natural greek yoghurt (or extra) to take the edge of the spiciness, might be worth a try.
My goodness I have never heard of that.
I have heard of beefy tongue caused by vitamin B12 deficiency. Have you been recommended any treatment.
You may have to substitute creamy sauces and herbs and see what you can tolerate of other foods, it might just be suck it and see what works.
Interesting - my dentist suggested getting B12 level tested. I have been looking at herbs but having cut out creamy stuff years ago because of my cholesterol levels (on statins as well) I normally find them too rich. As you say it's probably a question of seeing what works.
Hi @Sue J
There is a piece HERE from the NHS which may or may not help,. it seems pretty vague wherever I look, but at least it isn't serious. Maybe try your normal foods but add natural greek yoghurt (or extra) to take the edge of the spiciness, might be worth a try.
Thanks, I hadn't seen that. Have had advice from dentist and DN but that was basically cut things out! Very little info on line and some of it is contradictory!!
Interesting - my dentist suggested getting B12 level tested. I have been looking at herbs but having cut out creamy stuff years ago because of my cholesterol levels (on statins as well) I normally find them too rich. As you say it's probably a question of seeing what works.
I am on statins, still have creamy stuff and my cholesterol is fine.
You can make a creamy sauce using low fat Philadelphia or yoghurt or low fat creme fraise.
Have you found that the spicy or acidic foods aggravate it.
There is a link on here about the myths of cholesterol, I'll see if I can find it.
Hi @Sue J Have you also tried changing your toothpaste to one free from SLS? I developed a severe intolerance to SLS out of the blue. I’m not saying this caused your problem but it might be contributing, and certainly a gentler toothpaste might help.
I am on statins, still have creamy stuff and my cholesterol is fine.
You can make a creamy sauce using low fat Philadelphia or yoghurt or low fat creme fraise.
Have you found that the spicy or acidic foods aggravate it.
There is a link on here about the myths of cholesterol, I'll see if I can find it.
It actually says avoiding saturated fats in the best treatment, so things like oat milk would be ideal. I thicken with flour and olive oil as a roux, or arrowroot powder.
Hi how long have you had this? Just wondering if there is any chance you have had a virus in the not to distant past? My daughter gets this with throat infections and also when she had covid. It usually clears up with it about 3/4 weeks xx
Hi @Sue J
There is a piece HERE from the NHS which may or may not help,. it seems pretty vague wherever I look, but at least it isn't serious. Maybe try your normal foods but add natural greek yoghurt (or extra) to take the edge of the spiciness, might be worth a try.
Thanks, I hadn't seen that. Have had advice from dentist and DN but that was basically cut things out! Very little info on line and some of it is contradictory!!
Hi @Sue J Have you also tried changing your toothpaste to one free from SLS? I developed a severe intolerance to SLS out of the blue. I’m not saying this caused your problem but it might be contributing, and certainly a gentler toothpaste might help.
Hi how long have you had this? Just wondering if there is any chance you have had a virus in the not to distant past? My daughter gets this with throat infections and also when she had covid. It usually clears up with it about 3/4 weeks xx
Haven't had any virus at all. Only thing I can think of, is that I had a reaction to the covid booster which caused my blood sugars to run higher than normal for a couple of weeks. Initially had tongue issues in December and spoke to GP on phone. No diagnosis at that point. He advised cutting out things that irritated it, which I did. But I went back to eating normally once it had cleared up and it came back. It is slowly is getting better now I have cut out irritants, but it's a learning process.
How is your daughter's managed? Are there foods that she never eats or just she just exclude food irritants when it flares up?
To be honest she doesn’t really avoid anything when it happens. She just uses antibacterial mouthwash but not sure if that’s helpful or not. It doesn’t get sore but she hates the way it looks more than anything
Bit more info which I didn't put in my original post. I have been Type 1 for 48 years. Currently using insulin injections to control and have used Libre to monitor for about 2 years. I am also on statins and anti-hypertensives, prescribed many year's ago. My diet has developed over the years - my issue at the moment is that I am struggling to adapt to an additional health issue!
To be honest she doesn’t really avoid anything when it happens. She just uses antibacterial mouthwash but not sure if that’s helpful or not. It doesn’t get sore but she hates the way it looks more than anything
I urge you to try the SLS free toothpaste then. I had recurring problems with a sore tongue and only found the cause after a process of elimination. I’d blamed all manner of things, but finally found the cause.
Also, when my tongue was very sore, I used Difflam Mouth Rinse and this helped a lot, particularly with eating.
