I've been having issues with a sore, rough, dry and swollen tongue. Now that I look back, I realize that my thyroid problems started with these symptoms. The first year I had this problem intermittently, I started packing on the pounds.
Anyone else had this symptom? If so, did your doctor link it to anything specific?
seems that the state of the tongue may mean more to a naturopathic doctor than the typical everyday doc. my naturopath pointed out the scalloped edges on mine, and the swelling. indications of hypothyroidism. the endo's and gp's i saw have said nothing about it.
i dont think mine was ever rough feeling, but some soreness around the side edges, perhaps due to the swelling and more rubbing against the teeth, or the scalloping. i remember the discomfort of feeling my tongue was too big for my mouth.
i've had no mouth ulcers but thats another symptom of thyroid which might be related to the tongue thing, i'm not sure, just thought i'd mention it.
Tongue symptoms are very common with hypoT, but like scoot says, you may not find many MDs who know that. You can find plenty of evidence on the internet, though. Much is anecdotal, but there is enough scientific evidence to prove the connection.
Before treatment, my tongue burned and tingled. Ridges - teeth imprints, actually - could be seen on the edges. My mother had what she described as the constant taste of salt on her tongue. (As I think back on that, she may have had the kind of burning that eating excess salt causes, but she perceived it as a 'salty taste'.) She saw no fewer than 3 doctors and two dentists trying to figure out the cause. She was eventually told to see a psychiatrist, which she declined. None of those dolts ever figured it out. A decade later, she was diagnosed hypoT.
The explanation is that hypoT causes the system to build up and retain an excess of muccopolysaccharides in the tongue as well as the joints. The definition of muccop's is "ground proteinaceous substance". It's a real, physical cause. Don't let any MD tell you it's all in your head.
It should improve when your thyroid hormone levels get optimized.
Awesome info! It was a foreign doc at a walk-in clinic who ascribed it to my thyroid. I think she was from India - maybe that's why she was so "enlightened"!!!
I'll print that info out and do some more research before going back to my GP.
yep sore tongue here!
when I'm hypo I get the wavy edges and it often feels raw and burns when I drink stuff like red wine (grrr). it goes a yellowy colour and I get red patches on it, from research it looks like it's geographic tongue.. only get it when I'm in a hypo dip...
Sore, Rough Tongue Anyone? 
Re: Sore, Rough Tongue Anyone? 
