"Orange Tongue at The Gastroenterologist" written by Paul on estrip.org

05/05/11 09:50 - ID#54219

Orange Tongue at The Gastroenterologist

Also has no idea about the orange tongue. He seemed totally surprised by it. Thinks maybe acid reflux, maybe the tooth, maybe something else but not related to Crohns. The fact that terry also has an orange tongue was the real strange part. He kept referring to my UC, and I was like, "I thought I had crohns?" He now seems to think it is UC instead which I guess is better and I can cut the meds from 3 to 2 pills a day.

The doc gave me a script for a test called prometheus IBD Serology 7. "Helps identify IDB and differentiate between UC and CD. Includes 7 tests: ASCA IgA, ASCA IgG, Anti-OmpC IgA, Anti-CBir1, NSNA ELISA, IFA perinuclear pattern, IFA DNase sensitivity."

He also told me to try prilosec for a short two week stint to see if it helps with orange tongue and to rule out GERD.

I think I am finally at the point where I am just going to try acupuncture. I mean I have spent probably $200 in copays at this point and gotten nothing from western medicine. Maybe its time to try something else.

paul writes at 10:54:37 05/07/11 - Comment #62226: I don't take any vitamins.

tinypliny writes at 11:30:31 05/07/11 - Comment #62218: I can't believe I didn't ask this before but do you eat Vit B complex or any Vit B everyday?

tinypliny writes at 03:55:34 05/06/11 - Comment #62201: Too bad. I picked him because he is in infectious diseases and he has co-authored this paper: :::link:::

paul writes at 03:21:04 05/06/11 - Comment #62200: I called him an explained the situation to his appointment line. They said that he doesn't deal with that kind of thing. Its mostly diabetes based wound care and infections.

tinypliny writes at 02:00:33 05/06/11 - Comment #62199: His specialty is infectious disease... Also, not sure he has an active microbiology lab, but he might have research going on. :::link:::

I am not sure how primary practice works here though. Can you ask for a consultation with anyone?

tinypliny writes at 01:54:25 05/06/11 - Comment #62198: Do you tell them how horribly your life has been affected because of this? If not, you should. You see, you seem motivated to find out what is the orange thing here on your blog. But they have no idea about how it is consuming your life. They should. It automatically then places it in the category of a primary symptom.

paul writes at 01:50:20 05/06/11 - Comment #62197: I don't know really. I guess the fact that it doesn't cause pain makes them not care. I mean besides being unsightly I am not sure what its doing.

Everytime I went to the otolaryngoloist I got a different student doctor who never has any idea and is always gone the next time I visit. They always suggest more magic mouthwash or "some people's tongues are all different colors", or "maybe it autoimmune." , "lets just monitor it some more and see, make an appointment for 2 months from now" or my very favorite: "are you sure you haven't eaten anything orange?"

I think I have been there 5 times. Do you know a better doctor who would do a culture? I would gladly go to anyone who is interested in figuring it out.

tinypliny writes at 01:50:17 05/06/11 - Comment #62196: Last few months.. of which you have a distinct timeline. Would you mind if I posted your reconstructed timeline from your emails to me on my blog?

tinypliny writes at 01:48:37 05/06/11 - Comment #62195: BTW, I knew what you meant. I was just feeling annoyed about a completely different run in with "western medicine" (my parents back home have a similar war with diagnosis going on). Things like this make me want to return to primary care practice.

tinypliny writes at 01:43:43 05/06/11 - Comment #62194: So why aren't they doing a culture??

paul writes at 12:44:18 05/06/11 - Comment #62193: Thats not true. I don't mean relief from western medicine. I mean't identification of the problem. To me it seems if (e:terry)'s tongue is also orange it is something we have or something in our environment. It seems like tests could devised to determine the nature. That what I expected. Not a cure but rather an identification of the problem. I don't believe this was years in the making as it distinctly started this within the last few months and (e:terry) has no history of any digestive issues like I did.

Strangely, since the orange tongue I have eaten so much less protein. To rule that out. My urine and salva PH are pretty normal. My diet is mostly vegetables, brown rice, white rice and some fruit. I gave up protein shakes. I have had one this month. None of those things changed anything. My tongue is still freaking orange.

Lets say (e:terry) didn't exist. In that case, I guess with the prolosec I thought of it as more of an identification method. If taking the prilosec makes the orange tongue stop it would seem like I then could stop it and try and modify my diet further. However, if the prilosec did nothing then we could just lee out GERD. Part of me is slightly terrified of trying it because if it reduces your stomach acid, is it just going to make me more susceptible to orange tongue pathogen?

The gastro and dentist said I could try removing the metal tooth as some people have reaction to metal that change the color of their skin.

I mean they are doing this surely expensive genetic test for for Crohns/UC differentiation/identification you think they could try a simple culture of the orange tongue to try and identify a pathogen, so that at least that could be ruled out.

tinypliny writes at 07:32:49 05/06/11 - Comment #62191: I still want to try the controlled diet experiment - this time controlling EVERYTHING, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, everything. But I honestly have no time even to eat properly these days. :/

When you say you have received nothing from western medicine and are ready to try anything, what you are saying is that you get no *instant relief* from anything. That, in a nutshell, is what western medicine is ALL about. Instant pill. Instant relief. The concept of prevention is brought out as a facade whenever it is convenient - sometimes never.

The "something else" is non-evidence based kooky and often exotic stuff which may or may not work but it ALSO atrociously expensive. Again, prevention is a concept that is never explicitly stated in alternative medicine. Prevention takes a LONG time, a lot of patience and there is no instant anything. By LONG, I mean YEARS, DECADES. And why should it be any different than that? How can you expect to fix anything that has broken over years and decades in a month or less? It is llogical.

/Friday morning crazy rant over.

tinypliny writes at 07:22:47 05/06/11 - Comment #62190: Short two week = Long one month = Year-long trial = Lifelong dependency.

Who brought up the GERD btw?

tinypliny writes at 07:21:29 05/06/11 - Comment #62189: And there it is. Prilosec.

:/

tinypliny writes at 10:58:00 05/05/11 - Comment #62170: If you are 100% Terry has it...that means
a) its from a common shared environment - including food, microbes.
b) OR its contagious... does Matthew have it? Have you checked?

tinypliny writes at 10:56:47 05/05/11 - Comment #62169: Terry definitely has the orange tongue? Are you sure?

tinypliny writes at 10:56:07 05/05/11 - Comment #62168: UC -> Ulcerative Colitis.

libertad writes at 10:44:59 05/05/11 - Comment #62167: What is UC? I tried acupuncture for quitting smoking and it didn't help at all, not that it might not help you.

Permalink: Orange_Tongue_at_The_Gastroenterologist.html
Words: 188
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 05/05/11 09:50

Category: food

05/05/11 12:26 - ID#54218

Wegmans gnocchi - yuck

The most disgusting gnocchi ever smelled. They smelled sour like rotten fruit. I tried to boil them anyways for some reason and the the whole kitchen smelled. Is that just what stuff with preservatives smell like or were they bad. Either way I would never buy them again. They smelled so much I had to take the garbage out after I through them out.

Permalink: Wegmans_gnocchi_yuck.html
Words: 68
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 05/05/11 12:26

Category: yoga

05/04/11 10:33 - ID#54217

Scorpion Pose - Vrschikasana

Tonight at yoga I was able to sort of do the scorpion pose. I was a bit shaky though. I am going to practice more and get good at it. The people that are stepping on their own heads blow my mind.

I stole this pic from about.com

I will replace it with one of myself as soon as I can get someone to take it.

I finally have an appointment for my orange tongue tomorrow but its at 7:45am near UB North Campus. I have not been up that early since the 90s.

Permalink: Scorpion_Pose_Vrschikasana.html
Words: 107
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 05/04/11 10:33

Category: work

05/04/11 10:27 - ID#54216

Imagine this fun scenario

This probably won't make any sense but I will know what its about when I read it ten years later.

Imagine there is this self important, needy, gold digger who lives in your neighborhood. Not only is she loud and obnoxious, she also only speaks a foreign language with a irritating, sharp accent.

Then imagine all of a sudden, you find out she is possibly moving in with you and you may have to dedicate your life to her needs and wants. To make it worse she comes with this whole entourage of loud pimps and they are going to rip out the gardens you built and replace them with a asphalt pad and a vending machine which sells even more things that attract even more pimps.

Then imagine everyone around you saying, well if she lives with you, you no longer have the neighborhood restrictions on your property. You can rent the attic without a fire escape or even build a freaking waterslide out the front window. Would you hate her any less? What if it meant you had to give up english?

Permalink: Imagine_this_fun_scenario.html
Words: 184
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 05/05/11 05:34

Category: war

05/01/11 11:12 - ID#54199

Osama is Dead?!

He is finally dead - they got him in Afghanistan. Apparently, it happened a week ago but they were waiting to confirm the DNA. Will this finally mean the end to war? Or is it only the beginning of vengeance?

Permalink: Osama_is_Dead_.html
Words: 40
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 05/01/11 11:12

Category: hiking

05/01/11 07:52 - ID#54196

Eternel Flame

Despite the rain we made it to the eternal flame at chestnut ridge. It was not lit and our small lighter wasn't helping. Next time we will have to return with one of the barbeque lighters.

Permalink: Eternel_Flame.html
Words: 58
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 05/01/11 07:52

Category: orange tongue

05/01/11 12:28 - ID#54192

Orange Tongue Continued

I think this might be the worst day of it ever. According to some reports I was reading it could be caused by a bacteria that produces melanin. They made it not sound very dangerous but I still hate it.

I can't believe it was barely present yesterday morning when I went to the dentist.

tinypliny writes at 03:19:53 10/07/11 - Comment #65384: Isn't that why some grapefruit juices have a more bitter after-taste than others? I always thought it was because of left over pips.

How does it matter if the seed is ground up or very well-chewed up? You have destroyed the tough covering. Surely the extract of the seed, once exposed to mucosa is similarly absorbed as the regular extracts?

paul writes at 01:04:44 10/07/11 - Comment #65381: Grapefruit and grapefruit seed extract and no where near the same. Seeds and fruit often have very different properties. For example you can eat a cherry, but you can't smash up and eat a cherry pitt, etc. And we all know apple seed extract would be no where near as ok as apple juice.

tinypliny writes at 12:23:06 10/07/11 - Comment #65378: I say drink water with baking soda and just eat grapefruit. Carelessly made grapefruit juice is somewhat like grapefruit seed extract. I think they are too lazy to get the seeds out.

paul writes at 12:15:45 10/07/11 - Comment #65375: It seems kind of scammy, why all the STD testing ads. Maybe if I got free Grapefruit Seed Extract.

tinypliny writes at 11:48:06 10/06/11 - Comment #65374: Wow! Who knew there was already a website!! (e:Paul) - you have to see this!

HeavyHitter writes at 10:11:41 10/06/11 - Comment #65373: Hi,
I had Orange Tongue too, and was able to calm it down using certain supplements and extracts like Grapefruit Seed Extract. I think I have finally gotten rid of it completely by drinking high amounts of alkaline water, which I believe has neutralized the acid where the bacteria was fluorishing. I notice you have some really good pictures and I was wondering if you would let me use a couple of them on my informational site www.tonguecolor.com to help other people identify and treat their orange tongue as well. Thanks a lot.

tinypliny writes at 12:53:15 05/01/11 - Comment #62095: Did you read that bit about oranamental mucocutaneous tattooing for mating, South African female tribal customs and the use of naphthoquinones for oral health - that leads to bright orange tongues? Fascinating!!!!

And lol, I was next going to suggest that (e:Matthew) train his super awesome cameras at your and (e:Terry)'s tongue and take high resolution sharper pictures so we can compare them minutely.

paul writes at 12:28:32 05/01/11 - Comment #62094: I doubt it, he will prob kill me for mentioning it. I reviewed that document before. I wonder if the orange might be the same as the brown/black.

tinypliny writes at 11:49:09 05/01/11 - Comment #62093: Can you get (e:Terry) to post pictures of his tongue?

tinypliny writes at 11:48:23 05/01/11 - Comment #62092: Page 125 and Page 108: :::link:::

Also, melanin is brownish-black not orange. Something called pulcherrinin, a bacterial pigment is orange.

paul writes at 11:34:48 05/01/11 - Comment #62091: Maybe I should just stop using any mouthwash :::link::: I have nothing to lose. On the other hand the dentist said my teeth were so super clean the other day and my gums were very healthy. She barely had to clean anything.

paul writes at 11:31:18 05/01/11 - Comment #62090: Actually, (e:Terry) has orange on his tongue. I saw it last night so maybe it is contagious, although its not like we make out.

Here is my new theory: I had the geographic tongue but no orange tongue at all. Then I got the antibiotic magic mouthwash from the oto-laryngologist to treat the geographic tongue. It killed off my good bacteria and somehow the melanin producing one flourished. Other people that report this issue seem to mention that it followed antibiotics.

tinypliny writes at 11:18:18 05/01/11 - Comment #62088: Since you can't change your diet all of a sudden, there won't be any radical changes but over a long period of time, subtle changes, if any will become apparent with enough body of data.

tinypliny writes at 11:16:35 05/01/11 - Comment #62087: Let's say the melanin-forming-bacteria theory is true, why are they colonizing you?? Why are circumstances favouring their colony-forming behaviour in your system? Why not (e:terry) or (e:matthew)?

tinypliny writes at 11:14:01 05/01/11 - Comment #62086: I don't think its because of the food you eat - I was trying to get more at the *conditions* that eating and the schedule of eating create in your body in general and your mouth in general. That is exactly why I encouraged you to keep a detailed food dairy and correlated worse or better days with what kinds of foods and food schedules you follow. It becomes easier to locate patterns if recall is not biased and has a broader focus than just, hey, I ate that one thing the other day and it was not linked to it or maybe, I had that one episode of stress or maybe drank a litre of that juice that made it worse/better.

paul writes at 11:01:51 05/01/11 - Comment #62085: It is there everyday by the end of the day no matter what I eat. Even when I ate the indian food for two days. I think it is not related to what I eat but is rather some bacteria that produces melanin that has colonized my body. Its there less in the morning in general and by night its the worst. It seems to have no relation to what I eat. At least it does not hurt. I wonder what the gastro-enterologist will say on thursday.

tinypliny writes at 10:59:25 05/01/11 - Comment #62084: "Everyone thinks ((e:matthews)) pictures happen effortlessly but I had to move this giant log that was blocking the view"

HAHAHA... I had to laugh out loud when I read that. Made me think of this post: :::link:::

tinypliny writes at 10:11:02 05/01/11 - Comment #62080: Alrighty. What did you eat in the last 3 days? Write it all down.
Was it there on Thursday?

Permalink: Orange_Tongue_Continued.html
Words: 57
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 05/01/11 01:20

Category: exercise

04/30/11 06:55 - ID#54190

Aerial Arts of Rochester

omfg why can't this be in Buffalo. I would do this in a heartbeat.

Permalink: Aerial_Arts_of_Rochester.html
Words: 15
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 04/30/11 06:55

Category: pets

04/30/11 06:44 - ID#54188

Nice weather for basra

The leaves are finally blossoming on the trees around my house. It seems to have take so long this year.

Interestingly, I put the tortoise out in the cold weather yesterday because he was going crazy inside after realizing there was in fact an outside.

I was hoping he would understand it was shitty outside. He ended up digging a hole and getting dirt in his eyes.

Permalink: Nice_weather_for_basra.html
Words: 73
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 04/30/11 06:45

Category: hiking

04/30/11 06:41 - ID#54187

Hiking at zoar valley

Despite it being such a beautiful day there was barely anyone there.

I carried this freaking heavy 35 lb rock a mile uphill from the creaked to the car so that the tortoise could have a new basking rock. You can see it on (e:terry,54191)

It felt so great to lay out in the sun. I feel bad that (e:mike) had to work today.

Everyone things (e:matthews) pictures happen effortlessly but I had to move this giant log that was blocking the view.

Here he is taking the pic.

(E:terry) and I climbed up a new cliff. We had to leave (e:matthew) behind a bit because of his fractured rib. See if you can see him in the pic - he is a tiny dot. Its so hard to tell just how steep and far up this is from the pic.