Brown tongue - side effect of meds??

angelsmom

New member
My 6-year old is in the middle of a 28-day course of Tobi and Cipro for pseudomonas. About a week ago, we noticed her tongue is brown! I called her CF clinic and they said they have never seen this before as a side effect to either Tobi or Cipro. They even checked with a pharmacist about it. We were told to see our pediatrician if we think it is necessary. It isn't bothersome, just a little gross! I am wondering if anyone else has had this happen?

We have also recently changed from Ultrase to Creon, but I can't imagine that would have anything to do with discoloration of the tongue.

We are trying to brush teeth/tongue more often, but I don't see that it is helping very much.

Thanks for any info!
 

angelsmom

New member
My 6-year old is in the middle of a 28-day course of Tobi and Cipro for pseudomonas. About a week ago, we noticed her tongue is brown! I called her CF clinic and they said they have never seen this before as a side effect to either Tobi or Cipro. They even checked with a pharmacist about it. We were told to see our pediatrician if we think it is necessary. It isn't bothersome, just a little gross! I am wondering if anyone else has had this happen?

We have also recently changed from Ultrase to Creon, but I can't imagine that would have anything to do with discoloration of the tongue.

We are trying to brush teeth/tongue more often, but I don't see that it is helping very much.

Thanks for any info!
 

angelsmom

New member
My 6-year old is in the middle of a 28-day course of Tobi and Cipro for pseudomonas. About a week ago, we noticed her tongue is brown! I called her CF clinic and they said they have never seen this before as a side effect to either Tobi or Cipro. They even checked with a pharmacist about it. We were told to see our pediatrician if we think it is necessary. It isn't bothersome, just a little gross! I am wondering if anyone else has had this happen?
<br />
<br />We have also recently changed from Ultrase to Creon, but I can't imagine that would have anything to do with discoloration of the tongue.
<br />
<br />We are trying to brush teeth/tongue more often, but I don't see that it is helping very much.
<br />
<br />Thanks for any info!
 

Ratatosk

Administrator
Staff member
Pepto Bismol can cause a brown tongue... Here's what I found from googling with a photo..

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hairy_tongue">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hairy_tongue</a>
 

Ratatosk

Administrator
Staff member
Pepto Bismol can cause a brown tongue... Here's what I found from googling with a photo..

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hairy_tongue">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hairy_tongue</a>
 

Ratatosk

Administrator
Staff member
Pepto Bismol can cause a brown tongue... Here's what I found from googling with a photo..
<br />
<br /><a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hairy_tongue">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hairy_tongue</a>
 

robert321

New member
Well that is certainly interesting, I hadn't heard of that one before. Some meds will make my toungue get white and flaky and gross but never brown and brushing always seems to help with that
 

robert321

New member
Well that is certainly interesting, I hadn't heard of that one before. Some meds will make my toungue get white and flaky and gross but never brown and brushing always seems to help with that
 

robert321

New member
Well that is certainly interesting, I hadn't heard of that one before. Some meds will make my toungue get white and flaky and gross but never brown and brushing always seems to help with that
 

angelsmom

New member
Thanks for your responses. Thankfully, her tongue does not look quite as disgusting as the link Liza posted!

We are seeing our family doc tomorrow to see what they can tell us. Her CF doc insists it is nothing to do with her current meds. I first noticed the brown tongue on day 5 of her Tobi and Cipro . . . we were at clinic about 10 days before that and there was nothing noted by CF doc upon exam or by the nurse who took her throat culture. So in a matter of about 10 days, this popped up.

Hopefully we'll get something to treat it and make it go away!
 

angelsmom

New member
Thanks for your responses. Thankfully, her tongue does not look quite as disgusting as the link Liza posted!

We are seeing our family doc tomorrow to see what they can tell us. Her CF doc insists it is nothing to do with her current meds. I first noticed the brown tongue on day 5 of her Tobi and Cipro . . . we were at clinic about 10 days before that and there was nothing noted by CF doc upon exam or by the nurse who took her throat culture. So in a matter of about 10 days, this popped up.

Hopefully we'll get something to treat it and make it go away!
 

angelsmom

New member
Thanks for your responses. Thankfully, her tongue does not look quite as disgusting as the link Liza posted!
<br />
<br />We are seeing our family doc tomorrow to see what they can tell us. Her CF doc insists it is nothing to do with her current meds. I first noticed the brown tongue on day 5 of her Tobi and Cipro . . . we were at clinic about 10 days before that and there was nothing noted by CF doc upon exam or by the nurse who took her throat culture. So in a matter of about 10 days, this popped up.
<br />
<br />Hopefully we'll get something to treat it and make it go away!
 

angelsmom

New member
Just thought I would update. Our pediatrician felt the brown discoloration was due to the antibiotics (Cipro and Tobi). We were referred to an ENT, who we saw the next day, and he agreed. He prescribed Nystatin oral rinse to be used 4x daily. He also recommended rinsing with water after each Tobi use, which we were sometimes doing but there were times we did not.

So, despite what our CF clinic thought -- and one nurse in particular who was extremely rude to me in her insistence that it was not caused by these meds -- discoloration of the tongue, while not a "known" side effect, is in fact, a side effect, at least for my child! Thankfully it is pretty harmless and should go away.
 

angelsmom

New member
Just thought I would update. Our pediatrician felt the brown discoloration was due to the antibiotics (Cipro and Tobi). We were referred to an ENT, who we saw the next day, and he agreed. He prescribed Nystatin oral rinse to be used 4x daily. He also recommended rinsing with water after each Tobi use, which we were sometimes doing but there were times we did not.

So, despite what our CF clinic thought -- and one nurse in particular who was extremely rude to me in her insistence that it was not caused by these meds -- discoloration of the tongue, while not a "known" side effect, is in fact, a side effect, at least for my child! Thankfully it is pretty harmless and should go away.
 

angelsmom

New member
Just thought I would update. Our pediatrician felt the brown discoloration was due to the antibiotics (Cipro and Tobi). We were referred to an ENT, who we saw the next day, and he agreed. He prescribed Nystatin oral rinse to be used 4x daily. He also recommended rinsing with water after each Tobi use, which we were sometimes doing but there were times we did not.
<br />
<br />So, despite what our CF clinic thought -- and one nurse in particular who was extremely rude to me in her insistence that it was not caused by these meds -- discoloration of the tongue, while not a "known" side effect, is in fact, a side effect, at least for my child! Thankfully it is pretty harmless and should go away.
 

Ratatosk

Administrator
Staff member
I'd forgotten about possible issues with nebulized meds. When DS was younger, his teeth were stained a brownish color and we figured it was from his adeks and the dental hygenist was able to remove the stain with a good cleaning.

However, the dentist DID tell us that we should make sure to rinse DS' mouth or have him brush his teeth as nebulized medications can be drying and can cause tooth staining or discoloration.

Glad the ENT was ablt to help her.
 

Ratatosk

Administrator
Staff member
I'd forgotten about possible issues with nebulized meds. When DS was younger, his teeth were stained a brownish color and we figured it was from his adeks and the dental hygenist was able to remove the stain with a good cleaning.

However, the dentist DID tell us that we should make sure to rinse DS' mouth or have him brush his teeth as nebulized medications can be drying and can cause tooth staining or discoloration.

Glad the ENT was ablt to help her.
 

Ratatosk

Administrator
Staff member
I'd forgotten about possible issues with nebulized meds. When DS was younger, his teeth were stained a brownish color and we figured it was from his adeks and the dental hygenist was able to remove the stain with a good cleaning.
<br />
<br />However, the dentist DID tell us that we should make sure to rinse DS' mouth or have him brush his teeth as nebulized medications can be drying and can cause tooth staining or discoloration.
<br />
<br />Glad the ENT was ablt to help her.
 

Jana

New member
This is interesting because I've had that problem several times with no real explanation. I was told the same thing--white might be from the antibiotic, but brown?

My primary care doctor gave me some solution for it and told me to just keep trying to brush a lot of it off. Nothing really seemed to help much, though. It eventually just went away, but has come back a couple of other times.

I usually rinse after nebs, but perhaps need to be more careful about it.
 

Jana

New member
This is interesting because I've had that problem several times with no real explanation. I was told the same thing--white might be from the antibiotic, but brown?

My primary care doctor gave me some solution for it and told me to just keep trying to brush a lot of it off. Nothing really seemed to help much, though. It eventually just went away, but has come back a couple of other times.

I usually rinse after nebs, but perhaps need to be more careful about it.
 
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