Oral thrush question

[JulieRe]

Hi, 

My name is Julie and I am new to the forum.  I have been diagnosed with Celiac disease since 2006.  I follow a strict gluten free diet.

In July I was diagnosed with oral thrush.  I had swollen lips, and my tongue was very red towards the front.  I also had a weird taste in my mouth and very dry mouth despite drinking lots of fluids.  I went to Urgent care and was prescribed fluconazole oral tablets for 5 days and it essentially cleared up.  Has anyone else had this happen?  It was so strange.  The doctor thought the thrush was from my mouth guard I wear at night.  Although my cleaning process had not changed.

Also today I noticed an abnormal red spot on my tongue.  No other symptoms.  I will be calling my dentist.  But am curious if anyone has had trouble with yeast in their gut.

Thanks

Julie

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, @JulieRe!

You would do well to get checked for a candida infection of the gut. Yeast thrives on carbs so you might also look into a low carb diet. These kinds of things seem to be more common in the celiac community than in the general population. There is a growing body of evidence that the development of celiac disease is rooted in unhealthy gut biome conditions.

It's good that you are getting that red spot on your tongue checked out soon. It's likely related to the thrush but I would also not rule out a neoplasm which you would certainly want to catch early.

[Scott Adams]

I'm not sure if you found what other here have posted on oral thrush, but this might be helpful:
https://www.celiac.com/search/?q="Oral thrush"&quick=1&updated_after=any&sortby=relevancy

[Wheatwacked]

Has your doctor tested your vitamin D?  Urine Iodine deficiency? Vitamin B12 deficiency can be a contributing factor for oral thrush, especial if you are vegan. Celiac Disease causes  malabsorbtion leading to vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Zinc supplementation reduces Candida infections  I know that zinc is an antiviral and have been using zinc glycomate (Cold Eeze lozanges) since 2004 and have not gotten cold or flu since.  The lozenge coats the mucous membrane with zinc, protecting the cell wall from the virus.  This research paper and some others indicate that zinc also acts as an antifungal.  Worth a try,

Try to reduce how much food with high omega 6 that you eat to lower your omeaga 6 to 3 ratio.  It helps with inflammation.  Try eating foods with lots of benificial bacteria.  The goal is to repopulate your gut with good guys.

Assuming you do not have dermatitis herpetiformis or another reason to limit iodine, Liquid Iodine to raise your iodine to the 600 mcg a day (middle of the RDA range (150-1000mcg)  to boost your immune system.  Iodine has anti-fungal properties that can help kill Candida species.  Your whole body will heal quicker when you have sufficient iodine and vitamin D.

Edited August 28, 2025 by Wheatwacked

[knitty kitty]

Thiamine has antifungal properties.  The body uses thiamine to keep bacteria and yeasts from overgrowth in the digestive system.  

Fluconazole use can cause thiamine deficiency.  

Supplementing with thiamine in the form Benfotiamine would be beneficial as Benfotiamine promotes intestinal healing.  

Thiamine and the other B vitamins tend to be low in Celiac due to malabsorption.  Talk to your doctor about supplementing vitamins and minerals.

[Rejoicephd]

Hi @JulieRe.  I just found your post.  It seems that I am also experiencing thrush, and my doctor believes that I have fungal overgrowth in my gut, which is most likely candida.  I'm seeing my GI doctor next week, so I'm hoping she can diagnose and confirm this and then give me an antifungal treatment.  In the meantime, I have been working with a functional medicine doctor, doing a candida cleanse and taking vitamins. It's already helping to make me feel better (with some ups and downs, of course), so I do think the yeast is definitely a problem for me on top of my celiac disease and I'm hoping my GI doctor can look into this a bit further.  So, how about you?  Did the candida come back, or is it still gone following your fluconazole treatment?  Also, was it awful to take fluconazole?  I understand that taking an antifungal can cause a reaction that sometimes makes people feel sick while they're taking it.  I hope you're doing better still !

[JulieRe]

Hi Everyone, 

I do appreciate your replies to my original post.  

Here is where I am now in this journey.  I am currently seeing a Naturopath.  One thing I did not post before is that I take Esomeprazole for GERD.  My Naturopath believes that the decrease in the gastric acid has allowed the yeast to grow.    She has put me on some digestive enzymes.  She also put me on Zinc, Selenium, B 12, as she felt that I was not absorbing my vitamins. I am about 5 weeks into this treatment, and I am feeling better.

I did not have any trouble taking the Fluconazole.  

[Rejoicephd]

Thank you @JulieRe so much for sharing this extra information. I'm so glad to hear you're feeling better and I hope it keeps moving in that direction.

I feel I'm having so many lightbulb moments on this forum just interacting with others who have this condition.

I also was diagnosed with gastric reflux maybe about 10 years ago. I was prescribed ranitidine for it several years back, which was working to reduce my gastric reflux symptoms but then the FDA took ranitidine off the shelves so I stopped taking it.

I had a lot of ups and downs healthwise in and around that time (I suddenly gained 20 pounds, blood pressure went up, depression got worse, and I was diagnosed with OSA). At the time I attributed my change in symptoms to me taking on a new stressful job and didn't think much else about it. They did give me a replacement gastric reflux drug since ranitidine was off the shelves, but when I went on the CPAP for my OSA, the CPAP seemed to correct the gastric reflux problem so I haven't been on any gastric reflux drug treatment for years although I still do have to use a CPAP for my OSA.

Anyway that's a long story but just to say… I always feel like I've had a sensitive stomach and had migraines my whole life (which I'm now attributing to having celiac and not knowing it) but I feel my health took a turn for much worse around 2019-2020 (and this decline started before I caught covid for the first time). So I am now wondering based on what you said, if that ranitidine i took could have contributed to the yeast overgrowth, and that the problem has just been worsening ever since. I have distinctly felt that I am dealing with something more than just stress and battling a more fundamental disease process here.

I've basically been in and out of different doctor specialties for the past 5 years trying to figure out what's wrong with me. Finally being diagnosed with celiac one year ago, I thought I finally had THE answer but now as I'm still sick, I think it's one of a few answers and that maybe yeast overgrowth is another answer.

For me as well, my vitamin deficiencies have persisted even after I went gluten-free (and my TTG antibody levels came down to measurably below the detectable limit on my last blood test). So this issue of not absorbing vitamins well is also something our cases have in common. I'm now working with a nutritionist and taking lots of vitamins and supplements to try and remedy that issue.

I hope that you continue to see improvements in working with your naturopath on this. Keep us posted!