Suki, Sounds like you're really having a rough time. There are many things the medical profession knows nothing about apparently.
Commansense dictates you totally avoid the foods that cause you so much trouble. We are lucky there are so many types of food available that we can pick and choose what goes in, through and out our body. When it comes right down to it we can be the only judge of what goes into our diets.
We humans were given good minds. We were also given the choice to use them or not. Does it really matter what causes it if you can avoid it by eating something else.
Good luck Suki, Let us know how doing without these foods help.

Hi suki,
If it is actually idiopathic then the physiology of circulation in to & out from the tongue body must be involved.
Fissures & serration patterns would involve fluid content of the tongue tissues.
Your assumption that it is coming from some internal problem is in contrast with your doctor's assurance that it is not a pathological condition.
Historically for you there are chocolate/coffee/citric triggers & these contact your tongue during ingestion.
Maybe look to a more local response, where those geographic tongue triggers cause an on site reaction that reduces normal fluid circulation.
Sort of an astringent condition, that lasts too long & the tongue progressively dessicates into raw features.
The duration of each episode drags on until fluid circulation gets restored & has enough time to re-hydrate the tongue tissue, which flushes up the contours.
In terms of what to do about the sensitivity to your triggers:
it would be interesting to see if their ingestion accompanied by solid food spares you. In other words not eaten/drunk alone, before or after - but chewed & swallowed with the mastication saliva of your food.

Suki, I think idiopathic means the dr's don't want to take the time to get to the root of the cause, and there isn't a new drug sample lying around to treat your problem!
We can treat symptoms, or figure out the cause and act accordingly. Don't overreact, trying to name that dx. I agree with goshen, avoid those foods. Much love to you.

I think I have the answer ......Sulfite intolerance......which is due to lacking a mineral called Molybdenum. You can contact me if you want more info,,,,I have been trying to solve this problem for eons. nanacer@yahoo.com

Hey everyone. I just signing in to say that I've seen a HUGE improvement in my geographic tongue ever since quitting soy. I was drinking a lot of soy milk, pretty much 1/2 a litre per day on average. I now suspect that I developed a soy allergy or that the soy interfered with my zinc absorption. If you're getting geographic tongue, I strongly recommend you look at your diet very carefully. Good luck to everyone