@Rockhead,
OUr old golden had a purple tongue and bluish gums. She wasnt getting enough oxygen and (It turned out, she was in severe heart failure. We treated her for several months and she let us know when she wanted to end it .
A sign of the heart failure is some edema , panting, listlessness, and inability to do any running or walking for any distance.
We used some diahretics that the Vet precribed and it worked for a while. We increased her appetite by using a vitamin B mix and this helped for a while.
Doesnt sound good. Im kinda amazed that your vet hasnt been able to help this far. YOU NEED A BETTER VET,do you have any vet cardiac centers nearby ?