thrush treatment

[firsttimer08]

Is is safe to use the canestan pill (1 dosage) for thrush? I am 35 weeks now and the GP prescribed it to me, as the pessaries were not working. But I noticed the box says, its not safe to use in pregnancy, so I am worried. What is the potential risk of using this pill?

Is it worse that the thrush is not cured and the baby gets it through the birth canal? I read somewhere that it can be treated with some creams, which somehow feels like the better option rather than the medicine causing some problems with the baby's development.

[trell]

I suffered with thrush too when preg with DS and again in this preg. I always thought the oral treatment should be avoided as it got into your system and so into the baby's system, whereas the pessaries just treat the internal area and the creams treat the external areas. In non-preg times I have also tried coating a tampax in natural bio-yoghurt which helped a little. Obviously you shouldn't be using the tampax method now but yoghurt may help (albeit a bit messy!)

[belgo]

The risk of thrush to the baby is that the baby may catch it and develop thrush in the mouth, making feeding a little harder and potentially infecting your breasts if you are breastfeeding.

I'm not sure if canestan can be taken orally during pregnancy, maybe speak to your pharmamcist? Or look up on the Kellymom website, they may have some information.

[zoejeanne]

Surely if the GP prescribed (assuming they're aware you're pregnant) then one dose would be fine?

[AHB238]

I've just got over a really bad bout of Thrush, am still early days (10 weeks tomorrow)and it has caused bleeding and pain but my GP said I was not allowed to take the Tablet, could only use the Pessary and cream.

Belgo is right with the risk of thrush to the baby.

I would double check with your GP or the nurse practitioner before taking it.

[firsttimer08]

yeah the GP prescribed it and i asked her specifically if its ok to take. And she said once is ok. I took the pessary twice but with no relief. So its a tossup between risk to the baby now versus risk of thrush to the baby after birth. Both sound equally bad.

hmm maybe i shld try yoghurt.

i'm seeing my midwife as well today - will see what she has to say.

[moosemama]

I've just been going through the same loop of trying to get rid of recurrent thrush.

I used the 500mg pessary but it came back within 2 weeks.

Having done a fair bit of reasearch on the net I decided to try a daily dose of probiotics and regular bathing with a dilute solution of tea tree and lavender (which is really soothing btw). It seems to be working, been doing it for a little over a week now and the symptoms are getting less and less every day - almost gone now.

You can try the yakult drinks (2 a day to start with then 1 a day when symptoms subside), but be aware they do contain some sugar so with a bad case of thrush may not help. Or go to your local health shop and ask for a low dose probiotic supplement. They need to be kept in the fridge, but they do work.

The probiotics work by changing the ph balance in your system to inhibit yeast growth.

Its important to cut down on sugary food and if you eat a lot of pastries or bread you could try cutting that down to to reduce your yeast intake.

Everything I've read says you shouldn't take oral canestan during pregnancy. If you want to stick to the medical route, the recommendation seems to be that you use the pessary followed by a seven to ten day course of cream use. Apparently a longer course of treatment is often needed during pregnancy.

Hope some of this is helpful.

[lou031205]

Everything google is throwing up suggests harm in first trimester.

[firsttimer08]

yes that was also my impression that worst effect is in the first trimester of taking medicines.

i did however, speak to my midwife and she didn't recommend the pill either and suggested i retry the pessay.

thanks moosemama - i used to have these probiotic drinks a lot before pregnancy, but for some reason haven't been having them of late. i'll restart and see how they work.

[DforDiva]

i suffered it when pg with ds, only thing cures is pessary prescribed by gp. just call them, i know how horrible it was. thought of it makes me feel
it must be boys thing, never had with dd and when not pg.

[Kerri1983]

I know you have mentioned the cream and the pessary but can you use Canesten Once?

[moosemama]

I didn't get it with either of my boys, this one's a girl and seem to have it constantly. Guess it's just different from pregnancy to pregnancy.

[Kerri1983]

I have been given a prescription from my GP without actually seeing anyone and I have only been given the cream. As this is for external use only am I right in assuming that this won't help control the infection?