To ask the longest you've had thrush and what eventually stopped it

I had a stubborn bout of thrush in the run up to my wedding. I think the stress of wedding planning affected my body somehow.

Anyway I bought five tablets of flucanazole from eBay or Amazon or somewhere, took one each week for four weeks and gave one to my partner. I also washed all my underpants on an hot wash and then ironed the gussets, a tip that I seem to remember I read on here. That seemed to work. I’d tried all sorts of things until then, although felt I struggled to get it taken seriously by the GP. I hope you find something that eases your symptoms soon.

I had mild thrush for over a year (as well as a slightly itchy tongue). Tried all the creams, fluconazole, pessaries, etc, no effect. It went away on its own after I stopped drinking coffee. I re-introduced coffee after a while, and I can tolerate a cup once or twice a week but as soon as I start having more I can feel the itchyness return, its v weird.

This. I went to the GP as I kept getting recurrent thrush and they agreed that’s what it was and gave me a different treatment. It didn’t work and kept coming back.

It was a post on here mentioning BV - that I’d never heard of - that made me try some BV gel. It cleared it up and hasn’t returned since!

Are you sure it’s not BV? I had what felt like thrush and BV gel cleared it up.

On other occasions I had to try different brands of medication. Canesten didn’t work but the pharmacy unbranded pessary did. It seemed like the Canesten didn’t cause any discharge at all, while the unbranded pessary dissolved and came out like a thick white paste. Huge mess but it solved the problem when the Canesten didn’t.

I was told by a consultant that it was difficult to get rid of thrush if you had a fungal infection anywhere else, and he advised treating my feet for athlete's foot at the same time as the thrush treatment. It sounds weird but by that point I felt I had nothing to lose. It worked.

Apple cider vinegar was a game changer for me in the battle against thrush. I use it neat at the very first sign and it doesn't develop any more.

Well I'm on long term (10yrs) antibiotics and a wheelchair user (almost always sitting) so it's always a risk... but haven't had it for 8 years. Things just balanced out. Nothing worked at first. The main thing was taking baths over showers. I used to have a wet room and had the most problems then when I could only have a shower. It could be a coincidence. I now have a bath lift instead and have refused the offer of a wet room because I love baths. Since only ever having baths with Epsom salts and essential oils I haven't had it once.

I've had it for years and only way I found to control it is boric acid suppositories. Game changer for me.

Boots thrush and BV. The BV kept causing the thrush.

had it bad for about 18 months. I tried everything but it eventually stopped when I started wearing cotton knickers only. I can’t wear any others these days which is annoying but would rather have boring knickers than thrush!!

You imply that you're of peri age... As it's not going away despite treatment, are you sure it's thrush and not caused by the drop in oestrogen during perimenopause?

If you're of perimenopause age, ie around or over 40, have you considered it might be vaginal atrophy and not actually thrush?

I treated suspected thrush for a few months until I finally cottoned on what was happening, thanks to a thread on here. It was a lightbulb moment, quite frankly. Anyway, topical oestrogen fixed the problem, itching and all. I later went on full HRT, but in the early stages Vagifem was the thing.

It's certainly worth a try, as you can get OTC.

I changed all my knickers to new cotton pairs and that helped me.

Changing to prescription-only strength canesten as a pessary - double the active ingredient - sorted it for me.

I had it on and off the whole time I was on the pill (16 years). Stopped the pill and never had it since so mine was 100% hormonal.

It’s not returned yet with peri but it makes me
nervous for HRT.

I had it for a couple of months, it would get treated and go for a day or two then cone straight back. I was diagnosed with type1 diabetes and that's what caused it.

Get yourself tested for type 2 diabetes, persistent thrush is a symptom

If you have a partner- are they being treated too?
Have you been checked for deficiencies such as anaemia, Vit D, thyroid and had your HbA1C checked for sugar levels over a prolonged period? Have you had hormone levels checked for peri?

I had a terrible case due to long term antibiotics. As well as the things you mentioned I took a probiotic in tablet form from Holland and Barrett seemed to make a difference

Had a really bad bout about 15 years ago which didn’t go with oral fluconazole or cream - eventually what shifted it was repeated use of the canesten pessary (the one you insert with an applicator), plus the cream. The pessary + cream worked much better than either the oral dose or the cream on its own - I really recommend it.

I used to get it a lot. Never get it now. Cutting out sugar from tea and coffee was a game changer for me.

3 months, I was eventually diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Once my blood sugar was under control it cleared up immediately.