I’m am at my wits end please please help me

[TheMoonIsWensleydale]

I have had thrush down below for over a year on and off now. It started when I started immunotherapy for cancer and I have had maybe a month or 2s relief in that time. Every time we have sex I get thrush, but also I get it randomly.

im not kidding when I say I can be walking down the street, or sat on the sofa and all of a sudden I get that itch and know I need to go to the pharmacy and buy yet more fucking canesten.

I went to my GP who agreed it was bad and gave me a tablet to take every 72 hours for 3 goes, then a tablet every single week for 6 months. I am 4 weeks into this and it’s suddenly got so much worse I needed to buy otc canesten and the cream is burning like a mother fucker.

im not diabetic and I am pretty good at eating healthy. I know it’s likely the immunotherapy but oh my gosh I am so so sick of it.

please help me

AIBU to ask you what sorted your chronic thrush?

Oh gosh, I’m so so sorry, I know the pain.
I had thrush on and off for six months and it was a nightmare, the culprit ended up being my copper IUD which I had removed of course. You don’t happen to have one of those, do you?

Has your partner been treated too?

Is it definitely thrush? Could it be BV, or even just vaginal dryness which is uncomfortable/itchy?

I would try and work on your gut flora - if your gut flora is well balanced you are less likely to struggle with thrush. Kefir, probiotic supplements, symprove, kombucha, natural yogurt...

Second the suggestion of bv. You can buy a gel for bv in boots/online and use in conjunction with thrush treatments afaik.

Has the GP taken swabs to give the most effective treatment?

Try taking a good probiotic tablet. They are expensive but you should see improvement in about three weeks. Keep taking them indefinitely. It resets your gut biome which in turn helps thrush elsewhere. The good bacteria will help keep the thrush at bay. Helped me a lot.

I cut out yeast for 6 months and it cured me. I had thrush in my mouth as well and was suffering both ends! I saw a nutritionist who helped me understand the biology of it and the fact that I was overloading my system.
I kept clear even during chemo and 18 months of immunotherapy. You could try avoiding the worst culprits for a while. That includes the obvious things like wine !

“Foods and drinks high in yeast include bread and other baked goods, beer, wine, cider, and some fermented foods like vinegar and soy sauce. Certain cheeses, dried fruits, and processed foods may also contain yeast or be fermented. Specifically, foods like Marmite, Vegemite, and nutritional yeast are also high in yeast.

Foods and drinks to be aware of if you have a yeast intolerance or sensitivity:
Baked Goods:
Bread (including sourdough and pumpernickel), pastries, pizza bases, and other baked goods that are leavened with yeast.

Fermented Foods and Drinks:
Beer, wine, cider, vinegar, pickles, soy sauce, and some types of yogurt and cheese.

Processed Foods:
Some processed meats, canned foods, and condiments may contain yeast or be fermented.

Dried Fruits:
Raisins, apricots, and other dried fruits can be high in yeast or may be fermented.

Malt:
Cereals, and some alcoholic beverages may contain malt, which is a fermented product of barley and can trigger yeast sensitivities.

Yeast Extracts:
Marmite, Vegemite, Bovril, and nutritional yeast are concentrated sources of yeast.

Other:
Mushrooms, some cheeses, and certain beverages like Kombucha may also contain yeast or be fermented. “

What age are you? A lack of oestrogen with peri menopause can cause this same presentation.

https://www.gardenoflife.com/dr-formulated-probiotics-womens-ph-50-billion

The best probiotics that I've used as they have the most strains (at least at the time of me researching, perhaps Symprove or Holland & Barratt are better now)
Try totally changing diet and taking pre and probiotics everyday. I feel for you as I had recurring thrush after a long antibiotic course
Sometimes sexual health clinics are more knowledgeable than the GP, if you have any in your area

Yes probiotics are great and cranberry vitamins

Are you peri or post menopausal? If you are, ask your GP for vaginal oestrogen, either cream or pessaries, a lack of oestrogen can cause the skin to thin & tiny splits like micro papercuts appear which cause itching & burning. You may be better off going to a sexual health clinic, they are more experienced in things like this & often have a better idea of how to treat recurring thrush & will test to see if it actually is thrush or anything like BV or even a combination. When I went I was so sore the doctor was unable to do an internal but managed to take swabs low down, I was prescribed an extended course of the oral tablets, canestan cream with hydrocortisone & a numbing cream to help with the pain. I was also told to bathe in plain water with salt & only wash with aqueous cream, never to use soap or bubbles in the bath or wash my hair in the bath. Mine took about a month to clear up but the numbing cream helped & I stayed on the tablets for 6 months. Since starting the Vagifem pessaries, touch wood I have never had another attack.

In the meantime, get some Vagisil cream, it has the numbing agent in it.

Vitanica Femecology probiotics were good for me. I had low hopes, but actually they really helped.

When this happened to me it turned out to be lichen planus, took years to be diagnosed. Do you see discharge or is it just itchy?
Best thing for any chronic genital thing is the GUM clinic. They’ve seen everything and they will progress you through various professionals who will know how to help. I was referred to the chronic clinic and eventually to a specialist dermatologist whose expertise was in blistering diseases and disorders 😀 They were also very pleasant and sympathetic. That was my experience anyway.

I thought I kept getting thrush, turns out it was vaginal atrophy. Many GPs don't understand this. Vaginal oestrogen cream and moisturizer sorted it but it's on going treatment and maintenance rather than a cure.

Caprylic Acid Plus by Cytoplan and cut down on yeast and sugar in your diet.

Cut the foods @Trumptonmentioned and remove all sugar from your diet. Take a good quality Candida oral remedy like https://amzn.eu/d/1zVKGHm and this probiotic: https://uk.iherb.com/pr/garden-of-life-raw-probiotics-vaginal-care-shelf-stable-30-vegetarian-capsules/83344?gclid=a6f391b199eb173c2f8bf9cd189a49db&gclsrc=3p.ds&msclkid=a6f391b199eb173c2f8bf9cd189a49db&utm_campaign=Product%20Listing%20Ads%20%3E%20United%20Kingdom%20%3E%20Acquisition%20(English)&utm_content=Supplements&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=bing&utm_term=4581115210829798

It’s available elsewhere too so look for next day delivery to take it as soon as possible.

I kept getting thrush but it turned out to be an allergy to the spermicide gel that I used with my cap

I had thrush for the best part of a year after a strong antibiotic. Also recommend Garden of Life probiotic, as well as eating less sugar/more fermented or live foods if possible. I had endless courses of Canestan which never fully got rid of it, got BV a few times alone the way too (just for extra fun), but the thing that finally shifted it was a pessary with oestrogen in it too that I got from a gynecologist I saw when abroad.

I had constant thrush for 2 years

Went through all the treatments going

Finally the gynaecologist asked me what temp I was washing at - 30 - told me to up it to 40 - thrush went

30oC is lab growing temp, the thrush in my knickers wasnt being killed in the wash so I was just reinfecting myself

Since then I switched to alll cotton knickers and wash at 60 - never had thrush since

I had exactly the same for months and months. It was horrific. Optibac made a world of difference for me.

Mirena coil out helped and itching and bloating stopped within 48 hours. It caused horrible vulvovaginitis which feels exactly like thrush. I think women become more hormone sensitive from about age 35 and get loads more side effects with the coil. I think the coil is oversold as a perfect contraceptive. It is not.

Just checking you don't use soap anywhere near your genitals?

I always used plain unscented bar soap. And always had thrush. I've had a ton of gynae surgeries in the last year and my private gynae says absolutely nothing but water in that area. At all.

I don't even let soap run down my body.

And touch wood, no thrush for ages..
Also, the oral thrush treatment is three for ten pounds on amazon.

Also, I usually take two thrush tablets and two of the original chalk pessaries at the same time. Hit it hard if you get it.

And as everyone else has said, vaginal oestrogen is a godsend.

I had this and being in a hot country for a long time triggered it. Switching to cotton knickers really helped me and that’s all I can wear now.

applying coconut oil topically can help - It’s anti-fungal.

Have you ever had a swab for thrush? I’m a GP specialising in women’s health and at least 50 per cent of the self diagnosed ‘thrush’ we see isn’t thrush. Most of it is irritation of the delicate skin of the vulva- it might have started with thrush but then it just recurs all the time. When you put canesten on it soothes the skin temporarily so you think the ‘thrush’ has been cured but actually it was never thrush at all.
Have you ever been examined? Sometimes this is something like lichen sclerosis-
a really common skin issue that can be treated with steroid cream. Other times the skin is just keeps irritated and dry- this can be treated with lots and lots of a bland greasy moisturiser (epaderm or cetraben) and some
mild steroid. Wash with the epaderm. No soap or shower gel on that area, cotton pants, don’t wash hair in the bath.
The other option as others have mentioned is lack of oestrogen if you are in perimenopause or menopause or on the progesterone only pill. Again easily treated.
If there is no women’s health GP at your surgery go to the local sexual health clinic. They are not just for STIs and are usually very good at managing this kind of thing-
they will at least examine you and do a swab.