I am being colonised by a fungal infection

[Beachingtons]

Help!

In late January DD2 brought athlete’s foot home from nursery. I thought it was hand, foot and mouth at first, but she was scratching intensely and crying about it at night, so when it didn’t clear up by mid-Feb using OTC creams, I took her to the doctor and she was prescribed an anti fungal cream. She cosleeps.

By this point, I’d developed a rash on both sides of my groin that was SO intensely itchy, especially at night. I started applying Canesten immediately. I saw the pharmacist who said it could take two weeks to go. After two weeks, it was still awful and had spread further and to my armpits. It’s keeping me awake at night and I’m regularly taking ibuprofen to relieve the itch. I cried on the phone to the doctors, who brought me in to have it swabbed, but haven’t had the results yet.

This week, I started using Daktarin. This has taken the itch from my groin and it seems to be healing there, but it’s still spread to my armpits, knee pits, and today I’ve noticed new patches under my watch strap.

Things I have been doing for weeks:

• no exercise, sex or anything remotely sweaty
• keeping DD’s feet covered
• showering daily or twice daily
• replacing towels and clothes on every use
• wearing only loose cotton, and no underwear/bra unless necessary
• using Head & Shoulders on my hair and the patches
• wearing cotton pyjamas at night, changing bedsheets every couple of days
• drinking diluted apple cider vinegar
• applying either Canesten, or now Daktarin, three times a day to washed skin

I’ve had ringworm a few times in the past but it’s gone within a few weeks with Canesten application.

What the hell is going on?!

wonder if it’s jock itch. the treatment it terbeverine (not sure i spelled that correctly). you can get cream or a tablet. i’d only take the tablet as a last resort. it’s strong stuff. wirh sude effects.

i found that using vicks can also help kill various skin things for some reason! used that to great success previously.

The ringworm is probably living in that Fitbit strap and it needs to go. It can live in wood for years. I don't know what those straps are made of (I don't have one) but they're soft flexible and maybe have some porosity from the looks of them? If it's living in the strap you're just constantly reinfecting yourself.

OP you can buy benzyl benzoate from the pharmacy for scabies. I'd personally take all the clothes and bedding outside and burn it all. Get a few basics to use for now and when you're cured burn those too. Then start fresh with no chance of reinfecting yourself. Coconut oil is another antifungal thing so if you're diluting essential oils use that as your carrier oil.

OP take echinacea for your immune system, 10 days on/ 10 days off. Helps your body fight whatever it is.

I had recurrent athletes foot that would not shift for months. What worked in the end was direct application of tea tree oil with a cotton bud under my toes. I bought it from Home Bargains or Savers (they used to stock at poundland but I think with inflation it's now around £3 a little bottle). You have to be careful as it's toxic to pets. People say you shouldn't apply it directly to skin, but it was the only thing that worked for me

It’s not shingles is it? It can move to different places & doesn’t have to be extremely painful. Altho it most definitely can be. I had an itchy rash & rang 111 out of hours as I was worried it was shingles. They said I needed antibiotics & booked me an out of hours consult with a specialist dermatologist - that pm over the phone. Was fantastic. Examined several photos & confirmed shingles. Got prescription sent fo collection then next a.m. was really impressed w/the NHS that day!

Terbinafine can be "challenging" for the liver and you'd not want to be taking it long term or on a whim. But it's licensed for a reason - because we don't ask people to live permanently with infections like these, and when people have tried the other routes, it's a reasonable and appropriate course of action to take.

Order some fluconazole from an online pharmacy (you can get packs of 3) and take 1 a week for 3-4 weeks. I am prone to fungal skin issues and this helps a lot. Just say its for thrush.

My son and his girlfriend caught scabies before Christmas. Sounds very similar. It has been an absolute nightmare, not helped by the delay in treatment not having a clue what it was. The itching at night and in creases along with the rash… they have just taken their second dose of ivermectin, this was after 2 lots of the cream and the lotion not working. Everything has to be washed at 60 degrees. Betnovate and antihistamines have helped. There have been a few threads about it on here which have been really helpful. There is one titled “to burn everything we own” which has some great info

Oh and apparently there is an awful lot of it around especially in nurseries an universities. It’s actually really put me off staying in hotels as lots of them don’t wash bedding at hot enough temperatures to kill the mites. A tell tale sign is silvery lines under the skin where they burrow to lay their eggs 😭

One thing I didn’t mention but may be relevant to the immune system / deficiencies in iron, ferritin, vit D etc is usually I take a load of supplements (breastfeeding multi vit, cod liver oil, b complex, methyl folate) but stopped three weeks ago on the advice of the anaesthetist when my general anaesthetic was booked in.

Now that’s over I think I’m going to get the blood tests before starting any new supplements, because I want to know I’m targeting the right things.

Still using Daktacort 3 times a day and Nozarol for 5 minutes once a day.

Groin has cleared up loads, not red or itchy at all, just pinkish grey healing skin. This was the area I started targeting first with the Head and Shoulders and Daktacort so makes sense it’d heal first.

Armpits are still a bit itchy. Lots of small patches. Not spreading though.

Kneepits and elbows… These just consist of a few red dots which could be scabies. Still a bit itchy at night. Not spreading though.

Watch strap patches are already pink and healing.

I’m still not 100% on whether it’s fungal or scabies. But I think the fact that anti-fungal worked on DD, and mine seems to be responding to Daktacort, is pointing towards fungal.

Fucidin/fucibet is not anti fungal

I had a very persistent fungal /hand dermatitis.
From my own experience don’t be lax about treatment when things improve! I’d suggest using the Nizoral twice a week for a good while after.

Is it scabies?

It was several years ago. I think that it helped after five or six weeks, but I continued for a couple of more weeks to be on the safe side. I have in general gone low carb now, and haven't had issues since.

That’s not athelete’s foot - that is impetigo!

I’m surprised your GP wouldn’t prescribe you the oral anti fungal medication, mine did when I got fungal infections in my fingernails after becoming allergic to builder gel. Your reasons sound far more serious, though you can’t take them if there is any risk to your liver so maybe that’s why as it sounds like you had other health issues too: hope you can get to the bottom of it.

Swab results are back: “nothing significant”

I’ve requested blood tests.

The Nizoral / Daktacort / medicated powder routine is working. I plan to keep it up for another two weeks at least.

I have had a fungal infection that spread and was difficult to clear up. You need 2 weeks of not using anti fungal creams before the swab, did they tell you that? Mine was identified as Trichophyton erinacei. I needed a 2 or 3 weeks course of oral Terbinafine and I also used Daktarin powder which worked better for me than the cream. I was told not to use steroids at all as once you stop it then flares, which happened to me initially.