Recurrent Thrush in 3 yr old girl

[NikkiTwinkle]

Hi

A quick history for you
Late 2012 - DD had nasty case of Thrush between legs which went after 3 trips to Doc and Nystatin prescribed
Nov and Dec 2012 - DD had oral Thrush prescribed Nystafin both times
Early 2013 recurrent bouts of Thrush which I treated with over the counter meds, checked with the pharmacist for use on small children.
All through 2013 we've had recurrent bouts of thrush in her mouth and between legs.
June 2013 - me fedup with treating thrush and visit to DR resulting in Anti-fungles prescribed for 7 days to 'treat the whole system'.

I'm now going back because despite treating the 'whole system' this hasn't worked and she's still got it orally.

Has anybody else had this, what could it be and should I be asking for a pediatric referral to see if there's something else going on?

I'd like to go armed with a little bit of info when I see the Dr next week.

Thanks

Yes go back to GP and stress how much she is having it and say you want to rule out other causes such as a weakened immune system. Has it been checked that it is thrush? There are different strains and it maybe that you need a different medication to treat her specific strain.

There are things you can do though to help! The thrush yeast is normally found on the skin and when it overgrows it causes symptoms. It usually competes for space on your skin with normal skin flora/bacteria. Certain things can kill off your normal bacterial such as antibiotics (did it start after a course?). Also, some things can cause the yeast to out compete the bacteria such as high levels of sugar in the diet. How is her diet?

Try not to give her sugary drinks and instead give milk(that naturally has good bacteria in it) or water. Cut down on sugar in general especially sweets or cake if you give that to her but also sugary breakfast cereal. Replace with things like cheese, fruit, porridge etc. Give her live/bio yoghurt. Cutdown on refined carbs like white bread and replace with brown.

You can also treat her trush in between her legs with a live natural yoghurt (no sugar) look for lactobacillus containing yoghurt this is what is normally on your skin and will out compete the trush.

Apparently coconut oil is a natural antifungal so try incorporating that in the diet. If she likes coconut but a spoonful in her porridge.

Try and keep her dry down there as thrush likes dampness. Allow her to go without wearing anything as much as poss.

You can also buy live bacteria sachets if she doest like eating yoghurt. Optibac for kids is good but a bit pricey.

Good luck!

*put

Thanks for the advice.

She's a really healthy eater, very little sugar, she doesn't like chocolate, sweets are once a week treat and it's wheetabix or shreddies for breakfast! As for bread she doesn't like sandwiches very much so again maybe once or twice a week.

I'll ask the doctor about the weakened immune system thanks for the heads up and I'll give the live yoghurt a try. She loves the yoghurt drinks which I don't usually buy as they're really expensive!

She's been out of nappies for so long now and often just wears pants round the house. (and coming home from the school run on Friday which raised a few eyebrows! )

This is why I'm so frustrated with the whole thing, we're doing a lot of preventative stuff already!

Cheers

No worries! It sounds like she has a good diet then! Does she drink alot? Diabetes can also be behind recurrent thrush (but don't panic!). Just another thing you could mention to the gp.

She needs a pro-biotic. There is one called BioGaia ProTectis that is in droplet form, completely tasteless, in sunflower oil. this

My ds was on antibiotics as a baby with the usual resulting problems. We regularly top him up with these drops now especially if he's been under the weather.

Hi @nikkitwinkle

It's a bit of a long shot as this post was a while back but did you happen to find out the cause of the recurring oral thrush?

My 4 year old has the same and I can't figure out why she's suddenly got it because she's not been on antibiotics or anything else that typically sets it off.

It'll be great to hear your experience.

Thanks in advance.