Thrush 3 times in 3 months what on earth is going on

[longwaytogo]

Totally fed up. Have thrush yet again. First time had pessary and cream. Second time oral tablet. this time putting off going to GP coz i'm sure their fed up of me. Decided to go to chemist today and they wanted £12 for oral tablet, so walked back out.

Why do i keep getting this?

Are you on the pill? Anecdotally it can make you susceptible.

nope no pill

First: Any risk you are diabetic? Are you peeing a lot? Feeling tired? Losing weight?

Second: There are good prevention techniques. Make sure the relevant bits are well aired, particularly at night. Cotton pants only. Avoid tights, and other tight synthetic clothes. Reduce your sugar intake. I'll find a link ...

This page goes through some prevention techniques that look ok. Don't know the site, though, so it may be ropey.

It may be that you aren't clearing the thrush completely each time you have treated it. The pessary and cream are the best treatment (better than oral dose) but sometimes if the pessary isnt inserted high enough into the vagina, the thrush isn't completely zapped. A couple of weeks later, you get what seems like a new case of thrush, but is in fact the old thrush which hadn't gone properly in the first place. Some sexual health clinics will give you a (free) 5 day course of pessarys, one every night for 5 days. Tends to do the trick.

Other issues can sometimes be condom use (without lube) or microscopic fissures around the vagina which keep getting colonised with the yeast. HTH.

Don't think i'm diabetic, and all bits are well aired at night anyway.

Not caused by condom use.

Nurse said last time that sometimes stress related, but hey not a lot i can do about that is there.

May have to try the yoghurt or ring the GP tomorrow.

You have my sympathy. A few years ago I went through a period of constantly having thrush, and it was a nightmare. It stopped after a while, and I haven't had it since, so there is hope. I took a course of three pessaries over 3 days to shift it completely (and ate live yoghurt every day for months ).
Follow all the advice below and also, are you having unprotected sex with your partner/husband? Because if you are, then they need to be treated too, as they may well be reinfecting you, but not showing any symptons. HTH

Try cutting yeast out of your diet for a week.
I get thrush a lot and cutting out the yeast really helps. Chocolate triggers thrush for me....so no more green and balcks for me.

my thoughts exactly bee3 especially as back in june he had an affair, so if he has got it and infecting me i'll kill him

It is actually very unusual for a man to have thrush, and especially unusual for them not to have sympoms if they DO have it IYSWIM. Purely because the way their anatomy is (everything on the outside) it isn't a good environment for yeast to grow - usually needs to be warm and moist. I do sometimes see it in uncircumcised men, but they usually have symptoms and a very red willy! I hope that puts your mind at rest about your husband. Very occasionally a man will be offered treatment if his parter has had recurrent, recurrent thrush, but I don't think there is much evidence about how likely it is that the man has been reinfecting her if he has no symptoms.

thanks hellomama, thats good news just need to sort me out then

I've posted on this before. I had horrible bouts of thrush and found that it was always at ovulation time. I think the hormones alter the ph down below and makes you more susceptible. I used pessaries and cream but it would return. For other reasons I went on the pill and I haven't had an episode since. I've had three years clear. So the cause might possibly be due to your hormones.

oh aren't hormones a wonderful thing. Was only saying to dh last night that it always seems to be after my period. So probably reality is it is hormonal.

Could you try drinking bio yoghurt? Not so much for the short term but in the long term I think it might help sort out all your natural flora.

longway, yes your hormones are letting the thrush take hold again, but you do need to ensure proper treatment to try to get rid of it once and for all.

Point 1. Don't take diflucan tablet again until 6 months has elasped, I believe it's a bit hard on your liver.

point 2. treat yourself with a course of 5 pessaries and the cream. Also take live yogourt or acidophilous tablets for a couple of weeks.

point 3. while you are using the pessaries and cream get your partner to wash his penis well and apply the same cream for 5 days, to kill any fungal residues there. He probably won't have symptoms, but can harbour the infection. No sex during that period either.

Hope these help

Been back to practice nurse who has given me another oral tablet, told her my friend (a phaarmasist) had said i need 6 pessaries and she just looked totally shocked and said that would be a huge dose. Told me if it comes back again to make appointment with GP and tell him what the pharmasist had said.

So easy you reckon tablet not the way to go then? Will it really do my liver no good. Now what am i going to do then? Off to the supermarket for some bio yoghurt me thinks.

If you go to the pharmacists (your mate?) I think he will tell you that diflucan is not recommended at short intervals, I'm pretty it sure it recommends 6 months on the pack. Having said that it is usually more effective than pessaries, cos it clears your whole system. Ask the pharmacists advice here. You can buy the pessaries over the counter I think (the 5 day course gives 5 lower doses than the single course. Sounds like the practice nurse needs to do her homework)

Also do get your dp to use some Canestan cream for the next 5 days. No point you making all the effort to clear it up if he just gives the infection back to you 2 days later!.

she wanted to treat me and dh but when she went off to ask GP he said no and it wouldn't be him infecting me, so not a lot of luck there.

IME GPs and the like are pretty inefficient at treating thrush (I had it on and off for about 6 years). I'm just telling you what finally worked for me.

try the book "Below the Belt: Self-help for Cystitis and Thrush" by Maggie Jones for more info.

The main problem with using the oral tablet is that the body quickly gets immune to the fluconazole taken systemically (orally) which is the main ingredient in most thrush treatments. It is also harsh on the liver. Most GP's would be reluctant to give you 5 pessary treatments due to the cost, not forgetting that you would probably have to pay the prescription charge for each one as well. Go along to your GUM clinic! You should also have a screen to ensure that it is thrush causing the problem in the first place, as there are a few other things which can causing itching and burning down below.

had a swab the first time and it came back as thrush. So hope its nothing else. So should i take the tablet or no? Or try the bio yoghurt

just read your thread and i have had the same problem. i had thrush constantly when on antibiotics and not and have been using canesten pessaries and cream and it never cleared. Have taken grapefruit seed extract oraly (tastes vile) but hey thrush gone!! Took a few days though but worth it. I got mine from hand of peace in Glasgow. check their website www.handsofpeace.co.uk

I cut out yeasts and anything that feeds on yeast (alcohol, sugar, yeast, mushrooms, vinegar etc) for 3 weeks, took acidophilis and had great results...