My poor DD has thrush, whats the cause!?

[GinLoverSharon]

Hey Mumsnet! Me and my 18 year old DD have a brilliant relationship, she's very open with me about her health and whats going on in her life. (for this i'm very grateful!)
But over the last two years she's frequently got water infections and thrush and my poor girl is in agony! I know a lot of things can trigger these for her such as stress, sex and some soaps. Does anyone have any suggestions of how to prevent or cure these? She's got tablets of the doctors each time but i'm getting more worried each time this happens.
Is it normal to get these so frequently!? It's every couple of months!

Love Sharon

Has she been for an sti check?

Could she be being reinfected by a partner?

@joannegrady90 She's been getting them since before she was sexually active and isn't having regular sex because she thinks it causes these issues. I made her get tested in May when her and her boyfriend broke up because he cheated on her. My poor little lamb, I wish I could take all her pain away!

Does she take antibiotics when she has a UTI? I often find I get thrush after taking antibiotics - as they wipe out all your good bacteria.

UTIs did they start when she became sexually active? If so some simple steps such as going for a wee before and after sex can help prevent UTIs.

If she keeps getting UTIs then she may need a urological referral to investigate what's going on.

A good probiotic should help try and improve her good bacteria.

Just seen your update. Sounds like she should ask GP for urological referall.

I'd see a doctor for a referral. I think unfortunately some people are just more prone.

She could look into the early diet side, cutting out certain foods.

Does she have any health problems?

No, of course it's not normal. If she's not getting advice from the GP on hygiene and prevention, she needs a referral. If she is getting advice but not following it, that's another matter.

I had these issues on hormonal contraception. Depo was a nightmare! My DD (21) has similar issues but not bad enough to stop her taking the pill. My GP said it couldn't be that but as soon as I stopped, they've disappeared.

Just throwing that in the mix.

Hope she feels better soon, recurrent uti's are the work of the devil

No thongs or polyester underwear. No lace. Just cotton knickers. No soap in that area at all, just water. Wash every day. Sleep without knickers. Sometimes a different brand of tampons or pads can help. Wipe from front to back.

That's all I can remember as prevention.

I used to deal with this and it happened from way before I was sexually active. It seemed to tie in with stress/ being on my period. All the advice from @garliccalamari plus avoid hot baths, strong detergents, tight jeans and trousers. I also switched from using tampons to a moon cup in my mid twenties and episodes reduced massively. Booze and sugar did not help diet wise. Forget the tablets, canestan once is the way forward.

Has she had her blood sugar tested? A friend of mine was getting repeated bouts of thrush then later on was diagnosed with diabetes.
Not suggesting that's necessarily the case with your dd but trying to think of more unusual causes.

Daily itraconozole for about a month sorted my persistent thrush out. It was a last resort prescribed by my GP but it completely sorted me out.

Possibly another idea might be a visit to your local GUM clinic. The nurses are fantastic in there and may have some other treatment suggestions.

Dairy, wheat and sugar were triggers for me. Excluding these, adding probiotics and fatty fish oils helped a great deal.