Constant thrush for nearly 2 years! Ruining my life!

[Foreveryawning]

Hi all,
I've had thush since getting pregnant with my son, he's 8 months now and the thrush is still here. I have tried EVERYTHING. Throughout pregnancy I used the cannesten pessaries. After pregnancy I used the cannesten oral tablet. When that didn't work after about 4 tries I went to my sexual health clinic. They confirmed it is definitely thrush and that I'm clear of any STIs and they gave me 12 weeks worth of the oral tablet to take once a week. After about 6 weeks it seemed to have worked and then by the 8th week it was back. So then I was given gyno dactarin cream pessaries to use every day for 2 weeks. This seemed to have been the cure and I was symptom free for 2 weeks and now today it's back. I am so at my wits end with this that I actually burst into tears about it this morning. It's so much worse after sex so I put off sex with my partner for as long as I possibly can but he starts getting down about the lack of sex and then makes me feel bad about it but sex is honestly so painful when the thrush is there. I also have tried not washing with soap, wearing cotton underwear, not using fabric softener ect and nothing is getting rid of this. Please tell me I'm not alone and someone else has experienced thrush like this? It's so awful and is getting me so down.

Sometimes you can have an allergic reaction alongside the thrush which can then lead to further susceptibly to further thrush outbreaks. My GP prescribed internal cream and a medium strength steroid cream and that sorted out my recurrent thrush.

Just came across this and wanted to post that I also had chronic thrush for many years. Mine was finally treated with flucytosine and amphotericin suppositories. There's a treatment which involves a 14 day course of this bespoke combination, and that sorted it for me after years and years of nothing working.

@Pearlywunzel I’ve been trying to get that treatment for 5 months. Who prescribed it for you? I’m told it’s not available in the UK anymore

Optibac probiotics for Women (online or Sainsburys), taking 2 a day for a couple of weeks, then 1 a day,works for me. The longest break I had was when I also cut down significantly on sugar. I'm terrible at maintaining low sugar though. OTC tablets, creams, pessaries, do work for me, but only for a very short time, and I worried about taking too much fluconazole orally. I suffered in my 20's for a few years, then had a 20 year break. Couldn't believe when it came back 😢probiotics aren't cheap, but do the trick, this time around 🙂

@rj11 Mine was a long time ago (maybe 2006), but it was a faff to get even then. I was being treated by a consultant at our local GU department in the hospital, and she had to contact her colleague in Birmingham who was the only person making the treatment and they had it couriered over to our hospital. It did work though when NOTHING else had for many years. The proportions of the ingredients are listed in a paper written by Dr David White in 2001 and you can find it if you google him (he's the person in Birmingham). Good luck!

If you take baths put a few drops of tea tree oil in the water, nothing else.

Conventional medicine failed me so I went to a local herbalist who gave me some probiotics which really helped. Lots of advice too like don't use any soaps or shower gels in the area, leave your pants off to let the area breathe (wear a maxi skirt sitting in the garden, for example!). Wear cotton underwear and cotton nighties, not pyjamas.

I hope you feel better soon.

is your bf/dh also treating?
Me and my dh always treated in parallel. He used the cream and i also used the tablets. 2 weeks no contact, we used a special washing gel and never had a problem afterwards.
You can also change your diet and when you are using the treatment give up sugar.

Good luck!

I had recurrent thrush for 8 years, which became resistant to fluconazole and itraconazole and thought I was going to have to live with it forever. However when I tried probiotics inserted as a pessary into the vagina it went away. I used canesflor but I think there may be other brands. I hope all goes well for you / whoever is reading this.