Come and diagnose me as no GP seems to have a clue !!

[Perfectmummy1234]

About 4 months ago quite a few things seemed to start to happen to my physically at once. They have continued without any break to varying degree ever since.

Doctors seem disinterested/have no clue and its really starting to get me down as well as being a bit of a worry!
So far I have had swabs to confirm thrush, a round of antibiotics for the cough which made not differnece and chest xray which was clear.

Persistent cough - varying from tickly, barking, phlegm, all night, all day, sometimes loss of voice, sometimes sore throat. Its pretty bad and very embarrassing and irritating as its noisy and constant

Mouth sensations - always a greasy kind of film inside my mouth. Like I've just eaten a mouthful of clotted cream. Also dry at the same time. Odd taste metallic

Constant (swab confirmed) thrush - Not able to control even with back to back over the counter treatments, lower pelvic tummy ache, sore internally. No history of thrush previously

Pains in legs, extremely painful calf cramping during the night

I just feel like someting has taken over me and I can't shift it.
Any ideas???

Definitely research Candida overgrowth- I think this matches all your symptoms.

Steroid inhalers can increase thrush susceptibility in your mouth and throat as it breaks down the local immune defenses and lets the fungus colonise

Have you considered the candida diet? It's tough but I think it worked for me when I was struggling to get rid of thrush and was really desperate. This was many years ago and dare I say it I haven't had it since.
Also if you've only been given flucanazole try requesting a different treatment e.g. micanazole.
Good luck, it's rotten.

For the mouth/ throat and persistent cough can you get a referral to ENT? Especially if tests continue to come back normal, you may need a camera investigation to check your throat.

Don’t suppose you take electrolytes on a daily basis because you think you are dehydrated?

Symptoms in mouth could be oral thrush. Have you tried cutting out sugar? (Including fruit, refined carbs etc)

have you had an examination of the genitals ? Vulvovaginal Candidiasis can exist alongside other pathology - Genitourinary syndrome of menopause comes to mind. If you’ve been taking that much antifungals with no improvement at all it’s either resistant candida or something else. A sexual health clinic will usually do speciation and sensitivities for Candida as well as examine you.

agree re iron and hba1c levels
are you A smoker / vaper ?
do you have any allergies / pets ?

Not at all impossible but rare for asthma to start much later in life unless occupational
GORD would fit

Sounds like it could be diabetes

Check she is not on an ACE inhibitor for her blood pressure in some people can cause a weird cough. I had this x2 round antibiotics they wanted to start a 3rd course, I felt rough only happened to watch GP behind closed doors they mentioned this condition with ACE inhibitors. I rang my GP he rang back said stop them took 48 hrs to start to feel better it had caused pleurisy because of the coughing. Hope it helps

I had post nasal drip, a neilmed sinus rinse really help not pleasant it was recommended by ENT made a massive difference to me.

I haven't read the full thread but found the book The Vagina Bible by Dr Jen Gunter very helpful in figuring out my problem years ago (BV). I know you said the thrush is swab confirmed but she recommends a lab culture of the swab if first line treatment fails, apparently that can identify if you've got a drug resistant strain? She is Canadian though so access may be different in the UK. She also suggests taking an oral antihistamine such as cetirizine or loratidine to help with the itch as well as a topical steroid. She also says you might need to see a specialist and that Boric acid in a gelatine capsule might be needed if nothing else works. Just some ideas to ask the GP about maybe?

Obviously I know that doesn't help with the other stuff, I am similar in that I have had mysterious seemingly connected things for a few years which the doctors aren't interested in looking at systematically. But also I have realised the research and knowledge just isn't there especially for chronic conditions. I had the exteme leg cramps only for a short while but they were awful. I think mine were hormonal but as others may have said, there could be a vitamin D connection? It really sucks, but over time I have found things that ease some of the individual symptoms a bit even if I haven't worked out the cause. It's hard not to fall down an internet rabbit hole as well because there's so much misinformation out there. I hope you find some relief

ETA she mentions low iron, immune system issues and high oestrogen as a few things that can cause yeast infections, just in case those might be avenues to explore as a connection to the other things

I just came on to say the same thing.

My friend has suffered with this in the past and finds a few weeks of a strict anti-inflammatory diet really helps any flare ups get under control.

It's possible during perimenopause to become sensitive to foods and also other substances that were previously fine for you. Also possible to have candida infection throughout the body. Thrush can be a prediabetic thing and asthma be a new allergy maybe. Full bloods including for pre diabetes and vit B12 levels might help

That is systemic candidiasis. Bet cha. Treatment is a hefty course of oral antifungals. I had exactly this and a whopping course of antifungals gave me an upset tum as I recall but sorted it all out. Hope you feel better soon.

I have had an awful cough for a few years which has gradually got worse, so much so I couldn't bear to go to the theatre due to worry about my cough.
Plemym in the morning, wake up with breath taken away in the night and then up for 1 hour coughing. Went to gp and nothing obvious, ? Reflux, started a glug of gaviscon everyday and cough is no more!

Me too. Fluconazole. But I had it twice a week, then tapered down to once a week, every other week... I was told to taper down slowly to stop it suddenly coming back.

It can be really hard to shift, it's called recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis.

If you have a severe version of thrush it can spread to also be oral thrush and the throat tract which can cause a persistent tickly throat feeling and a dry cough.

But I think you'd see stuff in your throat if you had oral thrush.

How strange I have had the exact same thing. Started 6th August. Clear chest xray on 26th August. GP lost interest at that point but did give me four weeks of a ppi which did nothing.

My symptoms have dwindled. Cough much better, feeling in mouth still there at times but no longer persistent. Thrust cleared up after last dose (2 weeks ago) and hasn’t returned.

I don’t know what it was, or what caused it, but here’s what I did. Not sure any of this helped or if I just slowly got over it.

1. Reduced caffeine to twice a day
2. Stopped drinking
3. Drank more water throughout the day (specifically alkaline water)
4. Chewed chewing gum after every meal
5. Nightly bath as hot as I could stand with Epsom salts
6. Gaviscon after a big meal
7. Used a saline nose inhaler to keep throat from being irritated

Like I say I haven’t got a clue what it was. My gp told me it was a post viral cough, then it was LPR, then it was a combination of being perimenopausal (early too I’m only 37) and LPR and anxiety. My symptoms have just slowly ebbed away, everyday they felt slightly better and I’d say are relatively non existent now

Systemic candidiasis is rare and usually seen in very immunocompromised people. I think that's probably unlikely, though it's one of those slightly popular pseudoscience things that gets traction because it explains a myriad of symptoms that people can't get diagnosed and grasp on to (understandably). Rather than one diagnosis, I think OP is just unlucky and has a few things going on at once.

Not that a sugar free diet would be a bad idea, could certainly help the thrush.

Reflux is one of the most common causes of cough, so I'd probably try a PPI (supermarkets sell lansoprazole I think) for a few weeks to see if that helps.

Leg cramps can be eased by magnesium, I went through a phase of them and magnesium spray/lotion really helped and has helped other people I've recommended it to. Epsom salts also have magnesium, if you like a bath.

Thrush could be genitourinary menopause/hormone related, so topical oestrogen could help alongside the thrush treatment (and healthier, lower sugar diet).

Sounds like severe hay-fever. Either way I'd try anti histamine for a week or two, as it helps sinusitis as well. It might clear it up.

Once I had recurrent thrush, tried various, pessaries and creams but I think an extra strong cream did the trick in the end. You may have already tried that of course. I do think a range of blood tests should be ordered, make sure you get the actual results and don’t rely on them being ‘normal’. Then you can look at what they mean more precisely.

Silent reflux will cover chronic cough and mouth sensations. Need PPI eg. Omeprazole
Perimenopause will cover thrush and leg pains (loss of vaginal oestrogen causes disturbance of vaginal ecosystem) Try vaginal oestrogen/Balance Activ. If no improvement repeat swabs to check for things other than thrush
Take Magnesium in evenings for leg pains and eat high Potassium foods

What’s your home environment like? You could have mould sensitivity from hidden mould. Are you getting enough fresh air in your home or is the air stale?

Persistent cough might be asthma. I even had a chest X ray because I was coughing so much at night. Finally a GP suggested an inhaler, and it stopped immediately.

Silent reflux.
have you been tested for H-pylori?

Please also consider taking magnesium for the night cramps. I did this and they vanished and never came back. I don't think I even had a "deficiency" as such. Ask your GP if you can start taking it straight away.