Recurrent thrush, I am so down, please advise.

[dareisayit]

This is the 3rd time this year that I'm getting thrush down there and I am so and that it keeps coming back.

My Dh is clear, we had him checked, we didn't even have sex for 2 weeks as we missed each other while travelling.

I drank a bit more alcohol this week, 4 birthday parties (mine included) and I think it may be my diet. I don't eat sweets but can this really be down to food/drink intake? Is it so easy to throw my vaginal flora out of balance with a few glasses too many?? It was 4 small glasses of white wine & a G&T with dinner 4 nights in a row and 1 glass of champagne on one occasion not what I call a massive drinking binge.

I went to see OB gyn, got my dose of fluconazole, 6 day vag tablets and that's all. For the 3rd bloody time!! What can I do to stop this, I am really desperate now.

Know how you feel dareisayit i'm off to the docs this morning,i've lost count of the number of times i've had it
I've found that baths usually bring it on,so i only have showers now and can't use bubble bath or anything Don't know whats bought it on this time though
I have'nt found that drink causes it,god that would be depressing!
We are supposed to be TTC aswell

Hello tobago, sorry to hear you have the same problem. I only shower, I never really eat any sweets, ice creams, etc. I don't drink coke, sprite, fizzy sweet stuff, I eat fresh stuff.

So I had a bit too much alcohol, yes, God, it makes me want to reach for the whole bottle if I have to stop that now, too

We are supposed to be TTC, too. I ovulated, I used the sticks and mucus methods, but no joy. too, indeed.

Would you be so kind and come back on here and tell me what the doc said? I'd really appreciate this. I'm going nuts.

Yeah of course i will,they usually just give me a perscription for the cream and pessary,think the doc just said about not having a hot bath and not to use bubble bath etc last time.
Think i did have a swob done years ago but it came back negative,but the pessary always works.
God it does drive you nuts does'nt it?!
Will be back later
P.S good luck with TTC

darei - I've had it a couple of times recently. God it's a pain. For me it was wearing tights/jeans too many days in a row that sparked it I think. I don't think diet is usually a major factor? from the Choices website.

My nice lady GP prescribed me some canesten tablets and told me to just blast it and take one a week for 4 weeks. Worked for about a year. The cream/pessary makes me worse - I only take the oral tablet now. Someone on here said take it once a month after a period.

Thank you tobago. Good luck to you, too!

Hello tribpot, I did get it because of that in February.

We live in a dry, warm climate, can't have gotten it from there as I normally wear skirts/dresses and cotton pants, no thongs.

I was in a public swimming pool for 20mins, didn't sit down aywhere though.

It's really bizarre, I'm so desperate to find out what has caused it this time and I have no idea. It is frustrating and embarassing and it makes me so angry that my fanny is letting me down like this...

Thank you for the link! I will check it out, it looks good.

Hello cornsilk, thanks for letting me know. I have unfortunately taken antibiotics 3x now this year, nothing in 2008. I am just afraid they will stop working at some point.

I must have a lot of candida in my body, too much and so any small thing tilts the flora in favour of thrush. I'm so sick of it.

I get it all the time since having kids - changing the diet helps.

No bread, sweet stuff, mushrooms. Eating live yoghurt tends to help. There is an anti thrush diet which I used when I ws bf dd1 as the drugs just didn't work

Hello ninja, I heard it's got something to do with acidity of your diet?? Is that correct? Like, no tomatoes, bread, etc.

Do you have any links or info you could point out to me? So appreciated.

Does the diet help you?

have they said what the bug is and what have you had to treat it in total...just fluconazole and canestan

I agree with ninja, cut waaaay back on refined sugar, mushrooms, cheese.

There's a questionaire here

I got such bad thrush when I was pregnant that I thought I must have an STD

So I waddled down to the GUM clinic, where they confirmed it was just thrush and gave me a pessary and some tablets (can't remember what). Cleared it up instantly and it never came back.

Oh, and best of all, medication is free there

So if you are not getting any further with you doctor, maybe GUM could help sort it?

No cure here but the best thing once you do have it, is natural live yogurt, put on your bits! Use a pantyliner! I found this worked a treat and also cheap and saves all that messing about at doctors!

I had this, quite a long tome ago now. The GP eventually diagnosed an erosion on my cervix where the little buggers were hiding, and gave me six months worth of treatment (I think fluoconazole) which I took on the last day of my period for six months. After that, I refused all antibiotics for 17 years!

Thank you ladies, I am still so [arghhh].

I don't do sweets, pure sugar, etc. I don't eat white bread, etc. I did eat mushrooms this week once in pasta

They didn't say what strain it was, it's no STD or my OB gyn would have picked it up.

FG, that's what my doctor has said. She's put me on a 2 weeks' course. I just hate antibiotics. I just want to get rid of it. It's so unfair.

(Fluconazole+ canesten, yes.)

Thank you for the link!! Will rifle through it.

has doc tested you for diabetes? do you get it anywhere else like on your feet?

has doc given you metronidazole as the antibiotic/antifungal

I get thrush every single month, occasionally more often, and I can't use fluconazole any more because of other tablets I take. It won't kill you, try to relax about it a bit- the stress might be making it worse?

It can be a hormonal thing too - I used to always get it just before my period, and then sanitary towels exacerbated it.

Being on the pill also makes it worse.

The anti-candida diet is worth considering if you're suffering repeatedly, but it is not for the faint-hearted!

Cut out:

All refined wheat-based products (white bread, white pasta)
All refined carbs (white rice)
All sugar (including fruit)
All yeast-based products (alcohol, bread, Marmite)
All fungus (mushrooms and, I think but I'm not sure, Quorn)
All smoked products (bacon, smoked mackerel)
All fermented products (alcohol, soy sauce, vinegar)

You can eat meat/fish, vegetables/salad, olive oil, and really not much else.

I may have missed things out or there may be other things you can eat - can't remember about dairy, for example.

Definitely worth doing it though, to get the balance of bacteria right in your gut.

Also worth getting some acidophilus (a probiotic supplement). Buy a good quality one from a good healthfood shop -it will be kept in the fridge. Don't take Yakult/Actimel, even the low sugar ones, because they have sugar in them.

Good luck - it's an awful thing to suffer from.

surely that shouldnt happen BOF.

Are your tablets causing it...or is a reinfection thing?

Oh, and the next time you even have a hint of it, make DH use some Canestan as well, to make sure it's not being passed between you.

Sorry - another thing. Avoid eating leftover food.

some women are highly reactive to ph changes caused by sperm etc and that can cause an irritation with some women but with no fungal growth in laboratory samples. I think the term is a hostile vagina[sorry to laugh] it looks funny written down.

has doc checked for PID's

I had iy almost every month for almost a year after the birth of my son, because I had a few other issues too I got a referral to a dermatologist and a Gynae to check for other things. It was mainly just Thrush so I was put on a 3 month course of Fluconazole, starting with 150mg everyday then dropping to 50mg, after about 6 weeks it all cleared and I haven't had it since, in fact I stopped after about 2 months.

My friend also had the same issue, I got her referred to the same Dermatologist at the hospital, she got the same course and she too has been fine for months now.

Get yourself referred to either a Gynae or a Dermatologist that specialises in vaginal issues, there are a few out there.

I have always suffered since I was a teenager so was used to dealing with every now again but not constantly.

I did find taking daily acidophilus tablets really helped in the past.

Hope this helps, I know just how awful it is