Can't get rid of Thrush

[mummymayhem18]

Hi. Can anyone help me and has experienced the same. I am prone to thrush and always have been but this time I've had it for a few weeks and it just won't go and it's making me really miserable as I'm sooooo sore down below even around my butt as well. I can't take/use pessaries so have been taking fluconazole oral capsules. Took 1 day one then another 3 days later and then another 3 days after that but it's just not shifting. I'm so red and sore down there by my vagina and around my urethra area. I also feel like I have lots of cuts and it's making me feel so miserable as I'm in so much pain. Normally the capsules work eventually but this time they aren't . Has anyone else experienced this. I have been to the doctors but feel I'm getting nowhere. Thanks in advance.

Hi
I've only just shifted my thrush after 6 months ! I've had it in the past wear one fluconazole tablet would clear it but this time it didn't want to budge.
After months of using fluconazole once a week and soft gel pessary once every 2 weeks ( I cant use the normal pessary as I'm allergic to something in it ) it finally cleared only after using the new canesflor probiotic capsules. So the day after I used the pessary I inserted the probiotic capsule deep inside with my finger for 6 consecutive days. I then went to see the doctor after a week and she said my thrush had all cleared ! Definatelt worth trying canesflor if you are able to use it.
I also washed my underwear separately to my clothes with non bio washing powder and no fabric conditioner .
Hope this helps !

I don't know if this is good advice if you have some cuts, but I put a few drops of tea tree oil in my bath water and this cleared up my thrush once and for all!
Genuinely never have suffered from it since.

I cut out all sugar- and I mean all, including in bread, other carbs, fruit .... It is quite restrictive. Look up the Candida Diet for guidance. I also took citricidal which is Grapefruit extract, a few drops in a glass of water. Absolutely disgusting. But it cleared up and I haven't had thrush for years, and now eat normally again (though very little refined sugar).

Thanks for your replies. I can't put anything up there. I've never used a tampon etc and I haven't had sex in years but that's another story. That's why I've always just taken the oral fluconazole and used the cream. I'm a year overdue my smear test because of the pain I've been in. Yes I know that's silly but that's how bad it is. I really struggled with the doctor just giving me an examination on the outside as you know they can be a bit heavy handed as seem to forget how sore everything is.Since having my daughter smear tests have been really painful and my cervix doesn't sit in the usual position so this makes it harder. I also have painful bladder syndrome which doesn't help things. I just don't understand why it suddenly won't shift. I struggle to even sit at the dining table as I find the chair uncomfortable down there even though I have a cushion pad on it.

Do you mind asking what age you are? It could be vaginal atrophy which has similar symptoms- itchy burning and sore vulva and vagina which will need topical HRT

@Whitegrenache I've just turned 44 x

Have you been tested for Lichen Sclerosis and STI's?

@Aquamarine1029 I definitely don't have an sti. I had thought it was something like lichen planus or schlerosus as it feels like something that had been flaring and then going and then coming around again like a circle. Although this time things don't seem to want to settle. The doctor has looked and doesn't think I have the telltale signs of it. I already have oral lichen planus and wondered if that left you more open to other things as I have a few chronic conditions. X

You might be low on oestrogen which can cause similar symptoms to thrush - you can use something like Ovestin cream around the vagina (and inside if you could manage it even a little) and this would help if it is this - you can get it on prescription. You can use it alongside thrush oral capsule. It’s changed my life.

There are different types of oral anti fungal drugs they can give you. You need a Doctor to prescribe them though.

Also probiotics- yoghurt drinks like Actimel and Yakult are really good as they contain live cultures that yeast doesn’t like. You’d need to have 2 a day to get any benefit from them.

I battle chronic thrush from autoimmune conditions. I am always doing these things, I do often find the pessaries are the only thing that really shifts it though. You can get internal canestan cream (not the regular stuff) which might be easier for you if you struggle to insert things.

Have you been to the dr to get tested? Tbh it sounds more like bv than thrush especially if you have tried loads and nothing is helping.

You can buy a kit to test yourself but I would really go and and get swabs don't to check there isn't something else going on.

Yes, as far as I'm aware if you have oral or genital LP you're more prone to have both. My dentist is always looking for it (in my mouth, ha) because I have it on my vulva.

Like you I had what I thought was thrush for ages until I became so frustrated I went to the GUM clinic and they diagnosed me with psoriasis, then years later when that was no longer a problem I started getting other symptoms, went back to GUM and eventually the diagnosis was LP.

I'd get down to your local GUM. Tbh even if you swab positive for thrush, you can still have LP.

A combination of Diflucan and Canestan pessary did the job for me - it's really worth persevering with the pessary for the relief it will give you.

Definitely tea tree oil in the bath for the cuts.

Avoid tight fitting clothes and wear cotton underwear.

And definitely, definitely sort your diet out - not just sugar, but anything that's high in carbohydrates, along with fungus, so mushrooms, and yeast - google the Candida diet.

If you're on the pill I'd also consider coming off that.

Also OP I'd do it asap. It can take an age to get anywhere with it and you may need to work your way through layers of different nurses, doctors, specialists etc.

I was thinking vaginal atrophy as well - perhaps better known as urogenital atrophy as low estrogen can affect All that area, including recurrent thrush due to embedded UTIs, bladder irritation/frequency, sore vulva/vagina with little cuts and sores, skin splitting etc.

The skin membrane becoming thinner can affect all this area - vagina, vulva, urethra and anus. Things get sore, and we can get more adverse reactions to creams etc.

If this is the case for you, then local estrogen can help. Vagifem can be used internally (a tiny blue tablet inserted twice a week after the initial 2 week loading dose), and/or cream that can be used both internally and externally.

Natural things that can help soothe - YES products, water based and oil based, Olive & Bee, which is an olive oil and beeswax mix, and various others. Beware of lube with additives like parBens and glycerin- I started to have thrush like discharge to a Superdrug one.

If you get no joy from your GP in finding the cause, getting seen at a GUM clinic might help - they’re not just for STIs but can do general MOTs

I'm a similar age and thought I may be peri menopausal but went to my GP who had a look and put me on a daily fluconazole oral tablet for two weeks and prescribed a thrush cream with hydrocortisone to use alongside. It started to improve slowly and I ended up having to take another two weeks of daily fluconazole oral tablets to clear it up fully.

If it hadn't started to clear after the 2nd course of tablets my GP was going to take swabs.

I too had small cuts as I was so dry and used sudocreme to avoid infection which my GP said was a good idea so try and use that in the meantime.

Hope it clears up soon, I know how it can get you down.

When I had this problem years ago, I found that taking vitamin B eased it considerably. I don't know why, but it just worked. I've just googled it to check and it does seem to be a thing.

Thanks for all of your replies. I definitely have thrush alongside anything else that is going on as I can see white discharge. Like someone else said I do also get it in the anal area,real soreness and like my skin is really fragile and gets sore etc. Sometimes I can just bend over a certain way and it feels like something has split or torn. I had been taking fluconazole every 3 days which is what I was originally instructed by a doctor and then after that to take once a week. Also I was told I was peri menopausal about 15 years ago when I had problems conceiving. Turned out I had PCOS. I will go back to the doctors next week after half term. It just feels like you go around in circles sometimes. Thanks everyone for your help and advice x

@cheesewitheverything I meant to say in my previous reply that I already have a B12 injection every 12 weeks as I'm deficient in a few things due to a chronic malabsorption condition x