Recurring thrush (desperate)

[kittykat818]

Hello everyone,
I am 21 and have been suffering with thrush for two years (ever since losing my virginity.) I feel like I have tried everything; multigyn, cotton underwear, organic pads, 6month course of fluconazole, even a sugar-free diet and nothing has helped stop it permanently. It affects every aspect of my life including my university studies and relationship (yes I have tried treating my boyfriend) and I am so desperate. Has anyone else dealt with this and found a solution, I am so desperate. I have tried going back on a longer course of fluconazole again but I was still getting thrush while taking it so I really am confused as what to what to do.

PLEASE HELP

Does your bf have diabetes? If so, this could be causing it. It did in my case.

Even if not, maybe it is his sperm that's causing it somehow, try using condoms for a few months and see if you notice a difference?

@honeybee85 do you have any idea how you treated yours - or do you think it was just you and your boyfriend stopped passing it back and forth?

@colaelf Hi, we haven't checked this but I feel as if he would have caused this problem with previous partners if this was the case but I may be wrong. Yeah I have also wondered if this was the case too but the problem still seems to happen when he pulls out (sorry to be vulgar)

@kittykat818

I think we both treated it with a cream. Ex bf got one from his gp and I bought something from the shop, I think it was canesten but you must have tried that a 100 times already before, you poor thing . We refrained from sex or used a condom (I don’t remember exactly, this was a few years ago) for a few days until we both didn’t have any symptoms left.

A very highly personal hygiene question: do you wipe properly after doing a nr. 2? I don’t mean to embarass you but poo bacteria left can actually cause this infection. I live in Asia and here it’s common to clean yourself with water after a poo and then dry yourself with toilet paper.

I haven’t had trush since moving here, not even whilst pregnant.

OP I think I had it pretty much constantly for around 6 months or more before I burst into tears at GP and begged for gynae referral and then the gynae put me on a super strong Fluc course then the maintenance dose for 6 to 9 months. That really seemed to sort it. Have had maybe 8 more thrush episodes since but that is over 15 years so not too bad and easily sorted with just the one Fluc tablet each time. I'm convinced it was being on Oxytetracycline for about 2 years 16 to 18 for acne...

I remember now also that my GP warned to not wear thongs as they also can cause thrush and just wear normal 100% cotton panties.

Oh yes I also stopped the Pill and that seemed to help too. I used condoms instead then a coil when had just one regular partner.

The Pill I was on was Dianette btw

Grapefruit seed oil. It will change your life.

Have also just remembered that I also took Fluc weekly for another 6 months I think after the big 6 months dose. Something like that. You need to see a female gynae who can give you the max possible strength stuff.

@honeybee85 Yeah we have both tried treating ourselves with the cream and fluconazole tablets but also seems to come back! Yeah over the last 6 months I started cleaning with water then drying as well in a hope that could have been a cause but has still come back! And yes I have completely stopped wearing thongs and only 100% cotton for me, feel like I have tried everything!

@gypsywater Yeah I was on acne medication for a couple of years too but that was when I was about 15 and the thrush didn't start till I was 19, may have to try a longer/stronger course of fluconazole and see how it works now despite it not working the last time I tried. Willing to try anything at the moment...

Guys have pre-cum so even if he pulls out to ejaculate his fluids are still inside you and may be causing a reaction. Either stop having sex or try condoms for a couple of months. I know that’s not ideal but you’ve tried lots of things and this is defo worth doing. If your hormones are out of whack it can cause problems too like women have at menopause. In this country though they don’t really understand hormones so they won’t be much help.

@Elieza Okay will give condoms another go, the only problem is if it is semen causing the reaction will this mean I just have to always use condoms for the rest of my life?

I’m very susceptible to thrush and now only use a sensitive shower gel with a ph of 5.5, wash my knickers at 60° and try to sleep at night with none on. I would also only take antibiotics if it was absolutely necessary cause if I take them I have thrush within 24 hours.
Haven’t tried a prebiotic/probiotic but heard amazing things about them.
When it was bad last year I signed up to emails from The Candida Diet and realised how much sugar influences it

If you are allergic to his semen then at least you will know what’s causing your problems. I don’t know if there is anything you can do to fix that. I read about a case of that somewhere but I don’t recall the ins and outs (forgive the pun).

But perhaps he’s been the carrier of the thrush all along and although he’s been treated a couple of times he was never fully thrush free and kept reinfecting you.

Condoms for sure are the way to go.

If you are better after that you both need swabbed to see if either of you still have it.

Posted this before, but here goes

My immune system is pretty poor, I once had oral thrush for over 12 consecutive months, with no treatment helping. Whenever I take antibiotics -which is unfortunately fairly regularly - I develop thrush somewhere... and I have interstitial cystitis, majorly triggered by thrush.

The only thing that impacted my vaginal // vulval thrush was a tampon, coated in either coconut or olive oil, with as much tea tree oil as possible covering it before insertion. Sounds woo, and I am definitely not woo, but after literally years, I was at my wits' end... the anti-fungal properties seem to help.

Maximum 8 hours, then 8 hours break, repeat for 3 or 4 days.

@GinnyLane Sorry to hear that, however, my problem is that despite treating my thrush it always seems to come back rather than not being able to treat it temporarily

Try sweet almond oil with tea tree oil and rub into the affected area for a few days.

If you are both experiencing symptoms and not using condoms then is it not a viscous circle of you reinfecting each other? Has your bf had a swab taken to be tested for it? You would both need to be treated and abstain from penetrative sex for a while to see if you both clear up.

@kittykat818 I have to say, this seemed to "reset" my body - I have never again suffered so badly. But I appreciate that we are all different, and that everyone's flora // fauna is unique.

I hope you find relief, but if nothing else, coconut oil might be very soothing for other sufferers.

OP, I was as desperate as you about this. A partner who's willing to take the pill and also use the cream for a while is a good start. And I have found confirms help. But I changed two things that worked for me:

1. Rather than wipe out the whole ecosystem down there with Fluconazole and have to regrow it, I would use balance activ BV pessaries whenever I felt at all thrushy. And always at period time I would put one in before I put in the tampon.

2. In my experience the best idea the average GP has is to ask you if you know how to wipe your own arse (oh, and always with the cotton pants). But I did start wondering about microscopic traces of bacteria getting introduced, e.g. from back to front during morning spoon sex. So every time I went to the loo, I would wash and do a wipe with sweet almond oil to soothe and avoid dry skin.

Don't give up hope.

What do you actually do with the grapeseed extract?
Sugar and alcohol definitely feeds it. Antibiotics upset the gut bacteria and lower immunity.
Live plain yoghurt eaten and used internally is helpful.
It is hard to kill the bacteria so probably buying new pants which are 100 percent cotton is a good idea. Washing alone does not kill the bacteria, ironing helps.
I thought tea tree oil was not to be used internally?
Definitely any scented product will trigger it, even washing in scented shower oil as it runs down and some of it will reach the affected areas.

Being diabetic or pre diabetic will make it much more likely. Apparently also being low on iron and B12 are also predisposing factors. Doctors don't tell you any of this, they just pull out the drugs.

@nearlynermal Hey, so would you suggest not using the fluconazole, I have been using multigyn (similar to balance activ) for the last few months and that did seem to help but I now have thrush again so not sure what to do. I do always make sure I go to the loo after sex and clean but haven't tried almond oil maybe I should.

kittykat it's a tricky one. I guess the pessaries are more prevention than cure. I used fluconazole to knock out the thrush for me and DP, then to try and establish healthy flora I'd go on to the pessaries and then use them at high-risk times like periods and any other time I thought things weren't 100%.

Oh, and the idea I was trying out was to be super clean before sex because any tiny trace of bacteria outside might end up inside. (I had the advantage of a very predictable DP who wasn't at all spontaneous, so it was easy to be prepared. A bit harder in a 'normal' relationship...)

@nearlynermal Okay that makes a lot of sense thank you! So do the pessaries reintroduce healthy flora then? I think my thrush is probably related to my period and sex so will try and introduce using them around those times. Right I understand so cleaning before sex rather than after!