Recurrent Yeast Infections

[Meagan]

:blush: Betcha love to hear about this one! :blush:

For the past 4 months about 2 weeks before AF is due I have been getting a yeast infection. This is my fourth one in a row. :roll: I am not enjoying this. Is there a reason they keep coming back even though I am treating them? Is there anything I can do to make them go away and stay away???

[AliMichelle]

I feel your pain Meagan!!! I can't wait to hear the answer on this one!! Do you eat yogurt?? Someone told me that the "live and active cultures" in yogurt help prevent them. I'm still trying though! :) :hug:

[Lady Knight]

I found ascidophilus(sp) - the active ingrediant in yogurt :D - tablets to be effective, as a diabetic I would have yeast infections sometimes weekly for several years. since using the tablets I have not had one attack in almost 2 years.

[mamawolf]

OMG..Maree, I have to have some of those pills!!! Meagan :hug: for you and Allison :hug: for you too. I know exactly what you are going thru, I have had a yeast infection for 4 years now and it NEVER goes away for more than a few days at a time. They tell me it is probably because of my sugar levels. I'm not quite a diabetic, yet?? But I'm going to be?? If that makes any sense to you then your one up on me!!

[Lady Knight]

Sounds like your sugar levels are on the high edge of normal Sheila, and that it won't take too much to tip you over into type 2 Diabeties.

And yes high sugar levels are the cause of all of the yeast infections I had, in fact it was the first sign looking back, after never getting them I had 5 in 5 weeks.

The tablets I had were bought in a healtheries store. You know one with vitamins, home made soaps and wheat germ LOL

[Ouchywoo]

hmmm...well, you didn't need a nurse this time :haha:
Great advice Maree, hey maybe you could become a :nurse: too, or maybe you were one in your past life :haha:

I hope you ladies can find these pills Maree is talking about. If not, then eating yohgurt daily should help.

[Meagan]

Ok going to the fridge now....

Hey Genie..you might know the answer to this. I read somewhere that once your period starts it kills the infection and restores the balance of yeast. Is this true? Cause if it is I think I will hold off on buying the ointment stuff. It is so expensive!

[Ouchywoo]

Sorry Meagan, I haven't heard of that before.
I think that you should eat yohgurt regardless of weather or not you have symptoms. A build up of the culture may help prevent the infection.

I hope you feel better soon :hug:

[KimmerRN]

Yep, the yogurt thing works for me! I always make sure that I have a good supply of yogurt on hand when I start a round of antibiotics, too. Yogurt helps to keep the level of 'good' bacteria intact while the antibiotics work on the 'bad' bacteria - a very common problem if your MD prescribes a broad-spectrum antibiotic.

If you are getting frequent yeast infections, I would be VERY mindful of watching blood sugars. Check with your MD on your next visit. Sometimes you can find a "wellness" program in which they will test your glucose & cholesterol for either free or a nominal fee (sometimes $5) to cover supplies. (These programs are usually backed by a hospital/health system... at least they are here!) These tests give the most accurate results when you are FASTING, so early a.m. is a good time!

Good luck!! I hope you feel better soon! :hug:

[Meagan]

Ok I need to make an appointment for myself for other reasons as well and I will get this looked at too. Wonder if this goes along with my dizzy spells???? :nervous:

And usually the medcial care part is covered 100% including tests and stuff thankfully. And since I am sure a test for glucose is pretty regualr I am sure they will have it at the Army hospital.

[KimmerRN]

Meagan, I think it would be a GREAT idea for you to get a check up. With the dizzy spells, recurrent infections, etc..... It wouldn't hurt to get a check up! Take care! :hug:

[AnnieQ]

I have heard that antibiotics cause yeast infection too. Alisha and I both suffer when we are taking medication. Just a thought, and I wanted to share.

[Lady Knight]

Oh Yes Annie they most certainly do, the ascidophilus - got to find out how to spell that lol - help with that to bc they replace the good bacteria that a broad spectrum anti biotic kills off.

[AnnieQ]

Thanks Maree.

[Meagan]

Yes, but I have not taken any antibiotics.

[Wendy]

I would definatly go to the doc Meg! My grandma used to get them quite often and she was a diabetic. It got worse for her when she had cancer because she was on so many antibiotics and stuff that she had them all the time....poor lady as if she wasn't going through enough.

I just had my first one while I was pregnant a month ago. Luckily that Monistat 7 stuff worked for me, although if I wasn't pregnant I would definatly had that other stuff that works a heck of a lot faster!

[KimmerRN]

Meagan, I agree with Wendy. I think a checkup would be a good thing. The more I think about it..... yeast is an opportunistic thing that likes to show up whenever & wherever it "sees a weekness", so to say. The antibiotics thing is true (I'd mentioned it in post #9 in this thread), especially if the MD uses a Broad-Spectrum antibiotic, which gets rid of ALL bacteria, good & bad, so the yogurt helps replentish the "good" bacteria. You said that you haven't been on antibiotics, so this isn't our problem -- just wanted to clarify.

Anywho.... Many people who have any sort of reduction in their immune system can be prime target for yeast infections. Diabetics have to be particularily careful b/c diabetes wreaks havoc on many, many body systems ~~ that's why tight control of blood sugars is VERY important. Cancer patients have to be vigilant too -- I help my Mom to make sure she gets her meds, eats, goes to MD appts -- I'm kinda her cheerleader :cheer: , but Cancer patients have a reduction in their immune system, so vigilence is key here, too.

I don't mean to alarm you, but I feel strongly that you should go get checked. Maybe I'm just being a big worrier & overreacting, but what I see in the hospital, I would rather have you go to the MD, get checked out and have it be nothing than the other way around!! And hey, if it won't cost you anything... all the better! I want healthy friends!! :hug:

[Liz109]

Meagan, the hospital should give you the meds too. Here, they will give you the monistat, or anything else they prescribe free from the pharmacy.

I guess I just don't understand how the Army medical is any different from the AF medical as far as billing is concerned. It's always been 100% for me, as long as I have an ID card and go to a military hospital, then they should NEVER charge you anything!

I hope this problem is fixed for you soon YI's SUCK!

[Meagan]

Liz I was not sure if they would give me the stuff since you can get it over the counter now. I am still new to the Tri-care Prime since I always had to use standard. I had to wait for Court to get back from his TDY to make an appointment. I am going to make one on Monday and hope I can get in that day or maybe Tuesday. Now I just have to figure out how to make an appointment for myself! :haha:

[Liz109]

Meagan, just call the appt #, and see if they have same day appts. They may tell you to call back between like 6-7 in the morning.?.?.? Here, we call GYN directly. Active duty have priority, but must call between 5-6, and Dep between 6-7. They will try and fit all "same day" in by 10. I hope this works for you. The only problem that you may run into, is if they allow kids to accompany you. Is Court still TDY? Do you know someone that can watch the kids?
Hope it all works out. You need to get checked, and don't need that lingering. If it is a yeast infection, and doesn't get better, it could turn in to something much worse.

[Meagan]

Ok I was not sure. I did not know if I had to call my primary care or not. I have not been assigned one. Got a paper with our cards and it said that we would receive more info later. Still waiting. Court is back from his TDY. I DO NOT want to take the kids to this appointment since..well you know how they more than likely will check for a yeast infection and I don't think my 3 year old needs to be in the room for that. I will have to get an appointment in the late afternoon after Court gets off work. Since he was gone all last week he can not take anytime off this week...he has a busy week ahead of him.

[AnnieQ]

Hey since we are talking about this what about the yeast infection pills has anyone tried this? Does it work better then the cream?

Meg you need to take care of yourself or I am going to kick that behind of yours and I mean it. I am nagging you now, you keep saying you are going to make appointments for yourself and you never do it. Take the kids if you need to. You need to start caring for yourself because there are so many people her that do care for and we do not want to see anything happen to you. I am nagging because I care and I am your friend and I love ya. :hug:

[Meagan]

Ok I made an appointment to see a doctor.

Ugg it took forever too and I had the worst experience! :mad:
I called the appointment line like I was supposed to and they sent me to the advice nurse. She went over my symptoms and recommended I see the doctor within 24 hours. She said to call the appointment line and get an appointment. Called the appointment line and they tell me there are no appointments available I have to talk to the advice nurse (is this deja vu or what???) I say, I have already talked to the advice nurse and the lady said I talked to the Tri-care advice nurse not the Womack Army hosptial advice nurse. :rolleyes: So I wait and wait and wait and 30 minutes later...I get the advice nurse where I tell her the exact same thing I told nurse #1 and since my primary care doctor is out of town I can not get an appointment. :banghead:
So she prescribes me monistat and I can go and pick that up. And then she finds an appointment for me for next week. The 28th. Well AF will be here by then and I do not know if they can do an exam like that at that time???? :huh:

But guess what...it was so darn hard to get this appointment I am not giving it up!

I miss going to civilian doctors.

[Lady Knight]

Annie I used to get a 1 shot tablet, I'm afraid I cannot remember the name of it as I haven't had to use it in over 2 years but it worked great. You take one tablet and it is gone in a few hours.

Only trouble is I got it so often, so the dr used to give me a repeat script so I didn't need to see him every few days.

[AnnieQ]

Meg glad you got the appointment I guess and sorry for all the trouble you had to go through. I hate to say it by the time you see the doctor it might be all cleared up.

Maree that is what I was looking for, I know now the advertise on TV same as Monista and I think it comes in a pill. Thanks for the information.

[mamawolf]

Diflucan is the single pill prescription method that I am familiar with.

[AnnieQ]

Is that the one on TV or one that was before the tv ad?

[Meagan]

Ok just wanted to give you an update!

The mystery has been solved....the reason I was having recurrent yeast infections is because for some reason Court has a fungal growth and he was passing it to me. I am glad to know this because the doctor thought for a while that he had herpes! :eek:

[AnnieQ]

Meagan I am glad to hear some good news out of this. Doing better I hope and I to found out mine was because my blood sugar was high and it was irritatting me down there. So spelling.

[Natalie]

I have heard from my SIL (she's an herbalist) about the live acidophilus, in yogurt or pill, working for thrush (I'm using soy yogurt on Haley right now to treat her thrush) and for yeast infections. That would be my recommendation, but I found this website that may be helpful too:

http://www.bodyandfitness.com/Information/Womenhealth/yeast.htm

[AnnieQ]

Thanks Natalie that does help

[Lady Knight]

That was it Sheila 'Diflucan', now that is amazing, that is the first Rx drug I have heard you guys talk about that is the same over here lol. Even your 'panadol' is called 'tylenol(sp)'.

As Diflucan was my very best friend for years I can't believe I forgot its name :D. I used to use it at least once a week sometimes twice, for a couple of years or so, such a relief after useing 'Canisten' (sp) for years (plungers, creams, tablets :hair: )

[KimmerRN]

I'm glad your MD figured out what was going on! :hug:

Diflucan is a wonderful medication! When I worked in the clinic, it was one of the more commonly requested meds.

[Wendy]

Annie, my grandmother was a diabetic and she got them all the time if her sugar got out of control. She always knew when it was too high because she got a dumb infection!

[AnnieQ]

Thanks Wendy that does help a lot and I am telling you it itched. Sorry had to say it.

[Wendy]

LOL Don't worry Annie, I understand. I had the one from hell a few months ago because of being pregnant.

[AnnieQ]

Wendy i am sorry to hear that but I have to say you cracked me up with your saying of this.
had the one from hell a few months ago
LOL they are nasty.