Tinea Versicolor treatment/experiences?

[mom2cash]

Has anyone here found an effective treatment natural or otherwise for Tinea Versicolor (spreading non-itchy rash caused by a fungal infection)?
I started getting these weird ringworm-like patches on my chest between my breasts when I became pregnant with my son in January 2007. My doctor at the time told me to put athlete's foot cream on it and it should go away. I did but it has returned again and again and now has spread underneath my breasts and down my stomach and SURPRISE completely covers the area underneath my pubic hair . I have tried multiple times to treat it with Lamisil and it goes away but returns and I can never seem to completely get rid of it. Any ideas or experiences would be appreciated!

[deditus]

My brother has tinea versicolor. He uses this:

http://www.jason-natural.com/products/dandruff.php

I would also take/eat/drink LOTS of probiotics adn follow a yeast overgrowth protocal.

[russsk]

I think I also have this - started during pregnancy and spread just like yours. Have you found an effective treatment?

[LaLaLaLa]

I've had a recurrent case for years. Athlete's foot cream got rid of it briefly, then it returned. Same with some prescription athlete's foot stuff. Then my doctor gave me a pill to take care of it, but it came back again.

I saw a dermatologist, who prescribed an anti-fungal shampoo stuff that I slathered all over my body every day for a week. That's knocked it out for now (it's been a month so far), but she said that when a person is susceptible to this fungus, it tends to return.

I left it untreated for awhile; I think it's not dangerous or anything, just ugly. When I got tired of looking at it, I used the shampoo. I don't know of a natural cure, but I'll be following this thread for ideas.

[Amila]

Ugh. I have exactly what you have exactly where you have it as well as on my whole back. Sudsing up with Selsan Blue 2x a week keeps it at bay for a little while, as does the antifungal cream, but once I am done breastfeeding I am going to try Nizoral shampoo, which is stronger. It sucks! Also, I believe the ZNP soap bar works as well.

[Jane]

I've heard what Amila says, to use Selsun Blue as body wash a couple times a week. Good luck!

[Breathe]

Oy. My husband and I have had tinea for over 10 YEARS! Yes, a yeast-kill diet can *help*, but we've never been able to kick it completely. No health care provider that we have ever met (allopathic or otherwise) seems to be that phased by it.

I don't know what to think: some things I've read say that this happens to people with compromised immune systems (like HIV+); others say anyone who lives in the south can get it (having a warm baby pressed up against me all day sure made things worse, but what are gonna do, stop holding your baby?!?).

But the last few summers I've had it so badly, that I'm left with white patches all over my back. (Sun kills the rash, but the areas under it don't tan, so I get tan everywhere else with white blotchy spots where the rash was. Yeah, I'm feeling sexy in a bathing suit!)

I keep a homemade solution in a spray bottle in my bathroom and spray myself every day: 1 cup vinegar, 20-30 drops of grapefruit see extract, 2-3 TBS of tea tree oil. It's stinky, but it does help. Also slather ourselves with Jason dandruff shampoo when we remember before a shower.

A dose or two of Diflucan will kill it for a while, but it always comes back.

I imagine that a sugar-and-carb-free diet might keep it at bay . . . Hard for me to think about when I'm already wheat-and-dairy-free. Sigh.

Sorry I can't post more hopefully! But you are not alone!

[deditus]

I'll add an update to my previous post. I started taking digestive enzymes, Trienza from Houston Enzymes, and I have had relief from my fungal dandruff and athlete's foot. The No-Fenol component of Trienza works on yeast. So maybe a yeast fighting enzyme product would be helpful for tinea versicolor.

[t2009]

I realize this thread is a bit old, but I've had tinea versicolor off & on for years. I avoided treatment during pregnancy & while DS was a nursling (I had been using selsun blue but wasn't convinced it was safe during pregnancy/breastfeeding). Well, needless to say it got really bad & now that DS is nursing less often I want to try to kick it, naturally if I can.

I started taking a bath with about 5 drops of tea tree oil. It's been two days & it *seems* to be helping. Does anyone have experience with using tea tree oil like this? Is this a terrible idea? How long will I have to do it? And will the results last? If your tinea versicolor starts fading, how long till it's all gone? Should I also rethink my diet-- Someone above mentioned probiotics & someone else mentioned sugar & carbs but I'm not sure what this means. Any reputable source I use to read up on these things? I was also slightly alarmed by the comment on compromised immune system -- It's not really hot where I am so I don't think that'd be the cause of it... Do I need to investigate underlying causes as well (doctors who have seen it don't seem alarmed)?

Thanks for any suggestions! (And sorry for the million questions!)

[Breathe]

Hate to say it, but years pass, and this is still an ongoing problem for us.  Tea tree oil DOES work, and recently I made up a concoction of that with olive and coconut oils to spread all over myself.  It was working.  Then I had a period from hell (5 days early, awful cramping, other intense symptoms I won't share here).  Wouldn't have thought the two were related, but then I read that tea tree oil can have estrogenic effects and therefore shouldn't be used on babies or young boys.  So now I'm wondering if I screwed up my hormones with so much of it being absorbed into my skin over the course of a couple of weeks?

Could be a coincidence, but might be worth researching a little more.  I'm also interested in whether drinking diluted apple cider vinegar might be effective.  Drank some to clear a sinus infection and it seemed the tinea was dying and my skin was starting to tan again.  For now, dh and I are as sugar-and alcohol-free as we can manage -- that's fun at this time of year! 

Good luck!  Would love to hear any success stories.

[Strong Mama]

There are no success stories....unfortunatley its here for life. The best thing I have found for mine, and I have had this for 15 years is 1. do not get sunburned/hot. this flares it up(i live in the south too). And when i see the flare up, which is almost always in the summer, i use selsun twice a week for two weeks and it works for about 5 months, then flares up again. the derm told me i was like a piece of bread waiting to be left out and get moldy, it is just a life condition.