Yeast Infection - Abnormal Pap

[klemomma]

So, I just got a call from my dr. saying that my pap came back abnormal and showed a yeast infection.

I am not especially worried, but I have a boatload of questions for you ladies

First of all, from what I have read, it is very clear that a yeast infection can cause an "abnormal" pap - as in, the pap will show irritation as a result of the infection. Dysplasia (abnormally growing cells) and irritation appear to me to actually be two different things - but are often and easily confused in the pap results when there is an infection.

The nurse said that I have yeast AND "mild dysplasia." BUT, I'm not sure if their interpretation of mild dysplasia is really dysplasia, or is just irritation from the yeast infection.

I think it likely that it is just irritation and once the yeast is cleared up, I'll get a normal result again (as I have on all my paps for years).

They are recommending I treat the yeast infection, for which I have no noticeable symptoms, and then repeat the pap in 3 months.

Fine with me, because as the yeast clears up, then I'll get a more accurate reading and find out if I really have a dysplasia or if it was just irritation from the yeast infection. If there is a true dysplasia, we would go on to the next step in treatment after my baby is born, which is also fine with me.

Here are my questions:
~Have any of you had experience with a similar situation you could share?
~How do you treat a yeast infection during pregnancy - OTC cream or natural remedy?
~They recommend an OTC anti-fungal cream. I'd rather try a natural remedy first (garlic, probiotics, etc.). However, how do I know if it is effectively treated, with any treatment option, if I don't have any symptoms? It seems that I could use the cream and feel reasonably confident that it is gone, but I still won't really know, KWIM? And, I'd rather use a natural remedy first. But, I don't have any metric to evaluate the effectiveness...

It looks to me that the only real risk would be the baby getting thrush at birth from the yeast in my vagina, if it isn't cleared up by then. Although the nurse did say it can cause contractions. Anyone heard of that? Maybe only if the infection is really bad?

The nurse also freaked my out about HPV and said how it is "frequently" the cause of dysplasia and asked if I had any genital warts. Which I don't as far as I know. My mom said I would know if I had genital warts. Is she right? Aaaaagggghhhhhh - medical care seems to cause so much unnecessary stress - I'm sure I'd know if I had genital warts - and anyway, the "abnormal" result seems likely to be caused by the yeast anyway, which is very common during pregnancy (although I've never had it before)!!

I'm thinking to just use garlic for the rest of the pregnancy. Does anyone know of any downsides from that?

Plus, they recommend against sex until the infection is resolved. DH won't like that But again, how do I know when it's okay since I'm not having any symptoms?

FWIW, I don't think I'd even do anything if I weren't pregnant, unless I actually developed symptoms...

TIA, ladies, and sorry so long!

[Astraia]

I had a yeast infection at 37 weeks with my last baby and just treated it OTC- the midwife said to get the long-acting one, not the one-day fix treatment. I just figured that since i could go any day I wanted it GONE because I had serious symptoms and it was driving me mad; I couldn't fathom birthing a baby with that amount of itching, yuck.

You can always get them to retest you after you treat naturally for awhile and see if it's gone. My midwife offered to test me and I declined, I knew it was gone.

No sex- because you can transfer it to DH and then he can give it back to you (from what I understand), so I figure if you used a condom that should fix that...? Not sure though.

From what I've read, only 1% of women have genital warts at any given time, and 20% of women have the HPV virus. And I'm pretty sure you'd know if you had an outbreak, I hear it's obvious <shrug>

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about abnormal paps so I have nothing to say about that. Hopefully it's just from the yeast infection!

[klemomma]

That's a good idea to ask them to retest for the yeast infection.

I have an appt. in two weeks, so I could ask them to do it then.

Is it a pretty simple test? Something they just do in the office? Or does it have to get sent to a lab or something like that?

[Dea]

I had a lot of yeast infections with Trixie's pregnancy.
I did a OTC cream, but first I had lots of baths with Aveeno oatmeal bath (colloidal oatmeal) also a cool compress. I've heard of people inserting garlic, but it left a garlicky taste in their mouths. (funny!) And probiotics!
They can test for HPV at the same time as a pap.
I had HPV, it went away, I never had warts.

[caefi]

pregnancy can cause "slight dysplasia." personally, I would ask the dr to retest with a pap at 6months post-partum.

[whoabethy]

i have used these before: Tea Tree Oil Suppositories and they worked great! i love tea tree oil - it fixes up just about everything fungal and bacterial. you can also just put some lube and a few drops of it on a tampon.

[2xy]

HPV doesn't cause warts in everyone. You can harbor the virus with no obvious symptoms. The nurse you had either doesn't know enough about HPV or worded her question poorly.

[klemomma]

Yeah, I did a bunch of research on it last weekend, and it looks like there are 4 commonly problematic types of HPV (although there are like 40 types that can affect the reproductive tract). Of these 4 types, 2 typically cause warts and 2 are frequently associated with leading to cervical cancer (and dysplasia first). Sometimes one type can cause both, but that doesn't appear to be the common situation. So, if I did have warts, then I probably wouldn't have the HPV that causes dysplasia.

At any rate, this is why I usually try to avoid health care. Given that I am pregnant, which can cause mild cervical disruptions and that I had the yeast infection, which can cause mild cervical disruptions, and I had only mild cervical disruptions, it doesn't seem that there was really any need in bringing up HPV and warts. Sure, it is a possibility, but why worry someone when that is just not the likely explanation?

I am thinking it is the yeast infection that caused abnormal reading and figuring it likely that the next pap will come out clear because the yeast infection will be gone. I'm not really worried.

Funny thing is, I didn't even want to get a pap during pregnancy, but the dr. office insists (unless you've had one with them in the last 6 months), and I hadn't had one in 2 years, and I read some horror stories about finding cervical cancer during pregnancy, so I went ahead and did it. I should have just insisted on waiting until post-partum. Oh, well, I can do that next time...