I really hope someone can help...

[Shanny2032]

I have been battling a recurring bout of thrush for a couple months now. I have used the cream (can't remember the name) repeatedly as well as oral flucozonale and even treated the baby eventually even thought she had no symptoms. I am going to try Jack Newman's protocol but I have a few questions: Does anyone know where I can get the things he recommends? Will it help to do the things like genetian violet or grapefruit seed if I have already skipped to the flucozonale (his last step) and even that didn't help?

Lastly, DD will be one next week and because nursing has hurt so much over the last couple of months she has gotten into some bad habits with latch because I didn't know when she was doing them or when it was the pain from the thrush. Biggest issue is that she is leaving theeth marks in my nipple with her top teeth. She isn't "biting" exactly since the tongue covers the bottom teeth but more like just digging them in the whole feeding. My breasts are so sore from the thrush it's almost like they are numb. If I know she is doing it I take her off and tell her "big and say ahhh" to make her relatch with more areola in her mouth but because of the thrish pain I can't always tell. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[sunfish21]

As for the thrush, I wouldn't worry about the prescription not working; from what I have heard from a lot of moms is that it isn't the most effective treatment. It is what I tried when I had trouble and my dd was younger but it isn't the route I would go if I needed to deal with this again. But I am a little confused--do you mean thrush in your mouth? Or yeast/thrush on your nipples?

I have heard that the gentian violet is a great plan. I would add to that probiotics (both you and baby) and maybe cutting down/out things like sugar, fruits, etc... I assume that the sterilizing of bras, etc...is a good idea as yeast can thrive in that warm, damp environment.

Sorry I am no help with the latch issue, but I remember the 'yeast in the nipples' days and it was awful. Hope something helps!

[wbg]

I have sufferred from recurrent thrush. When breast feeding I took garlic capsules, grapefruit seed extract which I got either at a health food store or vitamin store. For my worst case, my nurse practitioner prescribed this cream. Super expensive but so worth every penny. Not sure what it was but it had to be made up by the pharmacist. I reduced sugar intake. Once I got it all under control, I then had oral diflucan for 6 months, once a month which seemed to knock it right out of my system. I now take something that I got at wholefoods called Ultimate Flora Vaginal Support! Its logo is critical care for the vagina and urinary tract! DH thinks its rather hilarious that my vagina needs critical care! Still, I find that my thrush will flare up when I am exhausted as will my likelihood of getting a UTI, so when i am run down I take this supplement daily. When I was in the worst pain, I would pump a bottle under a warm shower and then feed her that so that my breasts got a little break from the pain. 1 expressed bottle then 2 boob feeds, then break it up. I literally just pumped just before she was due a feed and then fed her that. It helped ease the tension.

[paulamc]

I've had recurrent thrush as well. How long did you take the oral fluconazole and at what dosage? I did find that it worked, but it took a quite a while. I think it is particularly important to use if the yeast is deep in the breast. Do you have those shooting pains inside the breast, or is it more of a nipple issue?

Just because the fluconazole didn't work does NOT mean the other things won't.

The last time I had thrush I got my son's pediatrician to write me a script for Jack Newman's all purpose nipple ointment (APNO) and it was fantastic! Much, much, much better than the miconazole creams I'd been using, even though the APNO does have miconazole in it. I highly recommend it, both for interim comfort / pain relief and for curing the yeast - plus whatever other associated problems you might have. (Sometimes you can get a bacterial infection when you have a yeast infection, because the yeast can cause breaks in the skin.) It has to be mixed by a compounding pharmacy though. If you e-mail Jack Newman, he will send you a prescription which your doctor could cosign or copy, or you could just print out the ingredients and ask your doctor to draw up a prescription. (Dr. Newman is in Canada so you can't use a prescription from him here, that is, if you are in the US).

Personally I really like the grapefruitseed extract, followed by the APNO. I got my grapefruitseed extract from Whole Foods, both the topical and the oral. This is also where I got my acidophilus, in the refridgerated section right next to the supplements, in case you would like to use that.

The Gentian Violet I got from Walgreens. It makes sense to call around before going out to get the Gentian Violet because not all pharmacies stock it. The Gentian Violet is cheap and effective though it can cause irritation and is very messy! Once when using Gentian Violet and Grapefruitseed extract my nipples got very, very irritated. The pain was as bad or worse than the yeast. I don't know if I mixed the GSE too strong (I had been increasing the number of drops in hopes that it would be more effective) or if it was the Gentian Violet that was the problem. In any case, if you decide to try Gentian Violet, make sure you get a 1% solution. Personally I would start with the GSE + APNO, and if that didn't work only then try the Gentian Violet. And I would be careful to start with just 10 drops of GSE per ounce of water, and only very, very gradually increase that if I needed to.

Oh, we also got a script for the fluconazole oral suspension for the baby, and swabbed his mouth with it before each feeding, though he was asymptomatic.

By the way, when your nipples are sore from the yeast, you might notice your babe's teeth more than when you don't have the yeast, even if the latch is the same. This is what I found, and also what I have read on Jack Newman's site somewhere.

Good luck!

ETA: clarification -when I said "Personally I really like the grapefruitseed extract, followed by the APNO." what I meant was that I use the GSE, let it dry for a minute, then apply the APNO. I did NOT mean that I like the GSE better! If I had to choose only one, I'd definitely choose the APNO!

[ChaoticMum]

The only thing that has EVER worked for me is Gentian Violet - in babe's mouth and on my nipples. Beautiful, messy but works!

I think right off the start both mum and babe should be treated even if one is not showing symptoms - its just a viscious little circle otherwise!

I totally agree to go ahead and try the GV even if you've done Diflucan - it is definately worth the try!

[wbg]

"The last time I had thrush I got my son's pediatrician to write me a script for Jack Newman's all purpose nipple ointment (APNO) and it was fantastic!"

thank you Paula...that was the cream my NP prescribed. DH calls it that miracle boob cream!

OP, hope things are improving. Sending you good vibes....