Am I doomed? Is it even possible to control thrush while nursing 3 kids?

[1babysmom]

So last Feb/March I had my wisdom teeth out and then got a nasty infection and ended up taking abx to treat it. I hadn't been on them in years and hate them, to be honest. They mess up the body so bad. Well, we ended up dealing with thrush for 10 consecutive weeks after that. (hadn't had thrush since DD1 was 4 weeks old and it was sooo mild and went away really fast and pretty effortlessly) It then came back for about a week or two in the summer. And since then I've had it TEN more times. I blame the abx for initially royally screwing up my system. It was like the biggest "I WAS RIGHT" thing of my life. LOL

The thing is, I think I'm just doomed. Each time it comes back (well, and I just do this stuff regularly now), start my natural treatment regimen of GSE (topically/orally), ACV topically, B-complex, garlic, olive leaf, coconut oil, and probiotics (but we take those daily regardless). We've done GV a few times. I do my best to follow the candida diet (but seriously, nursing 3 kids leaves me STARVING and that diet is NOT satisfying). Nystatin is a joke. I've tried Diflucan twice. I'm taking Candex (since it may be a biofilm issue) and Lauricidin. We don't use any artificial nipples (used paci's for a while but haven't in like a month) and I haven't been pumping for donation anymore since I'm too afraid! I bleach and sun every piece of clothing and fabric that I possibly can. I've swabbed the kids mouths (though I have yet to see them exhibit ANY signs of it, it's always *me*). Etc, etc, etc...

I've just resigned to believing I'm going to be dealing with this until I'm either nursing just one (or maybe two) kids, or I'm done completely- though I hope it's not the latter since we leave that up to God and it could be YEARS until we're done having babies, and since I nurse through my pregnancies and if they follow DD1 by nursing for 4ish years (she's not weaned yet), then I'm going to be dealing with this for a looooooong time. I mean, ultimately it's worth it- I'd rather deal with it than wean my babies before they're ready. But still, it's very frustrating. I have yet to find/hear of ANY suggestion that I haven't tried. My MIL (an RN) and FIL (and MD) have been actively helping me with all of this, MIL is awesome with natural treatments. I guess I just figure it's GOT to be related to the fact that I'm nursing the three of them. I mean, I know I likely have some serious gut issues at this point, but the fact that it keeps coming back over and over and over again is probably because it's just too hard to control with so many nurslings, right? What else could I be missing? Argh. I guess part of me hopes somebody has some secret miracle cure, but then again part of me just wants to hear "Yes, you're doomed" so at least I can face the facts and move on!!

[jildez]

(((((hugs, hugs hugs and more hugs)))))

i have no advice, i love your willingness to do what needs to be done for your children ,but you need to take care of yourself too. I hope you find a solution soon.

[jildez]

double post

[pbjmama]

I had thrush for over 8 months. Finally I stopped treating my ds other than probiotics and started doing everything for me. That included a restricted diet. It was hard at first because yeah, when thrush has taken over you crave foods that feed the thrush. I did loose weight, ended up about 15 lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight. It probably took about 3 months total when one day I realized I hadn't had symptoms for awhile.

In your case, did you do a whole course of diflucan or just a single treatment? I think if I had done a course followed by all the regular stuff you listed I might have been able to kick it earlier. I would start to slack on treatment when I felt better and then it would flare up.

[kavamamakava]

I had this battle when I lived in Hawaii in a cabin in the rainforest. Who builds a cabin in a rainforest? Anyway, I was nursing two at the time and I finally did an entire series of diflucan (400 mg loading and 100 mg 2x/day for 2 weeks), not just taking a couple of pills. And then I went to the other side of the island to dry out! I washed all my laundry and bedding with baking soda in the wash and vinegar in the rinse and soaked my nursing bras in diluted vinegar water. The GV was a mess and did nothing for us. I continued the baking soda and vinegar in the laundry forever - I can't even remember when I stopped.
I'm trying to remember what else I did but that time in my life was such a blur when my goal in life was to have them nap at the same time!
Good luck to you. I did beat it but I think the diflucan is what did the trick. And I kept it at bay by taking the nutri-biotic GSE with echinacea pills whenever I felt like it might be coming back. I usually took 2 pills 2x/day for a few days to make sure. And I kept up with the laundry regiment too.

[ewe+lamb]

I've had good results with oregano capsules, 3x3 daily for 3 weeks, it's quite a long treatment but seems to work on the mothers I've recommended it to, you could maybe give that a go. Big big hugs and hope that it all works out for you.

[1babysmom]

Yep, I did do my entire series of Diflucan. It helped for what I had at the time, but then it just came back about a week or two later each time.

I'll look into the Oregano. I know my nutritionist at the HFS suggested it to me before, but there was a reason I wasn't taking it...maybe because I was pg at the time or something?

Well I've been following the diet still as best as I can, but I've been allowing myself breads and stuff just using only fresh ground whole wheat (no processed or gluten flour at ALL). I even let myself have a few cookies (not sure if I posted the recipe here but they're all fresh ground WW with lots of coconut oil and the like). I've been keeping up on my Lauricidin. But I really think the Candex is working well...and the way I know is that I'm finally losing weight!!!!! I had dropped to about 10 lbs above my pre-pg weight by 3 weeks PP, then I gained like 8-10 BACK when we got thrush, and now I've lost about 7 in the last 3 days!! It's definitely been related to candida for me in the past so I'm THRILLED to see that happening now!!

[hayleyvt]

So I have been dealing with thrush as well....um, you are very inspiring, I have a 4 week old, and I am so tempted to throw in the towel, but I continue because I need to.....I am curious about the special diet that you are on....what have you taken out of your diet?

[1babysmom]

Originally Posted by hayleyvt

So I have been dealing with thrush as well....um, you are very inspiring, I have a 4 week old, and I am so tempted to throw in the towel, but I continue because I need to.....I am curious about the special diet that you are on....what have you taken out of your diet?

it's pretty much just the Candida Diet, but I'm also *trying* to do the pH Diet as well. (what I have on that is on paper, not sure if there is a good website for it). Like I said though, I am so hungry on the diet and I NEED my bread. LOL So grinding the grain fresh and using before it oxidizes makes a big difference. I've also been taking the Candex whenever I eat more of something that I am afraid might feed the candida, so that the enzymes will help break it down before it gets that far.

Hang in there! Thrush is a beast but you can do it!!!