Neverending Nipple Yeast - Page 6

[jacksmama]

Originally Posted by Lexymama

Jacksmama ~ Did your ds take Diflucan too? If so, what was the dosage and everthing. I'm back with the yeast again and have never really treated my dd for it and think that's why I keep getting it back.

Sorry it's taken so long to get back to you. I finally was able to access ds's records at Walgreens. He had a couple of prescrips - but the thrush kept coming back because our meds were never coordinated properly. We finally had to take diflucan at the same time for about 2 weeks. His prescrip was DIFLUCAN 10MG/ML ORAL SUSP 35ML . He took 10 ml the first day and then 5 mls for the next 10 days. You should note that he finished his diflucan before me and the thrush has still not cleared up so I called his ped and asked for another round which she gave me - and he took all of it. I was taking diflucan as well and using terazol cream on my nipples, rubbing it in very thoroughly. So far he has not had a reoccurence of thrush, although I just started another bout of it last week. He is showing no signs of it. I've been using the terazol cream only and it seems to be working.

[lovemygirl]

Hey all,

So sorry you all are dealing with this...I too dealt with it for SEVERAL months with dd...she is 3 now and we still go through the vaginal yeast symptoms every once in a while. My breast yeast and her gassy/fussy/colicky symptoms went away a long time ago, but it still is present in our bodies and goes nuts sometimes. Her diaper rash went on for several months/years...would go away and come back etc.

What I wanted to touch on is what we did. If you are doing Diflucan(flucanazole) there is a specific regime/aka dosage that needs to be taken. Many docs have no clue about how much to prescribe and then they say oh I can't do too much its dangerous. :

The pediatrician and lac consultant (husband and wife team in Greensboro, NC) that I worked with (AWESOME!) explained that its not dangerous for you and baby to take Diflucan for a while---we were on it for 4 months. Baby takes the oral suspension of Diflucan and you take the pills (however I found Diflucan to work well for my breast yeast but not for my vaginal yeast--ever).

They looked up in the medical book and showed me the half life of the medicine, ie. how much was in my body and how long before its in baby and the levels, and its not toxic to either.

A few suggestions that helped me:
1) baby MUST be treated when you are being treated no matter if they show signs. My daughter did not EVER have the white spots in her mouth. She had cradle cap (yeast related), diaper rash, gas, colick etc. That's how we knew...plus the excruciating pain in my nipples when she was 1-2 weeks old.

2) DH must be treated, *especially*if its recurring and you are having
intercourse with him--but even if you aren't yet... just him touching baby can transfer it... he doesn't have to have any symptoms either. Athlete's foot, jock itch are caused by overgrowth of yeast---even major gassiness/farting by dh, I was told, is a sign

3) Someone mentioned that they think their pets had yeast and were contributing to it--YES! this doc and wife team said they had a family who was treated---even the DOG, :LOL because the dog had yeast so bad. They couldn't get rid of the yeast till they figured out that they needed to treat the dog. This is an extreme case but I guess it can happen!

4) I tried all of the natural remedies, GSE, anti-yeast pills, garlic, etc in the beginning months and they didn't work. Its only now that GSE pills help me "maintain" my system...

5) I did 4 rounds of Diflucan but it kept coming back

6) the ONLY thing that worked, and has worked and I resort to every time the yeast comes back (the best for curing my vaginal yeast) was something the lac consultant and pediatrician team suggested and do recommend to their mom and baby patients with yeast---Dioxychlor. Its made by American Biologics. Its prepared like a homeopathic remedy, however its a liquid form and you do not need a prescription. http://www.americanbiologics.com/abset.htm Click on Dioxychlor. Its ingredients are NaCL---sodium chloride---(salt). They have a PDF file about a study they did with Dioxychlor and yeast.

7) There is a specific dosage that you follow with this Dioxychlor.
Email/PM me if you want the doc/lac consultant contact info and/or the dosage I took for the Dioxychlor.

8) Jack Newman's book is also great for yeast...he has dosage info in there too about Diflucan I beleive and for his all-purpuse nipple ointment. I used kerrysherbals.com 's Miracle Salve Plus for my nipples and baby's diaper area. I loved it...worked really well in addition to the oral stuf we took.

Hugs to all! I hope you nip it in the bud!

OH! And to the post about recurrent vaginal infections and being more prone to breast yeast...i think so. I grew up on antibiotics it seems and every time I went to the gyn she'd say, Oh you have a vaginal yeast infection. I never knew...well sometimes I did but I lived with it...it was systemic at the point when I gave birth to dd. The pregnancy hormones and then your hormones changing after brith really screw up your body's flora and deifnitely kicked my yeast up a notch and gave me so many problems.

I have to say that some people get rid of it and its gone but for others its about daily maintence, IME. I haven't had breast issues since dd was 7 months old (she is 3 yrs now) but the vaginal yeast in me and in her and her rashes around her anus always keep me on my toes and so we have to be careful. I take GSE extract & acidolphilus now that I am pregnant with #2 as a maintenence, and dd takes primadolphilus for kids (chewable tablets of acidolphiulus) and it mostly keeps her yeast in check. Sometimes if we have too much dairy it will flare up and then I give her a drop of the Dioxychlor.

HTH! And sorry so Long!

[jacksmama]

Jennifer: No need to apologize for the long post. I welcome your information. Thanks for all your insights and experience. As you know, this is such a frustrating, annoying issue! After you've rinsed your 200th load of laundry in vinegar, the whole "positive attitude" thing can be hard to attain, KWIM?

This is one of the best thing I've read with new info in a long while. I will definitely try your suggestions and see where that leads!

-Sandra

[lovemygirl]

Originally Posted by jacksmama

Jennifer: No need to apologize for the long post. I welcome your information. Thanks for all your insights and experience. As you know, this is such a frustrating, annoying issue! After you've rinsed your 200th load of laundry in vinegar, the whole "positive attitude" thing can be hard to attain, KWIM?

Good luck to you! I know it completely SUCKS! I was SUCH a tortured mama in the beginning few weeks. I cried everyday for 4 weeks...no lie. It was just that difficult. My dd also did not want to suck all that much in the beginning and she didn't poop for 10 days, so not only were my breasts in excruciating pain when she latched, but I was going insane from the other stuff going on--plus having to do all of the crazy ass treatments. I just want to say that if I can get through it and continue with breastfeeding anyone can. Dd and I still enjoy our nursing relationship and I will tandem nurse (if she wants to) when baby #2 comes around in September.

Oh and you might want to switch to adding tea tree oil in the wash. For me that seemed easier to do then the vinegar. Probably about the same in cost but I got a huge bottle of tea tree oil from a wholesale supplies place that sells soap and candle making products. That bottle has lasted me over 2 years now. I throw a couple of drops in the laundry with the towels, sheets and underwear/bra washes---and of course the cloth diapers. I did forgot to mention that if you use cloth diapers you need to get the yeast out of the cloth dipes each and every toime you wash by either adding white distilled vinegar or tea tree oil to the rinse.
Here is a link...I think it was the 16 oz bottle---whichever is that brown bottle shown on the site is the one I have---you might have to email them and ask.
Tea Tree Oil It will get better! Hang in there!

[Lexymama]

I appropriately named this thread when I started it back in March because apparently I will be dealing with this until my dd stops nursing!

[Tupelo Honey]

I'm happy to say the Bactroban/Elacon combo did the trick for me. My nipples haven't had their daily full-layer-of-skin peel since I used it! I'm so sorry for those of you still dealing with this. Have you had an actual culture? there is a story in the book Fresh Milk by Fiona Giles about a woman with terrible, on-going thrush, and finally a yeast culture revealed that there was no yeast left, but all the treatments had caused a severe case of contact dermatitis!

[missy-d]

I too have had a neverending nipple yeast infection. For about the last 3 weeks - I would like to thank you all for the suggestions as I will be trying some of them out.

Melissa

[eksmom03]

My DD is 18 months old now and those first 3 months, which are difficult in and of themselves, were only made worse by our dear friend yeast. I had NEVER had any yeast problems prior to Ella's birth and breastfeeding. The pain was horrendous and only made the calls of the free formula sitting in my kitchen cabinets even louder. BUT I made it through, thanks to the help of my angel lactation consultant. I took ProBiotics, 3 pills 3x/day (bought at GNC or at Whole Foods), made a paste with the powder from the caplets to put on my nipples as well as put on Ella's tongue after each feeding. (Note: make sure paste is dry on your nipples before putting on a shirt b/c it will stick to the shirt and then rip off when you get undressed--VERY PAINFUL!) In addition, I ate 10 yogurt pills each (I don't care for regular yogurt unless it has fruit and then it has high sugar--which only promotes yeast as well from what I understand). After one horrible event (the paste pulling a chunk out of my nipple), I decided to take the plunge and do 2 shots of white vinegar 3x a day. My understanding is that the vinegar gets in your system and takes care of the bad bacteria which promotes yeast and helps add to the good bacteria which fights it off. It was not the most tasty thing but it was well worth it. I have never had a reoccurance and at one time thought maybe it was coming back and I did the shots of vinegar for about 3 days again and there was no pain anymore. I knew of other mommies that were doing the Rx route and it kept coming back since the Rx creams don't actually address the problem which is the bacteria your body is producing. Also watching your pasta, dairy and sugar intake is important too, although I did not quit any of those for good. I did cut down.

That's my 2 cents. I know how horribly horrible it is and b/c of my experiences and troubles with bfing in those first few months, I'm now studying to be a lactation consultant to help other moms.

Good luck!

PS--I'm still nursing and loving it! I'm so glad that I stuck it out but I certainly have an understanding of why women decide to stop. If I hadn't had the support of my LC and other moms, I"d have been up the creek.