Fighting yeast with GARLIC? Help

[DeepLove]

I am 22 weeks pregnant and about a week ago my OB found that I had BV(bacterial vaginois).  I had no fishy smell but a little discharge.  I took Flagyl (anitbiotic) for that and now I have a yeast infection.

For the past 3 days:

I have been cutting up a garlic clove a day and swallowing it down with water and than eating plain yougurt behind it.

I have also been using the garlic clove(whole with slits) as a suppository in my vag.

It has stopped me from itching..but when I go to the retrieve the garlic out of my vay jay...there is still thick discharge there.

Does it take more time to clear with this method?

Should I try something different? Am I doing something wrong?

[finnegansmom]

I'll cut to the chase - I have had a BAD yeast problem this whole pregnancy, not normal for me at all, pregnant or not.

I started with the yogurt suppositories and all that natural stuff, and not only did it not work, it got worse until I was raw and bleeding.

I would ask your dr or MW for a prescription.  That is my opinion, I'm sure others will say to just keep up with the yougurt and garlic but for me, it didn't work at all.  The yeast just didn't go away and got worse...

I have a 7 day cream which I use and it's the only thing that helps. I don't put it up *that* far.  I think it's important to use the full 7 days, don't stop after 4 days if you think it's gone.  I think it needs to be really be GONE.

I'm 31 weeks now and have been dealing with this on and off since June.  UGH.  I totally sympathize.

[reelgeek]

To get rid of a yeast infection in a timely manner, I recommend the medication. If you doctor says it's safe to use during pregnancy, then go for it. I had persistent yeast infections for over two years before they figured out that I had PCOS (insulin/sugar related disease). The only thing that kept them away for me was a strict no sugar diet that included very lowered levels of carb intake. If you bent on going natural, drink probiotics, make sure your yoghurt doesn't have added sugar and has active living bacteria in it, take sugar out of your diet and go panty-free as much as you can. Wearing tight fitting clothes adds to the warm moist environment that the yeast need to survive.

[ASusan]

I also had a thick discharge reaction when I used garlic, but my memory is that it lessens over time. If you experience symptom (itch) relief with the garlic, I'd keep it up. It may take up to 7 days to clear, and then follow up with a good probiotic (inserted vaginally) to re-establish the flora. Unless you have on-going itching and/or rawness, I wouldn't say that discharge, per se, was indication that garlic wasn't working.

As you may have discovered, garlic helps with either a BV OR a yeast infection. (In fact, it was garlic that helped stop the cycle between the 2 for me. I went BV-yeast-and back again for over a year before I discovered garlic.)

I did have one yeast infection during pregnancy that didn't respond to garlic. It was so bad that DH got it as well. By the time he got it, we decided to use an otc cream, although my memory is that DH responded very well to TTO. It was me who needed the cream.

[DeepLove]

I am starting to itch again....so I called my OB and she said to take Monistat-3. 

Everyday I come home from work the panties come off...so I can air out..but the yeast beasties still came....I know it was the anitibiotics

I sure hope this monistat helps!

thanks ladies

[spargel]

When I started getting ready to have a yeast infection (from abx), I started taking probiotics (the pill version). That worked within about 3 days. I've continued taking them because I noticed that it was a huge help with constipation as well.

[kriket]

I just got over a yeast infection. I tried the garlic, as I am in my first trimester, and have already had to take a class C med but no go, with the infection and the cold and the morning sickness, something had to break.

Go for the monistat 3 :)

[mkat83]

The garlic seems to work best if you cut some slits into it so that the juices can come out.  Not sure if you were already doing that or not.  Whatever you do, don't try garlic pills down there.  I did that one time thinking it would be easier than actual garlic and it was a huge disaster!

[iamsamz]

This might be TMI, but in the past (not when pregnant) I have cured yeast infections by covering a tampon in yogurt and inserting it overnight.  The yogurt is cooling and helps with the burning and itching, and it has taken care of yeast infections in a matter of days for me.  I have also inserted a garlic clove overnight, which worked well, but for some reason I feel like that might not be a good idea when pregnant.  I have always been able to cure yeast infections naturally without using any meds.

[imogenlily]

Originally Posted by iamsamz 

 I have also inserted a garlic clove overnight, which worked well, but for some reason I feel like that might not be a good idea when pregnant.

I was worried about this too, but I talked to my midwives about it, and they thought it was fine.

I DO have the thick discharge problem when using garlic, but the yeast clears up in a couple of days regardless.

[trekkingirl]

I'm not sure if this is at all okay during pregancy, my guess is probably not.....

I haven't had a yeast infection in ten years and I used to get them constantly. My long term cure was boric acid suppositories. You can google it!

[3xMama]

My mw recommends three days of garlic suppositories at night followed by three days of a spoonful of plain yogurt with live cultures, also inserted at night. I've only done one day of garlic once (I had a hard time getting it out and totally freaked about it, lol), but I also had a lot of creamy white discharge that I'm pretty sure was related to the garlic itself breaking down some. (Sorry, TMI, I know!) My mw swears by this, though I've never done a whole cycle. To be clear, I've never had to.

Hope it clears up for you! Yeast infections are awful!

[imogenlily]

A friend of mine recommends cutting a piece of natural sponge, soaking it in yogurt, tying cotton string on it similar to a tampon, and inserting that for easier removal/less mess.

Possible TMI: for garlic users, has anyone else had the garlic turn blue/green? I was always weirded out by this, even though it cured my yeast infections.