Help me kick this thrush!

[Sneezykids]

Hi Mommas!  I hope someone can chime in here.  I'm nursing my one month old and we've been battling thrush for three weeks.  She has a white patch on her tongue and I have deep shooting pains, mainly in my right breast.  Both of us are/were on Nystatin and I'm finishing up a three week course of 150mg of Diflucan.  We're only minimally better.  Latch on is still a little painful, not excruciating like before.  The pain is better but it's not gone. 

I just ordered Gentian Violet 1%, and Grape seed fruit extract AND the motherlove butt balm stuff for her bum.  Please tell me this will kill the yeast once and for all!!  I'm also on a dairy free diet and very low sugar.  I'm taking all precautions but it is still lingering!  I thought for sure the Diflucan would work better as it did with my middle child when we had it.  Thanks in advance!

Arrrrrhhhh.  Thrush is HELL.  :(

[jessica_s]

Sounds like your doing all the right things. Are you washing anything that comes in contact with your breasts/her mouth with super hot water/vinegar? I think if you have a raging case it's probably going to take everything at once, Nystatin has sort of fell out of favor as far as I know because it just isn't working. So it's not surprising it didn't work the greatest, I do hear good things about GSE and GV so hopefully those will do it for ya!

Also you might consider if anyone else could have it and passing it back and forth to you guys.

[**mom2one**]

Hi!

My youngest DD had thrush when she was a couple weeks old too.  We tried the prescription stuff which just made her miserable and did nothing for the thrush.  So I used the grapefruit seed extract.  I just took it - I mixed it with juice because it tastes awful.  But it worked within a couple of days.  Just wanted to let you know that there is hope!

Lindsay

[Fynns Mommy]

Thrush is definitely hell. So painful it's ridiculous! I had to give my son Nystatin in a liquid in his mouth, then I had a cream for my breasts to apply twice a day. That worked right away for us. I wish I had more ideas to try, but nystatin worked for me so I didnt have to turn to anything else. I hope for your sake that it goes away soon! That's miserable!

[HappyHappyMommy]

Originally Posted by jessica_s 

Are you washing anything that comes in contact with your breasts/her mouth with super hot water/vinegar?

I highly, highly recommend this. I battled thrush for 2/3rd of the 30 months that I breastfed and this was the key. The yeast was living on my bras, cloth pads, etc. (even after washing). Once I washed all of those in hot water and vinegar (while also on a course of Diflucan), it was the end of the yeast infection. Feel free to PM if you have questions or just want support.

[Heba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jessica_s 

 Nystatin has sort of fell out of favor as far as I know because it just isn't working.

Yes - in the UK, Miconazole is the treatment of choice - cream for nipples, gel for babe - but caution in application is needed in young babies  (see http://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/pdfs/BfN_Thrush_leaflet_Feb_2009.pdf for more information).  This might be something to discuss with your healthcare provider.

If it just won't go away, there is a school of thought that thrush which doesn't respond to treatment isn't thrush.  It might then be an idea to get tested for a bacterial infection etc.

*Hugs* I hope you get it cleared up soon!  Thrush is so horrible.
 

[Sneezykids]

Yes! I am washing clothes in hot water and vinegar! Trying my best as its a huge challenge to even do laundry daily at this stage!

I'm on GSE and a high dose of probiotics. Baby too and her tongue is still a bit white. Thrush seems mostly gone but I do feel like it's lingering just around the corner I'm still low sugar diet too and have added in vitamin c now too. I'm dealing with a plugged duct ATM so hopefully the minor pain is from that and not yeast. Yes.....it really is ridiculously painful and my dr was sympathetic, said if I need more meds to call.

Is there something else besides Diflucan? I didn't ask.

[Fynns Mommy]

Oh man I dont envy you. Thrush not totally gone and now a clogged duct. I dealt with both of those things, but at the same time it would definitely be worse. If you have a clogged duct, be on the look out for milk blisters (you can find pics of what they look like on google if you dont already know what they are). When I had one, the sharp intense pain reminded me a bit of the thrush pain, it's just more concentrated in one spot. I almost thought I was getting thrush again until I saw the blister.

I hope everything improves very soon! I know firsthand that having painful boobs is not a fun way to live.

[BubbaMama]

We battled thrush for a while with my son when he was a NB.  Jack Newman has great advice on the subject.  http://www.drjacknewman.com/help/Candida-Protocol.asp

We did oral GSE and topical GSE plus eventually a prescription for Diflucan.  First round didn't work as they prescribed wrong though, my midwife didn't know the proper amount.  In talking with my LC she quoted Newman's recommendation.  That did the trick.  His recommendation is:

"Fluconazole:  (see handout Fluconazole) If pain continues and it is sure the problem is Candida, or at least reasonably sure, add fluconazole 400 mg loading, then 100 mg twice daily for at least two weeks,until the mother is pain free for a week. "

Are the 150 pills you are taking just a once daily?  Then it's not enough.  You need 400 on the first day and 100 twice daily for at least two weeks.  You want to be pain free for a week on the drug before you can stop.  I also continued the GSE for three weeks after that.  After two months we were free!!  Would have been sooner if the first prescription was correct.  My son never had any symptoms, surprisingly, so we never treated him.

Also, I don't recommend nystatin for baby (or you) as it's in a base of sugar which feeds thrush.  You also need to cut out ALL sugar for a while.

HTH, good luck

[BubbaMama]

Oh yeah, just wanted to comment on the 'white tongue' - are you sure it's thrush in his mouth?  White tongue (milk tongue) is very common, my son's white tongue stuck around till he was four months or so.  Are there other patches in the mouth, on the gums, etc?  I had full on thrush and baby never got it, due to giving him probiotics.  If your baby doesn't have other white patches in the mouth I wouldn't treat with anything other than a probiotic.

[Sneezykids]

I'm not positive the white tongue is thrush. There are no other white patches or spots in her mouth. The reason I believe it is probably thrush is from the fact that after nursing her there is still a very small amount of pain, though not after every feeding. I'm using the GSE on my nipples after feeding and t/o the day.

[BubbaMama]

If it was thrush it would spread through out her mouth in different patches.  Sounds like milk tongue to me.  Having pain AFTER nursing is different than thrush.  Thrush pain in the nipples is immediate when latch on and to me feels like someone scraping at your nipple with a razor blade, it is way more than just uncomfortable - it's curl your toes in pain uncomfortable.  It's possible baby is compressing the nipple and that is causing you pain.  Is your nipple properly shaped when it comes out of baby's mouth?  It there any white compression marks?  There is such a thing as Raynaud's syndrome that can cause a bit of pain in your nipples after a feeding, that might be it too.

[Sneezykids]

Yeast can cause in between feedings as well though and I did have the toe curling razor in my nipple pain too. That is gone thank goodness! Now they are a little itchy feeling with only occasional mild pain (shot type) after feeds.

Also, the baby had a yeasty diaper rash too and I had to wash the diapers in hot water and vinegar and sun dry them to get rid of it.


What is the proper shape after feeding? I have noticed that she is sometimes doing this weird chomping bite type suck at times and it hurts, I have to relatch her. I wonder..?

[BubbaMama]

Hmm, if you are having the internal shot like pain I would do internal GSE too, are you taking any?  FWIW, GSE added to diaper laundry removes yeast too :)

Proper shape coming out would be the way the nipple when in, no flattening, lip stick shape, etc.  A bad latch can open you up to yeast as you will get little cracks for the yeast to breed.  How old is baby? Chomping makes me think there is something else going on too - have you had your latch evaluated?  Do you suspect TT?  Do you have an oversupply?

[BubbaMama]

Sorry, I was confusing you with the other mama who was talking in this thread.  You are on diflucan?  You need to get on a higher dose if you are only taking the 150 a day.

[Sneezykids]

I just finished a corse of diflucan last week.

Here's what I'm doing:

GSE orally 3-4x a day
Dairy free probiotic 3-4x a day
Sodeliciuos brand coconut milk kiefer 2 half cups a day
2000mg vit C daily
GSE drops diluted and blotted on nipples a few times a day
Hot washing bras and baby clothes with vinegar added

For the baby (6 weeks old):
Mother love diaper rash cream
Dairy free probio 1-2x a day

Yes, I'm trying to latch her well, have not been seen by LC but in the hospital they said my latch was great.

I called my ob and they told me I need to see my primary dr as the ob isn't up to date on resistant cases if thrush and what works beyond diflucan (which is a little irritating as I told her I just needed a higher dose) grrr

[Sneezykids]

Sorry for the typos, my iPad is hard to type with!

[HappyHappyMommy]

Originally Posted by Sneezykids 

I called my ob and they told me I need to see my primary dr as the ob isn't up to date on resistant cases if thrush and what works beyond diflucan (which is a little irritating as I told her I just needed a higher dose) grrr




 

Ketoconazole (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000780/) is sometimes prescribed when diflucan isn't working. they may have been what your ob was referring to.

[HappyHappyMommy]

Originally Posted by BubbaMama 

You want to be pain free for a week on the drug before you can stop. 

Yes, yes, yes! And I strongly recommend washing with vinegar again after you're pain free.

[Sneezykids]

Thanks mommas! I am doing a gentian violet treatment right now as I type....I am going to buy a couple gallons of vinegar tomorrow! Will be calling my pcp dr on Monday.