Oh I would DEFINITELY not go the abx route. As someone who's struggled with thrush and systemic candida for several years, I will avoid abx at all costs for the rest of my life. If your yeast problem is internal (systemic), which it probably is after all this time, then antibiotics may seem to help but in the long run they are only going to cause you far more trouble. If I were you, I'd load up on the probiotics regardless, and I'll share what worked for us. This is our story- I wrote this up almost a year ago, and we've still battled it off and on as my body heals, but I've found that diet and supplements are the only way I can get on top of it, and at least I can know I'm doing my body good while I treat it instead of causing further damage, ya know?
While I am very grateful that nursing has come pretty easily for me and my babies, it's not to say we haven't been without our fair share of trials, and that's where my "I wish I would have known" comes in. Nursing my first daughter, as well as the first year of my second daughter's life, went very smoothly. When Miss I (#1) was a month old I started to get a mild case of thrush, but a few days of nystatin eliminated the problem. Easy peasy, I thought! But then Miss B (#2) and I ended up dealing with a BAD case of thrush in February of 2009...I had undergone surgery to have my wisdom teeth removed, opted for the antibiotics (which we generally try to avoid for health reasons), and paid dearly for it with an almost instant case of painful thrush. A week into it, I felt as if I was getting things under control...and then I ended up with an infection in one of the sockets, which, despite my best intentions, landed me back on antibiotics...and shot all my anti-thrush progress out the window. It took me 3 months to be able to say I was free of that nasty fungal infection. Three months of pain, itching, burning, bleeding, terribly long and irritating nursing sessions, and so on. But once summer rolled around I felt like we were good to go!
However, I, for the most part, continued to battle with thrush for another YEAR AND A HALF. It would come and go, and I quickly realized that by this time, it had become a systemic battle for me. I remember thinking that when I first learned about breastfeeding and thrush, I had NO IDEA that it could become something that my ENTIRE BODY was fighting with! I submersed myself in gut health research, learning about candida overgrowth, how it originates, the problems it causes, and how to treat and eliminate it. I learned that there are SO many health problems where candida overgrowth is actually the root cause, yet we never realize it! (chronic illnesses, weight problems, digestive issues, etc) And that the average American has candida issues, even if they don't realize it or are never informed by a doctor.
While I was nursing my daughters during my third pregnancy, I managed to keep things at bay until shortly before my son was born. In that LAST WEEK, however (go figure!!), I started having some issues, and I was somewhat terrified of what it could mean for the birth (because we know that babies intestines are colonized during vaginal delivery, and I didn't want to compromise that because of my own health issues!). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to prevent issues. Only a few weeks into my sweet baby boy's life, we began the first of my longest battle with thrush. This time it took over EIGHT months to really get things under control. It. Was. Hard. Obviously breastfeeding is VERY important to me, and I don't even give it a second thought...it's just the way I choose to feed my children. However, things got so painful for me this time that I actually contemplated quitting. That is saying a LOT!
With a lot of hard work (and prayer!), we managed to make it through. But I did learn quite a bit over the last couple of years (that I didn't find to be the average "thrush knowledge"...at least not that I could find)...
- Nystatin and Diflucan are decent options, aqcuired through prescription. However, anymore many cases of thrush are resistant to nystatin. And Diflucan carries it's own risks to the body! I did use them both several times throughout my years of candida battles, and sometimes I think they helped, but overall I believe it was the OTHER changes I made that contributed in the most noticeable ways.
- The "candida" diet is great...in theory. But as a nursing mom (especially of multiple children), it simply did not sustain me. I felt like I was dying of starvation. I did my best to cut out sugars, carbs, and just eat healthier overall, but I tried to balance it with eating what I felt my body needed. And sometimes, I NEEDED me some bread. ;) (of course, the candida NEEDED some bread, too, but I tried to ignore their calling and go by my own instead)
- Not all probiotics are created the same! We have always been very diligent about probiotics in our home. They really are so important to gut health, ESPECIALLY for anyone who has ever (EVER) been on antibiotics or had a poor diet (who can raise their hand to not qualifying for either of those?). However, my "Multidophilus" wasn't making the cut during my issues. After my son was born, I finally stumbled on to the recommendation for Threelac
, and I am SO glad I did. I truly believe it made a HUGE difference for me. I also made a specific effort to get plenty of L. Reuteri
, as it quite literally "rebuilds" the gut, which I needed at this point. And I took Sacharomyces Boulardii
as well.
- Candex
and/or Candidase
are powerful allies. It was SO important for me to find something enzymatic to actually BREAK DOWN the substances that were causing me so much trouble (especially since biofilms are such a stubborn roadblock). I had to literally plan around taking them, since they require no food for 2 hours before bedtime and upon waking (a nursing- and especially a nursing while pregnant- mom is generally, er....HUNGRY!). But along with the ThreeLac, I believe these made one of the biggest differences for me.
- Supplements can be your best friend. Diet changes alone were not enough for me. I had to add a LOT of supplements into my daily routine. A LOT. I was taking Grapefruit Seed Extract, Olive Leaf, garlic (although I eventually switched to fresh, raw garlic...chopped in to quarters so I could easily swallow them without having to taste it, AND it helped SO much more!!), a B-complex vitamin, modified citrus pectin, coconut oil (and/or Lauricidin), dandelion root, pH Basic, Takuna, and I know there are more....but that's all I can remember right now. And I really did need to take ALL of them. They all worked either together or on their own in a much needed way. I still take many of them as soon as I start feeling a little "off base," and I know they help.
- You MUST be diligent with topical treatments. We tried a lot of different things here, too. Gentian violet worked a couple of times, but that stuff is SO messy, and carries potential risks with prolonged and/or repeated use. So I tried to keep it at a minimum. What we were able to do regularly were vinegar rinses after every feeding (ACV works better than white vinegar...and warning, if you have thrush pretty badly, it will STING and BURN like crazy the first few times...but I always took that as a good sign, and imagined it killing those little yeasties on the spot!), Grapefruit Seed Extract rinses to alternate with the vinegar, coconut oil to moisturize (because as thrush dies off, it can dry your nipples and cause cracking and eventually bleeding...which is excruciating! And coconut oil is antifungal. Do NOT use something like Lanolin, it can contribute to the problem rather than help it.) I would also put on a mix of something like generic Lotrimin and Monistat cream on at night (if there was to be no night nursing, that way I didn't have to wipe it off), or if I got really itchy. But topical treatment really is half the battle while nursing, and diligence is a must. If you aren't positive whether babe is dealing with it orally or not, treat them too, because otherwise you aren't likely to rid yourself of it.
Yes, that's a lot to deal with and a lot to remember. But it's worth it to get on top of candida IMMEDIATELY. I still struggle with the icky stuff resurfacing now and then. Sometimes it seems cyclical, other times it just shows up out of no where. But now I know how important it is to look at it as systemic instead of just topical. Candida is a real health issue, not just something that happens while nursing, and it's important to deal with it as a whole, not just treat the symptoms. A breastfeeding relationship can depend on a thorough, successful treatment!
Hope that helps a bit!! Let me know if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them. Thrush is a miserable beast, and if my experiences allow me to help anyone else overcome it, well then it was worth it. :)
Edited by 1babysmom - 1/27/12 at 5:56pm
