yeast infection treatment during late pregnancy...

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Hi Ladies,
I posted this over on the health board also, but thought since your all are expecting july babies also, you may know a solution...
I am 39w pregnant and just came down with a yeast infection.
I read that baby can catch thrush if I go into labor with the infection, so I'd like to avoid that, But also avoid putting medication up into me when I'm already starting to dialate.
So I looked up "natural remedies" and "yeast infection" on google and found one that sounded harmless for me...

"This home remedy is for vaginal yeast infections.

1. Go to the store and buy a small carton of "plain" yogurt -- doesn't matter whether it is name brand or store brand or is nonfat, lowfat or wholefat because you are NOT going to eat it. But make sure it is PLAIN with NO fruit, NO added sugar (milk sugar listed on the carton doesn't count of course), and NO flavoring in it of ANY type. You should make sure that whatever type yogurt you buy has "ACTIVE CULTURES" listed on its container.

2. While you're at the store pick up a box of tampons to go with the yogurt.

3. Pay for them. No one will look at you weird and no one will ask for any ID. ( this #3 is a humorous point only, so laugh .... but do pay!)

Now you're curious, aren't you?

But seriously now,

4. Go home and take one of the tampons and dip it into the yogurt and insert it into the vagina, allowing it to stay in place for at least an hour or so -- longer certainly won't hurt you. It is COOL and SOOTHING for one thing and will get some of the "good bacteria" right where it is needed the most since that is the main reason to use it -- to get the "GOOD" bacteria into where there is a build up of too much "bad" yeast type bacteria.

5. Continue this for once or twice a day for two or three days, or as long as needed, until the situation resolves itself. "


So is that plan gunna be harmless for me or not. Should I just call my midwife and see what she says?
Thanks in advance for reading this...
Chrissy

[UmmBnB]

I've tried this myself and it was kind of messy - but effective!! I found something even better and it worked faster than yogurt!! Hydrogen peroxide douches. Do one every 4 hours or so and your infection will be gone by the end of the day!

[VioletMommy]

Try this, it's easy, effective, not messy, and super cheap! Take a peeled garlic clove, nick it in a couple of places, sew a loop of thread through the end so that you make a tampon of sorts out of it, and insert it high up. It you are sensitive, you can wrap the garlic in gauze and apply olive oil. You can just do it at night for at least 3 nights, or you can do it night and day. I've used this a lot, and it really works. BTW it will also kill GBS, so if you've had a positive result, try garlic suppositories along with some echinacea and get retested. You will taste garlic in your mouth right after inserting it, isn't that cool??

[BinahYeteirah]

Originally Posted by VioletMommy

You will taste garlic in your mouth right after inserting it, isn't that cool??

I don't know... Is it? :LOL

[veiledexpressions]

Do these work on external yeast infections as well. I have had one on my inner thighs and labia for months (darn antibiotics!) , and I can't get rid of it. I had an rx for nystatin, but it did NOTHING. I'm downright desperate now :P

[CherryBomb]

I did acidophilus tablets recently, and that work well. I did 1 internally for 5 days, and 2 orally for 7 days. It was the only yeast infection I've had this pregnancy, and even then, it was very minor. I had them all the time with my daughter.

[VioletMommy]

Originally Posted by veiledexpressions

Do these work on external yeast infections as well. I have had one on my inner thighs and labia for months (darn antibiotics!) , and I can't get rid of it. I had an rx for nystatin, but it did NOTHING. I'm downright desperate now :P

A very effective treatment for yeast anywhere on the body is gentian violet. It's purple, though, and very messy. Drug stores often carry it, and I've seen it in Longs in the first aid section. You can apply, and wear some old clothes over it. You can also use straight tea tree oil, or, better yet, add a few drops to olive oil (which has its own amazing healing properties for the skin) and rub wherever needed. A local health food store may also have tea tree cream, which may be more convenient. Hope that one of these helps.

Binah, I'm a garlic lover, and an herbalist, so reeking of this awesome, delicious, powerful medicinal is ok by me!

[veiledexpressions]

Thanks!

[jazcat]

I tested positive for a yeast infection at my last appt. I've had it forever, but it never bothered me so I never brought it up until I read something about thrush. Anyway, the doc wrote me a prescription for monostat, but said I don't need to do anything if it does not bother me. I brought up the thrush thing and she was not the least concerned. A yeast infection is just where the bacterias are out of balance, but they always exist. I've been taking a daily acidipholus (sp?) pill and that seems to have helped a lot.

[mmgarda]

Some cautions here

I would be very careful of using full strength tea tree oil in or around your vaginal area. Tea tree oil is very, very strong and can be highly irritating. If you use it, cut it with some water or other oil to start with. Then you can gently increase the tea tree if you want to.

Also, I was under the impression that echinacea is contra-indicated for pregnancy and you should not take it when pg. I'm no expert here, but I've been warned off it by several people and my bottle says not to take during pg. Perhaps it's really only an issue during early pg? I'd check with a homeopathic doctor first, though.

For me, taking regular probiotics really seems to keep me out of yeast infections.

Good luck to you!

[VioletMommy]

Echinacea is not contraindicated for pregnancy. It's safe. I'm an herbalist and have been studying for years. It's also on its way to becoming an endangered plant, though, so in my opinion, the less people take it, the better. Homeopathy is a totally different field from herbalism, and a homeopathic doctor would not be qualified to judge the safety of an herb, although that sort of thing is easily looked up in books or online. I believe that the reason why echinacea is considered dangerous is because it has not been proven to be safe. Well, one reason is that the FDA is NOT interested in proving the safety of any herb, since they cannot be patented (yet) and it is not in their interest to do so. Additionally, many of the studies that have been/are being conducted on herbs, are done by people who have no idea what they are doing, use the wrong herb entirely, the wrong part of the plant (as in the latest studies 'proving' that echinacea 'doesn't work') the wrong method of preparation, contaminated herbs, etc. This is off subject, but it's a hot-button issue for me. It's not unusual to see "do not use during pregnancy" on an herbal potion bottle, regardless of whether or not its contraindicated. So what's a consumer to do? With herbs, it's hard for people to know what's safe and what's not, so it probably is best to just not take them if you've heard not to, or just don't know, because there certainly are ones that can harm your baby. Echinacea just isn't one of them. The following list, compiled by Michael Moore, who is widely considered to be the country's leading herbalist, has herbs contraindicated for pregnancy marked with an asterisk. http://www.swsbm.com/ManualsMM/MatMed5.txt
Please only purchase organically grown echinacea, and help put those unethical companies, (which most are) who are over-harvesting plants, out of business!!!