My son has a chronic yeast infection and I am at wits end - Page 2

[UmmZahra]

What about using yogurt? I know douching or inserting it for adult women helps...

[pilesoflaundry]

I have made a paste of water and probiotic powder and put it on a yeast rash that wouldn't go away before. But that was when dd was in cloth, in disposables I would put something over it like a cloth wipe or something before putting the dipe back on because as it dries it can make the diaper stick and that could tear the delicate skin. Unless you put it on him and put a towel under him so it could dry on his bum but not stick to the diaper.

Cut dairy out of your diet as much as possible and when you put him in the tub put a little bit of vinegar in there, no soap on his diaper area at all until it heals.

[roblauerin]

I can ship you some, they multiply, so I have some extra I just need someone to tell me how to ship live kefir grains, I have no idea! Also, there is a great book by Klaus Kauffman called 'Kefir Rediscovered!' I bought it about 10 years ago. It seems hard to find nowadays, but I just ordered one for my brother from True Foods Market website.

[sarahariz]

Also you can make kefir out of young coconut water

http://bodyecology.com/coconutkefir.php

[kittywitty]

Originally Posted by sarahariz

Also you can make kefir out of young coconut water

http://bodyecology.com/coconutkefir.php

Where in the world would I get young coconut water?

roblauerin, I might take up your offer. :

Isn't vinegar not supposed to be used? Isn't it yeasty or something? I know on the candida diet we went on, we were NOT supposed to have any. So putting it on a yeast rash I can't see helping. Do you have more info on that? I use ACV for everything, so it would be convenient.

[SleeplessMommy]

How old is your son? When he is potty trained, it should be all better. I kept telling my son, "no more diaper rash"

Have you had his blood sugar checked? It is really easy if you have friend with a diabetes test kit.

And if you think _your_dairy consumption might be an issues, you can switch to soy milk or rice milk for a few weeks. I love the Silk soy milk, though chocolate silk leaves a permanent stain on clothing.

[kittywitty]

Originally Posted by SleeplessMommy

I love the Silk soy milk, though chocolate silk leaves a permanent stain on clothing.

Yes, it does. Sunning helps a little, though.

[roblauerin]

hmm, I'll have to try the paste thing. DD's rash was doing really well until I put Wedela Diaper Cream on it yesterday. Now her butt & vagina look sunburned & she was up all night crying & scratching She scratched so much 'up there' she started to bleed a little She also now has little yeasties around her tummy. She's not a good eater & even worse at drinking anything, so I know that's not helping. I have to chase her around with a syringe to get fluids into her. Am at a total loss, I have tried everything.

[roblauerin]

quick, help! I am so sorry for hijacking this thread, please forgive me. I took Erin back to the ped becasue when she woke from her nap, she pulled her diaper off & scratched so much her whole vagina & labia were so red a swollen. I asked for an anti itch cream & they told me there wasn't one: Thay made an emergency appt with a dermatolgist for tomorrow at noon. They said they will most likely put her on steroids! WTH? Anyway, IS there something I can put on her for the itching? There has got to be something, right? I don't feel good about putting her on any meds, let alone steroids. WWYD?

[UmmZahra]

Try some yogurt. It is REALLY nice.

[nicolena]

i passed pne on to my little guys too. definitely try going gluten and/or dairy free. you have to stop this monster at its source.

[roblauerin]

Thanks ladies! It's weird because she never had a rash for her her first year and a half & I was so happy because everyone one I know battled with it at one time or another. Anyway, it looks better today, but I'm still going to the derm so they can culture it, who knows, mayber it's not even yeast. I'll let you know how it goes. And, again, I'm so so sorry for taking over this thread.

[JenniferC]

Here is what we do - no diaper at night, towel with waterproof pad underneath, probiotics internally for Mom, reduce sugar, no corn (our DD 1 had corn allergies), grapefruit seed extract diluted in a bit of water at each diaper change, weldea baby care cream (in the orange tube with calendula?), no DISPOSABLE WIPIES! They harbour fungus - wet all the time, chemicals to make them wet etc. they can cause a yeast rash in and of themselves , eat more garlic . HTH someone!

[mamaverdi]

Genetian violet and colloidal silver are the stand bys here for intense chronic yeast. With the genetian violet: you can get it OTC, however, if you or your child has sensitive skin, you can get it compounded to have less or no alcohol.

[mommyabroad]

Roblauerin, I used Weleda on my son when we lived in England and he had horrible, horrible, redness and welting. I thought that was supposed to make it better. : I tried stuff with red clover too and tea tree oil and calendula both made it worse. Ugh. The only thing that worked for us was my husband bought lotrimin over the counter and we used that daily for about two weeks. Then my ped gave us a presciption for some cholesterol blocking medicine that is a solid and comes in a little pot (sounds silly I know but it worked for her own DD). We got it at the compounding pharmacy and used it several times a day for about 2 months. I wish I could remember the name. She also told us to stop the lentils (DS ate them regularly and apparently, my Ped's daughter had rashes with them). We have never had to deal with another rash since ....and DS had so many terrible, bleeding, flaming red ones as a baby and toddler.

[eqleslie]

I second the Renew lotion from Melaleuca and the tea tree oil. However, I was once told by someone that home remedies work well when the persons system is in pretty good balance to begin with. That when things get really wacky they need some big guns to knock it down to where the home remedies can work better. With this in mind, is there anything wrong with getting some OTC vaginal yeast cream at the pharmacy? Like the seven day dose with the extra soothing ointment in it for immediate relief? Isn't it all just an antifungal?? Then later you can work on trying to figure out what happened re diet and such that caused it in the first place?

[USAmma]

One of my friends has had a yeast infection that has pretty much been steady for a couple of years! They tested her for diabetes (negative) and she made changes to her diet. She was on diflucan and that stopped working. Finally she went to a naturopath who looked all of her, not just her symptoms. It turns out she's very anemic and is too weak to fight the yeast. She started on iron supplements right away and cut out all sugar and other yeast-foods that the doctor told her to avoid. Within a week or two the yeast was gone.

I just wanted to put this out there because it could be that he's anemic or his system is weak from a past illness or something.

My dd had what I thought was yeast. It turned out to be allergies and some patches of eczema. It totally looked like yeast to me. So maybe think about what he's being exposed to that might be causing some allergic reaction or skin irritation in that area.

[MyLittleWonders]

There is ThreeLac, which is a probiotic designed specifically to eat the yeast/candida overgrowth. I just started taking it (and even though my guy is 5 months, I give him just a little to get the rest of his thrush). We also do kefir and yogurt (me, not him), and I give him baby probiotic powder too. But, I think it is really working. There are a few other moms on here that are using ThreeLac; a search of the forum should bring up the thread. It seems a wonder probiotic - but from what I understand, it doesn't populate the digestive tract, but just attacks the candida itself, so you would want to also populate the tract with a supplemental probiotic.

[motocita]

just a quick reply to you. haven't read the other posts. but maybe this is something that could really help you - it has REALLY helped my dd!

we're doing acupuncture and herbs with a traditional chinese doctor. in conjunction, we are avoiding dairy as that seems to be a trigger. my dd has eczema but i believe the root cause is an overgrowth of yeast that she's had since the beginning. i've had it most of my life too.

it's only been a month and a half and i can see concrete progress. she no longer has allergy eyes. the itching is less often. and when we do "cheat", the reaction is less and less severe, and it takes longer to show up. all of this helps me feel immensely better, that we are on the right track.

i think it can be difficult to find a traditional chinese practisioner that will treat children. but it can be done! ours is very expensive as well, but when you've tried elimination diets, gluten-free/casein-free, every lotion out there, probiotics, etc..., all to little avail, the $$$ doesn't seem so bad.

good luck to you. i know the hell you're in and i hope you find a solution soon.

ps. acupuncture does not hurt at all. for children, they don't even leave the needles in - just a quick in and out to stimulate healing. the stuff WORKS. immediately after leaving the office, her eczema is about 50% reduced. and, she loves it. she asks to go back and have her "leg scratched". it's very relaxing. the herbs are bitter but they are already made up into a tincture for you- you just add some drops to juice. my dd has no problem with them.

[bullfrog]

Originally Posted by roblauerin

hmm, I'll have to try the paste thing. DD's rash was doing really well until I put Wedela Diaper Cream on it yesterday. Now her butt & vagina look sunburned & she was up all night crying & scratching She scratched so much 'up there' she started to bleed a little She also now has little yeasties around her tummy. She's not a good eater & even worse at drinking anything, so I know that's not helping. I have to chase her around with a syringe to get fluids into her. Am at a total loss, I have tried everything.

Anything like diaper cream is meant as a moisture barrier - which will disallow air in - best to leave it open air at all times.

I used to have chronic yeast infections - yoghurt is very very soothing - (plain of course - and something organic - I like Nancy's).
But the best thing for me was a suppliment called 'Yeast Fighters'. It worked immidiately (within a few hours) but you take high doses for a few days. I'm not sure what the exchange would be for little ones - but this coupled with drinking Acidophilous (sp?) has totally cured me. Both found at the health food store. The acidophilous is liquid and should be found refrigerated.

Good luck!

P.S. You can put the Acidophilous on topically as well.