Battling Thrush Support Thread

[mimie]

I don't know if there is already a group thread/master thread for this, but I know a lot of mamas are going through the same issues. Maybe we could all post here to share ideas and support one another in getting through thrush. Anyway, please feel free to share what you're going through, things you're trying, etc. Or maybe you're a thrush survivor - please tell us what worked!


My baby is one month old, and I think we've been dealing with thrush pretty much from the beginning - I had a c-section and was GBS+, so lots of antibiotics. Nursing has been painful all along. Latch issues were resolved early on. I still need Advil four times a day, and only very recently was able to stop taking Vicodin to deal with the pain of nursing.

Anyway, after one month of excruicating nursing, I'm feeling down and discouraged, especially because thrush seems so difficult to treat. The pain from BFing has overshadowed my daughter's first month of life.

Here's what I'm doing:

-My doctor precribed 150 mg Diflucan - one pill. I took it last week, and nursing was much less painful the next day, but now the pain has come back. I'm going to ask for a two week treatment.

-I'm taking 250 mg Grapefruit Seed Extract in pill form three times a day.

-I've purchased some Gentian Violet and will treat myself and baby with it starting tomorrow (I'm at my parents' home for the weekend and don't want t stain their sheets purple).

-I'm taking acidophilus tablets several times a day.

-I'm going to use a cup of vinegar in all wash loads, particularly towels, nursing bras and baby's diapers.

-I'm sterilzing all pacifiers, bottle nipples, nipple shield and pump parts daily and may try to wash them in a vinegar solution or paint them with Gentian Violet.

-I'm changing my nursing pads everytime I nurse and using lots of Lanolin. Unfortunately, I have to keep wearing them because my nipples are too sensitive to touch my clothing.

I really, really hope that the pain is better within about a week. I'm wondering if I can continue some measures (like taking GSE) indefinitely to help really keep the yeast away for good?

[my3peanuts]

I'm in!

Ds is 3 months & we've been battling thrush from the beginning as well. It will clear up and then comes back. I was on Diflucan for two weeks & now it is back again.

I've tried:

Gentian Violet
vinegar rinses
washing all clothing in vinegar
not wearing nursing pads
acidophilus
boiling pacifiers

Nothing is working and I am getting very frustrated that we cannot seem to get rid of this.

We've just started a dairy/egg elimination diet so now I'm afraid I cannot take the acidophilus. Anyone know? I'm pretty sure it's dairy derived.

I will definately take suggestions.

Is resistant thrush another sign of a food sensitivity or not? I guess I'm grasping for straws here hoping after another week of the elimination diet that maybe well be able to combat the thrush. Who knows!

[oregongirlie]

I'm on APNO and 200 mg. Diflucan per day for 3 weeks with a refill to be used one week after all symptoms disappear. This is the 6th day of treatment and I haven't noticed much difference, but I am off the Advil, which was helping a lot for the pain.

I hate this.

It's the most painful thing I've ever experienced.

I'm also using vinegar to treat the nipple shields. I'm using comfort gel pads instead of Lanolin. Lanolin was too painful to put on and the fabric nursing pads would hurt a lot. We wash his stuff on hot and use a 1% clotrimazole on his diaper rash.

[LucyJaynesmom]

OMGosh..I am so in on this too!

I was given antibiotics 2wks after my c/s and have been dealing with thrush ever since (dd is 10wks).
Here's what I have been tried:

First I tried:
Diflucan 150mg for 3 days

Then, I tried:
Nystatin 4x/day for 7 days (did nothing)
Diflucan 150mg for 14 days
Acidophillus from CVS 6 pills a day (did nothing)

Now, I am on:
Gentian Violet in DD mouth for 7 days and on nipples(once a day), a wk later more
Gentian Violet in DD mouth for 3 days 1x/day and on nipples 2x/day
Diflucan 150mg for 30 days, then 1/wk for 12 wks, then 1/mth for a year
GSE 20 drops 3x day (mixed with Chocolate Soy Milk to make it palatable)
GSE 20 drops in 2T of bottled water painted on nipples 3x day
Acidophillus from Health Food store 1x/day (50 Billion organisms)

I am also boiling the paci in water and vinegar and bleaching my bras and changing my pads, etc. etc.

Thankfully:, DD has not gotten the infection in her diaper area. If the thrush does not get better I am going to have to seriously consider switching to formula which would just kill me especially considering what I been through. I really am determined to beat this, but it can get SO discouraging.

My experience has been that the Gentain Violet (GV) works well topically and you really do feel almost immediate relief. I am giving the acidophillus a good try and if nothing else it is helping my bowels move. The Diflucan seems to be pretty useless at this point but I do not see any reason to stop taking it since I am almost done with the 30day part of it. I just starting taking GSE a week ago, so we will see how that goes.

If I remember right, the LC advised me not to use the lansinoh as that makes the problem worse. It keeps the skin moist, which the yeast loves.

I am really excited about this group as I sometimes feel as though I am the only one going through this.

[my3peanuts]

Thankfully:, DD has not gotten the infection in her diaper area. If the thrush does not get better I am going to have to seriously consider switching to formula which would just kill me especially considering what I been through. I really am determined to beat this, but it can get SO discouraging.

Switching to formula will be less painful for you but worse for dc's thrush. I'm convinced it's the pacifier that keeps ds's thrush coming back so I cannot imagine if we also used artificial nipples! I know exactly how you feel though, because it is very hard/painful for me as well and there have been times I thought it would be much easier to bottle feed. Until I realized I'd be dealing with a worse thrush problem most likely!

[LucyJaynesmom]

Yep, I agree. DD hardly takes a paci now and has been refusing the bottle lately too. So, honestly, I don't know if switching to formula is really even an option. Our thrush is much worse with me than DD. She seems to be doing fine since her last round of GV.

[doula mary]

For systemic yeast issues, the following will help you:

Diflucan, loading does of 400mg and 100-200mg daily for 2-6 weeks....I personally needed longer.

Treat baby and nipples with gentian Violet

Take: Acidophilus (the kind you buy in the refrigerator),
Grapefruit Seed Extract...The tincture is more effective than pills
Echinacea and Astragulus Root, and Vit C and B-complex vit. to boost immune function.

Tree tea oil mixed with olive oil the swap nipples...wipe off before nursing.

Boiling anything that comes into contact with yeast...whether diapers or nursing pads.

Time!!

MARY

[leafwood]

I had to post. I actually found MDC when dd was 5 weeks old and I was in a head-to-head war with yeast! It was the worst pain I ever experienced. It was a long, hard battle, but we are still nursing strong 2.5 years later!

Hand in there mamas!!!!

Also, this is a great reference by Dr. Newman:

http://www.bflrc.com/newman/handouts...luconazole.htm

[qjraven8]

GREAT IDEA! IM IN

we've been dealing with thrush at least a month, maybe longer ...
we've gone three rounds of gentian violet - i guess now maybe we'll do it again, maybe like you would with echinacea? 10days on then a few days off then start over again ...
i myself have been taking probiotics from day one, all through pregnancy infact (had issues with constipation which it kinda helped) have gotten a refrigeratable powder form specifically for babies/toddlers for ds, and at this point i drink keifer every morning and eat yoghurt every day plus got a more versatile pill form of probiotics for myself.
tried nystantin for both of us to no avail, but have been using it some still on me as it does help with comfort and have been using it on ds diaper area as unfortunately it seems to have moved there for him :
have been washing clothes with some bleach from day one - i use cloth nursing pads so they can breath. have now added vinegar to the rinse and have been washing myself frequently with vinegar/water solution, and now gse/water solution for last week. also taking gse tablets 250mg 3x a day, sometimes putting it in the wash rinse too and a little more diluted version with qtips to swab ds mouth several times a day.
boiling pacifiers, bottles, bottle nips, pump parts every day
dr for some reason only made script of diflucan for ds for a week and not one for me.
if i need some moisture on my nips have only used vit e as i also heard that lanolin kept em too moist and vit e soaks in better, i'll put it on then shower so it soaks in good.
also have cut out all refined sugars from the diet and pretty much all the simple starches/carbs too. added lots more fiber - usually in the form of flax meal added to most of my foods - as i read that yeast doesnt like fiber much, kinda "weighs it down" and also have cut the dairy except for the keifer and yoghurt.
plan on - asking for script of diflucan for myself w/many refills
using tea tree oil/olive oil or vit e for nips
and asking for a sript for all purpose nip ointment
prob never gonna fully stop the probiotics as maintence will
be important once this is "gone"
same idea with the gse

in the morning i'm leaving a message for my midwife and for my lc and which ever one calls first i'm asking for the scripts above mentioned.

been discouraging as at this point i feel like i'm spending soooo much time cleaning myself and everything around me that i dont get to enjoy my time with ds when i'm home and not at work. besides the uncomfortable factor. we had worked on our latch and it was much better but i think his uncomfortableness is making it difficult to maintain a good latch which is making this seem like such a vicious cycle.

hope all you ladies have good luck with this soon and we should soooo keep this thread up and help each other out!!!

thank you for the words of encouragement doula mary and leafwood!

[butterfly~mama]

Hello everyone...I'm going to copy/paste a reply I posted to another mother's thrush question. I hope it helps! I wish I knew about MDC when my dd and I were battling thrush (nearly 7 yrs. ago). Like I had told my husband, nursing her was honestly 10 times more painful than birthing her--and I had a very painful induction to give birth to her. And I totally agree w/ OP that it does take away from all the joys that come from breastfeeding, and I, too, felt like I missed out on a lot of her first few months because I was in constant pain. And all she wanted to do, of course, was nurse. I didn't want to deprive her (and myself) of that wonderful experience, but I secretly dreaded nursing. So, anyways, here's my relpy.........

Ohhh...mama~ I feel for you! My dd developed oral thrush when she was 2 weeks (she was the only one of my children that used a pacifier and she was the only one that got thrush...). My nipples started to get sore as well, but I wasn't sure if it was from the thrush or her frequent nursing. She was a very needy baby; literally wanting to nurse eery 20 min. 24/7. She'd only nurse for 10 min. though...10 on 10 off for the first 3 mos. of her life! Talk about exhausting!! So the dr. prescribed Nystatin for her and said that if my nipples got worse to call my dr. for a prescription,too. Well, the next day I did...She was cured from the thrush in 1/2 a week...and I on the other hand, are you sure you wanna hear this?! I was not fully healed until she was 4 1/2 MONTHS old!! It was excruciating. DH kept telling me that it really would be ok to stop nursing, since I'd cry and my toes would curl every time she nursed. But I just couldn't bring myself to wean, as I could NOT pump for the life of me. So I wish you luck and quick healing. I know it's not fun at all and it definitely takes away from the bonding and pleasure of breastfeeding.

You should wash your nipples w/ a mild,natural soap and warm water before and after nursing. This will help to prevent spreading the infection back and forth between you and her. When you've washed them AFTER nursing her, let them air dry thouroughly. Then apply the cream. And be sure that if your bra or nursing pads become even slightly damp, you change them, as bacteria and fungi love warm, moist, dark environments. Wash nsg. pads and bras in HOT water. Also, if your nipples becomed cracked, be prepared...your bras/pads may stick.OUCH!! I had to pour warm water over my breasts to get them to "unstick"! It was terrible!

I sincerely wish you the best of luck with this. I feel your pain!

I'm prayin' for all you thrush-battling mamas and babies out there!!:

[jlpumkin]

I just read through quickly.. I was surprised that no one mentioned eliminating sugar from their diets. - Oops just noticed qjraven8 s response... In which case I would second that

[LucyJaynesmom]

Just wanted to give a quick update:

I am finally starting to feel like maybe the yest is getting out of mu ducts. I have not been very diligent though about changing my pads or swapping my nipples and think I might have it again topically. I am nearing the end of my 30 days of Diflucan and am 1 week into the GSE treatment. I am going to treat topically tonight with GSE and GV and hopefully nip it in the bud. DD is doing better.

[leafwood]

I am glad to hear you're doing better Lucy! I remember for me I had to stay on the Diflucan for 2 weeks beyond the last ductal yeast symptoms. Has that part cleared up for you?

[qjraven8]

glad to hear you're feeling better! keep it up cuz that ole yeast is soooo persistent, dont give it any kind of break

of course, i broke down and had a bunch of cookies last night ... couldnt help it :

[LucyJaynesmom]

: I'm eating a cookie right now! :

[qjraven8]

so i didnt update earlier as i'm not so fond of the one handed typing ...
anyway, i got the script for diflucan for myself, and also one for ointment also wanted to state that i'm not so fond of dr's and such treating me like i have no idea what's really going on, and like i'm asking for diflucan out of the blue without having tried EVERTHING possible prior to the request! i just want to be done with this!!!! anyway, also started on the gentian violet again. i'm happy to say that there are no more spots on the insides of ds's cheeks, only his tongue is still white - but not as bad as before - and his diaper area is pretty much cleared up ... so a couple of weeks on the diflucan and continuing on everything else for that two weeks, then maybe tapering off on everything except the probiotics and prob still taking the gse daily just not 3-4x a day will hopefully keep this crap staved off!!!

[doula mary]

Jen,
Sounds like a great plan....

Mary

[mimie]

Ugh.

Been using Gentian Violet for two days. I have purple boobs, and a purple baby, but have not had much relief.

What could this mean? I thoughht most people experienced relief right away. I do have a cracked nipple, maybe it just still hurts because of the wound?

Also, my OB told me to use Monistat on my nipples. When I tried to get some at the drug store, I only saw the kind in applicators for vaginal use. Can you get it in just a tube for other uses?

[qjraven8]

look at what the active ingredient in monistat is, its like miconazole or something, and get the "generic" of it which you can usually find in just a cream too

BUT, i would ask your dr if possible to prescribe you an all purpose nipple ointment as it has powder miconazole added to it plus another antifungal and a soothing agent so you heal up and feel better, that's what i got and have gotten some immediate relief from it. also i would think it would be even safer for the little one as the vaginal creme isnt meant for oral injestion, even the all purpose nipple ointment is supposed to be kinda wiped off before the lil one latches on

[doula mary]

Jen,

Glad to hear you are feeling some relief....sometimes...with yeast, you feel worse beofe you feel better...maybe your past that point?

I agree with you, DONT USE the monistat.....golly....that stuff is for the yoni.

Mary