[ryleeee]

(cross posted to health and healing)

: My doctor called today to let me know they found moderate levels of yeast from my swabs last week...they told me I didn't really need to treat it yet unless it was bothering me a lot so I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to prevent it from getting worse/treat it without medications. We picked up some cranberry juice and yoghurt and I'll start drinking more water...are there any kinds of foods I should avoid at all? Does yoghurt lose it's culture if it's frozen? Can my husband get this from me via sex/oral sex?

We just really have no idea about any of this and I'd like to avoid using cream if I have to. Please help me.

 

[Artisan]

Two suggestions: get a probiotic supplement at the health food store. You need additional good bacteria to help rid yourself of the yeast. Jarrow makes a good brand. It comes in capsule form. Yeast loves refined sugar, so you might try cutting back on that as well.

The other suggestion is a homeopathic called AZO. You can buy it OTC in many stores. In the US it's sold at Target, and it's found in the aisle with the Monistat.

Both of these things have really helped me!

 

[henhao]

Yep...you should avoid sugar of all kinds and take a good probiotic such as Primal Defense. Eating raw, uncultured apple cider vinegar (mixed in juice or on your salads) will also help.

 

[findingMYway]

I have also heard that washing your clothes, or just underwear with a few drops of grapeseed oil helps.

 

[asianmama]

I know people who have successfully treated their yeast infections using garlic as a suppository. It sounds weird, but they just use a clove of garlic and insert it into their vagina (e.g. for the night and take it out in the morning). They tell me it worked wonders, but I don't have any personal experience with that. Some people put nicks into the clove to release more of the garlic's "chemicals", but I think that causes it to burn and it's not recommended. I think it should also help if you up your intake of raw garlic. Here is a link that I found that might be helpful:

http://medherb.com/Therapeutics/Fema...infection_.htm

Good luck!

 

[ktmama]

In addition to refined sugars, you also need to eliminate natural sugars - all fruit and fruit juice and all the "white" foods - non whole-wheat bread, white rice, potatoes, etc...Also, many people suggest eliminating dairy since it has lactose (dairy sugar) in it. You can get LOTS of info on the web by searching for "candida". Also, lots of water and a probiotic. In terms of sex, I'd try abstaining for a week while you're on your elimination diet and then use really good hygiene. Good luck! I've been plagued by candida infestation over the past year and now I'm doing really well with a good diet and a daily probiotic.

 

[RyvreWillow]

ugh, i just got over having this for a month. I tried changing my diet, taking a ton of supplements, etc and it just got worse. Only thing that helped was a prescription cream from the doc. It was a 1-dose thing, and it started clearing up by the next day.

The first time i went to the doc about it, he gave me the cream and an antibiotic (i also had a bacterial infection) it cleared up, but it came back about a week later. He gave my husband an antibiotic too (he didn't tell me not to have sex, but when he found out we did, he decided that must be why it came back, and treated me like an idiot about it), thinking maybe that would help (he didn't swab me again), but apparently the second round of antibiotics made it worse, because it wasn't treating the right thing, AND antibiotics grow more yeast.

When i went the third time, i saw the nurse-dude, and he told me it looked like yeast to him, so i just got the cream again, and it's been three weeks and it hasn't come back.

Good luck--if it starts to bother you, you'll definately notice, lol. I've never had a yeast infection before, but i have had an episiotomy, and after having the infection for several weeks, the feeling is similar

 

[henhao]

The pp said hers got worse. It's common for candida to get worse before it gets better; it's called the Herxheimer reaction. Although the natural route takes longer, it will have longer-lasting effects than the antibiotics.

"It is widely recognized that the herxheimer reaction is caused by the release of toxic chemicals ( endotoxin ) released from the cell walls of dying bacteria due to effective treatment. This, in turn, results in a response from the immune system which manifests the symptoms experienced by the individual being treated."

Because of the increase in symptoms, a lot of people think reducing sugar and taking probios doesn't work when really it's the opposite.

good luck!

hh

 

[MrsMoe]

I always liked eating yogurt for my yeast infections. I feel it works really well.

Basically, yogurt contains the "bacterium Lactobacillus acidophilus" which helps in the prevention/treatment of yeast infections. I also hear applying yogurt to teh vaginal area can be used to treat yeast infections, but I have never done this myself.

 

[*Leni*]

Yeast almost always overgrows because of a ph imbalance, which is normal during pregnancy.
My sisters midwife have me the tip to insert yogurt into the vagina and do warm vingear sitzbaths and if I do it at the first sign of it it works wonders!
For the yogurt make sure it's all natural (no starch, tapioca, sugar or gelantin in it!) and for the sitzbath I use a good splash of white vinegar to about half a gallon of lukewarm water, stay in it for 5 min.
Also be sure not to use soap on your private parts, just water, or if you feel you have to "clean better" soap-free wash bars.
I used to suffer from yeast infections a lot but since I started my yogurt-vinegar routine at the first itch I haven't had one in a while.

PS: the ping-pong thing with your partner is a myth when it comes to yeast infections (it is true for other infections though). The yeast occurs naturally on everybody's skin and the infection is more an overgrowth than having caught it somewhere

 

[Wugmama]

I'm pg and strongly suspected a yeast infection (had all the syptoms) and had it confirmed by my family practice doc who did a swab. She told be to get an over-the-counter cream treatment.

Instead I talked to my midwife and she told me to use garlic, like someone else above mentioned. It was actually really, really easy. Take a fresh clove of garlic (not cut or punctured), thread a needle with non-flavored dental floss, and string the floss through the clove, tying it off in a loop so you have a long tail like with a tampon. Rub a little vegetable or olive oil on it, and insert as you would a tampon right before hopping in to bed. She told me to do it three nights in a row, fresh garlic each time. She also told me around the house wear a skirt or nightgown with no panties to let fresh air in, which kills yeast - I did that. And she said cut out sugar, which feeds the yeast - I did that for a few days.

I was extremely skeptical - haven't ever even used homeopathics much less food for medical treatments!!! I probably woudn't have tried it except I was motivated to aviod the creme due to being pg. But the garlic worked, and I know I had a pretty bad yeast overgrowth. I think the air really helped too.

Keep in mind some yeast is normal. If I were you I would try the fresh air thing and cut out sugar and maybe do the garlic thing for just one night. I'd for sure recommend the garlic thing if you end up with a full blown infection.

Take care!

 

[ryleeee]

thanks for all your replies everybody!
man, this sucks :LOL
it's definitely not a full blown infection yet, and i'm cutting my sugar off today

(VERY HARD seeing as i have german bee sting cake in the fridge)... i'm also going to drink more water and i think i'll have some yoghurt right now. *sigh*
i really hope i can kick this one without medication.
i'll try the garlic if it starts getting worse.

 

[RyvreWillow]

Blagh, i'm with ya sis, lol, mine's back! I'm gonna try the garlic thing tonight, see if i can get rid of it before it's out of control. And the panty-free idea sounds kinda nice, freeeedom! lolololol

 

[StephanieK]

Garlic really does work! So does tea tree oil (cut with veg, oil and applied by finger). I prefer garlic though. I go ahead and nick it, it only burns a teensy bit going in. You will get almost immediate results!

 

[wendy1221]

When I had my mw apt 2 weeks ago, I had a tiny bit of leucocytes and protein in my urine (on the pee stick). She told me that that usually meant a yeast infection. I hadn't been having any symptoms and she said good, but just in case, take acidophilus or multidophilus capsules 3 times a day for forever (which I already do, but hadn't been doing in the last month due to traveling, moving, etc) and use 1 as a vag suppository every night for 5 days if I started to get itchy. I never did get itchy, so I think just taking my multidophilus caps got rid of it.

 

[NYCVeg]

Just wanted to add that the yogurt works much better applied topically than eaten. You can get creative--just use your fingers or put some in a tampon applicator. Some people also put the acidopholus capsules directly into their vagina.

Out of curiosity...I have a yi that I waited to treat until I got my period, because my gyn told me that you shouldn't put anything in your vagina in the first trimester of pregnancy (she was referring specifically to the OTC stuff). She said that there's no proof that it does any harm...but also no proof that it's safe. Honestly, I wasn't all that concerned, but I would presume the "no foreign objects" would include garlic, if you were being super conservative.

 

[onlyboys]

Just wanted to add to all of the good advice here:

You may need to treat your partner as well. Also, go without undies for a while--it helps me!