[ravegirl787]

Hi everyone,

I need some serious help. It seems that i have had a recurring yeast infection for almost 3 years. I'm 19 now. It all began when i was 17, going through a very stress filled time in my life, and put on anti-biotics for strep throat and a uti at the same time. I then move to california and commence to bath in antibacterial soap, informed by my family that it would do me no harm. Now, of course, prior to all of this misery i didn't see the problem with bathing in antibac, but hey i was stupid.

so now, it seems like if i even lay one wrong finger down there, breath wrong, anything, i have the mild burning, slight itchy, dry sensation, never any odor. i tend to have a milky, irritating discharge almost constantly. Things just don't feel right down there. It's been so long i don't even know anymore, but i just never feel right.

Problem: What seems to be constant/recurring yeast or constant/recurring irritation
symtoms: tender skin, milky discharge, lips and vaginal opening very sensitive when wiping (and i only pat now), vagina often feels very dry, mild itchyness around vaginal opening.

Things tried: several rounds of diflucan- it works for that week, and then the next week syptoms return
-i was put on metrogel once by a stupid gyno: made symptoms worse
- acidophilus supplements: i've bought everything ranging from walmart brand to $30 and up claiming to have 50billion live bacteria that has to be refrigerated- does nothing
-garlic: only thing that seems to stop the infection, takes 2 days, hate the smell, always comes bac tho
-acv: works sometimes, never consistent
-tea tree oil: tampon works, takes 2 days for me, doesn't last though
-boric acid suppositories: i think i tried this for like 12 days, 2X a day, it didn't really work

I've been to many different gynos and they always just do a wet prep thing, hand me diflucan, and send me packing. I swear i've had probably over 50 pills in the past couple of years

I'm currently on birth control. I have tried stopping it to see if that changes anything. i went off of it for 3 months, and to no avail. it seemed like i got more yeast infections.

Someone, please...i'm at my wits end and i'm out of money with no more health insurance now. This whatever it is...it's ruining my sex life and my self-esteem. I hate my body now and i feel like it betrays me at every turn.

Tell me what to do...please..

[chaya]

Have you ever been checked for diabetes?

I am a diabetic, diabetics get more yeast infections because there is frequently sugar in our urine. No matter how careful I am in controlling my blood glucose, after meals my blood glucose will often spike over my renal threshold. Yeast thrives on sugar so we get more yeast infections. I had my first one when I was 8 and have had many since.

[ravegirl787]

yes i have been tested for diabetes, once last year and once this year, both came back negative or within normal range. although this last time my blood sugar was a little on the low end of the scale. i've also been tested for various stds and all come back negative.

idk if it's just me, or if there really is something wrong. going to the doctor isn't an option anymore because i can't pay for it now. and my school nurses just listen to you describe symptoms and give you more diflucan...

it's kindof hopeless...

[ravegirl787]

Does anyone have anything else to contribute? I'm seriously in need of some kind of help. Nothing is working. And right now i'm on my period and i'm using unscented tampons, and now my outer parts are irritated and itching. The very fact that i'm on my period is also strange because i got it during the week before my non-hormone pills. Is this bad? Should i continue to take my bc like nothing is wrong and take the sugar pills or start a new pack? Could this be why my vagina is irritated?

[ravegirl787]

oh come on...someone has to know something of help. please.

[Sarah001]

I'm not much help because you've tried most things but I will add you shouldn't use tampons if you are prone to yeast infections as they strip the good bacteria out of the vagina so you should switch to pads. You can also try boil washing your underwear to see if that helps and never use fabric softener on underwear either. Acidophilus should be taken every day forever if you get yeast infections so your body can build up a good supply of lactobacillus and keep the balance correct. I can't really add much else.

[viola]

OK, listen, I am the Queen of Yeast! I have had an on going yeast infection for like 1 1/2 yrs. I had treated it with all the natural hometreatments, and got a Natural Doctor to help test me......It was so bad, I had to go on an extreme antifungal diet, cut out all sugar/carbs/ you name it. It sucks. Even milk/cheese converts to sugar, and the yeast feeds off of sugar. I had to cut it all out of my diet, I did organic vineger/water douces, which helped relieve it, I did boric acid suppositorys, yogurt tampons, garlic cloves.....hmmm what else........well, these all helped, and can cure many, but mine kept coming back and back. After the obvious symtoms left, like discharge, all gone, I still itched. I also took something called SF722 which is a natural supplement made from the castor oil bean. Still there........I went to my gynocologist month after month telling him I itched. He did cultures/wet smears,, and said I was fine, that this was something called "desquamative vaginitus" He gave me hydrocortezone suppositorys and sent me on my way. ....... helped a bit, but not the cure........went back, he kept saying I was fine, no yeast, no bacteria, nothing, I'm NORMAL. months went by, and the itch slowly got worse and worse. I kept researching home treatments and found that cocunut oil was working really well for me. Just dab some on there and bam, no itch! Of course you must reaply, but this was getting me through my days. I finally found another gynocologist. She actually found yeast on the gram smear. I had been treating myself with Nystatin dry tabs, and Triconozole cream that another doctor had given me. Still there and didn't help much. So that's when I went to this new gyno. She gave me diflocan to take one every 3 days.......didn't do anything. I found a yeast specialist to consult with on the curezone forums.....And it turns out that I have what is called "intercellular latent yeast infection" Ladies, I swear you all need to know that this is what is going on.....What this is, is a DORMANT yeast infection. It burrows underneith the skin so that there are NOT the obvious symtoms. That is why all my cultures came back NORMAL. Yes, it is undetectable, but it is there and the average gynocologist doesn't know about this. After many months more, the new gynocologist saw I had yeast on the gram smear, but still no growth on the culture. This is because if you take the diflocan, or treat it, it won't grow so they can't see what strain it is, or even if you have it. This yeast specialist has gotten me on the right path, and thank god I have a gynocologist that can see I have a challenging problem. I have been on ketoconozole daily for 1 month, switched to diflocan daily for like 3 weeks. It isn't getting that much better, and now I have to stop my medication for 12 days so that this will grow on a culture and they can get the strain. When the antifungals don't work well, you need to find out what strain, and actually my next plan is to do 2 antifungals together because they will work synurgetticaly together better. My yeast specialist and gynocologist are working together to find the best treatment for me. She is also doing a scraping and biopsy for the most accurate culture. This is NOT an easy fix. I know what I have, but i think I have a very strong strain of yeast that is hard to penetrate.

[chalupamom]

viola- i have been dealing with a yeast infection going on four months, my first one too. right now i have been taking diflucan for almost a month. most of the symptoms have gotten better, but not completely. i keep having this thick white discharge. it isn't curd-like, but almost like watered down yogurt. there is quite a bit of it. i go to the doctor at least once a week and she keeps telling me she the amount of yeast in definitely better, but she still sees some which she said is normal. but i have never had this discharge before. i was in A LOT of pain, but no itching. thankfully the pain is gone, but now i am left with this random burning sensation and pricky like feeling in my vulva. i am afraid once i stop taking the diflucan the pain will come back! i have also done two gentian violet treatments and douched with a homeopathic douche which contains acidophilus. i was wondering if your discharge was similar to this. i also stopped taking my birth control pills over two months ago, so i have no idea what my normal discharge would be. like i said it has the consistency of like a yogurt drink, and white. any suggestions?

[viola]

I posted you chalupamom, but I don't know what happened to the thread. I am having some trouble with this forum, hopefully this will get to you this time. I'm not sure what the pain is. there is something called vulvadynia. That can involve pain after a yeast infection. Look that up. I am in touch with someone else who has that burning sensation also. She doesn't know what it is, but she's on a Lichen Sclerosis forum. I told her to try A&D ointment (soothes, nonirritating, and my gyno recommened it with unlimited use. You could try that to help soothe.) I have had a lot of relief from EV cocunut oil. that helps with itch completely, but maybe for burning? You could try it. I don't think you need to douche. I douched a lot when I was on the natural treatments, but (well for like 2 weeks) with white vineger, but then I heard it can wash away the natural bacteria in there and you don't want to do that. I also used to put lactobicillus capsules up there, which later I heard can cause an overgrowth of that, and can lead to it's own infection. I have been under the care of a Dr. Marjorie Crandell, a yeast consultant and specialist. She and my gyno have consulted and that' is where I am learning my treatment from. Anyway, Dr. Crandell says don't douche and lactobicillus treatments have never been proven. She had what I had and is a medical researcher and microbiologist and has studied yeast her entire career. She had what I have plus had the vulvadiynia thing too. Anyway, the discharge that you have could be "desquamative vaginitus". It can happen after you've had a lot of yeast. It's just the vaginal walls are sloughing. Anotherwords, shedding it's lining. I had it for such a long time, and then it stopped. I don't have any discharge now, just very bad itch, especially when I wake up in the morning. Seems much better after washing there and shower. I go in this morning for biopsy/scrapings so they can determine what strain of yeast I have but I'll be doing a combination therapy now because both Ketoconozole for 1 month and Diflocan 1 month hasn't really cured me. combination therapy, diflocan and lamisil together will work together for a more effective treatment. Listen, normal discharge should be a lot of discharge during mid cyclee which would be clear and like egg white consistancey. tapers off, then more discharge right before your period. Other times, just light. Can look whiter, be thinner.....but that would be what normal discharge is.

[chalupamom]

thanks viola. i have heard of dr. crandell online. she has a website that i have visited before. i think for now i am going to just take it easy. yesterday i finally felt almost normal again. the disharge isn't that bad, and it isn't causing any outside irritation. i hope your appointment goes well today. let us know what you find out! thanks again!