[chalupamom]

hi sarah. i have definitely been tightening those muscles. i am trying to relax them, but it is really tough. there are muscles called bulbospongiosus muscles that surround the vaginal opening and go down to the rectum, and these are the muscles that are causing me the trouble. i don't know what to do about them now, besides pushing them out and relaxing them when i can. my therapist says the muscles have become involuntary and i have to make them voluntary again, but it is HARD!!! but at least the pain is not as bad now. i guess it's just going to take a while. any suggestions?

[Sarah001]

It kind of depends why you're tightening those muscles up, if you do it purely out of habit then you do just need to retrain your brain not to, it's hard but if you keep checking what you're doing and relax them consciously every time you find you've clenched them eventually your brain will accept relaxing them as normal. If you're clenching them because you have a lack of strength in the muscles around the pelvis then you need to add strengthening exercises to those muscles on top of making a point of relaxing the muscles. If you're also holding your breath regularly that needs sorting out too, it's quite a common finding with pelvic floor dysfunction. Your therapist should also have checked the strength of the muscles, both fast and slow twitch fibres to see if they are weak and also how variable your resting tone is to see if it rises when you're not doing anything, resting tone and variability are very, very important. The only other thing you could add is a bit of massage on the tight areas to help them elongate.

[tostosbe]

I think you should avoid monistat and all creams if you can....I suspect IC patients may be more likely than others to have many yeast infections because we commonly have our ph off making us more vulnerable. We also commonly have weaker immune systems at least for a time...and often have taken antibiotics much without probiotics. So a ph balancer for you vagina may help as may some probiotics to help in prevention. Good luck!

[WildChild]

I dealt with repeated yeast in my younger days and you need to do your research into Candida Albicans. It is rarely limited to just the vaginal area and can cause a host of seemingly unrelated health problems. You will very likely have to completely change your eating and lifestyle habits to get a handle on it. Sometimes health care professionals will disregard your partner but I didn't get rid of my problem until I dumped a philanderer and got my new partner to get treated. Men may not experience symptoms but can have it intestianally and pass back to you.

Start with, The Yeast Connection. My sister sent me a copy years ago and when I first read it, I was in tears. It told my life for years. I made changes and have not had an overt problem with it for many years, although I do a candida cleanse every few years. Some items had to leave my life forever, like soda, refined flour products, refined sugar products, antibiotics (unless there is a life threatening situation) and BC pills (I was clotting anyway so that wasn't tough), quit smoking (multiple benefits there) and quit drinking for many years and now only infrequently.

At one time yeast and yeast treatment just about ruled my life, now I haven't had a problem in close to 30 years. You can kick it but you will have to educate yourself and make some healthy lifestyle changes.

[chalupamom]

i do not have a chronic yeast problem. this is the first, maybe second, time i have ever had a yeast infection. my diet was high in sugar, carbs.... and i NEVER had a problem with yeast. i understand that people who have had a chronic issues with yeast should look into changing their diet, but what i think my problem was was that i did not have the typical symptoms at first. i had severe inflammation/redness/pain, but NO itching or discharge, at least at first. also, some yeast infections do NOT go away with over-the-counter creams, and take a longer treatment. i wasn't treated properly for it until a month after it started because my doctor thought that i had contact vulvitis. had i started on anti-fungals earlier, maybe things would not have gotten so out of hand. now that the yeast is taken care of, i have to work on relaxing the tightened muscles, which is working. i feel a little better every day. it's unfortunate, but i am the one making the burning feeling now.
i don't mean to complain, but i don't think people need to do any drastic changes to their diet unless they have been suffering for years with yeast, not someone who had one yeast infection that was hard to treat. i have gone back to eating the way i did before this happen and no yeast has come back. what i think women have to understand is that yeast infections don't always have itching, or cottage cheese discharge. also, they NEED to see their doctors and be tested to be sure it is yeast that they are treating. getting advice online is tricky and can be dangerous. there is A LOT of stupid advice out there, and i learned that the hard way!!! also, do not self diagnose yourself. most of us are not doctors and just because we read something online, doesn't mean it is true. doctors know best!!!
i with the best for anyone who is dealing with these feminine issues. i know how much it stinks!!!

[WildChild]

You are entitled to your opinion. If don't think that making sensible choices that would benefit your general health will serve you, then dont. Go on ahead and keep your typical high sugar, low fiber diet. Those of us who have educated ourselves will do what we have found best. You do what works for you.

[viola]

Are you referring to the Book, by Crook?

[ItsASecret]

, but i don't think people need to do any drastic changes to their diet unless they have been suffering for years with yeast, not someone who had one yeast infection that was hard to treat.

People definitely do not need to go through a drastic change of completely altering diet just because of one infection. The educated ones will say that guess what an infection of can be a random occurrence. There can be a rogue microorganism that made its way into your system and decided to colonize your body even if you eat mom and pop's organic carrots for 15 years. It does happen, and the educated ones will also say head to a doctor so they can see if antibiotics, antifungals or antivirals (rare) will work in the situation instead of ordering "Mr. Magoo's yeast curing wonder powder" from a back alley in Singapore. Changing diet to the point of making it seem as though the word "grocery store" is nothing but an evil amongst peoples is not necessary. An infection can pass on its own with immune responses, it can also be helped with medications but it is not life or death if someone does not decide to change their whole life because you got infected with a common infection. Sure diet changes can help overall health, everyone knows that you should not be eating McDs 5 times a week or avoiding fruits and veggies but you are not going to die if you do not adopt an extremely strict "never touch supermarket food or anything without the word organic type foods". Changing diet to extreme points is an individual choice which can work for those individuals, healthy eating is always recommended and should never be ignored but it does not take a life altering change in diet to still be healthy.

[WildChild]

People definitely do not need to go through a drastic change of completely altering diet just because of one infection.

(rare) will work in the situation instead of ordering "Mr. Magoo's yeast curing wonder powder" from a back alley in Singapore. Changing diet to the point of making it seem as though the word "grocery store" is nothing but an evil amongst peoples is not necessary.

you are not going to die if you do not adopt an extremely strict "never touch supermarket food or anything without the word organic type foods". Changing diet to extreme points is an individual choice which can work for those individuals, healthy eating is always recommended and should never be ignored but it does not take a life altering change in diet to still be healthy.

Where, if you please, was any of this suggested?

[ItsASecret]

Where, if you please, was any of this suggested?

Oh that was not directed towards you or anyone else in particular if you think it was, not at all my intention. I was just mentioning the concept that other people promote that if you do not adopt a certain way of life, a certain diet, a certain way to go about things then an individual is doing things "wrong" or "simply won't work" and something like an infection is going to continue because things were not done according to that promoting way. Obviously that is not true. Many diets that "cure disease", in their terms, involve very limited foods which other individuals simply cannot keep up with, or they do not want to, does not taste good, takes too long to see possible results, or it is honestly just not working. To those people the limited diet is an extreme, it is life altering, it is a major step for something like an infrequent infection or a sore arm or headache whatever the illness may be. The promoted diet or lifestyle itself may mention ideas that if you eat from store bought it won't work because things are laced with chemicals a person cannot pronounce (certainly true about the lacing but may not be true about the "won't work") and therefore should never be bought, the food should only be a certain brand because they believe it is say the most carefully monitored in production, should be only organic because that is what they like. I was referring to those individuals who do go about saying your sick because your not doing it 'this' way or your sick because you choose those foods and not the ones I promote. And I am saying doctors will say before you alter your diet come to us we will try to help you out the way we know how, I am also saying that infections are not necessarily routed in a person's diet so adopting a particular diet is not necessarily needed.

Just to explain a bit more...

but i don't think people need to do any drastic changes to their diet unless they have been suffering for years with yeast, not someone who had one yeast infection that was hard to treat.

This is the one comment I was referring to because I agree. A single infrequent yeast infection does not require an overhaul of diet, because a diet is often difficult to adopt, and the other part of medications or immunity taking control of that infection. If a chronic sufferer wants to try out a new diet even if they had a good one prior to their infection then by all means go for it. I was referring to the one timer without major chronic issues.

getting advice online is tricky and can be dangerous. there is A LOT of stupid advice out there

My mentioning of online buying from an unknown reliability source came from this comment. A doctor is a better choice.