Yeast problems

[MomN]

A friend is dealing with candida problems that come and go.  She has taken Fluconazole many times.  Going no sugar helps a lot.  She notices that when she does eat sugar or when her period is near, her vaginal yeast infection symptoms return along with minor tailbone and spine pain/numbness that lingers for a while.  

Anyone know what this might be?  She does have various gastro problems (IBS, acid reflux - has had an endoscopy) and occasional pain under both breasts (had mammogram) and under armpits (seems to come after she eats certain foods) but continues to be seen by doctors who offer no real advice.  Food sensitivities are an issue and she is gluten and dairy free.

[Ethel Mertz]

I wonder if the occasional pain under her breasts and underarms is a yeast infection as well. I had to get a prescription cream to use. Also, she should shower at least every other day and wash those areas on days she doesn’t shower. She might try using monistat or equivalent in those areas. And she should get checked out by her doctor.

[KungFuPanda]

A friend of mine dealt with this by treating with yogurt. Her Gu this such a mess that she needed to lay off antibiotics.  Has your friend looked into using dairy free yogurt for this purpose? Consuming it regularly and treating topically can get infections under control but I’ve never looked into how this works with DF yogurt. I’m assuming the live cultures, and not the dairy medium, do the heavy lifting. 

[HomeAgain]

9 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

A friend of mine dealt with this by treating with yogurt. Her Gu this such a mess that she needed to lay off antibiotics.  Has your friend looked into using dairy free yogurt for this purpose? Consuming it regularly and treating topically can get infections under control but I’ve never looked into how this works with DF yogurt. I’m assuming the live cultures, and not the dairy medium, do the heavy lifting. 

If she wants to try, my non-yogurt eating kid uses capsuled probiotics as an alternative.  She may be able to find something like that.

[Katy]

I agree that the underarm & breast thing might be yeast too. She probably needs to be screened for diabetes and possibly HIV.  And good probiotics might help. 

[KidsHappen]

Definitely recommend probiotics. Culturelle is a good brand.

[MomN]

Dr had mentioned possible SIBO but the insurance would never cover the cost.  I will tell her about probiotics!

[Pawz4me]

I had somewhat similar issues in the few months before I was diagnosed with Hashi's/hypothyroidism. It was the only time in my life I've ever had yeast infections. After I was properly medicated everything except IBS (which I was diagnosed with many years before my thyroid whacked out) cleared up. So if she hasn't had it done I'd advise a thyroid check, just in case. This is a fairly balanced article that says (essentially) there's no solid evidence of a connection, but people do report the issues occurring together.

[Harriet Vane]

Yes to what the others say, especially diabetes and thyroid screening.

Definitely probiotics and acidophilus.

She should also consider possible other food sensitivities. One immediate starchy possibility is corn—perhaps she might take that out as well. 

An excellent antifungal is apple cider vinegar. She can swallow it (3T in water) and she can use it topically. My dh has had remarkable results soaking his feet in ACV and lukewarm water for athlete’s foot.

[MomN]

1 hour ago, Harriet Vane said:

She should also consider possible other food sensitivities. One immediate starchy possibility is corn—perhaps she might take that out as well. 

Thanks.  It definitely gets better when she eats less things like corn.  I'm just wondering how most people do it - no gluten, no dairy, no corn, no sugar ... that is really hard.

[Mona]

It’s important to find the cause, but in the meantime I also recommend she try taking acidophilus once a day to get her gut back in balance. My favorite brand is Solgar. I don’t recommend eating yogurt unless it is plain yogurt. Most yogurt has way too much sugar added. 

[shawthorne44]

One out there suggestion that worked for me.   At one time I'd had reoccurring yeast infections.  My mom had this home remedies book and it said that the Yeast isn't killed by even a hot wash cycle.   So people reinfect themselves.  

So, what I did was wash all my underwear, and then boil them.   Yes, boil them.   Big stockpot on the stove.    Then I wore minipads while I treated the yeast infection.  Then I continued using the minipads for about another week.  Then I boiled my clean underwear again.   Probably overkill but anyone that has experienced repeated yeast infections will understand.   

I didn't get the yeast infection again.   Of course I had to buy new underwear since they all started to fall apart.    

If I were to get another yeast infection.   I'd do the Yogurt/Probiotic/No Sugar thing.  Treat the infection while using minipads.    Then boil the underwear once when I knew I was infection free.  Or, well, my underwear is much cheaper now.   I'd probably just toss all of mine and start new.  
 

[Harriet Vane]

25 minutes ago, MomN said:

Thanks.  It definitely gets better when she eats less things like corn.  I'm just wondering how most people do it - no gluten, no dairy, no corn, no sugar ... that is really hard.

I did the full no-sugar, no-grain diet for a year for a massive yeast infection. This was quite some time ago, perhaps fifteen years?? I also took multiple rounds of Diflucan, both at the beginning horrible acute phase of the infection and then again about a quarter of the way through the year when I had a resurgence. It was really hard, though it got easier once my taste buds adjusted. I lost weight without even trying. Sweet potatoes tasted like unimaginably luxurious desserts. 

At this point, I am gluten and dairy free permanently due to intolerances, and I eat a kinda-sorta low-sugar diet. When I want a sweetener, I use maple sugar as it's lower fructose. I do allow myself treats, though, and I suspect that even the little that I allow is too much for joint pain and acid reflux.

The biggest key to doing the no-sugar, no-grain diet is FLAVOR. I found that I had to eat either super-hot-spicy things or gorgeously-flavored things when the cravings hit. 

The other key is fat. I found that the feelings of being shaky-panicky-hunger subsided significantly when I started using lots more olive oil.

It was much, much easier to stick to the diet and get proper flavor when I cooked from scratch rather than relying on packaged products.

[shawthorne44]

1 hour ago, MomN said:

Thanks.  It definitely gets better when she eats less things like corn.  I'm just wondering how most people do it - no gluten, no dairy, no corn, no sugar ... that is really hard.

Just eliminating Corn Syrup would be super hard.   It is in almost everything. 

I discovered accidentally while dieting for weight that a clean, non-inflammatory diet cleared my continual sinus congestion.  I pretty much have to cook totally from scratch when doing that, and no restaurant meals.    
 

[KungFuPanda]

2 hours ago, Mona said:

It’s important to find the cause, but in the meantime I also recommend she try taking acidophilus once a day to get her gut back in balance. My favorite brand is Solgar. I don’t recommend eating yogurt unless it is plain yogurt. Most yogurt has way too much sugar added. 

Oh sweet baby James!  Yes. Please only use plain yogurt. This is especially important if you are applying it topically to the rash site and not simply ingesting it. 
 

[theelfqueen]

I would be concerned that the yeast is a symptom not the actual issue. The breasts and undearms are more concerning to me due to potential lymph node related issues. I'd want blood work and a more thorough assessment. 

[MomN]

These comments have been very helpful.  What are good foods to eat when you are grain and sugar free?  Are all fruits okay? Beans? Potatoes? What about black coffee?  

[Pawz4me]

12 minutes ago, MomN said:

These comments have been very helpful.  What are good foods to eat when you are grain and sugar free?  Are all fruits okay? Beans? Potatoes? What about black coffee?  

If she has IBS she may need to be very careful with beans and many fruits. Have her look at low FODMAP diet info if she hasn’t already. 

[Ethel Mertz]

On 8/22/2022 at 1:04 PM, theelfqueen said:

I would be concerned that the yeast is a symptom not the actual issue. The breasts and undearms are more concerning to me due to potential lymph node related issues. I'd want blood work and a more thorough assessment. 

Could you please say more about this? Especially re lymph node issues…

[Ottakee]

Another thing might be to have her husband treated as well if they might be sharing the infection