RE: [VPD]Zig/ Yeast

[Guest guest]

Can we be desensitized with shots or drops or something? Is your doc

going to treat you for Crohn's? How is diagnosis of Crohn's confirmed?

So stopping your hormones or BC didn't stop the thick creamy discharge

you had experienced?

I think I'm going to ask to be tested with this test below. Thanks for

mentioning it.

Dusty

RE: Yeast

My doctor recently ordered a comprehensive stool

analysis from Great Smokies laboratory. For what it's

worth, on the lab notes it said " All yeast

sensitivities. " I'm assuming this means I have an

allergy. That might explain why I constantly have the

symptoms of a yeast infection, even when no excessive

amounts of yeast are found. Dusty, you'll remember

that I'm the one who had the infection with baker's yeast...Well, this

lab test found something called Geotrichum species yeast. I've never

even heard of that one! It also discovered excessive levels of

Eosinophil Protein X, which it said can be associated with Crohn's

disease. I understand that Crohn's can cause vulvar problems.

Zig

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advice. Please consult your physician for professional advice.

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[Guest guest]

Thanks for the info on Crohn's, Tina. It sounds as if

your DH and MIL have been through the wringer with it.

Do you know if Crohn's would cause elevated ANA and

SED rates? My digestive, VVD and bladder problems seem

to flare up, then go into remission--though usually

not all at the same time--so there have been times

when I felt fairly good over the last 19 years.

If you don't mind me asking, does having a chronic

illness make your hub more sympathetic toward yours?

My husband is disabled from complications of diabetes.

(He can't walk without braces, has vision and hearing

problems, hypertension, some kidney damage and

constant foot ulcers/infections, including yeast.) On

one hand, it makes him more understanding and

accepting of my problems. (Once, I even got him to

inspect my vulva with a magnifying glass and report

back to me, lol.) On the other hand, he and his family

expect me to hold a job, do all the houshold chores

and take care of him, because, after all, MY problems

aren't life-threatening.

Zig

[Guest guest]

What a real disappointment - to lose her just when you find her!!!

Armed with the test results from her, maybe you could find a doc who

would follow through for you. I sure hope so, given that we repeatedly

are reading about allergy/sensitivities being a major contributing

factor to this d------- disease.

As I understand Crohn's, if serious enough and left untreated it could

be life threatening due to infections. Perhaps you could start a

program of alternative medicine designed for those with Crohn's and see

if you get improvement. I understand your reluctance for invasive

testing - I'm such a horrid coward when it comes to such things - I

don't think anyone on this list is nearly as chicken as I am. Dame

fortune has smiled on me regarding invasive surgeries and testing and I

only have had two leg operations and a conization of the cervix under

anesthesia while in my early 20's. Every other procedure -eye surgery,

breast biopsy and tumor removal, small mass on side of neck removal and

some infertility testing - all done without going to sleep.

As for an update on me.... Several things improved my condition I

believe, unless time itself has done it and I don't know it because I

have been treating the condition throughout this time frame (but I don't

think this is the case). I stayed on the .50 estradiol Combipatch with

high progesterone until mid Sept. 2003 - with topical Benedryl, topical

Estradiol and once in a while topical hydrocortizone. My skin was

improving gradually, with setbacks. Then I asked for Bi-Est Cream and

Prog. Cream instead of the patch - to see if I could get a reduction in

that awful creamy discharge we have often discussed. The BiEst was

wwaaayyy too strong - or I absorbed way too well and I became nauseated,

dizzy and had headaches. Along with this I got some pretty steady

breakthrough bleeding which was almost intolerable - BUT the creamy

discharge was on the decline!!! So the doc switched me from the BiEst

compounded cream to the .l mg Vivelle Dot patch on Dec. 3, 2003. I am

to use this patch two months without Prog. And then every second month

use 10 days of Prog. Cream. I had COMPLETE resolution of that creamy

icky discharge - but the .l was really too strong - pretty constant

breast pain and vulvar discomfort. Turns out there is this very minor

skin (yeast) infection, as well as very mild internal yeast, which I am

hoping is a carry over from having too much estrogen on the .l mg patch.

I switched to the .75 patch 3 weeks ago and though I am having about 4

hot episodes daily(they sure aren't flashes - they last about 10 minutes

each!!!!).

My vulvar skin is completely estrogenized without having to use

Estradiol topically now - in fact in irritated the skin due to the

surface yeast. I have reddened sore skin - but I am not in the kind of

pain 24/7 that I was 6 months ago. It is a much milder pain, except

during flares.

I have been positively diagnosed with dysesthetic vulvodynia , WITHOUT

pelvic floor dysfunction, despite some pretty painful episodes of

shooting pain from the low back through the vagina/vulva and down into

the left leg, and the new doc wants me to do the standard - Elavil,

Diflucan, yada, yada. I took one half of a 10 mg Elavil and slept for

14 hours STRAIGHT! That's really unacceptable in my book. As for the

Diflucan, I believe that I will take this only under the threat of death

since I have read SO much here on this list about ladies who took

antifungals to the point of wiping out the GOOD flora and faunas

completely. Also, I am afraid of Diflucan from an allergic standpoint,

as one of the first things they mention on TV in the ads is that some

people have allergic reactions to it. I recently had a swollen purple

blistered tongue from Zantac, and OTC stomach med that I took as

prescription for about 2 years - about fifteen years ago. Ended up on

the emergency room - so now I'm more than a little timid about drugs

with known allergic reactions. I go back on the 29th of this month and

I will ask her that instead of taking the standard drugs am going to ask

for allergy testing and then treatment (if applicable) for yeast. This

new doc, like the four others before her, says unequivocally that my

skin appears to be in allergic response mode. So, if that's the case, I

want to try and identify the allergy, especially if it's yeast.

I have had a few pain free days, and have been able to be intimate

more in the last two months that achieved in the last two years. In

general, from it's onset in Sept. 2002 to now - I am at least 75%

improved, which kinda supports my theory that this was mainly hormonal

for me (cold turkey cessation of Prempro due to results of WHI study -

told to quit cold turkey by my GYN and then developed severe

vulvovaginal atrophy within two months). IN addition, the HRT has

stopped the urinary incontinence, which is apparently one of the issues

that can contribute to vulvodynia. I have been dry since increasing the

dose of estrogen upwards from .50mg patches.

Don't give up Zig - you have important clues to things that are going

wrong inside and just maybe the answers are right at your fingertips !

Stay well

Dusty

RE: Zig/ Yeast

Dusty,

It's unbelievable, but I think this doctor (she's an

internist) has gone out of business! Every time I call

for a follow-up appointment, I get an answering

machine. And it's such a disappointment, because she

was so caring and seemed really motivated to find the

cause of my problems. I heard that she treated a lot

of patients without insurance and let them skip out on

paying, so I suppose it's a case of no good deed goes unpunished.

I wish I COULD find an allergist who knows something

about yeast desensitization shots. The one I went to

last year didn't even diagnose or treat FOOD

allergies. As far as confirming Crohn's, I would need

to have another colonoscopy, which I've been putting

off for 10 years. The last one was so traumatic; they

didn't really complete the exam, so I was left hanging

as to whether it's Crohn's or IBS. Since, as far as I

know, the treatment options for Crohn's are

antibiotics, steroids or surgery, I'm not that

interested in pursuing it, anyway. After 19 years,

I've simply learned to structure my life around being

near the bathroom!

And, yes, stopping the HRT did greatly reduce the

white discharge. I just KNEW it was the estrogen! Of

course, the tradeoff is killer hot flashes, sweats,

insomnia, etc. And getting rid of the discharge didn't

cure the vulvar itching and burning--turns out I was

wrong about that.

Are you still taking HRT? What has your doctor been

doing for you? Update please!

Zig

No information posted to this group should be construed as medical

advice. Please consult your physician for professional advice.

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[Guest guest]

Dusty,

75% improvement is great, but I'm hoping for the

remaining 25% for you! IMO, it's odd they say you

don't have pelvic floor dysfunction given the shooting

pains down your legs.

I've had those 10-minute hot flashes, too. They're

more than a power surge; they're a core system

meltdown! Sometimes I alternate between hot and cold

flashes, which is really bizarre. Oddly, whenever I

get a panic attack, invariably a hot flash will start

a minute or so later. Kind of an early warning system,

I guess!

I really AM disappointed by my disappearing doctor.

Her approach was to combine Western medicine with

alternative treatments, which makes sense to me. I

hate starting the process of doctor shopping all over

again. My mother talked me into seeing this one

because I'd pretty much given up and started avoiding

doctors altogether. I haven't even had a pap smear or

mammo for a couple of years. After almost two decades

of searching for answers and getting nowhere, I'm kind

of burned out. (After one doctor told me that IBS, IC

and VVD were exclusive to " high-strung Caucasian

women, " I began to imagine they were all secretly

writing " neurotic " on my chart.)

I think you have the right idea pursuing the allergy

connection. Let me know if you have any luck finding a

doctor who will do this, and what tests he or she

orders. Like you, I'm allergic to a whole host of

things--food, pollens, medicines, etc. Last time I

took sulfa for a UTI I also had an anaphlactic

reaction. I really wouldn't be surprised if allergies

were contributing to our VVD.

Zig