RE: yeast infection? Dusty

[Guest guest]

I do use B/C, not for contraception, but because when I had really bad

v symptoms, and was on a lot of different medications

(anti-depressants, neurontin) I think I actually developed a hormonal

imbalance, and so my dr. prescribed allesse. I think they have helped,

at least making my periods more tolerable, and much less bleeding. But

I do think the thick discharge might have increased when I started

taking them. I have had the discharge cultured, but only for yeast and

bacteria, I haven't really had a hormonal profile done. But since the

symptoms are worse before and after my period it might be related. I

use only non-scented tampons, and pure cotton instead of pads, and

cetaphil bar soap. And I definitely refuse any topical yeast/bacterial

treatments. I had allergy tests for chemical sensitivities and showed

no particular allergy. But I am with you that it's best to stay away

from chemicals.

Thank you for all the advice and insights,

mara

--- Dusty wrote:

> Mara do you use B/C pills as contraceptive? Can you be getting

> too much

> progesterone and not enoough estrogen? Progesterone caused heavy

> discharge

> which truly irritated my skin. Can you have the discharge cultured?

> Would your doc work with you on that? In that way, you could rule

> out

> whether or not the discharge itself is causing trouble or the skin is

> actually the problem.

>

> If antihistamines are helping than I would really pursue chemical

> sensitivity testing. I am allergic to yellow dyes (found in meds

> among

> other things) some biocides/antibiotics, preservatives used in many

> of the

> creams prescribed in vulvar treatments, and many many of the

> chemicals

> included in personal products such as shampoos, bar soaps, hair

> products,

> face creams and so on. When these were finally identified and

> removed from

> my environment, I had quite a dramatic reduction in pain.

>

> It is not at all unusual to have an allergy in just one place. Hay

> fever

> manifests itself in the nose and eyes, some people simply get itchy

> rashes

> on their arms, others have their tongue's swell up, and yet others

> get

> nausea and loose bowels. Our bodies, unfortunatley, chose the most

> sensitive part of use to react in.

>

> Dusty

>

>

>

> Re: yeast infection?

>

>

> Thank you all for your input. I don't tink my problem is yeast

> related,

> because frankly I haven't had a positive yeast culture in over a

> year. ANd

> the only time I had a yeast infection was when I was given high doses

> of

> extremely potent antibiotics at an ER by a very irresponsible Dr. I

> definitely think I sometimes have a discharge that irritates me,

> particularly right before my period. And I do think that when my

> symptoms

> were really bad it was because I developed a chronic irritation in my

> skin,

> and so it was really difficult to heal the skin. But I have no idea

> what

> the irritation was a result of (possibly the yeast infection, or

> maybe one

> of the creams used to treat it bc I went through a lot of those), and

> maybe

> the combination of antibiotics severly impaired my immune system.

> Though it seems weird to me that if antibiotics affect the whole

> body, they

> would produce such localized reactions. I don't have any other side

> effects

> except maybe some stomach upsetness. I'm not prone to rashes, and I

> have no

> food allergies or intolerances, I drink plenty of water, and usually

> take

> probiotics, vitamin c. I couldn't handle the anti-yeast diet because

> I like

> food, and let's face it, we have to enjoy the few pleasures available

> to us.

> Food shouldn't hurt the body. ANd I believe eating a well-balanced

> diet,

> that includes a bit of everything is best for my system. So maybe my

> increased symptoms after this course of Bactrim are more due to my

> paranoia.

> I think the fear of developing full blown v symptoms when taking any

> medication makes me be ultra conscious of that part of my body, so

> the

> slightest discomfort unleashes a feeling of absolute dread.

> ANyway, I've been taking Allegra to keep the itch and burning under

> control

> and out of my head, and I took Xanax which I usually take for anxiety

> when I

> have to take a plane. Hopefully doping my brain will keep my fears

> from

> awakening more symptoms in my crotch Although part of me would

> like to

> get to the bottom of this.

>

> mara

>

>

> --- LilyIshii@... wrote:

>

> > Hi Mara,

> >

> > I can't say for sure what is causing the pronounced pain, but I too

>

> > have experienced yeast-like, pronounced vulvar irritation and

> rawness

> > when the test

> > results didn't show any substantial yeast or bacterial growth.

> >

> > In my case, I knew that I could experience yeast-infection-like

> > symptoms even with a test result that was too low. My guess is

> that

> > the gyn's use a

> > standard that would be applicable for women with normal

> > vaginal/vulvar tissue.

> >

> > In those situations, I self-treated it (just to be on the safe

> side)

> > oral probiotics, an anti-yeast diet, and sometimes vaginal

> > suppositories and

> > acidophilus douches. The antibiotics do not affect the hormones,

> but

> > it could affect

> > your body's natural flora and cause a systemic yeast infection,

> which

> > I believe

> > could negatively affect hormonal balance.

> > Going on a no-sugar, no-fermented food, anti-yeast diet helps along

> > with oral

> > probiotics to bring my system back to balance.

> >

> > I wrote about my regimen in an email that I wrote titled, " re:

> (VPD)

> >

> > Questions about herbal drugs for yeast " that was written in a

> response

> > to Daisy's email.

> >

> > It also could be that I was allergic to candida or my own vaginal

> > discharges. I treated that with NAET.

> >

> > Like Dee said, you could still be reacting to the Bactrim.

> >

> > I too don't react well to some antibiotics. When I really need to

> > take antibiotics, I increase the dosage of the probiotics and am

> > careful about my diet

> > so that I can prevent or minimize post-anti-biotic symptoms. Some

> > people say

> > it's wasteful to be on probiotics while you're on antibiotics,

> > because the

> > medication would kill the probiotics that you ingest, but in my

> > experience, I've

> > tried both ways (taking probiotics if I haven't been taking them

> > already or

> > increasing the dose of probiotics during the couse of the

> antibiotics

> > and waiting

> > til after I'm done). I've found that the symptoms are much less if

> I

> > do the

> > former.

> >

> > Stress affects the ph of our body and when it's off, it can be

> > susceptible to yeast.

> >

> > I know it sounds too simplistic, but I've also found that

> increasing

> > my daily water intake to 3-4 liters/day has helped to prevent

> > recurrences of yeast and

> > bacterial infections.

> > I thought I always drank " lots of water " , but after a quick read of

> a

> > book

> > written by a MD about how many of the common illnesses are caused

> by

> > dehydration

> > and hearing about my friends and their friends' health improvement

> > after

> > increasing their water intake, I decided to try it out several

> months

> > ago. I

> > haven't had the annoying recurrent yeast/bacterial infections since

> > -- even after

> > an open-incision abdominal surgery where they loaded me with

> > antibiotics.

> >

> > If you're interested, check out:

> > http://www.watercure.com/

> >

> > Lily

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

>

> Mara Fortes

> (New York)

> 011-52-55-55-54-22-95 (Mexico City)

>

=== message truncated ===

Mara Fortes

(New York)

011-52-55-55-54-22-95 (Mexico City)

__________________________________________________