Fungal infections of the bile in PSC

August 18, 2006

With the present discussion, I wanted to add one more thing.

I'm definitely a " student " in PSC/CC so bear with me, but I think

there's a difference between having blood-borne candida and what we

all know as " yeast infections. " The doctors continually monitored

Brad for infection of any kind. They called for very specific tests

on the blood. When candida was detected in the blood, he was

immediately admitted to the hospital for 3-day IV antibiotic therapy.

When he was released, he continued taking antibiotics (fluconazole)

for 3 weeks. So far, so good.

Diane

August 18, 2006

I find your problem with thrush quite interesting. When I nursed my

son (he'll be 8 in a few weeks), he developed a case of thrush. The

antibiotic prescribed by his pediatrician did nothing. My local WIC

office (Women, Infants & Chilren- usually associated with the Health

Dept) suggested I use an old family wives type treatment. It's

available over the counter in most Farm Fresh stores. If you can't

find it, ask your pharmacist if they know where you can get it. They

may be able to order it for you. It's called Gentian Violet. It's a

very deeply purple colored liquid that you coat your entire mouth

with. It must not taste too bad, because I had no trouble getting an

infant to open up so I could apply it. One caution is that it's very

bad for staining. It makes the mouth look black for a day or two. I

spilled some on a green sofa we had, and it looked horrible. Nothing

I did would remove it, however after about 6 months it had faded to

the point you would've never known there was a stain. Treatment with

it usually is as follows: 2-3 times per day for about a week. You

might want to clarify that with the pharamcist though, since

directions are not usually listed on the bottle and I'm going from

memory. I hope that this might help someone. It's unusual but highly

effective.

Tammy

>

> Jarad, and anyone else interested in the Candida issue. When I

was first

> diagnosed with PSC 20 years ago and in desperate shape (my

primary bile duct

> had been almost totally blocked with a dominant stricture for who

knows how

> long) I had terrible problems with yeast overgrowth in the mouth

and on the

> tongue for about two years prior to being opened up and stented

with a T-tube.

> Candida in the mouth (thrush) is pretty easily recognizable and

usually looks

> like the tongue is white and furry sometimes with scattered red

patches,

> sometimes not. Often the tongue will be sore as well. Also, the

overgrowth can

> show up in the mucous membranes of your mouth and your gums. To

the tongue,

> it will feel like the skin inside your mouth is slightly bumpy

and sometimes

> like it's peeling off. Once the stent was placed in my primary

duct (at that

> time I only had a few strictures, now you can't count them!),

these symptoms

> cleared within a week! But through the course of 2 years prior

to that I

> used plain Nystatin powder, probiotics, and diet (simple sugars

are the worst

> for yeast overgrowth) to somewhat control the symptoms. When

things got

> really bad I would take an nasty antifungal called

Ketoconazole ...wouldn't

> recommend it since it can damage the liver, just what we don't

need! There may be

> other options out there at this point, I don't know, but would be

interested

> in knowing if anyone else does. I do know it's something that I

also had a

> hard time getting tested for as a chronic problem, but it's very

real. Oddly,

> even though my PSC is pretty bad now, I rarely have flare-ups of

thrush, but

> my lifestyle and diet is very different now than it was way back

when.

>

> Jeff in FL

> PSC 1989

>

> In a message dated 8/17/2006 8:19:48 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

> jarad_patko@... writes:

>

> Hi ,

> I read your post and wanted to know: do you think there are

certain

> anti-biotics/anti-biotics/anti-fungals that are better than

others?

> way to diagnose candida infection that you're aware of? I've been

> telling a bunch of docs I might have candida but haven't gotten

much

> of a response from them. One, an allergist, even specifically

> refused to test me for it. Thanks,

> Jarad

>

August 18, 2006