is thrush life threatening

I am a 65 yr old female and was diagnosed with severe COPD about two years ago.  I used Advair diskus for several months and felt great.  I rarely had to use a rescue inhaler and was able to walk briskly for over a mile every day.  Then my internist found blood in my stool during an annual physical and sent me for a colonoscopy and an upper GI endoscopy which found a lot of thrush "Canadida"? in my esophagus. I did not have any in my mouth. I was put on Nystatin for two weeks and when I went to my pulmonary doctor, I was taken off the Advair.   He wanted me to use only Combivent but I really didn't do well at all on it so I then tried other inhailers, none of which compared at all to the relief I had with Advair.  I can't be sure but I think I have the thrush in my esophagus again.  So,  my question is:  Is thrush life threatening?  If not and I can't function without a "powder" inhailer such as Advair, Spiriva etc., and they all seem to cause thrush would it be possible to use the Advair and try to control the thrush with probiotics occational Nystatin.   Please give my your thoughts.

[Jenn12546]

I have had thrush many times, most times it localizes to the mouth and esophagus but yeast can grow anywhere where it is moist and dark. As far as why you are growing it, it seems it is from the steroid in the Advair discus. Did you rinse your mouth after each use? That measure helps tremendously when it comes to preventing oral thrush.
As far as being life threatening, I have experienced candida in my bloodstream but I also had tons of yeast growing in my lungs, so that was the source. I am not sure whether people have went on to develop systemic infections from oral thrush. I don't think that it is too common, but that is just my opinion. I am not a doctor, the best source for that type of question would be your doctor.
It wouldn't hurt to take probiotics either, but the absolute best thing you can do if you do go back on steroid based inhalers is to make sure you rinse your mouth out thoroughly after each use, even gargle in your case. That way any residual steroid will be washed out and not left in the mouth.
I hope this helps....
Jenn