Yeast Infection that just won't Go Away?

[Sabryna]

I got a yeast infection around late November of last year, and ignored it and thought it'd go away. It didn't, so in mid January, I went to the local clinic (yes, I know that's pretty late but I was really hopeful and kind of in denial). The doctor there gave me a pill and took a culture that never got examined. I ate the pill, felt better after a while, but then the infection came back. I went back to the clinic, and saw another doctor. She also gave me a pill, didn't do a culture since she thought it was obvious it was just a yeast infection, and I left. She also advised me to apply some Monistat 7 to the outside to relieve the itchiness. So I ate the pill, felt okay, but it came back again. The Monistat gave some relief, but once I stopped using it after a week, the itchiness came back.

By this time, I was back in college, so I went to see a doctor at the health center there early this month. I got cultured, and discovered it was an infection AND bacteria. So I got the pill a 3rd time (it's Fluconazole btw, I believe), and a good number of pills for the bacteria, and I asked the doctor what I should do if the infection came back yet again. She said to just take another Fluconazole. Well, lo and behold, the pill didn't work, and I had to go for a refill. Just two days ago I took my fourth dose of Fluconazole for this yeast infection, and I haven't felt much improvement. My mom keeps telling me I've had it for so long that it just won't go away - is that possible?

I'm not sure what the cause of this yeast infection is. I don't wear tight clothes (at least it's not tight in the crotch area), but I might get a good deal of sugar from the dining halls' chocolate chip cookies and rice krispies. But I'm on break right now, and at home, there's little sugar to consume. I take showers, I've eaten yogurt like mad before, and that's barely made much lasting effect, and I don't undergo much stress in my opinion. I don't want to keep taking pills and never know what the true source of the problem is. Any help? I'm planning to go to the health center AGAIN (I hate how much this is all costing me) if this latest pill doesn't do any good.