yeast infection or worse?

[confused681]

I am 25 years old and have been getting yeast infections frequently for like the past 3 or 4 years. I believe that I am allergic to some of the over the counter meds so when I start to have symptoms I go to my doctor. Once I went for my annual exam and she told me that I had one, I didn't even have any symptoms at the time. So, I'm constantly thinking that I might have one, most of the time I try to ignore it unless it really gets bad. I'm sure taht's not good for me. It's gotten to the point where I don't even have to make an appointment to see my doc when I get them, I just call the office and they call in a prescription for me. I'm concerned that maybe my doctor is over looking a more serious problem. I am so incredibly cautious when it comes to the things you should and shouldn't do to prevent a yeast infection and still I get them. Just recently I read that they can be caused by taking birth controll pills, which I do take and have been taking for about the same amount of time as I've been getting the infections. I feel like I call the doc office so often that I'm being bothersome and that I'm being a hypocondriac. I'm starting to get embarassed. Please help me out here.

[halloweenspook]

I have ur EXACT same symptoms!!! Did u ever find anything that cured all of ur symptoms?

[Missy773]

Has anyone been diagnosed with candida glabrata and sucessfully cured?

[hopingforhelp808]

Wow!  We have the exact same problem.  I am waiting to see the doctor today...once again.  I feel like a hypochondriac too, with all of the appointments I keep scheduling for years now.  I have tried every type of cream/suppository, yogurt, acidophilus supplements, cotton underwear, etc.  I have also had blood work done for sugar and thyroid levels which were normal.

I have my mind set on going in to my appointment today and showing my doc the bigger picture.  What I mean by that, is a list of other symptoms that I have that may or may not be related to the chronic yeast infections.  The reason I decided to take a look at other symptoms is because I noticed on the Prilosec (antacid) box it suggests that you let your doctor know if you are taking anti-yeast medication.  I got some info from a website stating that the Prilosec may decrease the effectiveness of the anti-yeast medication.  

So here's my list:  chronic yeast infections, heartburn, headaches, fatigue, memory loss, and sinus irritation/infections.  No wonder I feel like a hypochondriac!  Anyway, just wondering if you ever found any relief or if anyone else has any suggestions for similar problems...

[ladena19]

i have yeast infecion every mo too. and my doc thought i have diabetes. or sugar but that wasnt it.... i really dont know what it is but i just treat them with  yeast infection treatment from walgreens

[alyssa24]

YES i was going to say have her change your pill that is def what is causing it in my opinion or get off it completely its not worth it. I had a yeast infection for 4 weeks and they told me it wasn't and they freaked me out, but it ended up get cured by monistat. GOOD LUCK you should not have to live with that. It made me depressed.

[confused681]

Thanks for all of your comments. I went to the doc the other day and had a culture done and the lab is gonna test for a bunch of stuff, I'm just waitng on the results. One of you wrote back that what I have is probably BV because she was giving me the Cleocin supository. When I went I asked if I had been tested for that previously (they said yes) and that is not what I have, but I wanted to say thanks for the info on that because at least now I know that's not what this is and it's one less thing to worry about. I assume that she was giving me the cleocin because it is strong and the type of yeast I have is hard to get rid of. Soo, now I just wait for the results. Oh, and I also had her change my bc pill, so hopefully that will help.

[jewels8888]

a yeast infection is not always a yeast infection...
(if that makes any sense)
i had 3 infection one after the other and it was the first time in 32 years...
i was given an oral pill diflucan and it worked great
no using creams nothing.. so the 2nd and 3 rd time i was given the pill again and told to eat plenty of yogurt (believe it or not that helps also)..
BUT i was lucky that i had a pap test scheduled with my obgyn because the symptoms looked and felt like a yeast but it was the was my body was reacting to cervical changes... i had pre-cancerous cells... i dont want to freak you out cause i know what that feels like... but you should maybe look for a 2 nd opinion if your doctor is willing to give the medication without a proper exam EACH TIME... good luck

[free spirit]

quote: "They are annoying, but you can relax; a yeast infection isn't gonna kill you :-) Letting it go is fine."

This is wrong. Chronic yeast infections, no matter what the cause, can lead to some very painful conditions that are really hard to diagnose and even harder to treat. Especially since there are a whole lot of ignorant docs out there.

Some women do find that it's the bcp with the higher level of estrogen than your body normally produces to be the cause of chronic yeast. Others have a more difficult strain to deal with.

And others, like myself, have developed a localized immune reaction to vaginal candida. This means I can be asymptomatic for yeast yet be suffering severe pain in the vulvar region.

You need to figure out what is triggering your chronic yeast. Willy nilly treating it over the phone is not good practice.  Chronic yeast leads to chronic pain. Look up vulvodynia and vulvar vuestibulitus.  Do your self a favor, find out what's causing it. Whether it's a particular food, too much sugar in your diet, developing symptoms after sex or your bcp.

[confused681]

thanks

[monkeyflower]

No, there is a whole world of difference between an antifungal and an antibiotic.

But you said Cleocin, which is not an antifungal. That IS an antibiotic, and it's used for BV. So apparently you have BV, not a yeast infection. That makes sense, actually. BV is usually incredibly hard to get rid of. You might ask about taking Flagyl.

Good luck.

[confused681]

I really appriectiate everyone putting their comments here. I know that antibiotics can cause yeast infections, however there are antifungal antibiotics such as Diflucan and also  Cleocin, which is a suppository form of chlindamycin, that's what my doc prescribes for me. So in fact you are taking an antibiotic to kill the yeast infection. Have you ever noticed that most medicines that you take have some of the same side effects as the symptoms that you have for taking it, guess that's just how it works. Also you mentioned about eating yogurt, which I do on a daily basis and it doesn't seem to do anything. I don't mean to be rejecting everything that you have both said, but it doesn't seem to be applying to my problem. I will go to the doc to find out what's wrong, that was my plan. I was just hoping by some miracle that someone else had the same problem as me and would have an exact answer for me. Guess, I was hoping too big. It just seems imposible to me that I keep having yeast infections so often for what seems to be no apparent reason, except maybe the bc pill I'm taking. When ever I punch my symptoms into the computer to look it up, it always says yeast infection. When I look up different STD's that I think it might be I don't have all of those symptoms and the ones I do have that are the same aren't entirely the same, if that makes sense. I'm probably just being paranoid.

[confused681]

Thanks for the advice. Letting a yeast infection go isn't the greatest idea especially since I'm sexually active. I actually gave it to my boyfriend before and really, I don't want to do that again. Diflucan doesn't work for me either because I've become imune to it or because it isn't strong enough. That's another thing about the yeast infections, I don't like having to take antibiotics so often. I am going to ask about switching pills though and hopefully that will help.

[monkeyflower]

Yeast infections don't respond to antibiotics (in fact, antibiotics can trigger yeast infections). So, are you sure it's actually a yeast infection? Also, I doubt that you're immune to Diflucan. I would think that instead you are either 1. not having a yeast infection at all, or 2. have a type of yeast infection that might be resistant to treatment. I'd see your doctor.

[PGB]

Monkeyflower is right, antibiotics can cause yeast infections.  They not only kill off the "bad" bacteria in our bodies, they also kill off the "good" bacteria too.  (That's the way my doctor explained it to me, anyway.)  My doctor also suggested eating yogurt.  I'm not real crazy about the taste of yogurt myself, but if I ever take an antibiotic, I have to eat yogurt everyday to put some of the "good" bacteria back in my body.  If I don't, I'm like you, calling the doctor for meds to be called in and I've done it so many times they call them in for me too.  The eating yogurt thing might not work for you, but it has for me.  

[monkeyflower]

I know how you feel--I had yeast infections almost every month when I was on the pill. They are annoying, but you can relax; a yeast infection isn't gonna kill you :-) Letting it go is fine. I eventually just started ignoring them since they'd go away once I started my period.

But if this is really bothering you, you might ask your doctor about switching pills, or ask about taking a Diflucan every week. Or next time you feel you have a yeast infection, go in and get it checked out.