Okay, I've had problems with yeast infections on antibiotics in the past. I just started a round of antibiotics yesterday, and it might just be psycosematic (sp?) but now I feel all itchy. Is there anything I can do to stop it from getting bad? I know I heard eating yogurt helps, and this makes sense to me, because it seems like it would replace the bacteria in my digestive system...? But is there any specific kind or amount of yogurt? Should I eat it before or after taking my pills? I'm taking them twice a day, so should I eat yogurt twice a day also? Is there anything else I can do? Help! Sorry to sound so desperate, but I really can't handle a yeast infection right now!
My doctor once suggested that I take twice the recommended dose of probiotics/acidophilus while on antibiotics, and that usually works for me. He said space out the doses, like if you take the abx twice a day, every 12 hours, then take the probiotics six hours later. If it doesn't work, grapefruit seed extract after the abx are done will do the trick.
Use an enteric coated Acidophilus. Stomach acid destroys Acidophilus. The enteric coated ones don't open until they are in your small intestine, which is not only alkaline, and won't kill the probiotic, but also exactly where your body needs it the most. Take it BETWEEN doses of your antibx. Taking it with the antibx may kill the Acidophilus, as acio IS a bacteria. If it gets really bad, and a few days talk to your doctor about 3 or more days of Diflucan. It is the big guns, but for a nasty yeast infection, nothing works better or faster. It is orally taken, but ONE pill used to be the dosage, some yeasts have a little tolerance to it, so 3 or more pills, taken once a day is the best treatment.
I'm allergic to penicillin and this is one of my reactions to it, so I'm given amoxicillin instead and my body is ok with it. May be you should try this?
last time I had a five day set of antibiotics, three a day, and I bought two tubs of yogurt (a little over a litre each I think), ate it over the five days and never got an itch! But, i was on amoxicillin that time around so maybe Bumble's right and it's less harsh on the body than other antibiotics. (I had strawberry yogurt, with real pieces of strawberry not synthetic flavours, because I don't like plain yogurt at all)
Just for the, record a true allergy to pennicillin includes something as mild as a simple attack of hives and wheezing the first time, then with more exposure progressing to falling blood pressure, hives, panic, closing of the airway, body edema, loss of consciousness and eventually, if no help is received, death. (Anaphylactic shock.) Getting a yeast infection is a SIDE EFFECT, not an allergic reaction. No doc in the world would give Amox to a truely penicillin allergic individual, as they are almost identical drugs, as are all with the word "Cillin" in them. If you were truely allergic, they would give you a macrolide (Z pack, erethromicin) cephalosporins, like Ceclor or Keflex or something from the "Flox" family, like Orofloxin, Cipro or something like that.) You may be senitive to the effects of penn but you wouldn't be able to take Amox, if it were a true allergy. Just good to know, talk to your doctor and make sure you are TRUELY "Allergic" to pennicillin as all drugs in the cillin class need to be avoided. If it is only a matter of being sensitive to the side effects, it is also good to know, if you were to get a serious blood infection, with something like Strep, cillins are the best first choice, and you would hate to be given a less effective drug, because you thought you had an allergy, when it was only side effects.
That's what I thought - I try to pay attention to those things, because my bf is allergic to penicillan. Thanks for the advice. I'm really really broke right now, though, and I can't afford to buy the pills. Would eating mad amounts of yogurt have a similar effect? I would imagine that it should be plain yogurt, since it seems like the sugar content of the flavored stuff might mess up the balance? I know yogurt costs money too, but I can cheap out and buy something generic and chemy.... Anything to get out of a yeast infection, or at least hopefully make it a mild one... I'm not insured, so this whole experience is putting a serious dent in my rent check (due today!).
Yogurt may be better than nothing, but it has some problems with it (despite the ONE study which found yogurt eaters had less yeast infections) one, stomach acid KILLS acidophilus, while your body is digesting the yogurt, it is producing acid (and ALL dairy products cause your stomach to prioduce HUGE amounts of acid, probably more than any other food) two, it is usually dead by the time it gets into your small intestine, three, the amount of acidophilus in one acidopilus tablet is more than you get in a gigantic tub of yogurt four, some beleive that dairy INCREASES yeast problems, and yogurt is made from Dairy. I have said this a thousand times. There is nothing magical about yogurt. It is not any less damaging to the body than any other food made from milk meant for baby cows. Acidophilus tablets are not that expensive. If you can swing it, get the enteric coated ones, and keep them in the refrigerator. I hope you can find the cash to get yourself some. If it is absolutely impossible (and, in reality, buying some acidophilus capsules isn't going to cost you much more than a few tubs of yogurt) then you can try the yogurt, as long as you don't have any Dairy allergies or lactose intolerance (YES, there IS lactose in yogurt, a little less than in fluid milk, but it is stll there.) Heal quickly, sister.
Definitely look into a good probiotic. There are actually many doctors who will recommend taking a good one whenever starting a round of antibiotics. Antibiotics destroy all of the good bacteria in your gut along with the bad. So you need a good probiotic supplement to help restore that healthy bacteria. You should also make sure to stay on it for a while after finishing the antibiotic because it will take a while to restore everything (plus while you're still on the antibiotic it will continue destroying the good bacteria). One good one that I like is the Now Foods brand Acidophilus. It has multiple strains of probiotic, which is ideal, and lots of live bacteria.
I do'nt have any advice... I just wanted to empathize with you. This has happened every time I had to take an antibiotic. It's AWFUL!!!! Hopefully they were able to help you out so you don't suffer as much.
i didn't even read this whole thing because i don't have first hand knowledge, but this woman at work one day was preaching to me about how good yogurt is for yeast infections (because she bought about 40 little cups of it) so uuhhhh try that
Definitely take some probiotics, something at least with 3 billion or more bacteria because the antibiotics are killing off every kind of bacteria in your body, whether or not they are good or bad bacteria. Your body needs some balance of the good/bad bacteria in order to regulate a lot of your body's processes. Eating Yogurt daily is also a good way to maintain some of that good bacteria in your digestive system whether or not you're taking antibiotics. Sometimes, if I'm getting overtaken by yeast/candida, I will go get some yeast cleanse pills at the natural health food stores and add those to my daily regimen. There are lots of brands and types, but most actually do work if you take them properly and always always always ask your doctor first before you start downing supplement pills of any kind.
