What if I keep getting thrush? If you have thrush four times in one year, you may have chronic thrush. This is not as common as regular thrush and requires a different treatment. Your doctor will usually recommend taking an anti-thrush tablet for up to six months.
Treatment hasn't fully cleared the infection
Treating thrush can clear thrush fully and get rid of any symptoms. Occasionally the infection hasn't completely gone and some of the bacteria that caused the symptoms remain. This can lead to another outbreak. The infection can live on in the bladder or under nails.
“Thrush is usually easily treated with over-the-counter medication,” says Bailey. “[But] it is possible for thrush to be an ongoing problem with symptoms lasting more than three years. In such cases, it is important to see your doctor to confirm the diagnosis.
So if your yeast infection isn't going away on its own or with over-the-counter treatment, see a gynecologist or other healthcare provider. You might need further testing and a secondary course of prescription antifungal medication.
What causes thrush? Your vagina naturally has a certain amount of yeast. Thrush is caused by the growth of too much yeast. You are more likely to get thrush if you have recently taken antibiotics, you have diabetes or your immune system is weakened (for example, because you have HIV).
Thrush can be confused with other conditions that cause itching and redness with or without discharge. These other conditions include herpes infections and bacterial infections. Your doctor will examine you and take a swab or do further tests to confirm the diagnosis.
A chronic yeast infection is one that does not go away or goes away and returns more than twice in 6 months. The same treatments that work for acute yeast infections may work for chronic infections. However, a doctor may recommend a higher dosage of medication or a regular repeat dosage to prevent reinfection.
Recurrent vaginal thrush does not usually cause any long-term health problems for women. However, if you struggle with repeated episodes of thrush, it might affect your mood, sexual relationships and overall quality of life.
What causes thrush? Most people have small amounts of the Candida fungus in their mouth, digestive tract and skin. When illnesses, stress or medications disturb this balance, the fungus grows out of control and causes thrush.
Taking an antifungal medication for three to seven days will usually clear a yeast infection. Antifungal medications — which are available as creams, ointments, tablets and suppositories — include miconazole (Monistat 3) and terconazole.
Remedies and Treatments for Oral Thrush
The condition may be harder to treat if you have a weakened immune system from HIV infection, cancer, or diabetes. Treatment is designed to stop the fungus from spreading, but it's also important to determine the infection's underlying causes.
These infections are recurrent and persistent, which means they come back repeatedly and can last a long time. This pattern of infection is called chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis. Candida is commonly present on the skin and on the mucous membranes, and in most people usually causes no health problems.
Persistent thrush or recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis is defined as at least four episodes of symptomatic thrush within the last year. It can be a frustrating condition for patients, with significant morbidity and impact on psychological well-being.
What does thrush look like? If you have vaginal thrush, the skin outside your vagina may be red, cracked or damaged. You may see a thick, white vaginal discharge (it may look like cottage cheese). For more information, see 'symptoms of vaginal thrush'.
If you do get symptoms you might notice: unusual, white, thick vaginal discharge (often like cottage cheese) itching and irritation or fissure (like paper cuts) around the vagina. pain when peeing or having sex.
While yeast infections produce thick, white, cottage-cheese like discharge, Chlamydia can cause white, green or yellow discharge. Gonorrhea discharge is white or green. And neither discharge from Chlamydia or Gonorrhea are typically cottage-cheese like. This is an important difference.
What if it's thrush, but the anti-fungals don't work? If you have thrush, anti-fungal treatments are usually effective. But for around 5% of women, thrush keeps coming back or doesn't completely clear despite treatment. In these case, it may be necessary to see a specialist.
So, if you're suffering from a vaginal itching, burning or abnormal discharge that isn't relieved by oral or topical anti-fungals, seek professional help. You should have swabs taken to rule out other infections or conditions and to decide on the most appropriate method of management.
Water is one of the most powerful remedies to combat a yeast infection. Though there are several cures for combating yeast infection, water remains the best remedy. Yeast feeds on the sugar present in your body and leads to infections.
A recurring yeast infection (vaginal thrush) is defined as an episode of thrush four or more times in a year. In some cases, there is a medical reason that you are more prone to thrush infection. Some hormone treatments may also affect your risk of repeated episodes.
The candida diet is strictly free of sugars, grains, and dairy. The diet aims to restore a healthy balance of yeast and bacteria inside your body. By restricting your intake of carbohydrates, you may starve the yeast of its energy source.