Has anyone struggled with thrush not clearing up? I am breastfeeding and have been treating thrush for myself and my son for 2 weeks with Nystatin (him) and Lotrimin (me). Unfortunately, at the doctor today I found out that he still has thrush. Now he has a prescription for Diflucan. I am checking with my doctor to see if I should continue with Lotrimin or if she will recommend something else. I am hoping this will knock it out. However, I am getting really paranoid about where thrush is lurking! I know I need to boil my breast pump parts and pacifiers, but what about my other laundry and my bras? If I just wash in hot water, will that do the trick? Any suggestions or advice about treating this would be so helpful!!
I nursed my son with thrush (both of us) for months. Only thing that cleared it up was both of us on a longer than usual dose of difulcan at the same time. Don't just treat one of you, it will go back and forth. I put up with it longer than I needed to and tried natural remedies etc. Difulcan all the way!
I dealt with thrush (unfortunately) with all four of my children. I am just curious... is the lotrimin a cream that you have to apply to your breast. It has been a while and i don't remember the name of the medication although i am wanting to say that it was diflucan that my doctor ended up prescribing for me that eventually worked. I know that none of the creams had any effect on me. The only thing that worked and finally cleared the thrush up was an oral medication. The creams are pretty much worthless. Ask your doctor for a medication that you take by mouth. It is a lot stronger and more effective. It worked really quick with me. Of course, no one told me about this with my first three babies. Make sure you tell your doctor that the medication she prescribed for you is not working and that you are continuing to pass it back and forth and would prefer to try something different. Also, giving the baby a little bit of vanilla yogurt with L Acidophilus will help too. Something about the live active yeast culture in the yogurt kills the thrush. Hope this helps.
Hi J.,
My son had it and we had to give him zantac to keep it from coming back since it was due to the relfux. The medicine that they gave me for the thrush never got rid of it (Nystatin) and the Dr explained it kept coming back possibly because of the reflux coming back up into his mouth.
After he got on zantac the thrush dissappeared.
Amy
If you have a health food store near by pick up some asidolpholis (spelling). It helps with the good bacteria. I took it with my son and it cleared it all up.
I had a great deal of trouble and PAIN from thrush with both kids, but had this article to help me through the second time around:
http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/breastfeeding/...
FWIW- I wound up on diflucan for a month, put vinegar in my wash cycle and never reused a bath towel while I was trying to get over the infection. Good luck to you!
J., it sounds like it's not getting treated effectively. Nystatin is hard to use as it has to actually touch the yeast to kill it, swallowing is minimally effective, so you really have to "paint" the mouth good for results..not easy with a newborn. If you have symptoms, you need treated also. I would encourage you to click on over to www.breastfeedingonline.com and follow the links to the yeast/thrush info. It gives great detailed info on medication and herbal options and also some other tips like washing your bras in a vinegar rinse etc. I recommend just buying all new pacis after treatment has begun if there is recurrent yeast. Feel free to ask me more if you need it. Yeast is so frustrating for an otherwise great bf relationship!
I don't think anyone else has mentioned this...but when my son and I had it, a lactation consultant (from the Elizabeth Blackwell center - great resource for all things nursing if you haven't already used them) recommended sunlight as another aid. She suggested sunning my breasts for 15 minutes a day and putting the pacis and all the other transmitters out in the sun. I felt pretty rediculous doing it (and it wasn't easy to find a place to do it without giving my neighbors a show) but I did it. She also suggested replacing the pacifiers. And make sure that you are cutting out sugar and alcohol (I doubt this one is a big issue for you).
My son had thrush when he was around a year old. The pediatrician had me make up a mixture of Maalox and liquid Benadryl and paint his mouth with it several times daily. It was gone in about a week and never came back. You use 1-2 tsb. of Maalox and 2tsp of benadryl. Make sure you get the childrens formula. His mouth was blistered all the way back into where it went down his throat.
Nystatin is relatively ineffective (only 60%) and I don't really understand why it is still prescribed. Diflucan isn't much better and it has to be taken in very large doses (200 mg for loading dose, 150 mg for 14-21 days following) and many doctors won't give you that much less insurance cover it. It is very helpful to cut certain foods from your diet, almost imperative, for about 3-4 weeks to that the bacteria don't have anything to thrive on. Eliminating all dairy, sugar (and sugar subs), most fruit, white flour, corn gives your gut a chance to heal and get rid of the bacteria causing the thrush and takes away the foods it lives on. You can have all the chicken, oats, vegies, rice, fish you want but thrush feeds on sugar, white flour and starchy foods. You should also try gentian violet which you can get at any health food store and most pharmacies. It is purple and stains but it works! Use it once a day on yourself and in baby's mouth for 4-7 days. Most cases clear in 4 days but may take as long as 7 but if it takes longer it is probably something other than thrush. If you haven't seen a lactation consultant you might want to especially if it doesn't clear up.
