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Over eight years w/ yeast infection nothing is working.
I'm 16 and have had a yeast infection since I was at least 7 or 8. I've tried monistat,creams, and a prescribed medication. I wan to know how rare this is. How else an I treat it? Can it cause infertility? Does it reduce sexual simulation? Any additional information.
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Yeast infections, Candida, are quite common and can usually be treated with over the counter medications or prescriptions; however, occasionally there will be a persistent one that is hard to shift or you can develop a recurring one. It may also affect different parts of the body and occurs when the natural 'bad' bacteria we all have overwhelms the 'good' bacteria. It affects men as well as women and can be passed during sexual contact, and so, can be passed back and forth. I'm assuming, due to your references, that it is vaginal in nature. These infections love the dark, moist environment provided here.
Firstly, you need to ensure that you are extremely careful with hygiene 'down below'. Always wipe your bottom front to back to avoid fecal transference. Secondly, whenever possible, wash the area after every time you've had a bowel movement, again, front to back. Wear cotton undies, not man made fibres, as cotton allows the area to breathe. Wear trousers and tights (pantyhose) as little as possible for the same reason. You need to get as much air to the area as you can.
Diet is also a big contributor to persistent Candida. The general rule is you need to stay on a special diet one month for every year you've had the problem. ANY slip-ups and you set yourself back. It is a very hard diet to follow and needs a strong sense of willpower to follow as there are always temptations out there. The benefits from following it though will hopefully outweigh the hardships.
There are various acidophilus preparations you can try. These reintroduce healthy bacteria to your body and help with rebalancing. Candida is acidic in nature so all foods that are also acidic make things worse. Avoiding sugar as much as possible should help as it feeds the bad bacteria, you could even find yourself craving sugary products. Now, if you're ready for the list, here goes.
AVOID All sweets including hidden sweeteners in processed foods, such as soups, all fruit and fruit juice. Avoid grains such as prepared flake cereals sprouted grain cereals such as: Amaranth, Buckwheat, Corn, Millet, Rice, Rye, Spelt, Wheat.
Avoid Granola, Pearl barley, Instant oats, Cornmeal, degerminated Hominy grits, degerminated Microwave popcorn Blue corn meal
Pasta Pasta is flour and water, the flour may be white bread flour and it may be durum flour made from semolina. All types of noodles are made from the same base and they should all be cut out of the diet, with Bufin, the Japanese noodles, Ramen instant noodles, farina, semolina and white flour noodles and pastas.
Baked goods and Breads Avoid all cakes, pastries, cookies doughnuts or other processed baked food containing sugar. This list includes white bread, or any bread containing wheat, which includes parathas, nanas bread, pita bread, white flour tortillas, wheat dough tortillas, sourdough, or any other ethnic bread made from wheat. Mochi the sweet unleavened bread made from brown rice should be avoided.
Legumes Avoid beans and peas with sweeteners, bean sprouts, tempeh which a type of fermented tofu, tofu and textured vegetable protein.
Nuts & Seeds Coconut, Peanuts, Pistachios, Walnuts
Dairy Products Buttermilk, Soymilk (sweetened), All kinds of cheeses, Cottage cheese, Kefir, Milk, Sour cream Creme fraiche Sweetened yogurt.
Fruit Never eat dried fruit, and when you start the Candida cleanse diet it is best to avoid all fruit because of the fructose the sugar it contains. Once you have eliminated the current Candida infection then eat fruit with a moderate amount of sugar. Low sugar fruits are apples, grapefruit, melon, and strawberries.
Beverages Alcohol, Cereal beverages, Coffee both regular and decaffeinated Fruit juices Soft drinks including the diet soft drinks. Processed tea drinks such as lemon tea. All fruit teas, Black tea
Condiments and Sauces: No Ketchup or catsup or any type of tomato sauce Cream sauces such as Alfredo Steak sauce, NO Capers, Dried or powdered garlic, Miso, Dried or powdered onion, Pickles or chutneys, which include anything made with sugar and distilled vinegar. Spices, Distilled vinegar Sauerkraut.
Proteins: Meat products such as beef chicken or pork have added antibiotics and hormones and they should be avoided if you want to eat meat then eat free-range organic products. Smoked meats such as bacon, sausages and salami products such as pepperoni have added sugar and should be cut out of your diet.
Vegetables:
Avoid - Beetroot Canned tomatoes Carrots Cucumber skins, Mushrooms (all types), Potato skins, Prepared soups, Canned tomatoes.
Now the good news on what you can eat.
Beans, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts Cabbage, Cauliflower, Celery, Cucumbers Green pepper, Kale, Lettuce Onion, radishes, Parsley, Peas, Rocket or arugulla Spinach, Tomatoes.
Foods you should definitely eat when you have Candida:
GRAINS in moderation Whole Amaranth and flour; Whole Barley, Flour and hatomugi; Buckwheat flour and groats; Undegerminated Corn meal (fine or coarse grind); Masa Harina; Popcorn (air popper), Whole Millet and flour; Oat bran, flour, Groats, Quick; whole Quinoa and flour; Wild Rice; Brown Rice (long, med. or short grains), Brown Basmati Rice, Texmati Brown Rice, Wehani Brown Rice Rye flour, Groats, Cream of rye cereal; Whole Spelt and flour; Whole Teff and flour; Wheat Berries, Unprocessed or miller's wheat bran, Bulgur, cracked, Durum, Graham wheat flour, Whole wheat flour. Corn, Quinoa, Saifun (Japanese noodles), Soba (buckwheat), Udon (Japanese noodles), Whole wheat.
Acceptable BAKED/PREPARED PRODUCTS:
Any whole grain unsweetened, unyeasted bread product such as chapatis, whole wheat flour, corn chips, quick breads, unsweetened rice cakes or crackers, tortillas made from brown, corn or whole wheat. Ryvita contains no yeast.
LEGUMES: Dried or frozen Black-eyed peas, Chickpeas or garbanzo beans, Lentils, Soybeans, Soy flakes, Split peas
Acceptable dairy: Unsweetened soymilk. Almond milk Plain yogurt with added acidophilus culture.
NUTS & SEEDS: Almonds, Brazil, Cashews, Hazel, Macadamia, Pecans, Pine nuts, Poppy, Pumpkin, Sesame (tahini), Sunflower.
Small occasional amounts of fresh lemon, lime, tomato, and aubergine (eggplant).
Eat Vegetables: Beans, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts Cabbage, Cauliflower, Celery, Cucumbers, Green pepper, Kale, Lettuce, Onion, radishes, Parsley, Peas, Rocket or arugulla Spinach, Tomatoes,
BEVERAGES: Almond milk Mugicha, Toasted whole barley, Coffee substitute (without malt), Unsweetened soymilk, Unsweetened Taheebo Pau d'Arco tea, Water (plain).
CONDIMENTS AND SEASONINGS: Chicken broth without sweetener, Fresh garlic, Fresh ginger, Fresh herbs, Fresh onion, Pepper, Salt, Tamari (unfermented soy sauce), Raw organic apple cider vinegar
ANIMAL PROTEINS: Beef, buffalo, caribou, chicken, deer, duck, eggs, elk, all types of fish, frog legs, game hen, goat, goose, grouse (partridge), guinea fowl, moose, mutton, peafowl, pheasant, pigeon (squab), pork, quail, and turkey.
I have included American foods as well as I don't know where you live.
Antibiotics are bad news for Candida sufferers. So if you have any conditions that really necessitate you taking them on a regular basis, you need to try to balance out the effect on the yeast infection as quickly as possible when the course has finished. Talk to your doctor to see if there is a lower dose you could take or an alternative. If you have a compromised immune system this can also promote the growth of 'bad' bacteria. Eat unsweetened, plain yoghurt and you can also apply it to the affected area. Exercise will boost your immune system.
Pure garlic or garlic capsules are great for fighting Candida, swallowing it or inserting a garlic clove every few hours, probably when you're not going anywhere for a while would be best! It's a natural antibiotic and it hates Candida. You can also try apple cider vinegar, one cup in a bath of hot water. Don't apply directly to the skin, it will hurt more than you could imagine! Do not use any other type of vinegar. Drink LOTS of water, non chlorinated and preferably use a filtration system. You may need to take multi-vitamins whilst on this diet to ensure you are fully covered, but check that there are no added sugars.
Birth control tablets can keep the problem going, so if you are sexually active, talk to your doctor about alternatives. Don't douch or use feminine deodorants, these make it worse.
If this problem has caused you to develop vaginitis, a thick white or yellowish odourless discharge, it can cause itching in the area and burning or pain during intercourse, so yes, it can be a problem here.
The really bad news is that left untreated it has been indicated in causing infertility and female related problems. Your doctor will be able to talk you through all this. If you do have a sexual partner, it is very important that he is treated at the same time or you will never be rid of it.
I hope this has helped, a rather longer answer than I suspect you expected, but it is a complex issue.
Good luck with this problem and I do hope you successfully rid yourself of it permanently.
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