4 Truths about drugs that cause yeast infections

There are drugs that dramatically increase your chances of developing a candida overgrowth. Some major culprits are steroids, the oral contraceptive pill, chemotherapy and antibiotics.

Steroids:
Oral steroids (such as those taken for asthma) can contribute to cases of oral thrush. So be on the look out for white patches in the mouth or on the tongue, and be prepared to see a doctor if you suspect a problem. Spacers used with steroid inhalers can help prevent oral thrush or stop it recurring. Treatment for oral thrush generally involves looking for and removing the cause of the problem, and then if necessary oral lozenges may be prescribed by your doctor.

Steroids taken either intravenously or in ingested as medication can increase the likelihood of getting thrush, either vaginal, oral, or sometimes on other parts of the body. Steroids may prescribed for such things as allergies, hodgkins lymphoma, crohn’s disease etc.

The Oral Contraceptive pill:
Because it alters normal hormone levels, it can increase a woman’s susceptibility to thrush. This is because as our hormone levels are altered by the pill, our ability to process sugar is reduced, leading to more available sugar for the thrush to feed on.

Chemotherapy:
Can increase your chance of oral thrush in a number of ways. First of all, chemotherapy works by damaging the cells in your body. Healthy cells can repair and keep reproducing, cancerous ones find it more difficult. But in the period where your healthy cells are damaged they are liable to more problems than usual.

You can find you get ulcers and bleeding, and candida, always present in our mouths any way, can become an opportunistic infection. Really good oral hygiene is important in treating and preventing thrush while having chemotherapy. If you have dentures, keep them very clean. If you have teeth use a soft tooth brush, an electric one can also be good. Replace the toothbrush frequently to prevent infection.

Chemotherapy often causes a lack of saliva, so eat foods that are soft on the mouth, think juicy or saucy things, rather than crispy or acidic.

Antibiotics:
Antibiotics are implicated in yeast overgrowth because they kill friendly bacteria such as lactobacilli. Lactobacilli are normally available to help keep a balance with the yeast and stop them growing out of control, so if they are removed yeast tend to flourish more.

It is also worth remembering that with the exception of the contraceptive pill, you only take these drugs when you have a pre-existent health problem. Candida overgrowth can occur purely because our body is run down, so the fact that you have a health problem already may make you more susceptible to yeast overgrowth, regardless of the drugs that you are taking.

Yeast Infection cured with perfume

My story starts as I was sitting in a business meeting. I was intently paying attention to the person speaking. I was leaning forward and as such created a very enclosed space around my body.

As I sat there I started to notice the vaguest smell that had me cringe in possible embarrassment.

At the moment I am taking a heavy dose of steroids and other nuclear drugs. The down side of all of this is the accompanying itch or yeast infection that happens when taking many of these hard drugs.

As I sat there in the meeting pulling my coat around me tighter I had these horrible thoughts of “can any one else smell me”. I was ready to crawl away and die. After the meeting and with a little investigation and help from my husband I ascertained that I was probably the only person that was aware of the sweet smell that made my blood curdle.

I have since made myself a promise, to make sure that I have sufficient perfume in my bag that if I am ever caught in a similar situation that I will be able to disguise the smell. At least enough to put my mind at ease, even if they do start calling me petal.

No thrush naturopath healing

Here is a story from some one who emailed me recently. It is great to hear other people’s success stories with beating ill health. And it is wonderfully encouraging to those that have suffered for ages with the problem of yeast infections.

Dear Lisa

After approx six plus months of very much stress due to vaginal thrush and antibiotics from the doctor, I consulted a naturopath. I do not like to take antibiotics of any sort so after months of taking them (and yes they were working but as soon as I stopped, within a day the thrush would return), I consulted a naturopath. Within days of taking herbs in liquid form, NO thrush. Life has returned to normal and is happy days again.

Kind regards,