Andrea’s Weblog

We’re in our second round of killing yeastie beasties in our house. Thrush is a common occurance among breastfeeding moms–especially in hot and humid Georgia. It’s basically a yeast infection in the breast which causes a burning/itching sensation. It seems these yeasties are contagious and hard to kill. Think about the places yeast can live: beer, dried yeast for making bread. It’s all alive!

Along with boobs, yeast loves mouths and baby bottoms! Elena had a diaper rash that wouldn’t go away. I switched detergents and still had a rash. She was wearing a little bikini-shaped rash for weeks! I was using Grapefruit Seed Extract on her, which would knock it down, but it would never totally go away.

It was time to get serious and get treatment for everyone at once to prevent the back-and-forth spread of the beasts. This is what prompted the visit to the doctor described in my previous post. I decided to start Newman’s Candida protocol This involves another round of Gentian Violet resulting in a purple-lipped Elena. The white on her face is some cream I put on her to prevent it from getting on her face.

After this decision, I had to get the doctors to actually prescribe treatment for us. I left Elena’s doctor’s office with a small sample of stuff which only lasted 3 days. You’re supposed to treat yeast for a few weeks to make sure it’s gone. The doctor also said that Elizabeth couldn’t have a yeast infection “down there” because little girls naturally regulate their pH. I’m still puzzled by that since I have researched and found cases of toddler yeast infections and Elizabeth is suddenly itching herself “down there.” [note: I am not opposed to using the v word, but I can't imagine the spam my blog would get!]

The next hurdle was getting the APNO (all purpose nippel ointment) prescribed and called in to a compounding pharmacy. It took the midwife’s office at MCG 2 working days to call it in, so it wasn’t ready till day 3. By this time Elenas bottom cream was out. So much for our united front against the yeastie beasties!

I went ahead and got some cream for Elizabeth and found out that the APNO could be used on Elena’s bottom. Her bottom looks a lot better today and I’m feeling a lot better myself. It was so frustrating that I had to spend so much effort to get treatment–luckily I didn’t have a bad case of it.

So now we’re still being vigilant about killing yeast in the laundry (vinegar or GSE works for this) and making sure bath towels and sheets are cleaned regularly. I also bought a bunch of immune-boosting supplements and we’re well stocked with acidophilus. Let’s hope this keeps them in check!