Seems suspicious of yeast to me. You can try OTC antifungal creams for a couple of weeks to see if it is mostly external. But, if you've been on a lot of antibiotics, you may have yeast overgrowth in your GI tract. In that case, oral antifungals are necessary.

Jan

jan how do you find out?i definitely have been on antibiotics a long time.what exactly are ramifications of yeast infection?are anti fungal creams o.t.c.

Jan-

Do you think probiotics, to the extent not killed by antibiotics, would possibly help in discouraging a yeast overgrowth situation in the GI tract?

quote:

are anti fungal creams o.t.c.

Rebe-

I was tried on anti-fungal creams and Oxistat according to my dermatologist "is the best antifungal cream in the world." It is a prescription strength that they gave me. There are OTC preparations but they are not as good.

However, antifungal creams have water in them and the moisture feeds the yeast. That is why I prefer to use antifungal powders like Zeabsorb. Zeabsorb is OTC but costs close to $10 for a small container of it.

Of course if the infection is in the vagina and not on the skin, powder is not going to help and the cream might be the better treatment.

Keeping an area of your skin prone to yeast infections dry is of paramount importance. My dermatologist told me if I did not dry myself carefully after showering I would make myself prone to repeat infections. So although I have a shaved head, I bought a hair blow dryer to use in those areas after showering. I would suggest you may want to use one in the external areas.

How do you find out? Easy. You can assume it is a fungal infection and treat it as such. If symptoms resolve, you can assume you were right.

While it is true that the prescription antifungals may be stronger, if you just have the itching without a rash, it probably is a mild infection and OTC should work. It may take a few weeks though. But, I usually see improvement in a few days. If not, see your GYN and. Quick scraping and view in the microscope will give an answer. They can do stool culture for yeasts/fungus, but they generally go by symptoms and history first.

In addition to CT's suggestions, if you wear undergarments like Spanx or thongs made of synthetics, you are better off without them. Cotton granny pants are better. Not very sexy, but they breathe! Detergents and perfumes are also bad, because they cause irritation. Mild soap with emollients (like Dove) are better.

Jan

Itching itching and more itching
Also, this last one I had white yeast coming out of the vagina! yuk! I might have also had some yeast around the anal area cause it too was mildly itching. I took a diflucan. Did not help, took monostat, that worked.
Also, I just had a yeast rash under my bra caused by sweat. Man, did that hurt. I had a cream for that one.

ct in answer to your question about probiotics..after writing site i dropped a line to dr. shen told him i had itching..he said to double up on my align(his probiotic by chose)see if that helps first..so he was not rushing off to drug yet..so i take away from this that perhaps the probiotics at least in his mind might be of some help..i plan on doubling up on align regularly now..ha its only money!!!!

jan i think mine is mild because it is not constant and appears to get better with my using witch hazel wipes..so i think i might try first the otc first..

thanks everyone was freakin out a bit about another antibiotic caused thing..but it seems controllable and i appreciate your feedback..