Hi Sue,

I wish I could offer more help than just words...

I have had thrush before and it is so horrible... But having it for more months on end is frankly unimaginable...

Anyway, I was lucky enough to pick up this book second-hand yesterday, for like $2 (in a second-hand bookshop in a small town in Germany, of all places!!!):

http://www.amazon.com/Thyroid-Diet-...09849206&sr=8-1

Scanning through it, I found this on p. 75 and immediately thought of you:



On pages eight to nine, I read this:



I cannot imagine how it must be like to feel so sore and uncomfortable and itchy for months on end and, if a thyroid problem could be the root of the matter, it would be worth looking into it to see if that could be the underlying cause.

I had a colleague, years and years ago, who I accompanied to the gyno, here in Germany, because she didn't want to go alone. Her problem was being "riddled with thrush". She had also put on weight rapidly - she told me - and couldn't get the thrush cleared up. I lost touch with her when she left Germany, but I wonder now if she didn't have a thyroid issue, too.

It can't do any harm to look into this: just means more blood work, to start with. The above-mentioned book is quite an accessible read, by the way, if you need a starting point.

Otherwise, try these sites:

http://www.realthyroidhelp.com/

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

http://thyroid.about.com/

This is just a Google search list:

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp...iw=1016&bih=559

- maybe you can find some stuff there that will give you hope that you can beat this!!!

And, last but not least, because you didn't mention it in your replies to the other posters, are you using virgin coconut oil in any way? Either internally and/or externally???

I have had such good results using VCO for other fungal issues that I am sure it would help with your problem. In fact, if I notice a bit of an itchy feeling "down there", the first thing I do is slap some VCO on the afflicted area before I go to bed and by the morning it is usually gone again. Obviously, your case is more intractable and you wouldn't have such fast results, but it really is worth a try.

Hope this helps,

amanda

This link looks interesting, Sue:

http://www.health4youonline.com/art...ing_candida.htm

amanda

You guys are so sweet! Thank you for the links and thank you for thinking of me!

I just finished a course of oral anti-fungal agents, and am still using a topical cream. I will probably need to use this cream for at least a month. Things seem to be slowly improving. Now that it's hot and sunny I've been doing some rather outrageous sunbathing (in the privacy of my own backyard!) and I think that more than anything else is helping things clear up. Gotta be careful though, who wants a sunburn THERE? It doesn't bear thinking about!

I just received a letter yesterday from the obgyn my family doctor referred me to (back in MARCH). My appointment is for (get this) MID OCTOBER! I called their office today and asked if they had a cancellation list...being off work for the summer I could get there easily if something freed up, but no such luck. I told the receptionist that by mid October I would either be cured or be dead. She was sympathetic, but that's just the way it is here. It is very hard to see a specialist! My city isn't that big, so we don't have a lot of them...heaven help you if you need a pathologist report, you won't get one for at least six months here!

I do hope your wearing sunglasses and a slop of suncrean :

you'll be fine in a few days... or arrested!

I don't see how you guys deal with this issue. I would be pulling my hair out if I had to wait months to get a cancer screening, or have an operation. I also see the need for heavy alternative medicine - it's the only medicine available to you if you have an urgent issue.

Saying that, one of my best friends had some vaginal bleeding (at 60 yrs old) so she goes into Kaiser. They do a D & C, still bleeding. They find cancer cells on her uterus (1.5 months after she first went in with bleeding). They tell her not to worry, it is a slow growing cancer. But she needs a hysterectomy.

Kaiser drags it’s feet on doing the surgery because she is obese. They schedule her for a hysterectomy 3 months later and tell her to go home and lose weight. She jumps up and down and demands the surgery from Kaiser. Kaiser operates (3 months after she went in with bleeding).

During the operation, they find a mass behind her ovary. They are shocked. Kaiser sends the mass for lab tests. It takes 1 month to get lab tests back from Stanford Medical. (Now 4 months after she first went in with bleeding). It is aggressive ovarian cancer. They will start Chemo 1 month after Kaiser finds it is ovarian cancer.

In total, she waited 5 months to get a treatment plan from Kaiser. If she hadn’t of pushed them to do the surgery, she would have stage 4 cancer and be looking at a short time to wrap things up. As it is, it went from stage 1 to stage 2 with Kaiser screwing around.

I guess it's a trade off. If my GP thought he had detected cancer, I would be seeing the obgyn much sooner. As it it, a fungal skin infection won't kill me (although it really sucks), so I have to wait longer. But eventually everyone does get seen.

If I lived in a bigger center, I would be seen sooner too, just because there are more specialists.

When I've needed genuine emergency medical care, I've received it and it was excellent quality. I remember when my son was just about two years old I had to rush him to the ER with breathing difficulties. I had left his health care card in the car, and told the triage nurse I would run out and get it. "Oh no!" she said. "Of course we'll treat him! We'll sort all those things out later!"

It all works out OK! It's hard to wait sometimes, but the genuine emergencies go first.

I'm really glad your friend stuck up for herself with Kaiser (is that an HMO?)

Hi Sue, if I could add my $0.02 here. Though it seems like you've been doing your homework so you probably already know this...

Once you start feeling better from whatever remedy works for you, don't STOP doing it!! Fungus infections are just SO darn hard to get rid of -- you will have to treat regularly with whatever homeopathic remedy soothes the itch for many months -- maybe even years. This is going to take some discipline because if you're feeling better it's hard to get motivated to treat yourself -- but if you don't, it WILL come back -- and it will probably be worse each time it recurs.

I've had a minor fungus on the bottom of my right foot (similar to athlete's foot) for about 20 years. I have to spray and powder my feet EVERY morning when getting dressed. If I skip this for even a week, the itching starts again.

Best of luck. Wishing you the best.

DoberMom

Thank you so much DoberMom! My doctor told me to keep treating the area for at least two weeks after all signs had disappeared. I plan on using something like tea tree oil or neem oil as a preventative. So far, honestly, sunbathing seems to really do the trick! I know about the risks of skin cancer, but I just might buy some time in a tanning booth this winter just to zap those problem areas. Hey, I'll have a reverse tan! Tan on the butt, white everywhere else. Ha ha!

For maintenance and ONLY if the skin is no longer broken, I would suggest tea tree oil.

I would dilute tea tree in VCO. I love coconut oil, inside and out.

One thing I didn't notice mentioned is your husband/SO. Even if he has no symptoms, he should be treated at the same time so you don't keep getting it. He could be giving it back to you as soon as you're cured if he's not been treated. And he probably wouldn't have symptoms.. Good luck!

I wanted to update this thread...I was able to see a skin disease specialist yesterday! There was a cancellation and I got right in there.

This specialist thinks that the root of the problem is PSORIASIS. I have never heard of anyone getting butt/labia psoriasis before, but she really thinks that is what is going on...what started it all way back in March, this unbearable itch! Then, my own scratching broke the skin, and the fungus and bacteria just moved in and set up shop.

My GP had me on antifungals and antibiotics, but since the psoriasis was never addressed, the itch remained, and I kept injuring my skin (even though I kept my nails trimmed and wore gloves at night...I still damaged myself...ouch!)

When the skin specialist examined me yesterday, she said (and I quote) "Oh. Oh wow. That's bad. We've got to get you sorted out fast!" and then she ran for her prescription pad!

So now I'm taking:
1. Prednisone for eight days, to get the itch and inflammation of psoriasis under control. Today is my first day on the prednisone, and I am already FLYING. Does anyone need their house cleaned tonight? I guarantee I'll be up all night! I'll be going like a maniac for about five days, I'm thinking...then crash!
2. More oral antifungal agents...she said the yeast infection is gone, but there's a different kind of fungus there (honestly, could this be any more gross?)
3. An anti-itch medication...apparently at high doses this medication is an anti-depressant! But at the low dose it's an anti-itch thing.
4. A topical steroid cream to use only when the prednisone is done.
5. Something called Bowman's solution...I mix this package of powder into warm water, and soak a clean cloth in it, then apply the soaking cloth to my affected areas and leave it there for about fifteen minutes. This has REALLY HELPED with the itch...I wish I knew about it before. It's OTC too!
6. Just finishing up my last set of antibiotics too.

I'm eating lots of Greek yogurt for the probiotics, and I find it helps keep my stomach calm too, with all of these meds. I was doing the Whole30 Challenge (paleo boards) but jumped off the wagon a bit early so that I could eat the yogurt, and also sip on gingerale, and nibble on some (gasp) graham crackers if I feel naseous. I haven't used the crackers yet, and hope I won't need to...but when I was pregnant years ago they really did help with morning sickness.

I want to thank everyone here again for being so kind and helpful. I honestly don't know where I would be without these boards for support with LC and for other health issues.

2bthinner, one last word...my husband and I haven't exactly been intimate since this whole thing started! Yeah, since MARCH. I actually mentioned that to my GP...dude, I'm married, I'd kind of like to have sex again! "Yeah, I'm sure that's true!" he replied. My husband has been very supportive and understanding, thank goodness, and there are always other ways of being intimate...nuff said!

Well I for one am glad you've got this thing under control...give it a few more days and you should be over the worse.
Bet the neigbours will be happy, they can come out from behind their net curtains now

I just wanted to say that this thread is a perfect example of why I love this forum! There's nothing that we cannot talk about And people are so happy to help and offer advice - from personal experience or just from general knowledge. I love this place!!

I'm so glad you are feeling better and that you found a doctor who is finally solving your problem!!! Congrats!
PS Don't feel dirty... most women at some point or another have experienced some kind of yeast infection... it's just life... your's is clearly a more complicated issue but I once had a yeast infection that was so bad my doc said "This is the worst I've seen." I'm just thankful to God that we have medicine's and natural remedies to cure this stuff! Can you imagine if we didn't!?!? What a nightmare!

Whenever I long for "the good ol' days" I remind myself what health care was like for those folks, esp. for women! I'll take my modern medicine, thank you!

I heartily agree with you too Maria about how kind most everyone is on these boards, and how willing to help out and share. I do so love it here!

Well, reading this reminded me of the terrible time we had with our eldest daughter who had this same problem around the time she turned one year old.

Our pediatritian told us to allow her to go without diapers, and to get as much SUNLIGHT on the area as possible without causing a burn. Fortunately, we were preparing to take a two week vacation at the family cabin next to a lake.

For nearly two weeks Meggy entertained our neighbors, with her attempts at walking, and hands-n-feet canters across the yard while bare-bottomed. Her hair turned to golden curls, and although I kept her coated with sunscreen, she had a beautiful, light tan. Her bottom cleared up totally, and she potty-trained herself during our stay at the lake.

Thanks for reminding me. Meggy is now 26, and expecting her first child.