Thrush

[amynhailey]

Perfect timing for me to see that you are on here!

My DS and (I guess) I have thrush. He's 3.5 weeks old. I have never had it before, nor did my two other babies. He's still nursing fine and does not seem bothered by it. I have some slight pain when he latches on, but nothing too bad and I can't see anything unusual on my nipples.

My midwife recommended Gentian Violet. My ped. office just called back and said that they called in a prescription for Nystatin (not sure if that's how it's spelled). She said Gentian Violet is only for people who have had thrush multiple times or when the thrush has not responded to the Nystatin because "it's heavy-duty". I've never heard that before.

What do you recommend?

[Sharon_Mattes]

Dear Mommy to Hailey:

We always have yeast on our skin - but when we are susceptible like
when we take antibiotics or are 'out of balance' we are likely to get it.
If you had antibiotics at birth you are likely to see it by 10-14 days.

You can help by taking probiotics like acidophilus (at drug store) to
build up your own natural protection. You can eat yogurt - but would
need a lot of it to combat a full blown yeast infection. Taking several
doses of acidophilus daily can rebuild your own 'good bacteria' soon.

Gentian Violet is a perfectly fine solution. It costs about $2. and works
for most women in about 3 days. Some need to use it for 6 days to have
it completely resolved. When I was a young mother (3 adult children ago)
they used Gentian Violet for our vaginal yeast infections. One swab at
the OB's office and it was gone! It is messy and stain - which is the main
reason I think it has been abandoned for a usual treatment. It is both a
yeast and bacterial killer - which is great. Only use a 1% solution - once
daily (I prefer at bedtime when you can put on clothes you don't mind
getting stained). Please treat baby and you both.
Check out these sites for more information.
http://www.breastfeedingonline.com/candidaprotocol.html
http://www.naturalbeginningsonline.com/docs/PrevRemGentVSt.doc

Hope you are soon rid of this frustrating condition.

Warmly, Sharon