Candida

type 1 diabetic for 22 years. just wondering if any of my fellow diabetics suffer with candida or otherwise known as thursh. i had a problem on and off for years but seems to be more often lately. any advice would be helpful on how bad it gets and where you get it.

Yes I had it from the time I was diagnosed at age 18, until I went through menopause. Once you've had it the virus (or whatever it is) stays with you & it will keep recurring. I would go for months free of symptoms & then get a bad recurrence.

Good BG control helps. Also take showers not baths as the warm water incubates the yeast (which it is). If the creams & pessaries you get over the counter aren't helping then ask your doctor for a prescription for ?? (sorry it's been a while & I've forgotten the name).

It is a consequence of diabetes, sorry not to be more cheerful.

candida is not a virus, it's a simple yeast infection and it goes away, especially if BG's come down. Thrush is a yeast infection in the mouth.

Yes, thrush is a yeast infection of the mouth. It can and should stay away if blood sugars are improved.The yeast thrive in the presence of glucose. The prescription for it is Nystatin, especially if it is bad enough that it causes pain and difficulty eating or swallowing.

I am a male and evry time my blood glucose was high and ended up in my sweat that nasty yeast pest took off.

Other good solutions have been mentioned. for me the fungus/yeast ointment chlortrimizole is also very effective. Sweating and moisture with a sweat will send that pest racing off.

Stay dry and wear loose fitting clothes to enhance airflow that is drying.

As stated getting blood sugar numbers under control is extremely important.

typically, under arms and crotch area get easily attacked. Redness under arms and crotch usually are a give away.

I mix three parts equally chlortrimizole, neosporin ointment(equivalent) and some cortisone and that helps beat it back and heal the soreness.

good luck and best wishes.

i believe the poster is referring to 'thrust' which is yeast in the mouth due to high blood sugars.

Each of these posts are helpful to me. I recently had to take two courses of antibiotics for cellulitis that turned into an abscess/ulcer. It has now been 4-1/2 weeks of dealing with the pain from the infection and now the yeast infection from the antibiotics. I got really discouraged and ate ALL the wrong things - and Yes, I did know better but I got it wrong anyway. I hope to get my BGs down to a realistic level now. Thank You to each of you for posting......none of my doctors, including the surgeon I saw ever mentioned keeping the BG levels down.

Mayumi:

Best wishes, thank you for commenting and good luck fighting these issues.
When it comes to diabetes, I hate to say it but you are your best case manager/lobbyist and important to learn as much as one can and work the problem.

byi: I am sure you have and no negatives implied. Our modern day medicine is still in my mind based on a battle medical tent patching folks up fast and sending em out the door.

For you and me with our diabetes and all its ramifications, it is not possible to solve in 15 minutes and three questions. For me I always had a semi trailer full of questions.

On top of that there is a complex web of interacting issues from diet, exercise, meds and disease driving one nuts at any one moment never mind overwhelming the Doctor as well.

As stated best wishes and good luck with your health and hoping things improve. For me, my web access, web sites as this one, Diabetes Self Management web site, Diabetes Mediterranean Diet have all been instrumental providing excellent data, alternative ideas as well as blogs to write in as well.

fortunately there is a ton of good data out there as well as a ton of chaff and one needs to run a harvetsing machine on it to get the chaff out of the way.

I can't speak for the OP, but I would definitely be interested in reading your possible references....and Thank You :)

Interesting thread.

I had a terrible bout of this candida back in 1970's that was nasty. I ended up modeling for the Doc for a report. In those days potassium permanganate was painted on to put a stop to that stuff. Nasty but worked. Later on miconzole and some better ointments came out for the ladies.

Along the way, I had a black lab with real bad ear infections-moulds etc and vet had given me a big tube of clotrimazole ointment for my dog.
One day I had that itchy crap driving me nuts and no Dr's ointment stuff so tried the anti-fungal clotrimazole and that stopped the itching immediatly.

Later , I had a pharmacist friend who suggested blending in the clotrimazole plus neosporin to kill germs and and some cortizone creame to enhance healing and get rid of irritation. That seemed to work fine for me on OUTSIDE (not internal) irratations.

Later on when I found I had a bad case of type 2, the obvious connection stood out.

Candida albicans is a real bugger of a yeast. As previously indicated , staying dry and watching out for excess sweat and wet garments is also key to slowing that pest down. Wet , damp environments are no help either.

I am not Doctor and only sharing my fun fighting this most agressive nasty yeast!

Cheers and good luck!

I think all people with candida should go to their doctors for additional blood tests: checking for candida antibodies. Most skin tests are not done properly. There is also the possibility that the candida is more internally then externally. Internal candida should be treated aggressively: multiple medications, diet changes (reduction of sugar and carb intake - even the glucose for the treatment of lows can be critical), drinking more water etc, improving the A1c and so forth. In my opinion you definitely need the attention of your medical team. It can have tremendous effect on your quality of life.

yes, Holger, agreed. None of what i said was intended as a shorcut or self medicating - only pointing out how tough that pest can be and needs expert help!

Thanks for amplifying that!

It probably is a close call as to what is in greater content in the dirt on the ground, candida spores, botulism spores, anthrax spores and actual honest dirt.

I agree with you Holger 100%. In my case the candida I am dealing with at present is from two courses of antibiotics I took for a most stubborn case of cellulitis. All total I've seen 4 doctors including a surgeon who made the assessment that the abscess from the cellulitis did not need to be drained. In the 10 years since I was diagnosed with diabetes I've never had cellulitis that formed an abscess. I'm grateful for antibiotics, but the candida that comes with them is not fun at all.

As noted already, keeping the BG down to reduce circulating glucose in the bloodstream should be the first priority. Reducing carb intake might help as well to reduce the glucose variability - but I am by no means a low-carb advocate (I'm more moderate at 100-110g/day). It's been a decade or so since I've taken antibiotics, but I recall that taking probiotic supplements (such as PB 8) and eating plain yogurt helped to keep the rebound candida in check.

While dealing with BG, that nasty pest may need tough external treatment to arrest its spread. Antibiotics in that external case have always been marginal for me and in fact antifungal agents have proven more effective in stopping the itch.

Good luck and best wishes.