Before I was diagnosed as T1 last year, I was getting a TON of yeast infections, basically every three weeks. My doc said to get tested for diabetes, which I did, and low and behold, the glucose build up in my system was causing my infections. I started treatment, and they essentially subsided.
Right now, my A1C is 7.1 and my insulin doses were recently adjusted. I went from 6 to 5 units of Lantus, and 1:20 units/carbs for Humalog. This recent switch has caused my BGs to be above 150…and probably gave me my current infection.
My new endo (I recently moved from Seattle to Minneapolis) switched my doses because he didn’t want me to have “lows” anymore. Sounds to me like he’s trying to cover his own ■■■…my understanding was that the occasional low was just part of insulin treatment, so it seems abnormal to me to have “no” lows at all…which in the process has caused my BGs to rise, and probably give me an infection.
ANYwho. Are there any other women in the community who have dealt with yeast infections as a result of diabetes? How are you dealing with it?
I have dealt with the occasional one (one every few years…so I’m not sure it’s related to the diabetes). Not much advice there.
But if you are concerned about your insulin dosage, you CAN change it on your own, if you feel comfortable. Many diabetics do not rely on their endos for dosages, and manage their own dosages and make adjustments without any input from their endos.
I used to be on 6 units of Lantus and 1:15 for Humalog and I was maybe getting low once a week, which I was told was expected. At that time my A1C was under 7 and I felt like I had more control, unlike now. I’m curious if this has to do with my carb counting adjustment.
You may find that eating one cup of (plain) yogurt per day helps. I like the Greek yogurt which has only 8 gm of carbs per cup. Our bodies naturally have both yeast and bacteria living on and in us. A yeast “infection” is really just an over-growth of the naturally occurring yeast. The bacteria in the yogurt (lactobacillus) help to keep the yeast in check.
I also find that high sugars result in yeast over-growth – when my BG was out of control I was having to treat myself with over-the-counter yeast medication once per month.
I always just kept a couple of back-up boxes of the Monistat one-day treatment in the medicine cabinet because I needed it within a few days of the end of almost every period.
I have been working on learning how to control my insulin myself (not relying so much on a doctor for dosing) and I haven’t needed the Monistat for several months. Yay!
Other things that help include wearing only 100% cotton undies, avoiding hours and hours in too-tight jeans (things gotta breathe down there!), rinsing very, very well with water (soap is an irritant, don’t leave any behind), and self-treating at the first sign of trouble (learn the signs and don’t let the over-growth get out of hand by putting off treatment – that makes everything worse.)
I had the same problem before my diabetes was diagnosed and I changed my diet to low carb. May sound crazy but one of the BEST things you can do for a yeast infection…dip a tampon in plain no sugar added yogurt and leave it in overnight, it works wonders!!
What were your numbers like while on 6 u of basal? All diabetics have lows and doctors seem to be “hyposcared” but its basically just something we have to deal with to get normal blood sugars on insulin. Are you high in the morning or post meal?
I can only offer my sympathies, no advice. My daughter is Type 1, only 3 years old, and fights yeast infections constantly. Originally it was believed that it was not only her higher sugar levels, but also the fact that she wore a diaper. Well, the diapers are now only for night time and it has not made a difference. I feel so sorry for her. She is always itchy and every time I see it I cringe (I have only had a few of them and I know they can be awful). The doctors keep her target range a little bit higher due to her age, but I wish someone would have something that works. Seems like every 3 weeks we have to battle one.
I had an ongoing, low level yeast infection in the months leading up to DX – I thought I had cleared it up with OTC medications, but only when I got put on insulin and it finally went away did I realize that it had kind of persisted all along.
I also had other infections: in the 6 weeks or so leading up to DX, I had bacterial bronchitis with larygnitis twice (I’d NEVER had laryngitis before!) as well as nasty bacterial pinkeye.
I don’t know that the occasional 150 is enough to be the current problem, though. It’s true that persistently high blood sugars make you more prone to infection, both yeast and bacterial (and probably viral; I don’t know.) But it’s NOT true that good control will make you magically resistant to everything, and never get an infection again.
My last endo was similar to yours, I think–constantly criticizing me about my lows when I didn’t think they were much of a problem (except the ones I’d occasionally get at night). I didn’t actually switch endos for this reason, but I’m much happier with my current endo, who places a higher value on my opinion about what’s interfering with my life and what’s not. I rarely have lows below 50 mg/dL, and that’s good enough for me (and also not so dangerous, from a medical point of view). I also don’t have lows at night anymore (and I can prove this with my new Dexcom!) But I probably do have a couple episodes a week of lows in the 55-65 range.
So basically, I think you should find another endo who’ll respect your opinions about your treatment more and possibly help educate you about how to adjust your own insulin doses. (Or you may need to see a CDE for this, depending on how the practice works.)
I’ve also battled the yeastie beasties much in the past. The only piece of standard advice that I follow that hasn’t been mentioned here yet is sleeping without underwear (and in loose clothing, of course). By being pretty obsessive about the hygiene-related stuff and improving my BG control, I’ve eliminated the recurrent yeasties, but every few months or so I’ll get one again. Usually the yeastie will happen after my period, when I’ve been having to wear underwear at night with a pantyliner for backup (I use a menstrual cup instead of tampons or pads, which is a whole nother discussion…) I swear by the 7-day OTC yeast infection treatments because I feel like the longer, more spread-out treatment has a better chance of eliminating all the beasties. I was told by my gyno to avoid the 1-day treatments, so I never do those (I sometimes use the 3-day treatments if I know my week is going to be busy or I’m traveling or whatnot). I know a lot of women who will call in to their gyno for an oral anti-fugal Rx when they get a yeastie instead of taking an OTC remedy. These are often more expensive (with my insurance co-pay) than an OTC kit, so that’s why I don’t do this. Not sure if they’re more effective or not, as I’ve only taken one once.
(Also, one last thing. Another tip (beside the yogurt tip, which I have no opinion on) that often floats around the interwebs is the peeled glove of garlic up your va-jay-jay thing. I recommend against this. Yes, I tried it in my days of desperation! It didn’t work, and it makes you taste garlic for days…as soon as you put the garlic in, there is some magical mucuous membrane connection to your taste buds…if you don’t believe me, try it, but beware of the consequences!)
I didnt have any, not one until I had diabetes and it seemed like I had one for a year. I asked my OB at the time what she recommend and she said honestly she could prescribe something but no cream really defeats against them because of the diabetes. Your hormones are out of wack when you have constant highs or lows. So I went to the internet. Yogurt does nothing for me, I eat it every day and still was getting yeast infections. What I am about to say may sound strange and you may not want to do this but it totally worked for me. I got to a point where no cream worked so I looked up alternatives. Garlic, putting a garlic gel supplement up there for like a day or two helps clears it up. Also douching with tea tree oil and water, I am not a doucher so I sprinkled a few drops on a tampon. Tea Tree oil is very strong and tingles a lil while it is working its magic, lol…Neither one of those sound sexy especially because they deal with added smells but it works…Ultimately I think your body sometimes goes through adjustment periods as women let alone a diabetic woman so dont worry this to shall past.
Ugh, that sounds just horrible!! Poor thing. I had an issue with yeast infections when my BG were high and one thing that really helped resolve them was eating more PLAIN yogurt and limiting the amount of carbs in my diet. Since sticking to a relatively low carb diet, I haven’t had one (knock on wood). And they are incredibly uncomfortable to say the least. Maybe you could make some changes to her diet to help?
I eat plain non-fat Greek yogurt 2x a day and do not have a high carb intake. The diet I’m using is a very little modified diet I had when I had gestational diabetes (the modification is that I can have a small amount of carbs in the morning). It seems to have worked extremely well in keeping me both stable, and my A1C in a great range (last checked 3 months ago it was 6.1). I DO have occasional lows, but I feel them coming on way before things get crazy, and yes, part of being on insulin is that you can have lows. You can have an A1C lower than 7.1 and not have lows every 5 seconds, I think your doctor is being a bit too conservative.
And I also agree with the person who said that you should be adjusting your own levels of insulin down to where you feel comfortable, not just some number. The balance should be having a good range that does not cause constant yeast infections, or few if any, and also one that does not cause constant hypos. You know your body best, you should try to achieve that balance as best you can on your own. Hypos are to be expected, but you should try to avoid them by making sure you’re not overdosing on your insulin just to achieve some number. You’ll know when you’re body’s working the way it’s supposed to.
I’m thinking you got D after a perfectly normal life, as I did? I.e. did not have it since you were a child?
Liz,
I recommend you request an invitation to the private group “Diabetes and Sexuality (Women)”, where you can also comfortably discuss this topic with nearly 200 female members of TuDiabetes: http://www.tudiabetes.org/group/diabetesandsexuality
I had them all the time also when my blood sugars were crazy high all the time…my a1c was at an 11.4 at the time and it was the worst thing ever they are so painful and unconformable. now my a1c is at an 7.4 and I almost never get them like maybe once a year if that…although if I do get one I just put a call into the Dr and she send the RX to walmart and I go pick it up…its a small pill I take it and the next day it is gone!
Yeast in an uncontrolled diabetic with high glucose levels is like a college student with pizza-- fat and happy. This happened to me all the time when I was undiagnosed and it stopped within a week of beginning to take insulin without any sort of specific treatment for the infection. It should improve with greater control, but if it doesn’t go away on its own some OTC treatment should help give it the boot.
