Why won't my oral thrush go away?

[Ryeguy123]

Hello,

I was having trouble breathing at night, so I was prescribed a Flovent HFA inhaler, which has a steroid in it. I rinsed my mouth out after every use, but still contracted thrush. When I saw my tongue was white, I stopped using the inhaler. I took nystatin for a week, without any changes.

I then took a dissolving tablet that I don't recall the name of. I also stopped eating sugar at this point, as my doctor never mentioned that thrush feeds on sugar, and I only found out after independent research.

Again, no change, and so I was put on nystatin again. I cut out basically my entire diet, and have only been eating eggs, chicken, green pepper, jalapenos, garlic, and apple cider vinegar, along with veggies like asparagus and brussel sprouts.

I am on week four, this diet is making me miserable, and I am now taking Itraconazole. I only wanted to breathe, and I only used the inhaler 6 times total. This seems ridiculous to still have this infection, and I only want to know how to be rid of it. Can anyone please advise?

[mkh9]

Hi welcome. We are not doctors on here but I can give you some advice. So sorry you have these problems. Are you feeling better with the breathing? Is it bronchitis or something else? Steroids are really bad for the body as it lowers your immunity. You can then get bacterial and yeast infections. Did anyone actually diagnose the yeast? Sometimes white tongue is actually bacteria. But if you use a tongue scraper and gently scrape it if it bleeds it is years usually. But it is best for them to diagnose it. If the did and it is resistant there are some very resistant strains of yeast. So I hope the Itraconazole they gave you works. It takes the full course. If not they have others. They should do a culture or testing on the yeast to see what type it is if it is not responding to the second drug (which is a strong one.). Let me know how it goes.
mkh9

[Ryeguy123]

Thank you for the info. My doctor believes it is thrush, though I haven't had a culture sample taken.  It's still going strong after 4 weeks, and nothing seems to help. I chewed three cloves of raw garlic, and let it just sit in my mouth until I couldn't take the pain anymore, just so I could see my tongue pink for a little while. I have asthma, and the season change was particularly brutal this year, so I used the inhaler; I would have just dealt with the breathing, had I known I'd contract thrush.

[mkh9]

Well, a lot of yeast are resistant to antibiotics that end in azole, like fluconazole . But Itraconazole is a stronger anti-fungal. Usually, if you take it for 3 weeks it clear it up in 60% of people. What country do you live in? In the UK they have lozenges of Amphoteracin B that usually works on the resistant strains. But it is only given by IV in the U.S. How long has it been since you have been taking the Itraconazole? You have to finish the course and see if it clears up.
mkh9