Thrush Remedy Suggestions

With my older daughter we had thrush for 5 months - the only thing that worked finally (and kept the pain down until it was gone) was Grapefruit Seed Extract diluted in distilled water. The GSE is pretty pricey, but it needs to be diluted quite a bit (10-30 drops in an ounce of water) and I just used a Q-tip dipped in the solution on each nipple before and after each feeding and on her mouth a few times a day.

It worked very well and better than anything else we tried!

Best wishes! Thrush is rough :(
~B.

I also had thrush and so did my dtr.--Probiotics really worked for us. We did initially both do the Nystatin then followed up with the Probiotics and it has never come back--one year later. I went to my local New Seasons and they were able to recomend the kind I used. We both took the Probiotics. I bought the powded for her and the capsules for me. It also had an added benifit of making her lass gassy. We did both take it for about three months. Good luck on whatever you decide!

Hi,
My daughter and I seemed to keep swapping thrush for about 5 go rounds when she was small. WE used nystatin on her (messy awful stuff and I was to put the same on my breasts). It never seemed to go away until someone told me to use vinegar in the shower on my breasts and to scrub the nipples gently with a soft brush. This seemed to do the trick.

Good luck.

D.

Ask the pediatrician, I don't remember what it was we used but it worked! If antibiotics make sure you or baby is getting probiotics or yogurt too.

My midwife swears by Gentian Violet. It's over the counter. You can paint it on yourself and it helps you and baby. The only problem is it stains (including baby's mouth) so you'd have to deal with the for a few days. I had really bad infections with my son and tried the same that you are trying. It didn't work very fast or well. I'm due within a month and the midwife has already given me this just in case. Hope this helps!

The homeopathic remedy called Borax can be useful for thrush. It may be worth a try for you to take it and see if it can be passed to your baby. Good luck to you good mama!

I too, suffered from thrush when my daughter was about 3 months. Make sure to use a breast shield, so she doesn't touch your nipple directly, continuing to infect you. My lactation specialist also recommended boiling the sheild, bottle nipples, or anything that may come in contact with the thrush. Also, change bath towels and wash hands often.

Have you stopped eating breads and sugars? When any type of yeast infection is prevalent, the yeast thrive off of wheat and sugars so making sure the medicine has the best opportunity possible makes healing a lot easier.

My doc gave my oral diflucan for my little guy for 2 days and that worked for us- the nystatin and gentian violet would only get rid of it for a few days.

When my younger daughter had thrush we ended up doing a combination of most of the things suggested here so far.
We used Gentian Violet--I painted it on my nipples after showering and the baby would get it in her mouth by nursing. After every feeding, I would wash my breasts with a vinegar/water solution and then apply all-purpose nipple cream. I was taking live acidophilus (can be found at any health food store) and eating a lot of yogurt. Baby was also on Nystatin, which didn't really help. It was 2 rounds of Diflucan that finally got us "over the hump." I think the real trick is to stick with the routine, even though it is such a pain in the rear (and messy!). Hope you find a combination that works to clear you and your baby. I know how much pain you're in!

Theses ladies have already given you some wonderful sound advice. I will only add I think the Grapefruit Seed Extract works terrific and the key is to swab baby's mouth before breast feeding and your nipples after nursing. This will stop the transferring of bacteria with the nursing. To aggressively treat you can also swab baby's mouth and your nipples once an hour. GSE can also be used in laundry or as a surface cleaner. And definately watch your sugar intake. Hard I know, but will stop the yeast from multiplying.

Good luck.

T.

I have 5 kids, and we dealt with thrush with each of them while they were nursing. I understand how frustrating and painful it can be. You mentioned that she has been treated with gentian violet, but were you? When I went through this with my brood, we would coat the inside of the baby's mouth and then have her/him latch on right away so that the nipple area would also be treated as she/he was nursing. If I had any additional itching or soreness between nursing I would apply the GV directly to the nipple area and air dry. You end up with purple nipples for a few days, but there isnt any permenent staining! (except on your clothes or carpets, keep the GV away from cloth sufaces!) Good Luck!

Hi A.,

My daughter had gotten it, and I had no idea that it did not go away after the first treatment, She had three bottles of the medication and I had to rub the cream on myself but I got into the habit of putting a couple drops of her medication on me when she was done nursing. It seemed to help.

The right homeopathic remedy should help, many cases of this quickly, naturally resolved through the baby and helping you as well.
Liz
Classical Homeopath

I know a couple others suggested acidophilus, which is one of the three live bacteria in PROBIOTICS. This is the key to getting rid of it for good. Probiotics are live bacteria that you take by mouth and if you take probiotic pearls then there are one billion live bateria in each pearl and you only have to take one each day. It is totally safe for the baby and she will be cured because the cure will come through your milk. This works for everyone and there are no side effects because it is like eating 20 yogurts in one pill. Most people that have used this cures it in less than a week.

Good luck
T.

Talk to your pediatrician. You both need to get cleared up or you'll just keep passing it back and forth.

probiotics, probiotics, probiotics!!! it cannot be stressed enough. for both you and baby. check out your local whole foods market for a great product selection and very knowledgeable staff. they have always been the best help to me and never steered me wrong on product selection. they also carry some wonderful all-natural nipple care products to help the healing. good luck!

Is it possible you have developed mastitis from the thrush?
If the pediatrician prescribed your treatment, you may need to see your own Dr. to confirm the diagnosis. The problem with thrush is the ease that it is passed back and forth between you and your little love bug.

Probiotics!! Pharmax makes the best ones! HLC is high potency. They make one for adults and one for neonate that you can put directly into babies mouth on a finger tip or in a bottle.

I am not really sure, but have you read up on thrush on webmd.com? It really is a great medical resource for any questions you may have.

have you thought about putting the gentian violet on your nipples and really get it in the cracks. we had a problem with thrush like you and really the gentian violet did more to clear it up than the diflucan. if you are big breasted, you may be producing the yeast in the fold of your breast. (they love warm, moist areas!) if so, it's likely you are infecting her with the yeast and haven't found the site yet. i put gv all over my breast for a week and it really seemed to rid us of the problem.

my daughter's pediatrician also suggested after a round of nursing to cover my breasts in lotrimin and leave it on until she was ready to nurse again and wash it off with soap and warm water before nursing. i only did that twice because it was so much to work(i had twins!) but it also seemed to be part of getting rid of it for good.

good luck to you!