Candida Glabrata/ burning vag and mouth after antibotics

Oh karen im devastated to hear tht. Did you know what the growth levels were? R u taking oral probiotics? I really hope tht u get to the end of this soon. I know exactly how it feels to get back a positive culture. But you have to stay positive and keep fighting.
I have finished my first round and am awaiting my culture results will probably get them in a day or two now. My fingers r crossed! I have also started my second round of boric acid as i await my culture result.
I have tried amphotericin b alone and it didnt help me. I have heard flucytosine is pretty effective when combined with ampho B. You shud give it a shot. Keep us posted.

Sorry. Thts me S. Above

Hi Karen,
Ive been thinking of you all day, I know how devastating it is to keep having positive cultures, its heartbreaking..
In answer to your question, I had my infection for just over a year.. so not as long as you, you poor thing.. id imagine the failure in your first year of the doctors to diagnose it properly, and then all the diflucan you had, has had a big hand in this thing being so stubborn.. I had great hopes for you especially when your last swab was at a very light growth, im wondering if having the antibiotics sent your growth up before the last round of boric.. am I right your last swab result was before the antibiotics??
As you know I did the strict diet, trying to keep your immune system up I think is important too, but I think you are really giving it your all...
No, I didnt discuss trying to live with it or having no treatment with the doctor as I just couldnt entertain the idea although if the boric acid hadnt worked I would have had to face it then because I had no other options, but thank god you do.. I know its so hard right now after all youve been through to stay positive but I really hope you can
..just a thought..
I know this is a bit personal but when you were inserting the boric acid did you put it right up as far as you could go?? It just crossed my mind today because when they take a swab its a high vaginal swab right at top near cervix so I had to ask in case you just popped them in and maybe weren't inserting them high enough? Also what kind of boric pessary where you using..powder in a capsule or the compounded waxy bullet one?
Thinking of you both karen and s
(D...)

Hi D & S,
Thank you for your replies. It’s so nice to be able to share thoughts and ideas with you guys!
To answer your questions:
I just found out my growth level was heavy. I am shocked. The only thing I can think of I did differently this round was to insert femdopholus vaginally every morning.... could the femdopholus have increased the growth? could I be getting resistant? could it have grown back really quickly (6 days from the end of the round to when I was cultured)? I am so sad about it. It feels like I am back to square one.
To make matters worse, my doctor is now unsure whether the glabrata is causing my smptoms because my symptoms weren’t horrible when I saw him this week so he is hesitant to prescribe the ampho b and flucytosine. They haven’t been able to find anything else wrong except for a persistent positive culture for glabrata! I have no idea why my symptoms weren’t raging yet but they definitely are now. I have taken boric acid the last two nights just to try and manage the horrible burn because for whatever reason I feel better when taking the boric acid.
D- after my third round of boric acid, I immediately started antibiotics for strep and got swabbed about a week after I finished the antibiotics with light growth. I also had my period in there.
Now that you mention it I don’t think I was pushing the capsules up that far, maybe just to the top of the vaginal canal.
I am so lost and confused now with this most recent news. Would love any feedback or suggestions you ladies have.
Thanks,
Karen

Hi Karen,
Wow.. I am surprised too its back to heavy.. definitely ive seen there is no resistance documented that I could find that glabrata shows resistance to boric acid... but it would make you wonder... im trying to piece this together..let me know if I have it right..
You finished third round, started antibiotics for a week I presume..and had a period during that time..so two weeks after you finished third round you were swabbed and it was light growth?? Did a fourth round and its back to heavy growth? And other than thr femdophillus there was no other changes..?

I think the problem with doctors can be that it is documented that glabrata can produce no symptoms and some women can have it and not know, however all the posts from women diagnosed with glabrata and women I have spoke to most definitely do have symptoms..there were times during the year when it wasnt as bad as others most definitely it worsened before, during and after a period... I also.felt relief and better while using the boric acid...
What does your doctor want you to do now.. leave it?? Suffer on?
Im not familiar with femdophillus im presuming they contain acidophilus and something else? I didnt insert any acidophilus I only sprinkled a capsule on a panty liner..whether it affected your growth level its hard to say, id imagine not ,worse case scenario if you had too many good bacteria you can end up with bacterial vaginosis thingy..
No wonder you feel sad xx
(D...)

Hi D,
I was honestly so shocked. Here is my timeline:
July 27 - Heavy growth
2 weeks boric acid (started this in early Sep)
September 25 - Moderate growth
2 weeks boric acid
October 16 - Few growth
2 weeks boric acid with acidophilus at the end
October 29 - Antibiotic for 10 days
November 5 - period
November 13 - Few growth
2 weeks boric acid with femdopholus
December 4 - Heavy growth
It seems like when I started the probiotics vaginally things started to go the other way but I know that makes no sense. Problem now is I want to use boric acid because I am on fire, but am scared to cause I have a red streak on my external vaginal area that looks weird. Not sure if it’s from the boric acid but it hurts to touch it. This is so awful, I want to get rid of this so badly!
To answer your question from before, I am using the boric acid powder from a compounding pharmacy.
Femdopholus says it has lactobacillus rhamnosus and lactobacillus reuteri. I’m not sure what else is part of their blend....
My doc is supposed to call back tomorrow to discuss further. I am praying we can figure something out☹️
Karen

D,
I had a thought last night. You keep saying that one piece to getting rid of glabrata is to find the right balance/ph in the vagina. I feel better on the boric acid presumably because it is changing the environment to make it more acidic and for me that’s what I need. Maybe when I started with the femdopholus, it also changed the ph by making the ph less acidic therefore canceling out the good I was doing with the boric acid. I already take optima women’s health probiotic orally everyday which says it has 90 billion active cultures, which also includes a ton of lactobacillus. I wonder if I could be overdoing it somehow and not allowing my ph to be acidic enough. Just a thought. It just seems like the only pattern I can find is that when I added the femdopholus, things got worse. I don’t think my symptoms were as bad because I was still on the boric acid for part of that.....
Karen

Sorry Karen I was in work so I couldn't answer till now, its a shame you cant exchange emails on here it would be much easier to chat and support...
I hear what your saying about the ph balance and the acidophilus, and what might have worked for me as in taking them orally and using one externally below might not suit you..it may be too much..you could ask your doctor to check your ph balance ..it can be done while you have your swab or some pharmacies sell self test strips that you can use yourself..I dont know if you can see at the top of this page there is a link from a doctor chris smith MD re glabrata and how its managed and he states that boric acid is safe to use as it doesnt enter the blood stream..the thing im confused about is..the fact that your swab after the antibiotics showed very light growth and if you hadn't been swabbed at that stage I would definitely have thought the reason your growth went to heavy was because of the antibiotics because they kill all bacteria good and bad and would account maybe for the sudden overgrowth..its very strange..
If your red outside have you tried the coconut oil yet or the doctor above suggests vitamin e oil.. did your doctor ever conment while doing your swabs what you look like internally...?
I totally agree that the only thing that helped me feel relieved was the boric acid...
I cant tell you what to do.because im not qualified.I can only say what I would do..
Genuinely if I was in your position I would tell the doctor your symptoms are again very bad..and whether he agrees or not that symptoms have to warrant the ampho/flucy gel I would tell him that I need it that youve been through enough that this is now going on two years and you need your life back..
In the meantime would I try the boric acid again....??
Well I probably would but it would depend on how raw I felt.. thats why im asking if your just red and sore externally? Youve have had four rounds... I think if I could bear it id try leave a week or so to leave everything calm down if your very raw... id hate to think if you 'burning' yourself... but if you think your ok inside and just a bit red outside, id use it but use coconut oil or vitamin e oil outside to act as some kind of barrier to the excess boric acid that maybe coming out.. when your inserting them too try to get them in as high as you can just before bed and lie down immediately so it stays where its supposed to... im wondering if it is pure boric acid nothing else in the capsule or if its compounded if there is any other ingredients?
I know the first lot that I had made by a compounding pharmacy had other ingredients and they really irritated me where as the ones I made myself I had no bother with... my heart goes out to you..if there is anything else I can help with or you just want to chat let me know xx
(D...)
So unfair that some women have to go through this nightmare xx

Thanks D for your input. I talked to my doctor yesterday afternoon and he decided to go ahead and prescribe the ampho b and flucytosine gel. He says I can’t take it until I finish my period so I will have to wait a week to start it. In the meantime i am back on boric acid because it still feels like it helps me. I had been doing coconut oil all along but am adding vitamin e also. I am on night 4 of boric acid and already the inside feels much better. My external vagina is definitely red. It looks like I have a fissure or something. I am doing my best to protect the area and get the capsules way up high. Through all my physical exams while being cultured for the growth level my doc said the tissue looked really good overall. Just a little red. The fissure was also a new development in the 4th round of boric acid.
After my second round of boric acid I was at very few. After my third round and the antibiotics it was still few but actually a little higher than the second round when I looked at them more in detail. I continued the boric acid through part of the antibiotics so that’s why I think my growth level stayed down. Somehow I really do think the femdopholus vaginally moved things the other way. I stopped it and restarted the boric acid and things are feeling better again.
I will keep you ladies posted. I can’t thank you enough for taking time to read these posts and respond! I do wish we could talk over the phone or email!!!!!
S - so curious to hear what your results were!
Karen

Hi. I also have vaginal Candida Glabrata. I very bad case. Lots of burning. I am on boric acid suppositories for 30 days. Going to take my 10 one this evening. They are helping but I still have discomfort. Don’t feel normal down there. Is that how u feel

Hi, I’m sorry you have this. Yes, I also have lots of burning and just a little bit of clear discharge. Very little itching. The boric acid always makes things feel better for me. Hopefully it will take care of it for you! I would try and get a culture right after you finish the boric acid to see if it is gone.
Karen

S - did you have any side effects on the ampho b?
Karen

Hey karen! No there were no side effects. The doctor did say tht there cud be burning but i felt nothing. Im still waiting fir my results. Been 7 days and i still hvnt received them :s. Will definitely update u guys.

Is the flucytosine and ampho going to be specially compounded? Was it easily arranged for in ireland. Thts where u r from right? I will keep u in my prayers tht this works for u. Keep ur spirits high. Oh have u said a sensitivity test done on ur culture? I think u shud request tht to be done too. I am going to request it incase i test positive for glabrata again.
S.

Karen and D,
Even though i took boric acid. Infact i inserted 2 tablets per day for the first 5 days. And it has still come back as heavy growth. Thts so strange. I was confident tht it wud atleast have gone down to moderate. This is so heartbreaking. I have now given a culture for sensitivity test. Will take a week to come back. Im so confused. Last i used boric acid it went to light growth a few months back. I am now thinking maybe it has grown resistant to boric acid. This was my fourth time on it in a year. Maybe thts what has happened.
I will talk to my infectious disease specialist about ampho plus flucytosine. I dont even know if its available here in australia or not. I feel like a truck has just rolled over me. Was so hopeful tht ut wud atleast go down to mederate. Anyways. Cant do anything but wait for the sensitivity test now.
S.