Intestinal yeast infection

Hi, I'm new to the group. Every time I end up in the hospital, they tell me I have an intestinal yeast infection. My original surgeon, the only one that acted like he cared, tried all the yeast meds, Nystatin, and all the other ones. I'm at a blank on all the other ones. I've had 5 stomach surgeries due to UC. I have an iliostomy, plus they put me on high doses of prednisone, which gave me something called avascular necrosis, which caused me to have both my hips replaced. Sometimes my bag fills completely with foam and usually extreme pain before it comes out. I've tried to get my regular doctor to help me, but he just keeps giving me the same medication that has never helped before, and the doctors at the hospital do the same thing and act like I'm crazy. But I'm at a loss on what to do; they just keep giving me the same medicine and send me home. Maybe I am crazy; all I know is it hurts, and nobody seems to take me seriously. I've spent thousands on probiotics with no help. Anybody with any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks for listening to me, Tom.

Hi Tom, first off I'm NOT a Doctor!!

I had years of something similar. I described it to doctors as having the same symptoms as Pelvic Inflammatory Disease which women deal with. I explained to my doc about the internal pain I had. Everything below my navel was on fire. I had a suggestion to try Flagyl pills and Cipro taken together for about ten days. After using these, my symptoms just stopped one day and the problem came back!!!

I hate Prednisone but have had it many times; my hair fell out and I gained a lot of weight while using it. I've never heard of your side effect but that is just awful about your hips!!

This is just my own experience with Flagyl and Cipro and I'm not a medical professional, so just throwing that out as a suggestion. Cipro has its own problems but I was losing the will to live so I gave it a shot and it seems to have done the job. I was on no other meds at the time and take no meds at all now.

Hope you feel better, Tom Magoo.

Hi Tom, welcome to the site. I've had my ileo now for 30 some years, and when I first had surgery and had some symptoms like yours, I was told to eat plain yogurt and antacid, which seemed to help on a short term, but I think it was just the Crohn's disease letting up. I hope you get it sorted out.

Hey Tom, when you say regular Dr do you mean GI Dr? I have a list of more natural things that help with yeast/fungal infections (from functional medicine so it's not just things I read online or anything) but I need my laptop to access it and won't be able to do that til later this afternoon. Has anyone on your medical team tried to get a sample so they have a better idea of what they are trying to treat?

-Jodie

Hey there, this is Julie, your friendly neighborhood ostomy nurse and ostomate.

There is an IV medication for yeast infections called "Amphotericin B." I have to be honest with you, it has significant possible side effects. It is very harsh on the kidneys, but it can really knock out fungal infections in the GI tract. If you want more information, look up the name of this medication on Wikipedia; the entry there seemed very complete.

Words of Encouragement from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

If your doctor keeps giving you the same medication all the time and it doesn't work, you can simply tell him to not prescribe it anymore and save the hassle/cost.

Hi Tom - have you tried proteolytic Enzymes? Google it! They're all natural (bromelain from pineapples, papain from papaya, turmeric, beano is a natural digestive enzyme). Read up on it! They might work for you. Available as a supplement.

Have they tested you for SIBO?

Prebiotics? Fermented foods?

I'm not sure how much colon you're working with, if yours is permanent, etc.. so those are the only suggestions I found that were safe to share. :)

I'll second that emotion...to borrow a quote. I eat pickled foods regularly to repopulate the old biome. I love pickled beets and many other pickled foods. I find that sometimes I have no urge to eat this, but sometimes I get this unstoppable urge when I get to the pickled foods section; my hands grab the jar without any input from my pickled brain! It's like my body is demanding that I buy it. Well, your gut is like a second brain, so it makes decisions all by itself! I haven't tried kimchi yet but can't get that in Ireland. This urge hits me especially after I use antibiotics. Magoo

Magoo, thanks, now I have the song stuck in my head.

Thanks so much to everyone who had a suggestion for my problem. I am so glad I found this site. We only have 2 GI doctors; one is semi-retired, and the other one has Parkinson's. I'm trying to get an appointment with a doctor in OKC, just waiting for them to call back. It took my sister 6 months to get in; she has UC, and they've got it in remission. Thank the Lord! Again, thanks for all the support. I really appreciate it, Tom.

In my post at the top, I accidentally typed

"After using these (Flagyl + Cipro) my symptoms 'Came Back'..." That should have been "Never Came Back!!"... sorry, huge difference!! I no longer have any of those problems. I used to have "Surprise" very smelly discharge from my butt... Horrible smell!! After taking the meds, the discharge just stopped as well as the pain and cramps.

I haven't read the responses yet... later.

Magoo

You are very welcome! I love Motown. I lived in the Bronx in the late 70s and the music was everywhere... the era of the shoulder-carried boombox!!! Carpet on the dashboard!! (not mine), dice hanging from the rearview!! It was a fun time... except for the NYC bus rides... carbon monoxide factories!!!

All the best.

Lots to be learned from the riots and what happened to Motown/Detroit. It's so sad to see Detroit now.

You're saying this about pickled beets etc. is very interesting. Before I had my emergency colostomy, I craved pickled herring and beets like mad. I then suddenly had to have chocolate wine. (I hadn't drunk a drop in years. Not an alcoholic ever either.) I was eating gigantic salads with a lot of wine and rice vinegars and vinaigrette dressings too. And then the abdominal pain began until I felt like I was encased in steel. By week #3, I was hours from death with a perforated colon, peritonitis, etc. Now, over 2 years since my surgery, I am eating the same foods and drinking wine, worrying all the while. Crazy.