Yeast Infections- 03

1- Vaginal Yeast Infections

2- Yeast Infection, or Something Else?
3- Symptoms of a Yeast Infection

4- Vaginal Yeast Infection -- Symptoms
5- What Causes Yeast Infections?
6- Vaginal Yeast Infection -- Treatment

7- When to Self-Treat
8- Over-the-Counter Treatments
9- Treating With Prescription Drugs

10- How to Prevent Yeast Infections
11- Vaginal Yeast Infection -- Prevention

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7- When to Self-Treat

Yeast Infections: Should You Treat Yourself, or See a Doctor?

In many cases, you can safely treat a vaginal yeast infectionwith an over-the-counter medication. You can also try to treat a yeast infection at home with these tips to ease itching, burning, and other symptoms. Just know the three situations in which you should see a doctor, and then you can get started.

When Self-Care Might Be OK

It might be OK if your doctor told you in the past that you had a yeast infection and you now have the same symptoms. You need to be sure you have a yeast infection and not something else.

There’s one other question to ask yourself first. Have you had sex with a new partner? Many of the symptoms of a yeast infection -- itching, burning, and vaginal discharge -- can mimic the symptoms of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

When to See Your Doctor

If any of these three situations sounds like yours, you need a doctor's attention:

• It's the first yeast infection you've ever had. See a doctor to be sure it's not a more serious problem that needs a different treatment, such as a urinary tract infection or STI.
• You're pregnant. Any medications, including over-the-counter vaginal creams, need to be approved by your doctor during pregnancy.
• You often get yeast infections. If you have four or more yeast infections in a year, doctors call it “recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis.” If you have it, you’ll need treatment for up to 6 months with an antifungal medication. Frequent yeast infections can also be a sign that you have diabetes or another medical condition.

If you're concerned about your symptoms or they're different from past yeast infections you've had, you may want to see your doctorfor your own peace of mind. Because symptoms are uncomfortable, some women will ask for a prescription-strength vaginal cream to ease the itching and burning more quickly than an over-the-counter product would.

Tips for Self-Care

There are things you can do to prevent yeast infections from returning, and to treat a yeast infection once you have it.

• Yogurt. Eating yogurt with live cultures of lactobacillus acidophilus -- a natural, "friendly" bacteria -- may help prevent a yeast infection from recurring.
• Acidophilus. Taking supplements containing lactobacillus acidophilus may also help prevent yeast infections.
• Watch what you wear. Avoid tight-fitting pants and wear cotton panties to allow your body to "breathe" and stay cool. Yeast thrives in a moist, warm environment, so keep things airy and dry to prevent a yeast infection from coming back.
• Nonprescription vaginal creams. If you are sure you have a yeast infection based upon a past episode, you could try an over-the-counter medications to treat your symptoms. (“Over the counter” means that you don’t need a prescription to buy it.) These products come in vaginal creams that you insert into the vagina with a plastic applicator, as well as dissolvable tablets or suppositories (oval-shaped doses of the medication you insert into the vagina

8- Over-the-Counter Treatments

Is OTC Treatment OK for a Vaginal Yeast Infection?

You can treat most vaginal yeast infections with an over-the-counter vaginal cream or suppository. You can buy these nonprescription products at most large drugstores and supermarkets.

Many yeast infection treatment doses come in 1-day, 3-day, and 7-day strengths. Many of the over-the-counter vaginal creams and other products you can buy have the same ingredients to fight a yeast infection as the medication your doctor might prescribe, but in less-concentrated doses.

Vaginal Creams

Vaginal creams go inside the vagina to kill off the yeast that cause yeast infections. Sometimes called antifungal creams, these products usually come with an applicator that measure the right dose.

Common examples:

• Clotrimazole
• Butoconazole
• Miconazole nitrate
• Tioconazole

Read all package directions carefully first.

Some vaginal creams can be messy and leak out of the vagina during the day, so you’ll only want to use them at bedtime. Some of these products may come with a cream that you put on the opening of the vagina and surrounding tissue (called the "vulva") and not into the vagina. This type of cream may ease itching and treat the skin tissues while the vaginal antifungal cream treats the yeast infection.

When you use a vaginal cream that’s oil-based, you may need to use birth control that’s not a condom or diaphragm, or skip sex. The oil in the cream could damage the latex in a condom or diaphragm.

Tablets and Suppositories

Some of the same medications (such as clotrimazole and miconazole) that are in vaginal creams are available as vaginal tablets or suppositories to treat yeast infections. You insert these into the vagina and let them dissolve. Some brands call them "ovules" because they're oval-shaped. These products often come packaged with a plastic "inserter" that helps you insert the medication into the vagina.

One benefit of a suppository is that it's less messy than a vaginal cream and less likely to ooze out during the day. Another benefit of tablets or suppositories is that you use the doses for fewer days, so you get symptom relief sooner.

Safety Tips

Before you use any of these products, you need to know for sure that you have a yeast infection, not a different condition. See your doctor if you're not sure, because using the wrong medicine can make an infection harder to diagnose.

Always follow the package directions exactly. Pay special attention to how often to use the product and how much to use. You need to get those two things right, because the dose targets the growth cycle of the yeast.

Complete the whole treatment, even if you feel better.

Antifungal medications can affect some drugs. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking an antifungal if you are taking other medications.

No matter which yeast infection treatment you try, see your doctor if your symptoms don't clear up after you finish treatment.

9- Treating With Prescription Drugs

What Prescription Treatments Are Available for Vaginal Yeast Infections?

You can treat many yeast infections with over-the-counter creams or suppositories that you can buy without a prescription, especially if this isn't the first time you've had a yeast infectionand you recognize the symptoms.

But if you get yeast infections often or they’re severe, you may need a prescription medication. Not sure? Then you need to talk to your doctor. If a prescription treatment might help, these are the types your doctor may consider.

Antifungal Vaginal Creams

For severe yeast infections, your doctor may prescribe an antifungal vaginal cream. She may also prescribe a steroid cream for a few days to ease more severe inflammation, redness, and soreness of the opening of the vagina and the surrounding tissue, called the "vulva.” Vaginal creams usually come packaged with an applicator that helps you measure the right dose.

A range of yeast infection medications are available without a prescription. Some are creams you apply inside the vagina. Others are suppositories or vaginal tablets you place in your vagina and let dissolve.

Common examples of creams available over the counter include:

• clotrimazole (Lotrimin and Mycelex)
• miconazole (Monistat and Micatin)
• tioconazole (Vagistat-1)

There are also creams that cover different strains of yeast and are only available with a prescription:

• Terconazole (Terazol)
• Butoconazole (Gynazole-1)

In general, the more concentrated the drug, the shorter the time you have to take it. A vaginal cream that has the number 7 after its name, for instance, would usually be used for 7 days. If the same product name had a 3 after it, it would be a more concentrated version of the vaginal cream and may only be needed for 3 days.

Oral Antifungal Medications

Sometimes, a doctor may prescribe a single dose of the oral antifungal medication called fluconazole (Diflucan). This drug kills fungus and yeast throughout your body, so you may have minor side effects, such as stomach upset or headaches, after taking it.  Your doctor may need to prescribe it if you have a severe infection, and you’d take it for a short time.

You shouldn’t take fluconazole to treat yeast infections if you're pregnant, because it may cause miscarriage or birth defects.

Medication Tips

Take the full course -- meaning, use all the pills or creams as prescribed, even if your symptoms go away before you run out of the medicine.

Keep in mind that vaginal creams, vaginal tablets, and suppositories contain oil, which can damage condoms and diaphragms. So you’ll need to use another birth control method or not have sex during treatment, if you don’t want to get pregnant.

Never take any medication --- or even use a nonprescription vaginal cream --- while pregnant without first talking to your doctor.

When to Call Your Doctor

Make the call if your symptoms don't disappear after you finish taking all your medicine as prescribed.

See your doctor if you have four or more vaginal yeast infections in one year. Your doctor may call this “recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis.” It’s not common, but if you have it, you may need to take an antifungal medication for up to 6 months.

Frequent, repeated yeast infections can also be a sign of a resistant strain or more serious condition, including untreated diabetes. Your doctor can find out what the problem is.

Also call your doctor or pharmacist if you have any questions about your prescription and how to take your medicine.