Sorry to be gross or graphic, but I’m curious.
Say a woman was a vaginal yeast infection, but then she gets her period. What is the effect of the menstrual period on the yeast infection? Will it “flush out” significant amounts of the yeast? Change the pH or overall habitat for the yeast? Or do nothing? Wouldn’t this make it harder to treat a yeast infection (unless orally)?
IANAD, however, I once worked for one. During this time I did get a yeast infection during my period. I asked him if I could still treat it (using the OTC creams) or did I have to wait until after my period was over.
He said that I could go ahead and treat it as I normally would, that having my period wouldn’t matter. The only caveat was that since you can’t use tampons (or have sex) during the course of the treatment (1-7 days depending on what you get) so I had to use pads.
I’m a microbiologist. I can tell you all kinds of things about yeast. I know how they grow, how cell division is controlled at the molecular level, and how to test for them in commercial food production. This, however, is beyond me. I need to spend more time studying women…
I don’t believe it’s true that sex must be avoided during the yeast treatment. IIRC from my rotations (so many, many years ago), it was emphasized that intercourse would help spread the meds around, and treat any yeast colonization that the partner had on his penis. I certainly don’t tell my patients to halt intercourse during treatment.
I’m sorry, I didn’t make myself too clear. The doctor didn’t tell me to avoid intercourse, just tampons. I got the intercourse bit from reading the information leaflet that came with the Monistat box.
[quote]
[ul]
[li]Do not have vaginal intercourse while using this product.[/li][li]Do not use tampons, douches, or spermicides while using this medicine.[/ul][/li][/quote]
FWIW, I’d listen to a doctor over an informational leaflet.
This is probably TMI, but years ago I used to suffer terribly from repeated yeast infections. I don’t know if having my menses helped cure them but they certainly did relieve some of the itching associated with it.
I was told that intercourse during a yeast infection would break up and spread the colonies. Not a good thing. However, having sex during the treatment wasn’t specifically addressed. Dr Mercotans advice certainly makes good sense. Although with all the irritation, it was never high on list of “things to do”!