TMI Man vector in Yeast(Candida albicans) infection? TMI

Factual Questions
1

OK… I got together with a lady friend last thursday and things got wonderfully intimate, and this evening she drops me an e-mail mentioning that she’s got a yeast infection, she hasn’t had one in years, and wanted me to know since “I do know that a man can carry the yeast with knowing it. And, the only way to get rid of it is with medication. I think they have a one time pill for men, too.”

Well, I replied that if I was the cause of her having a yeast infection I certainly wished to apologize and was happy to hear she was feeling better. I also thanked her for telling me about it so I could check into it and take care of things if I was a carrier.

Now I’ve learned a little about yeast infections over the years, but as it’s not something that impinges on my life all that frequently I had to do a little research… (anyone surprised I came here and searched?)

So… from this thread I got pointed to HealthCentral and to the mailbag

And I learned that yeast infections are caused by a bacteria we all carry on a normal basis and that a “infection” is basically a case of the little buggers overpopulating for one reason or another.

An article in HealthCentral included the text “You could suggest that she needs to examine her sex life –- men can be a vector of repeat infections for women. This could be orally or genitally” in an article where someone was asking about her daughters repeated yeast infections.

So… it seems like the most likely way I could have contributed to her getting a yeast infection might have been my having gone down on her for a rather extended period of time (Hey… I was having fun and didn’t particularly pay attention to time, but she mentioned more than once that I was down there for quite a while <shrug>)

Is there more to this than I have been able to research so far? Anything I should have my doctor check out? (I don’t have any symptoms of anything, perhaps a slightly sore throat occasionally over the last week that I’ve just been attributing to ending up mouth breathing when i’ve been sleeping lately.)

-Doug

2

Yeast is like dandruff; you don’t cure yeast infections, you control them.

She probably carries around as much C. albicans as you do. She didn’t get the infection from you.

However, contact with you may have altered her vaginal flora in such a way as to permit the overgrowth of yeast already there.

Men don’t need treatment for C. albicans infections unless they have symtpoms (i.e., a rash).

I have heard it said that in some rare cases, women with difficult to control yeast infections who are in a monogamous relationship can benefit from their partner smearing an antifungal cream (e.g., miconozole, clotrimazole, etc.) on his privates. I have not heard of any benefit from a partner trying to reduce the population of yeast in his mouth but sucking on a miconozole vaginal tablet won’t hurt and demonstrates your commitment.

3

Ummm… should I be reading sarcasm into that? I don’t think I want to even imagine the taste.

4

It’s like beer, son. It takes a while, but pretty soon you learn to love the taste!

Joking! Joking!