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You should speak to your health care provider about this. You are right frequent yeast infections could be indicative of other problems, but not just HIV. I have incleded some link that might be helpful, but please talk to your doctor. http://www.teenhealthfx.com/answers/S_xuality/845.html http://www.yeastinfectionresource.com/webcast_transcript.asp?f=gyno&c=gyno_yeastrepeat&b=yeastinfectionresource

Geena, I experienced the same problem you have. I found out recurring yeast infections were a symptom of HIV from reading the box in the middle of a store, and I freaked out! I actually put off having a HIV test until I found out I was pregnant because I didn't want to know. You'll be happy to know that although yeast infections can be a symptom of HIV, they're also symptoms of a million other things. If you are getting them regularly once a month, your period could be to blame. It has something to do with PH levels...There's also tons of other things that could be causing them, such as soaps, deodorants, baths, sweat, underwear, s_x and oral s_x, and much much more. When I became pregnant I was TERRIFIED to get the HIV test, (but I had to) I confessed my fear to my doctor and this is what he told me..."Do you have ANY CLUE how many recurrant yeast infections I see here on a day to day basis? TONS! And do you know how often I see HIV? Never..." The best bet is to just go to the doc to get the test to put your mind at ease. I know it did wonders for me. Also, my doc told me that some women unfortunately just suffer from recurring infections, especially while they're young (teens through twenties). I hope this helps!

tracey, thank you soo much for responding...I just took an HIV test and still am waiting for results.....It does happen right before I start my period a week or two and it is just the worse to experience. HAving to go through it once a month .....I have tried everything...I asked my doctor and off course she recomended I take and HIV/Diabetes test...so still waiting for results?? My boyfriend just gets soo frustrated around this time.... I am soo tired of telling him I can't have s_x cause I have a YI ....Sometimes I think he just doesn't believe me anymore. :(

No problem Geena. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, but keep us posted of your results. Once you rule out HIV and can think a little more clearly, this forum may be able to offer some good suggestion for prevention of YI in the future. Trust me, I've battled them since I was like 16 (Im 26 now!) so I have some ideas about where mine were coming from. Also, if you would like some one on one chat, my email address is traceyaking@hotmail.com. Good luck with your test results!

Geena, I too have had bad yeast from ages 16 to 26. Don't worry about HIV. I mean, get the test to ease your mind, but there are oodles of things that cause them. I know what you mean about boyfriends getting frustrated, but if he really loves you he will deal. try using dove unscented soap to wash with, using white unscented toilet paper, no douches or powders or scented bubble baths..If you wear thong underwear, wear it a lot less. In fact, sleep without underwear and go without it whenever you can. Eat less sugar and go to the vitamin store and get the most powerful lactobacillus acidophilus supplement they have. When you take the supplements, take them with a small gla__s of milk because it helps coat your stomach and allows the good lactobacillus yeast killing stuff to make it all the way to where it needs to go. And most importantly, I found that tampons and panty liner have a lot of chemical fibers and things in them which many women are allergic to and do not realize it. After still struggling with yeast around my period times and v____al irritation I finally followed my gynecologists advice and went on the internet to a website called gladrags. com and order pure organic cotton all natural tampons and panty liners. It made a huge difference. I had no more of those problems and when as an experiment I tried using the old tampax again I flared right back up. When you read what is in these tampons everyone uses you would be amazed. They are far from pure and natural and the v____a has delicate balance which is easily disturbed ina lot of women. Also, as regards to intercourse, you should try to avoid s____n in your v____a as much as possible. If you have frequent intercourse and your partner ejaculates inside you, you will have yeast problems. Semen has a very different ph than the v____a, it is designed to annihilate some of the protective good bateria in the v____a in order to let the sperm pa__s through and make their way to the eggs so a lot of it around disrupts the v____al ph. If you do have s____n in there I have found it helps me to douche it out using NOTHING BUT PLAIN WATER. I was able to find at the drugstore a travel sized portable douche kit that is not prefilled with all that awful Masengill stuff and you can just fill it with water and rinse out after s_x if you need to. It works great. I promise you if you follow these steps I have mentioned you will get much better if not 95% cured! I have suffered badly for years and seen some of the top doctors in my area about all this as well as done a ton of research and all of these things combined really help. Try them and see for yourself. Until I got pregnant recently I have been doing great on these regimes! One last thing, try to use diflucan as opposed to the creams if you must treat a yeast infection. The creams, especially Monistat have a lot of heavy duty chemicals in them that can make you feel worse. I have found Gynezole 1 or Terazol which are prescription are the most gentle cream treatments around but the less you put in your v____a in general the better off you are so use the diflucan by mouth if possible. Good Luck!

Cat: Wow I really thought I was the only one really I did....All of your remedies sound like what I really need. It's funny that you mention Semen as well because we're trying to have a baby and I've noticed that it also causes me to get a yeast infection...I thought for awhile I was allergic to my boyfriend..l.o.l.... Everything that you've said has been soooo sooo helpful. It just seems like alot of work, but it has to be done if I want to be happy....so I can stop complaining and stop suffering from all these yeast infections. I have also been suffering since the age of 16 and now I am 26 and still suffering. Thank you soo much. Congratulations on your Pregnancy!!! Best Wishes

Geena, I know it sounds like a ton of work but maybe for you only one or two things need to change not all of these things. I just wanted to cover every item that can seriously contribute to chronic yeast infections. I meant to also mention if you have taken antibiotics for acne or illnesses throughout the years, or depo provera or other strong hormone birth control methods, these will cause havoc for months and years it has been proven. Obviously if you're trying to have a baby you can't avoid s____n but try to limit it a little to the times you really think you're fertile. I bet if you just cut back on sugar (by the way wine, beer and margaritas have tons of sugar too) and start taking acidophilus caplets you'd be much better. Once you figure out what works for you and get in your little routine its no big deal and believe me when you can go months having great pain free s_x etc. its worth it! So just try a couple of these things, see if they help, keep trying the others till you figure out what seem to work for you. My gyne says their group sees multiple women every day with this problem.

Hello all, well I got my HIV results and it's negative...I just have to take Cat's advice and try to figure out what's really making these Y.I reoccur... Thanks so much lady for listening to me Vent :)

can you get a yeast infection while being pregrant and not knowing

Yes. You can can have a yeast infection without knowing. It usually causes itching but sometimes you can have one without any symptoms.

Oh I've had this problem ever since my hubbie and I got together. He's diabetic and had overactive yeast in his body most of his life. I NEVER had one till we got together. Come to find out we were pa__sing in back and forth so my doctor put us both on Diflucan 3 times a week for 6 months and now we only take it once a month and we're fine. Maybe you should look in to that as well. Good Luck!

Can you use a treatment like Monistat a few days before your period to treat it or should you wait til after your cycle is over?

Before you panic with the HIV thing try this. upon the advice of your Dr.(obgyn) take prenatal vietamins to help boost your immune system. Second maybe it would help to get with a nutrientist to get the best foods in you. I had your problem for a whole year and now iam free of it because of better eating habits. Ask your obgyn if it could be that your v____a is to acidic and how you could balance it. What I noticed with me was that when i drink more gatoraid i feel better I guess because the sodium and pota__sium thats in it. Again this is my personal experiance and the best advice always comes from your dr.. and besides put your mind at ease and test for HIV

I wondered if you are going to the doc every month for this? If you have this everymonth, it could in fact be cervical fluid, of course, if you are itching & burning it could be yeast. But if you have a discharge every month at around the same time it may be your body getting ready to ovulate. I used to think I was having them every month until I learned about cervical mucous which can appear to look like lotion. If it is yeast have your doc prescribe 14 days of boric acid capsules, which you will insert into the v____a, it burns a bit but it WILL break the cycle. You will have to get the prescription at a "Compounding Pharmacy" because they will fill each capsule by hand. Hope this info helps. Keep in mind that some docs see white stuff and automatically a__sume it is yeast, even gynos!

You probably do not have HIV. A LOT of women suffer from this. You may not have a yeast infection after all. HPV looks A LOT like a yeast infection. You can have irritation and a discharge. I have HPV and for about a year thought I had yeast infections. I finally spend 1000 on a specialist. He said I had HPV and gave me some hydro cortizone. That helped. I'm much better now.

I think I've had a yeast infection before, it started right before my period. After my period, it went away, so I didn't worry about it. Then the itching came back, right before my period was supposed to happen... only this time it didn't come. I can't be pregnant, I've never had s_x. I can't think of what this could possibly be, but if anyone has any ideas I'd like some input. I'm going to the doctor about it soon. (There are some medical plan things my fam has to sort out so does anyone know of a place I can go in the meantime that would be able to check this?)