Potential oral thrush

[Egret_J]

Hi, I have had two courses of antibiotics for a chest infection and have been on the higher dose of preventers for a while. I use a spacer and gargle after taking both preventers. However I think I have oral thrush. I recognise the feeling although it has been many years since I last had it.

Is the only course of action a visit to the GP (very difficult to get anything sooner than 3-4 weeks) or is there anything available over the counter? Advice appreciated, please.

[holehead]

Hi

Having the same problem with my inhalers and use a spacehaler and gargle. My asthma nurse has kept me away from powder inhalers and have used the seratide combination, it's not easy to shift

Mark

[Egret_J in reply to holehead]

Yes, many years ago when my dose of Symbicort went up I had many months of issues with throat and voice. Eventually I asked to try a change of powder inhaler to a pump. Much better.

[Hidden]

The only sure way I know of shifting it is to use an anti fungal medication such as fluconazole, but you'll need to see your doctor to get that. The main thing then is to work on prevention. I don't just gargle after my inhalers. I use my preventer inhaler just before I am due to clean my teeth, so once I've inhaled the medication I gargle and rinse out, clean my teeth and then gargle and rinse out again. A respiratory consultant who checked my routine reckoned that that level of thoroughness was 'about right'. He also recommended having a quick rinse out after using ventolin if it was possible to do so (he did recognise that sometimes it wasn't).

The problem with antibiotics is that they don't just get rid of the bad bugs, they eliminate the good ones as well that help keep fungal infections at bay. I started to consume live natural yogurt (I use Fage) on a daily basis when I was on antibiotics to help with this. In fact I enjoyed it so much I now have at least one tablespoon on a daily basis as an ingredient in a banana milkshake. Very nice too, if you like bananas.

[Egret_J in reply to Hidden]

I do much the same in brushing teeth after the inhaler and gargling routine. I love natural yogurt and was especially careful to have it daily while on antibiotics.

[Egret_J in reply to Egret_J]

Oops meant to finish before sending. I am still having the live yogurt at the moment. Thanks for reply; very reassuring.

[Egret_J in reply to Hidden]

That's interesting about gargling after Ventolin too, where possible.

[PMRPete]

Some info:-

nhs.uk/Conditions/Oral-thru...

or try seeing your dentist, they treat oral thrush.

[Egret_J in reply to PMRPete]

Thank you for the link. The pharmacist has given me Daktarin gel, however if symptoms persist I will need to see a GP. It is just very difficult to get a non-urgent appointment at my GP surgery these days.

[PMRPete in reply to Egret_J]

Please make sure you read the instructions carefully, particularly bad if you put it too far back in your mouth.

See here:-

netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/m...

[Egret_J in reply to PMRPete]

Thank you. These instructions are more detailed than the ones in the accompanying leaflet!