Symbicort/thrush?

[Katoune]

Morning, I take symbicort twice a day, when I saw my asthma nurse recently I queried the symbicort giving oral thrush as the leaflet says to drink something after it rinse mouth out, me being me who overthinks everything said I was worried about inhaling symbicort forever as if it can cause thrush in your mouth what is it doing to the inside of your lungs? She was completely taken aback by this nd said she had never thought of it like that and then went onto say the mouth was a different environment etc etc I have just read a post in here about mucas samples coming back with yeast in them and some replies to to the post about candida being present in their samples, so surely this could be caused by something like symbicort?

[peege]

Just to say yes, I think you are over thinking it😀. Most of us have a thorough rinse and gargle immediately after each inhalation to rinse away any residue medication.

Personally, for good measure I rinse and gargle before inhaling meds so it's diluted in my mouth & throat (call me paranoid) as well as after. I also keep sugar intake low because sugar feeds candida/yeast. I had oral thrush once (when using a powder inhaler) and don't want it again . Your nurse is right, the mouth is a different environment however drinking a glass of water afterwards will dilute anything going down yr esophagus.

[Katoune in reply to peege]

Thankyou! I have a habit of over thinking and my health anxiety has been through the roof since finding out I have hyperinflated lungs. This forum has been invaluable 😊

[Swizzy]

Please don't catastrophise. I have used fostair since 2007 with no problems and certainly no candida in my lungs. . The post you are referring to contains reference to a fungal infection which has shown up in a sputum sample. Unfortunately, lab tests are notoriously unreliable, samples from the mouth secretions and mucus from the lungs cannot be separated out. It is far more likely that any candida which shows up is in the mouth secretions, caused by inhalers or drugs and can be treated. Fungus does get into damaged lungs but this is comparatively rare and from outside contact or mould in houses. Specialists are aware of this, watch for it and treat it.Your inhaler is you friend. Please don't let a confusion worry you unduly or lead to you not using it.

[Katoune in reply to Swizzy]

Thankyou for this! I suffer with bad health anxiety which has escalated since finding out I have hyperinflated lungs, catastrophising is my speciality!