Oral thrush and throat swabs

[lindyloo2018]

Hi

gp tells me that I have oral thrush but the throat swabs keep coming back negative for oral thrush.

ent consultant had a look but said no oral thrush..

for some strange reason nystatin seems to help a little bit

has anyone else had a negative throat swab for oral candida and did fluconazole cure it anyway ?

if you could reply asap that would be great, as I don't know if to take my tablets

I can't work out if these throat swabs are reliable?

many thanks

[RAGuy]

Without more detail, it is hard to say if this is similar to my experience but I will say I am far more likely to believe the specialist opinion of an ENT consultant than that of your General Practitioner. Is it really likely that the swabs are wrong? All of them?

I can say I have had mouth and throat infections related to a previous RA treatment, which I reported to my RA team and it was one of the factors that resulted in a change of treatment.

What does your prescribing specialist team say?

I would caution against stopping treatment without a backup plan or option but I accept it depends on how intolerable this is becoming.

However, always remember you are the expert on you. Assert your opinion and good luck

[lindyloo2018 in reply to RAGuy]

Hi, I have reported to RA team but they will not change my meds. I am pretty sure it's mtx that's causing the problems. did they take you off mtx and put you on something else ?

how did you manage to get it changed?. my RA team say my das score is only medium and not enough to get biologics. I don't know enough about the other dmards.

[RAGuy in reply to lindyloo2018]

It does sound like it is the MTX. When I has an issue it was with a different treatment but these are all affecting your immune system and can have similar effects, though it is not guaranteed to happen.

I would suggest you are careful not to under report pain etc when a Das score is being done. I was guilty of that but it gives a false picture. Also, the support and opinion of the ENT consultant will help. I do not know how much this affects you but you need to say how much it may be affecting your quality of life, destroying your confidence etc. It is a pity but it looks like you will have to build a case for a change. It would really help if your GP supported you in this and requested a change too.

I hope you can reach a good outcome. We do not need these things on top of the disease.

Good luck

[oldtimer2]

No test is ever totally reliable, but if you have had more than one negative one it seems likely to be correct.

There are other causes of white patches some of the common ones are here: healthline.com/health/white...

Did the ENT consultant suggest anything?