Antibiotics & Oral Thrush

[Baner]

2 weeks ago after 24 hours of vomiting & diarrhoea and feeling very unwell got phone call from Rheumy nurse to say my last blood test showed an infection and I should contact 111 and get urgent antibiotics prescription.   This I did and was dealt with very efficiently and quickly.  After a week of antibiotics started to feel a little better but noticed a very sore mouth and tongue, called 111 again and was prescribed Nystan suspension.  After 5 days of using this mouth is starting to feel better.  Fatigue is off the scale and have now been unwell for almost 3 weeks.  Spoke to Rheumy nurse again and asked if I should up Pred in case of flare but she said no, but said not to do MTX jabs again until I was feeling a lot better.  She made me appointment for blood test in 2 weeks.  Today is best I have felt and hoping this is now the light at end of the tunnel.  I was feeling so much better generally so this episode has knocked me for six.

[SnazzyD]

Glad you’re feeling a bit better. When one’s plumbing goes rogue it’s truly horrible. I’m glad you’re feeling improved. Did they say which test confirmed infection and how they knew what organism to treat? Blood culture? Some antibiotics can do a number on your good gut flora so it may take a while for that to recover and for thrush to be more dominant than it should be. Which one did you have?

What dose of Pred are you on? Whilst you have been through the mill, if you are at low doses your adrenal glands may be having to work harder than they can at the moment and fatigue can be the result.

[Baner in reply to SnazzyD]

No was only told it was an infection and that CPR had increased. I was so out of it at time I didn’t ask any further questions. I’m on 11 mg and must say haven’t had what I recognise as a flare. Did ask Rheumy nurse about sick day rules but she just tutt tutted that and said it wasn’t necessary

[SnazzyD in reply to Baner]

If you feel ok PMR-wise you may well be ok without going up and if it were me I’d not be doing that just in case, especially if you’re on the up anyway. If you have a humdinger of an infection your CRP will go up so it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a flare.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Baner]

Well I'd disagree there - but hey-ho! Sick Day Rules apply if you are ill enough to stay in bed or need abx - you ticked 2 boxes. And you should have been told to stop the MTX way back when you first called ....

[SnazzyD in reply to PMRpro]

Horses bolted. Quite scary Methotrexate wasn’t stopped.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to SnazzyD]

Absolutely. It does just go to show that the introductions of both SDRs and the new steroid card don't seem to have achieved a lot. Scary ...

[MiniSpec]

Hello, being a man I don't get ordinary external Thrush in the same way a woman does, and luckily so far I haven't had oral Thrush, but I do have an inbalance of Candida (the fungus that causes Thrush) in my system and it's caused problems all my adult life.

However, a while ago I was introduced to Caprylic acid and Acidopholous, and have found that using those supplements I've managed to get the Candida under control. So now I take them on a regular basis to keep the Candida down, and have found that not only can I manage to stay awake through the day, but that various things like athlete's foot and other more private itches, have become more of a memory than anything else.

[Baner in reply to MiniSpec]

Thank you for information. Will do some research as haven’t heard of this before.

[jls93 in reply to Baner]

The last couple yrs I tend to get oral thrush with pre-med for dental work. Nystatin mouth rinse helps me out... still take vigilance...