Going nature’s way with pregnancy yeast infections remedies is the safe alternative. If you’ve been diagnosed as having a pregnancy yeast infections or have recurring yeast infection in pregnancy, you’ve probably been told by your doctor to use over-the-counter (OTC) antifungal medications. While these are good and effective for treating yeast infection in pregnancy, natural alternatives are often better long term for the body.
If you think you have a yeast infection (and this is the first time you’re experiencing symptoms of a yeast infection in pregnancy), be sure to first see your doctor instead of self-treating with over-the-counter (OTC) antifungal medications. You don’t want to be treating yourself with an OTC antifungal cream when you really don’t have a yeast infection. Doing so could not only upset the existing balance in your vagina but also build up the resistance of the yeast organism to the antifungal medication. Not to mention the potential of ignoring signs of other possible complications such as gestational diabetes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to alarm you, but we need to err on the side of caution in matters of health.
ALSO, as with any discomforts, infections, or illnesses during a pregnancy, be sure to consult your doctor BEFORE taking any forms of medication or yeast infection remedies!
With all that said, here’re more natural forms of pregnancy yeast infections remedies –
Yogurt
This is an old standby and it’s all natural. I find that for my intense yeast infections, yogurt doesn’t quite cut it as well as the garlic supplements or even the OTC antifungal creams. Even so, for a mild pregnancy yeast infections, yogurt works and is much better than shooting yourself up with artificially manufactured chemical antifungal creams that always has the potential for creating drug resistant strains of candida albicans.
Here’s what you’ll need …
- Plain, unflavored, un-sugared yogurt with live lactobacillus acidophilus. I found Nancys Plain Organic Yogurt to be a good brand and easily accessible from any local Safeways (use this link to buy your yogurt and get $10 off!).
- Reusable plastic antifungal cream (check out the Safeway Miconazole with Reusable applicator) applicator.
- Panty liner. Again, I like Always.
Here’s what you do …
- Fill the applicator with the yogurt
- Insert the filled applicator and inject the yogurt into the vagina at bedtime.
Apply once or twice daily until the yeast infection clears. Again, to be on the safe side, apply for an extra 2 days.
You can also apply twice a day, although with the laws of gravity at work, if you apply during the daytime, I don’t know how the yogurt can stay inside long enough for it to do much good. Some have also suggested freezing the applicator pre-filled with the yogurt for less messy and easier (not to mention the relieving effects of having an ice cold yo-cicle to ease the itchiness) application.
My doctor also recommends eating yogurt as a pregnancy yeast infection home remedy. Some of my friends who had recurring yeast infections have tried this and swears it works. Personally, it didn’t do me much good. I guess this is one of those YMMV (your mileage may vary) situations. Again, if you are going to try this, make sure that you purchase yogurt that has live yeast cultures in it as well as low sugar content because don’t forget — yeast thrives on sugar.
Acidophilus capsules
This pregnancy yeast infections home remedy is similar to using yogurt … just less messy, IMO. They both work on the same concept of using the acidophilus bacteria to fight off the candida organism. Personally, I didn’t experience very good results from using this form of treatment. Perhaps I didn’t give it enough of a chance, or it was not effective against the particular strain of candida that I had, but the sudden increase in discomfort and yeast infection symptoms the day after I used acidophilus capsules as suppositories was enough for me to stop using them right away! BUT, this doesn’t mean that using acidophilus capsules suppositories for your pregnancy yeast infections home remedy will not work for you.
I’ve said this already in my Treatments section on using acidophilus capsule. But I’ll say it again since you may not have read that page yet — don’t go run out and buy any ‘ole acidophilus capsules for your pregnancy yeast infections cure. Not all acidophilus supplements are created equal! First of all, regardless of how many viable cells each product’s package label may claim their acidophilus capsule to have, research has proved that the claim is typically not true. This is because of several variables such as what types of acidophilus strains are used, the conditions under which the acidophilus strains are produced, how the acidophilus is packaged, and the conditions under which they are kept after production. So instead of having millions or billions of viable acidophilus cells per serving, you could only be getting thousands. In addition, there has been some disagreement as to whether the acidophilus organisms are even able to first of all make it to our stomachs, and then survive the acids in our stomach to do any good.
So how will you know if you’re getting what you’re paying for? Well, in most cases, it’s a hit or miss. I’ve tried at least 3 different brands of acidophilus for my yeast infections (that I remember). Now remember, I’ve been ingesting these vs. using them as suppositories. As a yeast infection cures, I’ve only used the acidophilus as suppositories only once. But out of the 3 that I’ve tried, PB8 (as a pregnancy yeast infections cure) is the one I’ve been getting the most consistent results from. Now mind you, I’ve been using PB8 as anoral acidophilus and not as suppositories. Culturelle LGG is another brand that I’ve heard good things about — particularly interesting since it’s supposed to contain a completely different strain of acidophilus (the type in yogurt) that’s supposed to have been engineered to have a really good survival rate.
Here’s what you’ll need …
- Acidophilus capsules. Be sure to get the ones without any dairy products in them. Also, check out the number of acidophilus strains delivered per serving. Remember — not all acidophilus capsules are created equal! I prefer to get my PB8 from a health food or nutrition store. Click here for more information on PB8and where to get it. Here’s a link for Culturelle LGG.
- Reusable antifungal cream (check out the Safeway Miconazole with Reusable applicator) applicator
- Water-based lubricant.
- Panty liner. I like to use Always as I find it works better at keeping the moisture away from my skin.
Here’s what you do …
- Insert 1-3 acidophilus capsules into the (antifungal cream) applicator, leaving the top 1/4 of the last capsule peeping from the top of the applicator. I say 1-3 capsules because you need to figure out for yourself how many works for your pregnancy yeast infections. Remember, since not all acidophilus supplements are created equal, 1 capsule for one brand could mean 3 capsules for another brand!
- Smear a tiny bit of the water-based lubricant on the applicator. Make sure you also apply a bit of the lubricant on the tip of the top capsule.
- Lying down, insert the applicator and “inject” the capsules into your vagina (duh!) before you go to sleep. Don’t insert it too deep or it will take the whole day for the capsules to work themselves out. I find that inserting them about half way works best but you can experiment and see what works best for you.
Repeat this pregnancy yeast infections remedy nightly until the yeast infection clears.
Want more natural pregnancy yeast infections remedies? Click here to continue …
Also, for additional information on yeast infection in pregnancy, click on any of the following …
- Click here to review my garlic remedy for pregnancy yeast infections
- Frequently Asked Questions on pregnancy-related yeast infections
- Yeast infections from breastfeeding
- Detailed descriptions of these pregnancy yeast infection symptoms
- Other causes of pregnancy yeast infections
- How to prevent getting more yeast infections
- Questions your doctor may ask you when you go in for your pregnancy yeast infections
