Ready for yeast infection home remedy number 3?

Top 3 Yeast Infection Home Remedy

# 3 OTC Antifungal Cream
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being excellent, I give this yeast infection home remedy a cautious 8.

OTC antifungal creams are a good yeast infection cures. They do their job of getting rid of the yeast infection. So why is it #3? Because it's not a natural remedy. And because it's a manufactured drug, the chances are high that with each treatment you breeding a more resistant strain of candida albicans. But when I'm in a bind (i.e. overseas or don't have access to my garlic capsules) I reach for my stash of antifungal creams. That's why I rated this yeast infection home remedy a cautious 8 -- when it works, it works fast and well. But with each use, you're slowing and inadvertently creating more drug resistant yeast "bugs".

Active ingredients
The typical OTC antifungal yeast infection home remedy comes from the "polyene" or "azole" families. That means the active ingredient's name ends with "azole", for example. OTC creams contain one of these active ingredients --

clotrimazole

miconazole

tioconazole

butoconazole nitrate.

These drugs work by breaking down the cell walls of the candida until it dissolves. The OTC antifungal medications come in various formulations -- 1, 3, and 7 day treatments. The difference between the 7 and 3 day treatments is basically the strength of the active ingredient. The 1 day treatments contain an entirely different type of antifungal ingredients -- either tioconazole or butoconazole nitrate. In my experience, I've found the 3 and 7 day treatments the most effective. The 1 day treatment seems to take at at least 5 if not 7 days to work. And sometimes it doesn't work for me at all but seems to worsen the symptoms. So if that's the case, I figured I may as well go with the 3 or 7 day treatments that are cheaper and in most cases, work faster.

Tip: When you're traveling overseas and "lucky" you just happens to get a yeast infection, fear not ... most local pharmacies abroad will carry some form of OTC yeast infection home remedy. Just ask the pharmacist or look for the active ingredients in the product -- i.e. miconazole, clotrimazole, etc. Typically, 7 day miconazole treatments contain 2% active ingredient and the 3 day contains 4%.

Forms
OTC antifungals medications come in two forms -- suppositories or creams. My personal experience has been that the suppositories work, but not as well as the creams. This is because the suppository may not dissolve / "melt" completely before being "discharged" from the vagina. Creams work better, in my opinion, but are also a bit more messy.

Which ones work?
Now your doctor may tell you that any OTC antifungal will work for your yeast infection. They may be right, but again, my personal experience has been that while all OTCs have an antifungal active ingredient, they do not all work the same -- i.e. not all OTC antifungals are created equal. I'm not a doctor, so I can't tell you why. So if you try one OTC and it doesn't seem to work by the 3 or 4th day (you should see your symptoms reducing), or your see a worsening of symptoms, you may want to consider trying a different OTC with a different active ingredient. I have pretty much tried all the various OTCs and antifungal active ingredients out there. My conclusion is that these two antifungal ingredients do not work for me (at least against the strains of candida that were infecting me at the time) -- tioconazole and butoconazole nitrate -- instead of getting rid of the candida infection, my symptoms either increased (intense itching, burning and sores) or worsened. BUT, this does not mean they will not work for you. There are different antifungal drugs exactly because of that -- different "azoles" work on different types and strains of candida. So, one drug may do wonders for your yeast infection one time, but doesn't do anything for your next infection.

Here's a table of which OTC has which active ingredient under which drug name --

Active Ingredient	Drug Name
Miconazole Nitrate	Monistat 7 (7 day treatment)
	Monistat 3 (3 day treatment)
Clotrimazole	Gyne-Lotrimin
	Femstat
	Clotrimazole-7 (7 day treatment)
	Mycelex 7 (7 day treatment)
	Mycelex G
	Femstat-3 (3 day treatment)
	Gynazole-1 (1 day treatment)
Tioconazole	Monistat 1 (1 day treatment)
	Rite Aid Tioconazole-1 (1 day treatment)
	Vagistat-1 (1 day treatment)
Butoconazole nitrate	Mycelex-3 (3 day treatment)
	Gynazole-1 (1 day treatment)

Remember, when using these OTCs, be aware that the vegetable or mineral oils contained in them will weaken latex condoms! OTCs also will not prevent sexually transmitted diseases.

How do you use these products? Follow the instructions contained in the package. Be sure to wear a panty liner when using this form of treatment as the medication gets discharged from your vagina throughout the day. You may also want to bring a couple of additional liners to change throughout the day.

Here're the links for the OTC yeast infection home remedy that I find works for me ...

• Monistat 7 yeast infection home remedy (miconazole nitrate)
  
• Monistat 3 yeast infection home remedy (miconazole nitrate)
• Lotrimin AF (yes, I know this is for athlete's foot, but trust me, it works just the same). This does not come with a reuseable applicator (of course), but if your Monistat comes with one, save it for reuse in the future. Or, this -- Safeway Miconazole with Reusable applicator (miconazole active ingredient, same as Monistat) that has a reuseable applicator.

I like the Always brand panty liners as I find they work REALLY WELL at keeping the moisture away from my skin (a must in any yeast infection home remedy).

And if you're brave or desperate enough to try the 1 day OTC yeast infection home remedy, here's a link for Vagistat-1 (tioconazole).

Interested in MORE yeast infection home remedy? Click here to see what other available forms of yeast infection remedies ...

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Garlic - my # 1 yeast infection cures
Yogurt - my # 2 yeast infection cures