Group B Strep Vaginal Infection-- My DO gave me an antifungal Terconazole?

[nicolas]

I can't belive that I'm having to ask this here but my doctor doesn't care that she made a medical mistake and I'm not willing to delay treatment for 48 hours. I can get oral antibiotics without a problem, I just need to know which ones. I can't believe this women doesn't even care about this from the malpractice aspect even if she doesn't care about doing a good job or helping aleviate suffering.
I went to see Dr. B on Wednesday. I was placed on fluconazole while I awaited my medical results. On Friday I got a call from someone anonymous within the doctor’s group. I was told I needed to pick up a new medication. I asked what the active ingredient in that medication was. There was a long silence as the girl, presumably, tried to figure that out. I said, “OK, then why don’t you just tell me what we are treating?” She said “You have normal growth of vaginal bacteria and a heavy growth of Group B strep. “ I said, “Any yeast?" She said, "No." I asked, "OK, then should I stop taking the fluconazole?” She said “I would take one more dose since you have a history of yeast.”
Flash forward to Friday evening when I get home and go to the Pharmacy to pick up my medication. The drug that I have received with a different doctor's name from the practice on it is Terconazole, an AntiFUNGAL. This drug has no activity against Group B strep. It also has significant overlap with the drug Fluconazole I was just instructed to stop taking.
I rechecked my pharmacology to see that yes, indeed, Terconazole is an Azole and hence has no activity against Group B strep, what I was told earlier that day I had a heavy growth of on culture. I then called the medical line and left a message for Dr. B. She did not return my call. I decided at that point I would give her another chance to fix this medical mistake in a responsible manner by calling her answering service one more time and reminding her that my pharmacy closed at 9:30.
Dr. B’s attitude, when she did manage to call me back was one of indifference and lack of concern. She told me I would just have to wait until Monday to get any kind of treatment. She would look things over when she got to the office later.
I have already have a ruptured cordae tendonae. Should we really wait the 48 hours and risk hematogenous spread? Anyway, why should I be the one to suffer for her screw up, especially since she doesn't seem to care about me or her liability here at all.
If you know an appropriate drug or if my pharmacology of terconazole is wrong, please let me know. Even if I go to the ER tonight for this problem I won't have a culture result back for 48 hours anyway!

[nickson]

Actually, antibiotics often cause yeast infections. The reason you get a yeast infection after using antibiotics is because antibiotics kill all bacteria in the body, both the bacteria (the ones that you took antibiotics to get rid of) and the good bacteria (the ones that help your body fight off yeast infections). As a result the yeast is left to grow without any good bacteria to ward it off. Many people take OTC creams like monistat to treat the yeast infection, but often times that only temporarily fix the problem. More often than not you'll just end up with a reoccuring yeast infection. The best way to stop it permanently is to re-establish your body's balance of good bacteria and yeast.


Personally I think the best approach is the natural way. Basically the reason you have a yeast infection is because there's an imbalance in your body. A healthy person has a balance between the yeast in their body and the good bacteria in their body.

Too much yeast, you have a yeast infection. Too much bacteria, you have a bacterial infection.


So, when you have a yeast infection you essentially have too much yeast in your body. The natural way to treat it and bring back that balance is to starve the yeast and introduce more good bacteria into your body.



Oh and BTW - That's why you often get relief from using the over the counter meds temporarily, and then the yeast infection comes back. The creams aren't changing the source of the problem. They are just killing the yeast they come in contact with, and not balancing the yeast/bacteria in your body and actually sometimes end up making things a lot worse.

Oh BTW2 - That's also why many times you'll get a yeast infection after using antibiotics. Antibiotics kill all the bacteria in your body, the good and the bad. When that happens the balance between the yeast and good bacteria is off once again and you get a yeast infection.

Things you can add to your diet (to help promote good bacteria) are live yogurt cultures (or take Acidophilus), plenty of water, fresh vegetables, lots of protein rich foods, whey protein, raw garlic, nuts, seeds, oils, millet, rice and oat brans.



Things you should remove from your diet (to starve the yeast) are all sodas, sugars, fruit, fermented foods, foods containing white flour, alcohol (especially beer), antacids and any product that has yeast or mold.



You can change your diet in conjunction with using the creams that you've been using and that will speed up the recovery significantly. But what I would also recommend is to use a homeopathic solution instead. I always feel if there's a natural way to do something, then it's best to avoid the chemicals. I would look for an natural product, that can be taken orally to promote re-growth of the good bacteria in your body.



There are a few out there, I think they are probably all pretty good. One that I have used and was very effective for me was is yeastrol.


If you're interesting in finding out more I've added a link that has some more info.