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[eredien]

So I might have thrush!

I've been having trouble breathing and swallowing since after the ear infection--two weeks ago I started wheezing like a maniac outside the vet's office and had to be picked up--and I thought it was just a result of the ear infection + hives.

However, after consulting with my mom (a nurse), I think I now have thrush! Wow! I'll get to go to the doctor again this week!

Some of the major causes of thrush are:
- stress (check)
- antibiotic use (check, thanks ear infection)
- steroid use (check, thanks hive medication)

Good god.

Comments

[tiamat360.livejournal.com]

Oh my god. I am so sorry.

Things to think about:
1) Does your mother think it's thrush because she can see patches of white in your mouth/throat? That can point to Candida, although it could also be strep throat (unlikely, in someone over the age of 20) or mononucleosis.

2) One of the things to consider if you in fact have an oral Candida infection is, unfortunately, HIV. Since you've been on antibiotics and steroids, hopefully your infection is due only to those (temporary) alterations in your immune status. But if you think there is a risk you could have contracted HIV, it might be a good idea to get tested.

You've been thrown some seriously sucky life-curveballs in the past few months, and I really hope things start looking up for you soon. Best of luck, and feel better. ::hugs::

[eredien]

1.) My mother cannot see my throat (and that's just fine with me), but there are definitely white patches on my tongue and a weird feeling in my throat (that I *thought* was from the drinking the cranberry juice that may have been an allergen that might have caused the hives, but hasn't gone away since). I doubt I have strep. It is possible that I have mono, given the unexplainable exhausted/tired feeling that I had the first weekend in May for about a week, but rax also had the exhaustion, so I don't think that's actually it, as she doesn't have the weird throat thing.

2.) I do not think that I have HIV. I get myself tested for that, among other things, at least once a year (plug: as all sexually active people should). From my reading it looks like Candida is something that anyone with a compromised immune system can get, or rather more accurately, that certain drugs and diseases can compromise your system so you develop thrush. Since HIV patients have compromised immune systems, they commonly get thrush. But since people who take oral antibiotics and then steroids may get compromised immune systems as a result of taking those medications, they commonly get thrush.

It is much more plausible that a combination of stress, steroids (oral, for hives), and two different kinds of antibiotics (oral and ointment, for ear infection) caused my compromised immune system, rather than HIV.

If it were something more serious, then my first guess would be Diabetes and my second cancer-- since I am at high risk for either of those due to genetic and environmental factors I would be more inclined to think of those than HIV.

Thanks for the sympathy, though. It is appreciated.

[tiamat360.livejournal.com]

I get myself tested for that, among other things, at least once a year

Awesome. It seemed unlikely, but better to consider it and rule it out than not think about it at all.