Chloe

Age at interview: 30

Brief Outline:

Chloe has experienced thrush since she was a teen, but the recurrence has gotten worse in the last few years. She experiences thrush every month despite trying numerous treatments and a six-month course of pessaries. Chloe has felt discouraged seeking healthcare and is currently self-managing.

Background:

Chloe is a straight woman. She has a 5-year-old son and works as an assistant psychologist. Her background is white British.

More about me...

Chloe began experiencing vulvovaginal thrush in her late teens. At age 17-18 she started getting thrush one or twice a year and found it “really severe and really painful”. As the years progressed, Chloe began to get thrush more often. In the last 3-4 years, Chloe gets thrush every month or every other month. Her symptoms include itching, discomfort, and “cottage cheese” discharge. Sometimes she also gets oral thrush (thrush in her mouth).

Recurrent thrush has impacted Chloe’s mental health, relationships, social life, and work. She describes feelings of shame and embarrassment, especially in her younger years and during a challenging marriage when she was guilted over not being able to have sex. Over time, she gained confidence and her perspective shifted towards acceptance and openness about her condition. However, recurrent thrush still causes frustration, especially in romantic contexts as Chloe finds it hard to date. Before having her son, Chloe was a competitive pole dancer and said that recurrent thrush made it quite difficult to practice and compete.

In 2021, Chloe was prescribed a six-month course of weekly pessaries from her GP. This course of treatment helped reduce the frequency and severity of thrush, however, Chloe was still having breakthrough episodes while on this medication. After this, Chloe was referred to a gynaecologist who told her “There’s nothing we can do, [erm] your body will just get used to it; hopefully the symptoms will get less severe when you do have it”. This led Chloe to disengage with professional healthcare. Chloe said she “got this sort of impression that it was something that women dealt with and that was that and just suck it up and deal with it”.

Treating thrush was expensive and there were times when Chloe could not afford to pay for a prescription or to buy over-the-counter options. When Chloe could not afford to buy antifungal medication on a regular basis, she says she just lives with the itch. However, every few months she would have a “really bad flare-up” and need to buy a tablet and cream. Chloe also emphasised other costs associated with recurrent thrush such as buying new underwear or using probiotics.

To manage recurrent thrush, Chloe adopted lifestyle changes like wearing cotton underwear, avoiding scented products, and being cautious at the gym by changing her leggings straight after exercise. She experimented with alternative remedies, such as Sudocrem and a vaginal lubrication intended for menopausal people, which also helped with thrush symptoms. People have suggested home remedies, but Chloe says they are “not my cup of tea”. She avoids swimming at the gym and avoids using menstrual cups and tampons which cause irritation. When Chloe is put on antibiotics, she will take an antifungal tablet (fluconazole) once she completes the course to prevent thrush.

Chloe was able to get support from her mum and close friends who she could speak openly with.

Looking forward, Chloe says she is “working on being OK” with recurrent thrush and feels that a cure is a “pipe dream”. She advises others with recurrent thrush to seek medical help and push for comprehensive care. For healthcare professionals, she emphasizes the need for empathetic, informative, and individualised care.

When the number of thrush episodes she had in a year increased, Chloe began to realise it might not be “normal”.

To be fair, I don’t think it was probably until it started to become something... something that was happening more than twice a year, because in my head like I just thought women got thrush, that was that, and twice a year, you know, ‘it is fine,’ and because the doctors weren’t really saying anything about it, they were just kind of giving me medication, and don’t get me wrong, like I’d been on enough antibiotics a few times because of my physical health, which I know can obviously impact... impact it, but no one was ever really saying anything to me, and it wasn’t probably up until my mid-20s that it was getting a bit like, ‘well, I don’t really think it’s particularly normal, it’s really annoying.’

Chloe remarked that female sexual health was not talked about in general.

I have, I think... I don't know whether that’s just brought on personally, or what, but I think it’s sort of like female sexual health in general, it’s just it’s not talked about, it’s very taboo, so then if anything goes... I don’t want to say ‘goes wrong down there’, because it’s not wrong, if that makes sense, but if anything isn’t normal, or is abnormal down there, and it isn’t smelling of roses and doesn’t look perfect, then all of a sudden it’s... there’s something wrong with it, you know.

When I first started getting it, it felt like it was a lot of... a lot bigger thing than it is now, and I know more... like back then I didn’t really know what it was, I just knew it was an imbalance of some sort and I had an excess of yeast, whereas now I’m a lot more aware of, you know, yes it’s an imbalance, but... of everything that can cause it, like triggers, that, you know, it’s... whilst it can be passed on via sex, like it’s not an STD so it’s not something to be ashamed of, it doesn’t mean I’m dirty, like and it’s just that more of awareness, and it’s whilst it is a common thing among women, it isn’t a regularly common thing, if that makes sense?

Chloe was self-conscious going to the gym with thrush.

You know, I don’t tend to go swimming very often, partly because of that, because obviously I know like the chlorine and stuff, and I’d probably say like when I’m at the gym and that, now like I probably am a little bit more paranoid like when I’m having a flare-up because obviously there’s fluids, and there’s sweat, and there’s smells, and I’m just very aware of everything, and so I kind of get a bit paranoid that maybe people might be able to tell. I know that they can’t logically, but it’s still that kind of level of... so it never really necessarily I’d say stop me, but it is something that is kind of very much there on my mind and... and it’s just like an added layer of distress, almost.

Financial hardship led Chloe to delay treatment until a significant flare-up happened.

I was doing the things as much as I could to kind of prevent... to prevent it coming on because I knew that as soon as I went to the doctor’s, every time it would be: “Well, have you done this, are you doing this, are you using scented this, are you using scented that?” and it’s: “No.” So I kind of use those because again obviously I can’t afford to be buying the Canestens and the fluconazole on a regular basis, and I... so I always seem to have it to a degree, like at least once a month I’ll get the symptoms, which I don’t tend to treat anymore if it’s... I’ll just kind of put up with the little bit... bit of an itch and do the wiggle on my chair and what have you, and maybe put a liner on, but every couple of months I’ll have like a really bad flare-up where I’ll go and buy some... like a full duo, so I’ll get the cream and the thing, and one way that I know that I’ve definitely got it as well is because the... the cream tends to really sting when you put it on, so... yeah.

Chloe was referred to a gynaecologist but found them unhelpful.

After six months of the pessaries, and still getting the breakthroughs, they referred me through to a gynaecologist, and when I saw the gynaecologist he just basically said... because he again, he asked me: “Oh, are they just telling you you’ve got thrush following a... some form of smear?” and I was like, “No, I’m getting the symptoms too,” and his response to that was basically just: “Well, there’s nothing we can do, your body will just get used to it; hopefully the symptoms will get less severe when you do have it,” and that was basically that, like he didn’t really do anything, it was basically a case of ‘you’ve got thrush: live with it,’ tough shit basically.

Chloe said the costs of tablets was a barrier to getting treatment.

So, I kind of use those because again obviously I can’t afford to be buying the Canestens and the fluconazole on a regular basis, and I... so I always seem to have it to a degree, like at least once a month I’ll get the symptoms, which I don’t tend to treat anymore if it’s... I’ll kind of put up with the little bit... bit of an itch and do the wiggle on my chair and what have you, and maybe put a liner on, but every couple of months I’ll have like a really bad flare-up where I’ll go and buy some... like a full duo, so I’ll get the cream and the thing, and one way that I know that I’ve definitely got it as well is because the... the cream tends to really sting when you put it on, so... yeah.

Chloe received a longer-term prescription of pessaries after short-term treatment was not working.

So that was... I think that was a phone appointment off the back of something else, and I think I’d kind of said, “Look, you know, it’s getting a bit of a joke now, like it’s just not going away, like I really don’t know what else to do now, like I just can’t continue the way that I am,” so that’s when they were like, “Right, well it seems to be pretty persistent so we’ll... we’ll try a six-month course of weekly pessaries,” which that kind of... I was like, “Yeah, fine, like I’m happy to try anything at this point.”

Chloe found it difficult to use pessaries longer-term.

So, I got them and it... I mean using a pessary every week is a bit of a pain in the arse to be honest, obviously because it’s... you put it in, and then it all comes out, and it takes a couple of days to come out, so by the time it’s probably all cleared out your system... out of being... and being inside you, like you’re putting something else back up there, and it was remembering to do it every week, and then I was still getting breakthrough symptoms anyway, and it just... it... it was a lot of plastic, and a lot of cardboard, and a lot of everything, and it seemed to kind of give me cramps, and I don’t know whether that’s just because it was hitting me... like obviously in having something sitting near my uterus for that long, like I don’t... I don’t know, but I did notice that I... I was getting like a lot more cramps when I was doing it as well.

Chloe explained why yogurt and probiotics were not the best option for her.

People have suggested home remedies to me before, things like Greek yogurt, natural yogurt and all that stuff, but I... that’s just not my cup of tea. And then again, having probiotics daily, but again that they’re not cheap, and I can’t buy the yogurt drinks because I’m lactose intolerant, and the probiotic tablets are really expensive and I’m not the best at remembering to take medication either because of my ADHD, so those are not things that I’ve kind of been able to do.

The recurrent presence of thrush made it feel like it had become a normal part of Chloe’s life.

As the years kind of progressed, like I would start... I was starting to get it two to three times a year, it seemed to be like... I don't know if it just I was tolerating it more because like my body was sort of almost getting used to the thrush, so it wasn’t appearing to be like as much of a nuisance, it was more just a: ‘oh gosh, here we go again,’ but over the last, I’d say, two to three years... or probably three to four years, it’s got to the point where I was getting it every other month, every month.

I think that it... it’s... and it’s been going on for so long, it’s just part of me now, like my brain I think has got to the point now where it just seems to think that I will just have thrush forever and that is that, so it... it’s just part of me now, which sounds weird to say, but it’s just something that I have to put up with, and I, for me, it’s normal now.

Chloe hopes for a day where they will never have thrush again.

I mean I... there’s... whilst part of me is very much like just accepted that it is what is now, there is part of me that hopes one day I’ll never have thrush again, but I feel like that’s very much a pipeline dream of it’s just wishful thinking, but I think I’m just kind of working on being OK with it myself and accepting that that’s something that I have and I have to deal with and, you know, moving forward within sexual relationships and romantic relationships, that’s just something that’s going to have to play into that basically.

Chloe urged others to not be ashamed or embarrassed and to get the "best treatment that you deserve”.

Don’t be ashamed, don’t... try not to be embarrassed, I know it’s really easy to say don’t be embarrassed, but try... try not to be embarrassed about it; it’s completely normal within a degree. You know, if... if it’s painful and it’s itchy and you don’t want to have sex, then don’t have sex, like you don’t have to do that, you don’t have to put yourself through that pain. Go and get the treatment, like don’t be embarrassed to go to your doctor’s or even your pharmacy to ask for that... that support, and if you feel like it’s too regular, you feel like it’s becoming too common, go and push... really push the GP to make sure that they are kind of ruling everything out and doing everything that they can to make sure that, you know, there’s nothing more going on, and that you are getting the best treatment that you deserve.

Chloe encouraged healthcare professionals to help remove shame and blame.

I think if it’s an individual’s... you know, if an individual... whether they are young or whether they are old, if they’re coming in with their first sort of like bout of thrush, or it’s been years since they’ve had thrush, I think in those initial appointments being... sitting with them and giving the explanation of kind of like what it is, kind of like trying to get rid of some of that shame, allowing them to understand that it’s not a dirty thing, it’s not a shameful thing, giving them wider information kind of like on the treatment options and not just saying we’re going to prescribe you this, you know, giving them those options on kind of like do they want the pessary, do they want the tablet, do they want like the seven-week course, do they want the immediate one-off course, do they need the creams, and going through all those treatment options with them and helping them to understand how it works and what it is, and some information sort of on ways that it can be prevented without saying... without trying to pass the blame onto them whilst... you know... and if it’s someone who’s... you know, someone’s coming in and they can see on their records that they’ve been in three, four times over the last year or two, not just saying, ‘here’s some medication to treat it:’ at that point saying, ‘right, well, I can see on your records that you’ve had it quite a few times, would you like to go down the route of maybe trying to look at if there is an underlying cause for this so we can try and sort it out for you?’