Nancy
Nancy has had recurrent thrush for 5 years. She notices that symptoms are cyclical and impact her life. Nancy has seen GPs and gynecologist for help but feels recurrent thrush is poorly understood. She has found support from her family, friends, and online support groups. Nancy hopes to continue investigating her symptoms.
Nancy (she/her) is a straight woman who is married with two children who are aged 8 and 11 years. She works as an educator, peer supporter and scientist. Her background is white British. Interview clips read by an actor.
More about me...
When she was 32, Nancy began to experience recurrent thrush. She has thrush for two weeks of every month on a repetitive cycle. She notices that her symptoms are influenced by her menstrual cycle, with flare-ups occurring during ovulation and before her period.
Recurrent thrush affects Nancy’s ability to sleep, her sex life, and her relationship. It also impacts the clothes she wears and her irritability. Her symptoms include “insane itchiness” and soreness. While studying at university, thrush symptoms made it difficult for Nancy to focus on her assignments. As someone who lives with autism, Nancy also finds that the stresses of recurrent thrush add to her feeling overwhelmed more quickly.
Nancy described having a history of being dismissed by healthcare professionals, which made her hesitant to seek out care. She first went to the pharmacist to get treatment for her thrush. Nancy returned again when the thrush came back the next month, and then again, the following month. To get the medication from the pharmacy, she felt she had to say that she hadn’t used the medication recently. After two or three months of this pattern, Nancy decided to see a doctor.
When Nancy visited her GP about thrush, she wasn’t physically examined and was instead given vaginal swabs which she completed at home. Nancy was pleased to do the swabs at home as a survivor of sexual violence, but worried that she might be doing the tests wrong which would affect the results. The results came back negative for thrush, which left Nancy unsure about what to do next. After going back a few times to a GP, Nancy was referred to a gynaecologist to diagnose her with recurrent thrush, along with recurrent UTIs.
Nancy has seen a number of gynaecologists and found that one took her seriously and appreciated the impact of recurrent thrush on her quality of life. However, she found other gynaecologists and GPs did not seem to understand recurrent thrush and its effects. Nancy hasn’t been prescribed antifungal medication and continues to occasionally get antifungal cream from the pharmacy. Mostly she relies on alternative remedies like topical yogurt and dietary changes. She has found the “candida diet” to be helpful but said that doctors did not support this method.
Nancy now gets thrush about once a month and finds her situation has improved. However, she has concerns for the future including how recurrent thrush will be impacted by menopause and getting older. She experiences other health conditions such as IBS and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (a condition that causes allergy like symptoms), and wonders if these conditions are connected. Since having recurrent thrush, Nancy also had a miscarriage and experiences fertility problems that she worries are connected to recurrent thrush. However, she found studies which said there was “no effect” between the two.
While Nancy said that there is social stigma around thrush, she is able to get support from her husband, family, friends, and online support groups. She thinks recurrent thrush is “one of those chronic things that affects women and doesn't really get looked into too much”. Nancy would like to have experience more pro-activeness and investigation from healthcare professionals. She hopes that doctors will signpost individuals to support groups, listen to patients, and take this condition seriously.
Nancy had experienced difficulties getting pregnant and had a miscarriage. Her doctor told her there was “no effect” or relationship with thrush (read by an actor)
Nancy had experienced difficulties getting pregnant and had a miscarriage. Her doctor told her there was “no effect” or relationship with thrush (read by an actor)
Oh, and also about worries and hopes for the future: when I was like in the thick of the thrush and had the miscarriage and infertility, I was worried it was one of the reasons I was infertile, was that, the whole my vagina and maybe it was getting into my womb or something and creating... you know like the coil, like it sets off your immune system and that’s why you don't get pregnant, so I was worried that like my immune system was really active in the area and maybe that’s why I wasn't getting pregnant as well, so it did make me worry about my fertility.
I think they just said, ‘no effect,’ or, ‘no studies have shown an effect.’
Nancy said that she encountered embarrassment at pharmacies (read by an actor)
Nancy said that she encountered embarrassment at pharmacies (read by an actor)
When you go to the pharmacy actually and you say, “Can I have some...” and they have to like ask you, you know, like, ‘do you have any other conditions, have you had this before in the last whatever months?’ They kind of pull you to the side and they say it very quietly, and then... but when people go in and ask for like aspirin, they don’t do that. So I... I expect I’m picking up on that, that we don’t talk about this. But I mean I’m sure they’re doing it because they want to respect people’s privacy and they think that people don’t want to talk about it, but then that feeds itself in, doesn’t it, that it means that people don’t want to talk about it?
Nancy explained how recurrent thrush affected her sleep (read by an actor)
Nancy explained how recurrent thrush affected her sleep (read by an actor)
It affected my sleep, because I just seemed to become more aware of the irritation when everything’s sort of quiet at night and there’s no other input in your brain or whatever, then I wouldn't sleep and I'd get quite angry with it all. It affected what I wore, what clothes I wore, what I could wear because of needing to keep everything well-ventilated and stuff, and then that would also be tricky in the winter where you’d want a couple of layers, and for me I get quite cold as well. It affected if I could go out or not sometimes, because sometimes it would be really bad and I'd have to put yogurt on me, and then I'd have to stay horizontal.
Nancy said that healthcare professionals did not always ask about how recurrent thrush impacts daily life (read by an actor)
Nancy said that healthcare professionals did not always ask about how recurrent thrush impacts daily life (read by an actor)
They don’t ask you how it affects your life, or they don't really comment on it, like they don't even say like, ‘oh, that must be difficult,’ and just the fact that they weren't doing anything and weren't... there was no, like pro-activeness and there’s no, ‘I don't know I'll go and find out,’ or like, ‘this is what helps my other patients,’ because they're not asking their other patients what helps, things like that.