Recurrent Vulvovaginal Thrush

The worst is when you’re out and about, that’s the worst, is when you’re in the middle of like... I mean obviously I’ve learnt to deal with it, but you’re at an event or something, and you’re... it starts happening and you’re like, ‘whoa, this is... this is shit,’ and you know like a concert or something like that, and... and you just want to... you know – not great.

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.

Yeah, and also like I used to enjoy cycling a lot more. Now, like, sitting on the bike when I’ve got it, it’s just so awful. Like sometimes I don’t even want to get... I’ve been trying to get fitter and go to the gym and stuff, and sometimes when I get it, I don’t want to go there because I just feel like... you know when you’re sitting down... I mean I suppose you’re all right if you’re on the walking machine, or running machine, or stepping machine, but do you know if you want to go cycling, which I love cycling, it just... it’s just... don’t... it just makes you not feel good, do you know what I mean? It... again, sitting down on a bike seat just makes you feel... it just aggravates, do you know what I mean, because it’s like chaffing, isn’t it, I suppose in a way? So, yeah, it’s not good.

Yeah, so wearing cotton clothing, not tight clothing, especially on the bottom half, yeah, and not tight synthetic clothing, not wearing that, and then especially if it’s warm outside, try and wear as loose clothing as possible, and if doing exercise, yeah. And also choosing your exercises accordingly, so for example not doing like HIT training on a bike because that would be pretty bad for it if you've got thrush or if you were developing it.

If I had yoga in the morning, I would go to yoga, and if it wasn't a hot yoga class, I would wear leggings for the whole day after that, and that’s not good at all, so I'd get changed more often and wear more breathable clothing, so I'd have to change my clothing choices.

I would say that’s quite tied into mental health like how like sort of general wellbeing especially I would say for me is quite tied into like being able to get out and exercise, because that’s what I enjoy doing and that’s what I’ve always done, so then if I can’t do that for a period of time then I don’t feel great, but I suppose thrush never like stopped me from... it was normally just like a day or two, it wasn’t like weeks where I felt like I couldn’t... I was... it was too uncomfortable or too painful, but it did... it definitely did like get me down because it would just disrupt like my plans, disrupt my training plans.

Also after I got into cycling off-road and realised that that was like causing a flare-up, because it’s like really bumpy, I was a bit like, ‘oh, does that mean I sort of have to decide between whether I want to do this thing that was quite fun, but then I’m probably going to get thrush afterwards?’ whereas now I’ve realised that if I keep on top of it with a monthly fluconazole then like it’s... it’s generally fine, and I do a lot of cycling off-road now and it doesn’t cause me any problems, but at the time I thought, ‘oh, that was really fun, but for two weeks afterwards I was really uncomfortable, and I’m not sure I want to do that again.’

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.

Hobbies: I like kind of being in the pool. So, I... things like waterparks, I know they're meant to be for kids, but I love them. If I am going to go, it’s a big deal now because I'm like counting down the seconds as to have long I've been in a wet costume, or I'm counting down how quickly I can run and put a suppository in so it... so it takes away that kind of... that free kind of fun time that should be yours to just enjoy and relax, those moments are always taken over by having to manage my symptoms.

I had like a really bad experience, so it was when the six months of medication was coming to an end, but I was on holiday when it was coming to an end, so I rang the GP practice, said, “What... what do we do now because it’s not gone because I’m getting it in between the doses,” so I tend to be... so I took on a Sunday and I tend to get... start to get the symptoms back on Wednesday, so I just said, “oh, what can we do, are you able to prescribe me a little bit more just to at least see me through until I get back from my holiday?” and the doctor said, “No, we can’t do that, you need to return from your holiday and see if it comes back,” and I was like, “But I’m telling you it... it’s coming back in between sessions.” So, then I was off the medication for a little while and it came back, you know, really badly and that just kind of prolonged my distress and discomfort.

The only thing really, I can think of is... which might sound a little bit silly: my son plays ice hockey and he has some long bus journeys, and if I’m uncomfortable on a long coach journey with his team, that’s where you start to feel really frustrated and sometimes a bit angry. You know, you’re... again, ‘what do I need to do differently? I feel so uncomfortable, I’ve got another four-hour bus journey to go before I can get home and... and I’m going to have to wait till the chemist opens.’ And it’s... yeah, I wouldn’t say it has a huge impact on my mental health, but when those... when you start to feel symptomatic at a time when you can’t do anything about it, it can be really uncomfortable, and quite upsetting I suppose.