Skin yeast infection

[troysmom]

Today I had to take my son to the rheumatologist for an ongoing, on and off again skin problem, this is probably the third time since May were his skin dries out, cracks, gets raw and then crust over, during this whole process my son is miserable and in so much pain that he literally doesn't want to move, he compares it to having an extremely severe sunburn.  He literally does not leave his recliner unless he has to use the bathroom, he gets it on his inner elbows, his neck and the back of his thighs (he spends so much time sitting, the back of his thighs get irritated).

In June I brought him to the same dermatologist who prescribes the minocycline, he is considered the best in Maine, he gave us a cream for bed sores, to help heal the skin once it cracks.  He didn't know why it was happening, or how to prevent it only how to fight the symptoms when they came up.   We then went to the pediatrican for the pain, but he didn't do anything, he wasn't comfortable prescribing pain medication.

Keep in mind in 7 years of fighting this illness the strongest pain med my son has taken is Motrin 800mg.  He lives with pain everyday and endures pain that would make me vomit, so when my son ask for pain medication, I believe him.

The dermatologist who prescribes the minocycline (antibiotic) and the pediatrican both didn't know what was wrong or why it was happening, so like so many times in the past 7 years we chalked it up to one more thing he had to learn to live with because of his DM.

It has been about two months since the last time this happened, but it started up again this past weekend, he has been out of school because of the pain and because he can't even write because this time it is on the inside of the elbows.

I called the rheumatologist, desperate, hoping that he could at least help with the pain, it is so painful in a completely different way as a parent watching your child suffer through so much physical pain and feel helpless, I called the rheumatologist yesterday, he saw us today, the meeting lasted 20 minutes, he knew instantly it was a yeast infection, didn't ask us to stop the antibiotic, told us how to improve the situation, prescribed something for the yeast infection and gave Troy some pain meds.

I am sure many of you are familiar with a pain chart, Troy saw one for the first time at the doctors today, the nurse gave it to him, it is 1 through 10 and each number has a face associated with it, to help the patient show the doctor how much pain they are in.  My son said on a normal day his pain is a 5, (most people can't tell because of his positive mood) when acute symptoms arise his pain can linger around 6 or 7, with the skin problem (yeast infection) his pain is a 9.

While I was waiting for the doctor to come back with the prescription, I was saying to Troy maybe we should stop the minocycline and go with the old regimen, Troy says “Mom you can't make these kind of decisions based on emotion, you have to be logical.  What is happening is not because of the DM but because of a side effect of a medication, a side effect which can be prevented when handled properly, now that we know what it is.  The minocycline is helping the DM, why would I stop it?”

Sometimes it still amazes me how strong and smart Troy is and how he keeps me centered when nothing else seems to make any sense.

[Trudi]

[user=1358]troysmom[/user] wrote:

Keep in mind in 7 years of fighting this illness the strongest pain med my son has taken is Motrin 800mg.  He lives with pain everyday and endures pain that would make me vomit, so when my son ask for pain medication, I believe him.

“Mom you can't make these kind of decisions based on emotion, you have to be logical.  What is happening is not because of the DM but because of a side effect of a medication, a side effect which can be prevented when handled properly, now that we know what it is.  The minocycline is helping the DM, why would I stop it?”

Sometimes it still amazes me how strong and smart Troy is and how he keeps me centered when nothing else seems to make any sense.

Troysmom–

You have one unbelievable son!!  I will have to refer to your posts when I'm feeling blue and remind myself to toughen up a bit.

My prayers to you both. 

Take care,

Trudi

Lyme/RA; AP 4/2008 off and on to 3/2010; past use of quinolones may be the cause of my current problems, (including wheelchair use); all supplements (which can aggravate the condition) were discontinued on 10/14/2012. Am now treating for the homozygous MTHFR 1298 mutation. Off of all pain meds since Spring '14 (was on them for years--doctor is amazed--me too). Back on pain med 1/2017. Reinfected? Frozen shoulder?

[Kim]

Mom,

Please tell Troy that “team Troy” is behind him all the way.  What Troy has endured in his young life would have brought most adults to their knees.  He is so strong and so smart that he WILL beat this.  Please tell him how many people he has already inspired with his determination to gut this out.

Take care…….kim

[m.]

Is Troy on gobs of probiotics and is anyone doing a GI panel on him to see how his gut flora is doing?

Curious.

[Parisa]

Hi Troysmom,

I can understand your feeling that since antibiotics can cause yeast that you should then pull him off the minocycline.  Remember however that he had this before he started the minocycline.  All of the years of treatment with immune suppressants have left him vulnerable to yeast conditions.  That's why the rheumy recognized it so quickly.  You obviously have a very bright son and he must definitely be feeling a difference with the antibiotics that he didn't feel with the other meds. 

Probiotics of course are very necessary.  Pao d arco can be good against yeast and unlike the oregano oil isn't a  harsh treatment.  Perhaps at some point, one of the doctors will consider a round of fluconazole.  I know yeast was (and probably still is) a problem for my husband and he actually made some great progress when he took fluconazole for several weeks.

[Maz]

Interestingly, upon doing a quick search, minocycline was shown as early as 1974 to have inhibitory effects against candida albicans in in-vitro studies:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=478100

Is Troy on a good, hefty dose of probiotics?  

Peace, Maz

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