can antibiotics cause yeast infection

Can antibiotics cause yeast infection? Yeast infection after antibiotics

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Can antibiotics cause yeast infection?

Antibiotics can cause yeast infection and are commonly known as one of the main risk factors and leading yeast infections causes (1). The connection between antibiotics and yeast infection was clearly demonstrated and suggested in the medical literature. According to research, antibiotic treatment does increase the incidence and severity of candida and yeast infections, especially candida albicans which is responsible for most of the yeast infections (2).

Antibiotics and yeast infection

The bottom line – What do we know?

If you must take antibiotics, there are a few steps you can do that can help to prevent yeast infection from antibiotics. To learn more, see: how to prevent yeast infections from antibiotics.

How do antibiotics cause yeast infections

According to research, antibiotics can cause yeast infections by affecting the good bacteria in the body and suppressing the body’s immune system function:

Antibiotics kill the good bacteria

Antibiotics therapy directly affect the gut flora. Antibiotics kill the bad bacteria, but can also damage the good bacteria that normally keeps candida yeast from overgrowing. Candida is an opportunistic microorganism that is well known to take advantage on this compromised environment. With less good bacteria to keep candida under control, candida converts into a more invasive fungal form, spreads and causes various yeast infections (3).
Antibiotics are considered as one of the main risk factors and leading yeast infections causes.

Do you already notice signs of yeast infection? for a complete list of candida and yeast infection symptoms broken down by different body areas, see: candida symptoms checker.

To check if your candida symptoms may be related to candida overgrowth, see: yeast infection test.

Antibiotics suppress the immune system

The reduced good bacteria in the gut due to antibiotic use can also affect the immune system function.
As a result, the immune system ability to fight infections such as candida yeast infections or other fungal infections is impaired (4).

Prevent yeast infection from antibiotics

If you must take antibiotics, there are a few steps you can do that can help to prevent yeast infection from antibiotics. The protocol below is very simple and has shown to be very helpful for many. Taking antibiotics is known to create a problematic environment in the body where candida yeasts can thrive and overgrow. The steps below can help to mitigate this by helping your body to naturally fight back.

How to prevent yeast infections from antibiotics:

  1. Confirm with your doctor that antibiotics are unnecessary. According to research, at least 30 percent of antibiotics prescribed in the United States are unnecessary (5).
  2. Taking probiotics with antibiotics may help to prevent yeast infections.
  3. Make sure you do not have common vitamins and minerals deficiencies needed for a healthy immune system function, especially: Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, Iron.
  4. Switch to the candida diet during and after the course of the antibiotics. Pay close attention to foods to avoid that can feed the candida yeast.
  5. Consume immune boosting foods.
  6. Women: to prevent vaginal yeast infections, follow the Vaginal yeast infection prevention protocol.

30 percent of antibiotics prescribed in the United States are unnecessary

According to the centers for disease control and prevention (CDC), at least 30 percent of antibiotics prescribed in the United States are unnecessary. These are 47 million excess prescriptions each year! A study that analyzed antibiotic use in the United states found that most of these unnecessary antibiotics are prescribed for respiratory conditions caused by viruses. These conditions typically include common colds, viral sore throats, bronchitis, and sinus and ear infections. All these infections are caused by viruses and do not respond to antibiotics (5).

Probiotics with antibiotics

Taking probiotics with antibiotics to prevent yeast infections was suggested by published human studies as a useful strategy to reduce the risks of developing yeast infections due to the antibiotics use. In one study, a mix of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and other probiotics strains was given to patients who were treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics. The study finding suggested that the probiotic mix was able to reduce the growth of Candida in blood (candidemia) and candida in urine (candiduria) (6).

Probiotics with antibiotics: Our recommendation

Using antibiotics is one of the most common causes of yeast infections (8).
If you are planning to take antibiotics, we encourage you to consult with your doctor, share the below information and consider taking probiotics with antibiotics as they may be helpful to prevent yeast infections.

  • Using probiotics to prevent yeast infection was suggested by the medical literature to be useful.
  • A common best practice done in most studies is using a mixture of the Lactobacillus probiotic strains (9, 10), which are considered the best probiotic to prevent yeast infections.
  • The Lactobacillus probiotic complex we use in our protocol for yeast infection prevention is FloraTrex and it has shown to be very safe and effective.
    FloraTrex contains 23 key top studied probiotic strains shown by research to be both safe and effective, but also use a 100% vegan probiotic strains, so there are no dairy, soy, wheat, or gluten or other allergens. This is where many probiotic products fail, and one of the reasons of the digestive issues such as gas and bloating people experience when using dairy based probiotics. Learn more about Florarex.

FAQ

Yeast infection after antibiotics

Getting a yeast infection after antibiotics is very common and is well documented in the medical literature.
One study reviewed the connection between vaginal yeast infections after short courses of oral antibiotics in 80 women. The study found that the oral antibiotics use increased both the vaginal candida colonization and the incidence of vaginal yeast infection symptoms (11).

Can antibiotics cause thrush

Antibiotics can cause thrush with the connection between oral thrush and antibiotics also suggested by many studies. According to research data, oral thrush infection often occurs after broad-spectrum antibiotic use due to lowering the oral good bacterial population. With less good bacteria in the mouth to limit candida yeasts from overgrowing, candida spreads and cause the oral thrush infection can occur inside the mouth, most frequently presents as reddened lesions on the tongue and palate (12).

Antibiotics for yeast infection

The primary use of antibiotics is for the treatment and prevention of bacterial infections. Some antibiotics may also have also antifungal properties. Using these antifungal antibiotics for yeast infection however, is not well studied or practiced. According to the available research data, antibiotics are well known to affect the gut flora and to lead to candida and yeast infections.

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