Yeast infection.

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.herbs
Subject: Re: feminine hygiene
From: heater.nexus.interealm.com (H Timmons)
Date: 11 Jun 1995 20:10:37 GMT

> Does anyone know of a safe herbal concoction to prevent or eliminate a yeast infection?

Yeast infections are caused when there is an imbalance between the normal amounts of yeast in the body and by a lack of healthy bacteria. Yeast is usually controlled by the naturally higher acidic environment in which it trys to grow (I'm trying to be delicate here....), but things like antibiotics, excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages and too many sweets can upset the bacterial balance and cause too much yeast to grow...thereby producing a yeast infection.

Step one...kill the enemy:

Mix one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to a pint of distilled water and douch with it every day...for about a week...or until the symptoms seem to be under control. This increased acidity will kill off the excessive yeast cells. (This also helps stop itching)

Step two...re-establish friendly allies:

Buy yourself some yogurt with live bacterial cultures (acidophilus, bifidophilus, etc.) and eat at least one container every day (to help re-establish healthy bacteria in the digestive tract). Do this for a week...if you hate yogurt then...

You should buy, or also buy, some acidophilus tablets and take them for at least a week...and then take one or two a week to maintain a good bacterial colony if you are susceptable to infections.

I have also emptied an acidophilus capsule into distilled water and added a teaspoon of honey and then douched with it to help apply friendly bacteria to the area most needed...much quicker than waiting for the digestive tract to normalize.

This has worked for me...the last time I had a yeast infection (I had been on antibiotics for two weeks with a ear infection) I got a really bad yeast infection...I did the above, and three days later when I went to the doctor for a follow up, I had no more symptoms of an infection, but I had them do a yeast infection test and the doctor said that it was negative, that I luckily didn't have a yeast infection from the antibiotics...I told him about what I had done...but he doubted it would have worked that quick without using "Monostat" or such.

By the way, I haven't had an infection since, and that was 7 years ago!

From: Jane Hays <jhays.colsa.iquest.com>

This is not a cure, but I have had good luck preventing yeast infections by taking two garlic caps morning and night.

From: pandora.interaccess (Lisa)

A few other things that may help:

A whole garlic clove (make sure it's not nicked), wrapped in cheesecloth, inserted before bedtime for a week.
To keep it from recurring, avoid long baths, tight clothing, douching.. and keep with at least a weekly dose of yogurt (it gets really boring after a while.)

From: jennifer.thayer.merlins-realm.com (Jennifer Thayer)

> Does anyone know of a safe herbal concoction to prevent or eliminate a yeast infection?

I know what I do....its not herbal but it works for me. As soon as I feel the slightest twinge of an itch I start eating plain yogurt. It always goes away. The few times I have ignored the clues or just been too lazy to go to the store, and the yeast infection develops, I still eat the yogurt AND be sure not to eat any sugar of any kind. It takes a day or two, but the infection goes away.