In this episode, CF Strong podcast co-host Sarah and Clinical Nurse Consultant Kate Johnson discuss thrush and CF.
Kate explains that females with CF, in particular, are prone to yeast infections, manifesting as thrush in the mouth or throat and fungal vaginitis in the vaginal area. Kate discusses the causes, including disruptions in pH balance due to antibiotics and corticosteroids used to treat lung infections. She recommends over-the-counter antifungal treatments and discusses potential prescription medications for severe cases.  Kate encourages open communication with the healthcare team, emphasising the importance of seeking help without embarrassment.




Transcript
Voice Over: Welcome to the CF Strong Podcast. CF Strong covers the successes and challenges faced by those living with cystic fibrosis. You'll hear first person stories, conversations with health professionals, friends and partners. Just a heads up, guests may share their personal views about treatments and health management, but please remember, this is not medical advice and you should always follow the advice of your clinic team regarding your health.
Sarah: Hello everybody and welcome to this quick fire one question, one answer podcast with clinical nurse consultant Kate Johnson. Today we're asking the questions that you want answered, an embarrassing and uncomfortable one for many. Why do I always get thrush?
KJ: Yeah, so females with cystic fibrosis are prone to yeast infection, so a fungal infection of the mouth and throat we call thrush, while yeast infection of the vaginal area is usually called a fungal vaginitis, but still, most people refer to this as thrush, as that's what most people know it as. Guys can also get thrush of the mouth. It's not just something that's only female only, but we do know that girls have a high tendency to get those infections. Fungal infections occur when the little microorganism called candida grow out of control in the body. And this is usually results in some sort of itching, irritation, bit of discomfort, the white patches. So it's more obviously you can see on your mouth or white patches and you can get a bit of white creamy discharge as well from your vagina.
It can also cause a bit of pain during sex and also when you have a whee. In girls and women with CF, this is usually the infections are usually often caused by the antibiotics that we've put on to treat your infections in your lungs. So we know it disrupts the balance of the pH in those areas. And also corticosteroids. So steroids when you put on them for lung infections, etc, can really affect and have that effect because you're taking them daily. We usually recommend treating the yeast infections or thrush with over the counter sort of antifungal creams and oral medications like your lozenges, etc., or NILSTAT for the younger kids. But some of the severe infection may require some medication prescribed by your doctor. Though it hasn't really been scientifically proven, many people believe that eating yogurt with alive bacterial cultures can help restore the body's balance of those beneficial organisms that help to fight yeast.
And there's also prebiotics that you'll often find your dieticians and your physicians will talk to you about to help balance out the body's natural ph. Because yeast infections are so common, it's really important to talk to your team. Don't be embarrassed about it. It's so hard not to be because I know walking up to your pharmacist, sorry, I've got this white discharge. It's a hard thing to sort of talk about. But when it's your trading team, it's as common to us talking about something like a yeast or a thrush infection or discharge as it is talking about your lung and your mucus and everything else. And no one seems to have too much issue talking to us about that. It's the same when you're talking about things like thrush as well.
Voice Over: Thanks for listening to this episode of the CF Strong Podcast.