VS: very nasty yeast diaper rash.
Sad, worried, frustrated, angry. Those are some of my feelings over the past few weeks since Izz started falling sick. At first, it was the normal flu and cough. After taking some meds, he got slightly better but in turn got a diarrhea. With diarrhea, he developed a terrible nappy rash. I later found out that the diarrhea was due to the antibiotics he was taking. After the antibiotics finished, his diarrhea was gone but the nappy rash wasn't improving and he got back his flu and cough. Being a concern mother, I decided to take him to another clinic (a decision I gravely regret). The doctor prescribed him another antibiotic. I kept asking if that would cause diarrhea and she said NO.
With that confirmation, I gave Izz the antibiotic. He took it twice before the diarrhea came back FULL BLOWN. I was seriously perplexed by this. I thought the doctor said that the antibiotic will not cause diarrhea. So I decided to read up more about antibiotics. When I'm done, I felt so naive and stupid because I didn't really understand the concept of antibiotics. Now that I do, I know I shouldn't have given Izz the antibiotic. Nothing much can be done at that point. I immediately stopped giving him the antibiotic and all other meds from the clinic, because not only the antibiotic caused diarrhea again, the cough med made his cough much much much worse.
Surprisingly, his flu and cough got a lot better once I stopped all meds. I felt relieved. At least he's no longer throwing up every time he eats/drinks. When his cough was really bad, nothing can stay in his stomach. He would cough and cough, and end up vomiting. At the time, he was also having diarrhea. He was losing liquids fast. I feared he would dehydrate. Alhamdulillah that didn't happen. The full blown diarrhea only lasted 1 day. He pooped 9 times that day. That's a new record for Izz.
I was happy that his flu and diarrhea is gone, but I am still worried about his cough and the nappy rash. He still has the cough until today but it's not so bad. I refuse to give him anything for that because when I read up, it's good that he vomits a bit. The phlegm will come out with the vomit. As long as he doesn't vomit very often and it doesn't cause dehydration, I don't think I want to do anything yet. Rushing to clinic doesn't really help. I learned my lesson. I pray that it will eventually go away on its own.
As for the nappy rash, it got REALLYYYYYY bad. My heart breaks every time I change his diaper. I don't know how many times I've cried over this. I felt sooo guilty because I was the one that decided to go to the clinic, and I gave him the antibiotics again. So it's sort of my fault he has the rash. During the first round of antibiotic, the rash wasn't so bad, but after the second time, it got so bad that I had to go to a clinic just for that rash. Because the rash was not healed yet when he got the 2nd round diarrhea, the rash is now infected. It's no longer a normal nappy but a yeast nappy rash. If it's a mild yeast nappy rash, it would take only a few days to clear up. But Izz's rash is already quite bad, so it's improving at a very slow rate. And to make matters worse, it itches. Izz already knows how to scratch it (he can take off his pants if he really wants to) and I think it has spread to his neck now, because he scratches his neck when he sweat. So that's how the yeast got transferred. And the yeasty diaper area is also spreading. It's really getting out of control.
When I read about yeast diaper rash in forums or blogs, it could take months for the yeast diaper rash to go away. MONTHS!!! And once you have it, you can easily get it again. I felt really down when I read more and more about it. I know I cannot give up and have to keep on trying to beat this. Yeast infection is not uncommon. Many people go through it and if they can beat it, so can Izz... eventually. I just don't know how long it will take, what meds will work best for him, so I have to keep on experimenting. My mom was suggesting a skin specialist, and there a tons of medications out there to try, and many many doctors/pediatricians to seek advice from. Babies are different so not everything will work out the same for all babies. This is going to be a long battle indeed.
The only thing I'm glad is that Izz is not under any pain. It just itches. I have read that hydrocortisone can help with itchiness but most people won't recommend it unless necessary. It's steroid based and can cause skin thinning (if I'm not mistaken). So if I can avoid it still, I will. I do have the cream at home, but have yet to use it. I hope I won't have to. At the moment I'm using clotrimazole cream for his diaper area, and miconazole powder for his neck. I don't dare to use clotrimazole on his neck, fearing he would scratch his neck and put his fingers in his mouth. It's poison. Not that the powder isn't poison, but powder will eventually wear off, meaning there's lesser chance for Izz to transfer the powder into his mouth. The bad thing about this is that it would require reapplication throughout the day. And our humid weather isn't helping. Sigh!
This will be a long recovery journey. If I can afford to take leave until he's all ok, I would, but I know I can't. I just have to go through it as best as I could.
Ya Allah, please bestow upon me the patience and strength go to through this. I don't want to lose my mind over yeast!
The notes below is for my own future references.
1. No powder or cornstarch for yeast infection - yeast feeds on talc and starch
2. Most recommended treatment for yeast - clotrimazole/miconazole (non-prescription) and nystatin (prescription)
3. Treatment cream goes first on the butt, then a barrier cream (zinc oxide is highly recommended barrier cream)
4. Other recommended cream for yeast - CJ's BUTTer Plus (which I have purchased online and can only try next week). It's all natural, safe in case accidentally taken orally.
5. Disposable diaper is preferred during treatment, as yeast could stick to cloth diaper (causing infection again)
6. MILD apple cider vinegar (ACV) bath can help to fight yeast as it is antifungal. Warning: ACV can BURN, so it must be a MILD ACV bath. Update: ACV can also help to reduce itchiness. Hopefully this will work so I don't have to use hydrocortisone... ever.
7. Cloth diaper needs BLEACHING to get rid of the yeast. No other method works.
8. Naked butt time is very good to air out baby's butt (can't do this because Izz will scratch and scratch)
9. Try giving baby yogurt/probiotic to help weaken the yeast (have read that yogurt can be used directly on the rash but I don't think I will do this)
10. Hydrocortisone can be used to help reduce the itchiness (if needed, only use for the first 3-4 days of treatment, twice a day). Prolonged use is a BIG NO.
11. Don't ever give up!
Sad, worried, frustrated, angry. Those are some of my feelings over the past few weeks since Izz started falling sick. At first, it was the normal flu and cough. After taking some meds, he got slightly better but in turn got a diarrhea. With diarrhea, he developed a terrible nappy rash. I later found out that the diarrhea was due to the antibiotics he was taking. After the antibiotics finished, his diarrhea was gone but the nappy rash wasn't improving and he got back his flu and cough. Being a concern mother, I decided to take him to another clinic (a decision I gravely regret). The doctor prescribed him another antibiotic. I kept asking if that would cause diarrhea and she said NO.
With that confirmation, I gave Izz the antibiotic. He took it twice before the diarrhea came back FULL BLOWN. I was seriously perplexed by this. I thought the doctor said that the antibiotic will not cause diarrhea. So I decided to read up more about antibiotics. When I'm done, I felt so naive and stupid because I didn't really understand the concept of antibiotics. Now that I do, I know I shouldn't have given Izz the antibiotic. Nothing much can be done at that point. I immediately stopped giving him the antibiotic and all other meds from the clinic, because not only the antibiotic caused diarrhea again, the cough med made his cough much much much worse.
Surprisingly, his flu and cough got a lot better once I stopped all meds. I felt relieved. At least he's no longer throwing up every time he eats/drinks. When his cough was really bad, nothing can stay in his stomach. He would cough and cough, and end up vomiting. At the time, he was also having diarrhea. He was losing liquids fast. I feared he would dehydrate. Alhamdulillah that didn't happen. The full blown diarrhea only lasted 1 day. He pooped 9 times that day. That's a new record for Izz.
I was happy that his flu and diarrhea is gone, but I am still worried about his cough and the nappy rash. He still has the cough until today but it's not so bad. I refuse to give him anything for that because when I read up, it's good that he vomits a bit. The phlegm will come out with the vomit. As long as he doesn't vomit very often and it doesn't cause dehydration, I don't think I want to do anything yet. Rushing to clinic doesn't really help. I learned my lesson. I pray that it will eventually go away on its own.
As for the nappy rash, it got REALLYYYYYY bad. My heart breaks every time I change his diaper. I don't know how many times I've cried over this. I felt sooo guilty because I was the one that decided to go to the clinic, and I gave him the antibiotics again. So it's sort of my fault he has the rash. During the first round of antibiotic, the rash wasn't so bad, but after the second time, it got so bad that I had to go to a clinic just for that rash. Because the rash was not healed yet when he got the 2nd round diarrhea, the rash is now infected. It's no longer a normal nappy but a yeast nappy rash. If it's a mild yeast nappy rash, it would take only a few days to clear up. But Izz's rash is already quite bad, so it's improving at a very slow rate. And to make matters worse, it itches. Izz already knows how to scratch it (he can take off his pants if he really wants to) and I think it has spread to his neck now, because he scratches his neck when he sweat. So that's how the yeast got transferred. And the yeasty diaper area is also spreading. It's really getting out of control.
When I read about yeast diaper rash in forums or blogs, it could take months for the yeast diaper rash to go away. MONTHS!!! And once you have it, you can easily get it again. I felt really down when I read more and more about it. I know I cannot give up and have to keep on trying to beat this. Yeast infection is not uncommon. Many people go through it and if they can beat it, so can Izz... eventually. I just don't know how long it will take, what meds will work best for him, so I have to keep on experimenting. My mom was suggesting a skin specialist, and there a tons of medications out there to try, and many many doctors/pediatricians to seek advice from. Babies are different so not everything will work out the same for all babies. This is going to be a long battle indeed.
The only thing I'm glad is that Izz is not under any pain. It just itches. I have read that hydrocortisone can help with itchiness but most people won't recommend it unless necessary. It's steroid based and can cause skin thinning (if I'm not mistaken). So if I can avoid it still, I will. I do have the cream at home, but have yet to use it. I hope I won't have to. At the moment I'm using clotrimazole cream for his diaper area, and miconazole powder for his neck. I don't dare to use clotrimazole on his neck, fearing he would scratch his neck and put his fingers in his mouth. It's poison. Not that the powder isn't poison, but powder will eventually wear off, meaning there's lesser chance for Izz to transfer the powder into his mouth. The bad thing about this is that it would require reapplication throughout the day. And our humid weather isn't helping. Sigh!
This will be a long recovery journey. If I can afford to take leave until he's all ok, I would, but I know I can't. I just have to go through it as best as I could.
Ya Allah, please bestow upon me the patience and strength go to through this. I don't want to lose my mind over yeast!
The notes below is for my own future references.
1. No powder or cornstarch for yeast infection - yeast feeds on talc and starch
2. Most recommended treatment for yeast - clotrimazole/miconazole (non-prescription) and nystatin (prescription)
3. Treatment cream goes first on the butt, then a barrier cream (zinc oxide is highly recommended barrier cream)
4. Other recommended cream for yeast - CJ's BUTTer Plus (which I have purchased online and can only try next week). It's all natural, safe in case accidentally taken orally.
5. Disposable diaper is preferred during treatment, as yeast could stick to cloth diaper (causing infection again)
6. MILD apple cider vinegar (ACV) bath can help to fight yeast as it is antifungal. Warning: ACV can BURN, so it must be a MILD ACV bath. Update: ACV can also help to reduce itchiness. Hopefully this will work so I don't have to use hydrocortisone... ever.
7. Cloth diaper needs BLEACHING to get rid of the yeast. No other method works.
8. Naked butt time is very good to air out baby's butt (can't do this because Izz will scratch and scratch)
9. Try giving baby yogurt/probiotic to help weaken the yeast (have read that yogurt can be used directly on the rash but I don't think I will do this)
10. Hydrocortisone can be used to help reduce the itchiness (if needed, only use for the first 3-4 days of treatment, twice a day). Prolonged use is a BIG NO.
11. Don't ever give up!
aku baca masa kat mcD tgh tunggu niadel main kat playground. speechless gila. setuju bila ko kata dont give up. kadang benda baru jadi, kita no clue nak buat apa. kadang laju2 refer kat doktor pun mcm experimental utk anak kita. last2 kitayg frustrated. nak ulang alik tu yg letih. nak hadap lg lah. hope izz cepat recover. and aku bole jadikan reference kalau jadi kat niadel. nauzubillah. izz cepat sihat ok!
ReplyDeletealahai..bertabah ye anis!izz nak boleh jalan kot, tu yg demam2 tu..adam dulu,demam & hospitalized for 2 nights.a week lepas discharged, boleh jalan..may everything goes well ye, insyaAllah.
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