Anita, Diflucan was the only thing that really knocked my thrush down. The rinse would slow it but not get rid of it. My doc tried the scraping on mine but dislodged nothing. Thrush was a battle for most of the year following tx. I stayed on diflucan for months.

My tongue still thickens on occasion. More fluids is usually the answer for me. The thrush eventually goes away, so tell Tom to hang in there. Tom J

In addition to Diflucan *and* the Nystatin rinse, Barry used Kefir -- a probiotic dairy product available in many supermarkets, including our local Giant -- as a swish and swallow several times a day to help beat his thrush infection. Kefir contains a number of important native oral bacteria, more than in yogurt. It comes in various flavors.

He had rather bad thrush for about 4 weeks and then it suddenly went away -- what did the trick we are not sure but happy it never came back.

Our dentist also recommended chewing Xylitol-containing gum after eating, the gum is developed especially to reduce the sugars (which feed both yeast and cavity-causing bacteria). One other benefit of the chewing is that it stimulates salivary production. The gum Barry uses (I am using it too for dental health) is from Finland and has a mild fruit flavor.

Gail

Thanks, Gail, the Xylitol sounds like an interesting option. He has been swishing with acidopholous for awhile - based on the idea that the mouth flora is out of wack. At one point, I thought that all the yogurt he ate should help with that - but it was pointed out that the sugars in the dairy and flavoring were feeding the thrush faster than the cultures could help it.

In response to Brian's post, the whole "scaping off" part was what the different health care providers seemed to be in disagreement about.

Anyway, things are okay - just minor issues - in comparison to what others are facing.

Thanks,
Anita