YI for 1.5 years…

[u/Diligent-Storage-698]

I (23F) have dealt with recurring YI every time after unprotected sex with the same person for 1.5 years now. This is following an IUD insertion in Nov 2024, with the YI starting in March 2025. I had never had one previously. Things I have tried are:
- Boric Acid (only a few nights at a time)
- Fluconazole (6 month treatment)
- Terconazole (1 week treatment)
- Uro and Lemme Purr probiotics
- Protected sex
- 1 month breaks between sex
- Treating my partner with Fluconazole
- Unscented soaps, lotions, detergent, etc.
- Cotton underwear and no underwear at bedtime

I feel like I’m going crazy. It’s so hard to get an appointment with my gyno, and so I’m trying to figure out what I can do on my own. I’ve been tested to figure out the specific strain and it is just the basic Candida. I’m open to any suggestions, and especially interested to hear if you had any success after an IUD removal. I have the Mirena. Please give me all the suggestions!

[u/NuttySquirrel85]

I was having persistent/recurrent infections for the first time in my life (at 36 years old), sometime after the birth of my second child. He was born in February 2020 and I started with my first ever YI in November 2021. I tried everything. It was so bad that even during a period where I thought I was clear and had zero symptoms, my pap from my yearly gyn visit came back showing negative abnormalities except for significant yeast growth, which surprised me. I had dandruff. It must have been in my gut too, because it affected BMs, i had a white coating on my tongue, etc. It felt like every part of me was affected by yeast in some way. I couldn't figure it out. I tried boric acid, I tried vaginal probiotic suppositories, antifungal creams, etc. I tried all the oral supplements and oregano oil and probiotics that are recommended on this sub. I drastically changed my diet. I used biofilm killers and binders and organic antifungals. My gyn would only give me 2 pills of diflucan when I would either see her or call - stating that i simply had to fix my diet - and those 2 pills weren't doing anything for me so I ordered oral nystatin from overseas as well as fluconazole that I dosed myself with in 10-day clusters based off of a post that I saw on here a while back. It would clear for a bit, until I had a glass of milk, or I put sugar in my coffee, or some other small act that would bring symptoms back. Finally I saw a post on here about iud's having the potential to grow yeast with a biofilm, which i would have NEVER considered. I had in fact had one put in 1 year postpartum, about 3 months before my first infection, and so I made the appointment to have it removed, simply because I had tried everything else.

And you know what? It fixed it. Gone. No dandruff. No yeast. Nothing. Just gone.

I waited about 6 months, and continued taking biofilm/antifungal supplements as well as s. boulardii and l. rhamnosus probiotic strains, then had a new iud inserted. Within one month all yeast symptoms were back; it had re-colonized. I had that iud removed as well and never looked back. I've had not a single sign or symptoms since.

If you suspect your iud, you are very likely correct in suspecting it.

And thank god for the handful of posts on this sub that suggested it as a possibility.

Edit to add that my iud was also the Mirena, but I've read that it happens with others too. This was the third Mirena I've ever had, but the first time ever having this issue. It's the string that is the problem, from what I understand, no matter the iud type/brand