Case report, 2025
How do hormones affect yeast infections that keep coming back before menstruation?
Estrogen and progesterone changes make yeast grow more easily and reduce the body's ability to fight it. Switching to a different type of birth control helped one woman's recurrent yeast infections.
What they did
Doctors reviewed scientific literature on how hormones affect yeast infections and also described one 19-year-old woman who had yeast infections coming back repeatedly before her period.
What they found
Estrogen makes yeast stick to tissue more easily and form protective layers. Progesterone changes during the cycle reduce immunity. The 19-year-old woman had itching, discharge, and redness before menstruation even with antifungal treatment, but her symptoms went away when she switched from birth control pills to a subdermal implant.
What it means for you
Different birth control methods might help prevent yeast infections that happen before menstruation. The main limit is that this is one woman's story and we don't know if this would work for others.
9%
women affected by recurrent yeast infections
19
age of patient
3
yeast infections per year threshold
About the study
- Original title
- Premenstrual Recurrent Vulvovaginal Candidiasis: Case Study and Narrative Review on Hormonal Influences and Clinical Implications
- Authors
- Ana Clara Pessoa Pontes, Igor Feitosa Ramos, Nicoli Larissa Brisch et al.
- Journal
- International Health Sciences Review
- Year
- 2025
- Study design
- Case report
- What was tested
- Switching from oral contraceptive pill to etonogestrel subdermal implant
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.70164/ihsr.v1i4.44
Topics
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