thrush + overly enthusiastic milk consumption =

...one very unhappy, very purple baby. That's what you get for smooshing your face all around while you eat, buster.

After unending rounds of ineffective prescription meds, we've had to resort to gentian violet, which is what was used "before they invented medicine," in the words of one alarmingly obtuse pharmacist we consulted during our quest for the elusive substance.

Here's a little tidbit the pharmacist probably should have known, and that I only just now found out (but can pretend to be an expert in anyway) thanks to wikipedia: despite its name, gentian violet is made from neither gentians nor violets, but is actually tecnically known as hexamethyl pararosaniline chloride, a rather frightening substance derived from coal tar. Besides being an antifungal agent used with amusing results on the mouths of infants and the nipples of breastfeeding mothers, its main application is in staining bacteria so they can be identified to species.

Ok, now that is a career path in which I can safely say I hold absolutely zero interest: bacteria systematics. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad there are people out there classifying bacteria to species. But I'm also glad I'm not one of them.

Now if you'll excuse me, I believe there's some coal tar residue on the ceiling that needs cleaning.

Comments

[Amanda]

We've got some similar pics of our little guy. That stuff gets everywhere! Unfortunately, it didn't work, we'll still trying different remedies. Good luck, let me know if you have success!

[Danielle in Iowa]

I say you should all slather that stuff on your face in solidarity :-)

[veronica]

Poor fella. I hope he feels better soon.

[Papa Bradstein]

Yowza, look at that. At least now you know what he'll look like after the pie-eating contest. But seriously, good luck with that, and I hope that all is well soon.

And seriously, has he outgrown his car seat yet? He looks big enough to get his learner's permit.

[Auntie M]

Oh, your poor baby! He looks like he got really into his thesis writing and started chewing on the back of his pen. Or maybe that was his dad...

[samantha jo campen]

I like the suggestion of ALL having purple faces. Strong family unit. And don't forget the cats.

[Henitsirk]

Oh, yuck. Coal tar? I hope the thrush goes away fast!! There are many recommendations out there for thrush cures, hopefully something will work.

We tried so hard to avoid petro products with the kids. My son had excema and the recommended lotion, Eucerin, has mineral oil. Luckily his excema has mostly disappeared on its own and now we just use beeswax/lanolin based stuff.

[the weirdgirl]

I'm sure you've heard this about a million times but good old yogurt does help (though, I know he's too young to eat yogurt). Maybe if dear wife takes some acidophilus pills the bacteria will transfer through the breastmilk? I've found the NatureMade brand pretty effective.

[dear wife]

Yep I am on acidophilus, we just seem to have the case from hell. We have been battling it since the first week. We were on Nystatin and that made it worse. So then we switched to the gentian violet but it took us two weeks to get it and by that time the case had gotten really bad. Now we're on to the next treatment option since it is not responding to the gentian violet either. It seems I have a very resistant strain.

[Little Miss Kylie]

Stick with the Nystatin.

Failing that, go see a Paediatrician because it may not actually be a fungal infection. It might be something else.

A Paediatrician can swab it, then send it off for a culture which will determine (a)
what the infection is - ie: bacterial, viral, fungal, etc; (b) what the bug is sensitive and resistant to; and (c) write you a prescription for the appropriate medication.

Playing around with medications of any sort and by that I mean switching and changing them on a whim because you don't think they're working is never a good idea. That's how bugs get resistant to medications and why the offending bugs don't go away.

Trust me, I know what I'm talking about.

All the best.

[zygote daddy]

Thanks for the concern (and the lesson in pathogen evolution), LMK, but we prefer to put our trust in our health care provider. She's the one with whom we're consulting, and she's the one writing the prescriptions.

[zygote daddy]

Oh, and sorry to be so snarky. I'm really not that big an asshole...

[Little Miss Kylie]

Sorry, my mistake.

I didn't realise you were consulting with your health care provider, because your post clearly states you went to see "one alarmingly obtuse pharmacist".

Don't worry, I won't bother you again... I promise.

[sherman]

Did you find anyway to clean it off? We just did our first treatment and have a very purple face too :-(

[Shannon]

Awesome blog! This picture cracked me up! We had to use Gentian Violet on our baby tonight too. I imagine he will soon look very similar to yours. Love your writing. Made me laugh more than this mother of a newborn has laughed in a long time. = ) Thanks!