What Could Cause Yeast Infection? 14 Possible Triggers (List)

Certain Steroids

Most women who have suffered from yeast infections are unaware that their symptoms might have been caused by a medication they have recently taken. The use of steroids, particularly cortisone, is linked to yeast infections.

To understand why this may happen, you need to know how steroids work in the body. Steroids are hormones that regulate the body’s response to inflammation and injury. While taking a steroid medication, your immune system suppresses the body’s ability to heal itself, thus reducing inflammation.

Suppressing inflammation can help prevent an infection from spreading but also weakens your immune system. Without the body’s natural defenses, your body becomes vulnerable to opportunistic organisms such as Candida albicans which cause yeast infections.

Using steroids and other medications that suppress the immune system can increase your susceptibility to yeast infections and other diseases. If you experience yeast infections after taking steroids or any other medication that suppresses your immune system, immediately cease using it and contact your doctor.