About Fluconazole

Fluconazole is an antifungal medicine. It's used to treat infections caused by different kinds of fungus. It can also be used to stop you getting a candida infection. It works by killing the fungus (or yeast) that's causing the infection.

The most common cause of fungal infections is a yeast called candida.

Fluconazole is used to treat many infections caused by candida including:

• thrush in men and women, such as vaginal thrush, skin irritation or inflammation on the head of the penis (balanitis), and thrush in the mouth (oral thrush)
• infections in your blood or elsewhere in your body

It's also used to treat a brain infection called cryptococcal meningitis. This is caused by a fungus called cryptococcus.

Fluconazole can also be used to prevent a fungal infection developing. It's only prescribed if you're likely to get this sort of infection. This includes people who:

• keep getting vaginal thrush
• have a weakened immune system
• have had a bone marrow transplant
• have HIV
• are at risk of getting cryptococcal meningitis

Fluconazole comes as capsules or a liquid that you swallow. It also comes as an injection, but this is usually given in hospital.

Fluconazole is available on prescription. You can also buy it from a pharmacy for vaginal thrush or balanitis (brand names include Azocan and Canesten Thrush Oral Capsules).

For thrush, you can also buy fluconazole capsules with clotrimazole cream from pharmacies (brand names include Canesten Thrush Duo).

Key facts

• You'll usually take fluconazole once a day.
• Your dose and how long you take it for depends on the kind of infection you have.
• If you have vaginal thrush, balanitis or oral thrush your symptoms should be better within 7 days. If you have a serious fungal infection, fluconazole can take 1 to 2 weeks to work fully.
• The most common side effects of fluconazole are feeling sick (nausea) and diarrhoea.
• It's important to finish your course of fluconazole to prevent the infection coming back.

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