Help please from you wise ones.

Mother states she and husband have had yeast problems for past 5-7 years.  Her
nipples, which never used to be sore, have become increasingly sore to the
touch.  She could not stand to be touched by her husband, even before this
pregnancy, although it was not a problem before 5-7 years ago.  Nipples are
hot pink.  Not really remarkable to look at in any other way.

Mother reports long history of all the conditions that are precursers of
yeast:
*long term antibiotic use over years and years for sinus problems and other
infections-- she was in the military and states they gave her antibiotics for
everything.  She now regrets not being more of an informed consumer.
*years of birth control pill use
*frequent vaginal yeast infections
*husband also complains of yeast related problems
*They have seen doctors, before this pregnancy even tried homeopathy and have
been on "yeast diets" eliminating sugar, fermented products, etc.

NOW the pain has been severe since the birth of the baby.  I've had 3 consults
with this very determined lady and am very confident we do not have
positioning or latch on problems.  Baby is NOT tongue tied, no creasing of
nipple, good deep latch.  She can only tolerate nursing 10 minutes on each
breast.  Baby is now 5 weeks old.  Luckily she has a very concerned supportive
OB and Ped MD.  Mom and Dad are on Diflucan for 10 days and both state they
feel much better in many ways, but this is the 2nd course of treatment with
Diflucan and the symptoms never went away completely and came back.  Mom is
treating nipples and baby's mouth with nystatin. She says the pain is much
less but still bad enough to make her consider weaning. She was cringing and
in tears in my office trying to nurse the first 3 weeks.  Now she can talk
through nursing but is obviously uncomfortable and has to stop after 10 min
per breast.    I've recommended she see a dermatologist, try to culture
nipples, check for dermatitis and possible bacterial infection,  and get her
old records from the doctors that treated she and her husband about 5 years
ago.

My questions are:
1.  Has anyone worked with a mom who may have chronic yeast for years?
2.  What else can be done to help this mother who has already gone above and
beyond what other mothers will put up with.
3.  She complains that formula stings and burns her nipples!!  She has tried
the SNS but found this to be too painful!  Has anyone encountered this?
Luckily her little sweetie loves to nurse and much prefers it to the bottles
she is using now.  She finger fed any supplement the first month.
4.  What ELSE could cause these symptoms?

Her milk supply is also low, she's done herbs, (fenugreek & blessed thistle)
and now is adding reglan. Not much breast development in early pregnancy, but
she definitely is making a partial supply and would be content to continue
nursing with that if it did not hurt so much.   Baby gets about 2/3 of his
diet as formula and 1/3  breastmilk.  I feel the pain is part of the problem
inhibiting her supply and preventing her from getting the stimulation she
needs.

Any help, references or suggestions are greatly appreciated.  I've read
Lawrence, Riordan and Auerbach, BAB, everything in my files, and everything
that I can find from Lactnet for the past 3 years.

HELP! HELP!
Jane Bradshaw RN, BSN, IBCLC
Lynchburg, VA