Question about Candida (Health)

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What can you tell me about Candida Albicans? I have seen a Naturopath who wants to treat me for it, but I would like to do more research before I jump into treatment for something I'm not sure about. I have read quite abit of information and also talked to several people who are also being treated for Candida. Yet there is alot of information that suggests that it is not a real condition. Does anyone have any evidence or personal experience with it that could help me understand it better?

-- (trigger@montana.net), August 01, 2001

Answers

Response to Question about Candida

Candida Albicans is REAL. I took antibiotics for about three years to treat acne and ended up with what I call a "total body yeast" problem. I had to do much, much searching to find a doctor who would acknowledge the problem and treat me. When I did find this doctor my insurance would not cover it. The drug Sporonox is what finally eradicated the yeast from my system. In the meantime I did a lot of self treatment which was helpful but I can't say it completed got rid of the yeast. I highly recommend two books by William G. Crook, M.D. They are "The Yeast Connection" and "The Yeast Connection and the Woman". These book include many things you can do to help yourself as well as explaining the problem. You can probably find these books at your library and I would suggest these as a starting point for good, factual information. You have all my sympathies and I wish you well in your search for wellness.

-- Mel Carroll (frank.a.carroll@worldnet.att.net), August 01, 2001.

Response to Question about Candida

Taking antibiotics will deplete your gut of all bacteria--both good and bad. The good bacteria, among other things, helps to digest your food. This can be solved VERY easily. Eat yogurt--make sure it has "active culture" on the label or make your own.

My doctors were originally from Africa and they always stressed the practical way of healing. When my kids and I were suffering from continual diarreah (sp) after a long bout on antibiotics--he said," I can give you a prescription, but it really is just a manufactured form of what is found in yogurt.

It took a couple weeks to get better, maybe a month or two to totally be normal with no diarreah ever. But it worked. It can't hurt to try.

I believe frozen yogurt may work too.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), August 01, 2001.


Response to Question about Candida

Normally the intestine has an optimal population of friendly bacteria that protect the intestine and help us to digest our food. Also there often are some unfriendly bacteria and yeasts present, but they usually are kept at bay by the normal bacteria. Antibiotics, illness, superrefined foods, and the general stresses of life can adversely affect this population of good guys. In that situation, Candida(of which there are more strains than one) and other nasties can take over the intestine causing assorted symptoms, none of which are specific for candida. This is the reason classically trained physicians, who are about ten to twenty years behind current research because they are so overworked, often dismiss candida as being a problem. The truth is candida can cause a myriad of problems. Once the yeast takes over in the gut, the gut walls are permeated, allowing large protein molecules to enter the blood stream and setting one up for allergic responses to foods and the environment, the individual can feel fatigue, arthritic pain, abdominal pain, can suffer from diarrhea, constipation, vomiting and /or anorexia. Candida has a lot of talent to produce misery. In severely affected individuals, candida can lead to irriable bowel syndrome and even intestinal perforation and peritonitis. This happened to my mother of 82 years last year. The only reliable diagnosis is with a comprehensive stool sample. Only two labs in the country do this, one of them being the Great Smokies lab. A standard stool sample will not diagnose it as the lab is not looking for the bacterial profile on a whole, only for specific bad guys like C. dificile. Once diagnosed, a change in diet and the use of various herbs and or fungicides to help kill off the Candida are required. Often, if only a compound like sporanox is used and no concurrent dietary change supplemented with probiotics to take up the population space left by the dying candida is used, the yeast will regrow to fill the population deficit when the sporanox is withdrawn. It can be a very stubborn infection. Also, as there are several strains, the same agent may not kill all candida. Sensitivities need to be taken in very severe cases to make sure the candida present is sensitive to the agent being used. Hope this gives you an understanding of this nasy infection. The above mentioned books are very good references as is the website, the candidiasis syndrome. I am setting up a website offering a protocol based on this data and a ready source to obtain the herbal agents most often used to treat this problem as we had so much trouble getting help with my mother. Try an holistic physician to get your diagnosis, if you are near one. The Great Smokies lab will supply names of those physicians that use their services.

-- Sandra Nelson (Magin@starband.net), August 01, 2001.

Response to Question about Candida

I had a bad candida problem and was given sporax (sp?) which I had a reaction to so I was give Dyflucan (sp?) which did kill off all the candida. The die-off made me really ill in itself. After a number of years, and constant stomach problems, I had a Great Smokies Lab test done and found out that I had NO good bacteria left in my system. So be aware of that too. The books mentioned are excellent.

I found that chiropractors are the most open when it comes to alternative medicines. I had mine talk to my doctor many times about different treatments and since it came from another professional, my doctor was more open. What a way to live.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), August 01, 2001.


Yes, the die-off reaction is one means of telling if the treatment being received is working or not. Quite often when these intestinal pathogens (Candida, Citrobacter, E. coli of a pathogenic strain, Clostridium deficile, Klebsiella, etc.) die off they release toxins into the body over and above the toxins they normally pump out. These organisms generally have a life duration of about twenty minutes so a general background level of toxin is present during the infection. When an agent is used to kill them off, massive amounts die at the same time releasing large doses of toxins. It can make you feel very ill( more so than you already were ) and in marginal patients, such as those with HIV or cancer, can cause heart, liver or kidney failure. Such reactions usually subside within a few days to two weeks. Then as the normal bacteria population reasserts itself you begin to feel better. Many sufferers find that the lack of normal bacteria during their infection has resulted in a drop in the digestive enzymes to such a point that food is passing through their systems essentially undigested ( hence the chronic diarrhea often seen). This often results in marginal levels of nutrition available for the body to survive on and severely limits the immune responses. This can allow any of a number of secondary infections to arise (ie. more colds, pneumonia, and bladder infections than you would likely have if your body were stronger.) Often during treatment and for several months after until the intestinal bacterial profile normalizes, health care workers will reccommend an enzyme, vitamin and mineral supplement to be taken with meals to help digestion and so boost nutritional levels. Probiotics taken during this time help to reestablish the gut population and reduce the space available for the pathogens causing the illness. Some individuals may need to take supplements that provide a substrate that encourages the growth of the friendly bacteria before they can reestablish normal levels as their particular body systems may not provide an optimal environment (ie. a genetic quirk prevents production of some needed compounds in the fluids in the intestine). These individuals usually find it is difficult to maintain their ideal microfloral population and so may need to take probiotics on a regular basis to prevent a recurrence of the candida or whatever has been bothering them. An example of such an individual would be a person with diabetes. Many diabetics carry an extraordinary amount of candida and never realize it until it is too late and they are very ill.

-- Sandra Nelson (Magin@starband.net), August 02, 2001.


If you are female, check your discharge after every meal. Candida is a digestive disorder. Sufferers are forced to fight it at each meal and every meal. It is quite a burden really. If your vaginal discharge runs white (from clear and pink), after a starchy, sweet, or even a heavy meal, this can be an early indication that a yeast imbalance is present. If the offending food is consumed repeatedly, other more severe symptoms will appear. In my case, I would get sleepy or brain fogged, sometimes a sorethroat or earache would start up. All of these symptoms would ease with a regiment of anti fungals and diet change along with lots of pure water and a potent supply of acidophilus. Even with this bit of advice you should know that a sustained recovery is an illusive goal. At first you're struggling to invent meals with strange foods, you're tasked out running to natural food stores looking for organic food, antifungals, supplements and the ever expanding list of 'must- haves'. Hope you have a big wallet! Still, after all your struggles, you are always hungry, listless and unaturally cold. Then if you get past all this, you will feel better, think you are cured and eat a box of cookies one at a time until all your symptoms are back. I call this 'Yeast Tag', you're either getting it or it is getting you. I am beginning to realise after four months in the game that yeast knows more about me than I know about it.

I have made some progress. Instead of focusing on eating, I now focus on resting my stomach for at least four hours between meals. After two hours I take my acidophilus dose and pray they take root. The next two hours are the hardest, but eventually your regular routine will help get your digestion back on track. At least so far so good. I do feel much better.

Only this time I am going to take it slow expanding my menu. I long for the day when simple pleasures like rice and bread potatoes and yams, carrots and apples, bananas and red delicious apples decorate my plate. (Forget about wine, beer, cheese sweets and such. Yeast can rebound in an hour.)

-- Emily Forrester (greendragon1@rogers.com), February 03, 2002.


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