Candida - something everyone should know about...

[Lilharry]

Hey everyone,

I signed up for this forum a few months ago because I was experiencing severe health anxiety. I was suffering from multiple health problems, none of which seemed to have any cause and all my blood tests etc came back normal. I had severe fatigue to the point I couldn't get out of bed, brain fog, terrible digestive problems, random pains in various organs, a feeling like I couldn't breathe properly, rapid heart beat, racing thoughts, insomnia, aches and pains all over, severe anxiety, even scary voices in my head at one point. I was a complete mess and believed I must be dying. Every doctor I saw said that it was caused by anxiety and I needed to go on medication. I just knew that there was something physcially wrong with me causing all this and it was so frustrating trying to explain that to doctors because they would just say that all my test results were normal and there was nothing wrong.

Eventually I was put on to a doctor that specialises in chronic fatigue. She couldn't help me, but she referred me on to a naturopath she assured me was the best around and had helped other patients of hers.

I have now found out that I have a candida overgrowth that is causing all of these symptoms. This is not a condition that is recognised by mainstream medicine, but natural health practitioners have known about it for years and can treat it. In fact it's easily treated with natural anti-fungals. I'm using enteric peppermint oil to treat mine and have also been prescribed caprylic acid and bentonite clay to help me detox. I have also had to radically change my diet to exclude all sugar and all grains except rice, and all alcohol.

I keep reading posts in this section in particular from people who have all these symptoms that I can relate to and I just want to tell them that there is help out there if they go to the right place. I was a total sceptic about all this stuff, but I am getting well again and I know it works.

Basically candida is a yeast that lives in all of us, but sometimes, due to diet and stress, it can start to take over and cause a lot of problems. It feeds on sugar and gluten and yeast, so if you have a diet that contains a lot of those things then you are susceptible to it. Also, if you have been on antibiotics at any point, this will kill off all the bad stuff inside you, but it also kills the good stuff and gives candida an opportunity to take over. It's really important to take a good probiotic to start getting some of the good bacteria back in, but dietary changes need to be made in order to starve out the bad stuff. When candida feeds it lets off toxins into your body that can cause all sorts of problems - pains, foggy brain, fatigue, anxiety, vision problems, dry eyes, dry mouth, bad breath... the list goes on.

I am amazed at how much better I'm feeling now that I'm eating right and getting rid of the toxins that have built up. I still have a way to go, but I know I"m on the right track now FINALLY!

I just wish someone had told me about this earlier, or that doctors recognised it and treated it. I really trusted my doctors and started to doubt myself. It's been a gigantic nightmare if I'm honest.

Please let me know if you can relate to this or know anything about it. I would love this information to get out there so people can start finding help, rather than being told they are crazy.

Candida isn't the reason for everything, so I'm not saying this is the answer, but I'm sure there are people on here who are affected by this and don't know it.

[Tessar]

I am with you on this. I take acidophilus to keep this at bay. I used to get sores around my lips. i had to stop eating certain foods such as mature cheese. Within minutes I would have stomach ache if I did. I have to avoid super sweet foods (any kind of syrup, sugary fizzy drinks, especially red ones). If I do stray off the straight and narrow, the symptoms return always. Acidophilus is my friend.

[Lilharry]

So glad someone else knows about this, Tessar! Acidophilus is amazing. I make my own yogurt and have it every day now :)

[Tessar]

I really hate yoghurt but I wish I liked it. It's so healthy..... I was amazed when I found out about candida. Of course so many things I liked were in the list to avoid. Pickled beetroot. Anything aged such as cheese or smoked as well.... Sweet, sugary things. I have a really sweet tooth. The things I used to gorge on included maple syrup and meringues. Two of the worst!!! Oh and a few years ago I was partial, to cherryade. Oh and sometimes if I have very fresh bread that can trigger it too. I jut have to be mindful of how often I eat these things. I am lucky though as some people have to avoid secrets in foods completely. At least if I keep the quantities and frequency of these things to sensible levels, I am ok.

[Lilharry]

That's good to hear Tessar. I am avoiding everything that can feed it at the moment, until I'm completely well again, then I may start introducing things to see if I can tolerate them. I'm happy to stay on the diet though, if it means I never have to feel so terrible again!

[wnsos]

I'm going to bump this because I'm almost certain this might have something to do with how I feel at the moment. For a year and a half I was on a strict diet (keto) but over the last few months started to reintroduce fruit etc, and I've found myself with thrush. Instead of jumping to the bad things I have been, I'm going to cut the fruit back out of my diet (it's all I've been eating recently and my symptoms have become worse). Also eating clean is really good in general and I recommend it to everyone.

[Serenity1990]

I'm always a little sceptical of this.

Yes fungal overgrowths exist. They are diagnosable and treatable with anti-fungals by your GP. However many "alternative" health practitioners will blame all sorts on these sort of things so they can continue to sell you their time, tests, medicines, herbs, and/or literature. It's similar to ME/CFS, fibromyalgia etc.: they are real conditions which really do exist but they're so badly understood and hard to diagnose that "alternative" practitioners pounce on them. To those with health anxiety this is clearly quite a dangerous path to go down.

For anyone concerned about this the first port of call should be your GP, not a paid practitioner.

Alternative medicine is a truly excellent path to take with these badly understood conditions. However if you want to take this path please get a referral to RLHIM or similar, so you'll be see by properly qualified doctors who also practice alternative medicine, as opposed to some bloke on the high street who may or may not have done an evening course in something vaguely medical at some point.

[wnsos]

Sounds smart to me. I'm just going to cut down on my sugar again since it all seemed to flare up around the same time (and it's better than my current obsession of the fact I have Lyme disease.)

I definitely found a great comfort when I initally went on my last diet. It cleared the fog a LOT.

[Tessar]

there's no doubt in my mind if I eat too much sugary food it does affect me.
I get cravings for sugary foods but try hard to resist.
actually rather than sugar another issue I have (if I don't take acidophilus) I cant eat mature cheddar. it gives me gut ache within about 5 mins of eating it.

[Katie_cupcakes]

Really interesting.
I had a similar experience, and candida was suggested a number of time but never by the doctor. The doctor did lots of tests all of which came back normal and just diagnosed me as having lost my marbles.

I felt so unbelievably ill and I just knew it wasn't all down to anxiety. I had severe dry mouth, insomnia, muscles aches, joint pain and bruising, pain around kidneys and spleen, yellow coated tongue (still got this) crackling ears (still got) nausea, no appetite at all, lost a stone in 2 weeks, night sweats, really bad digestive issues and my stomach was making this constant gurgling noise, non stop. It would wake me up at nights.

I felt ill with this for around 4 months and still don't feel 100% normal. I had read a lot about candida when it was mentioned to me, and everything really did fit perfectly. I am not taking anything for it though as my Dr didn't think there was anything wrong...

[MyNameIsTerry]

I'm always a little sceptical of this.

Yes fungal overgrowths exist. They are diagnosable and treatable with anti-fungals by your GP. However many "alternative" health practitioners will blame all sorts on these sort of things so they can continue to sell you their time, tests, medicines, herbs, and/or literature. It's similar to ME/CFS, fibromyalgia etc.: they are real conditions which really do exist but they're so badly understood and hard to diagnose that "alternative" practitioners pounce on them. To those with health anxiety this is clearly quite a dangerous path to go down.

For anyone concerned about this the first port of call should be your GP, not a paid practitioner.

Alternative medicine is a truly excellent path to take with these badly understood conditions. However if you want to take this path please get a referral to RLHIM or similar, so you'll be see by properly qualified doctors who also practice alternative medicine, as opposed to some bloke on the high street who may or may not have done an evening course in something vaguely medical at some point.

The same can be said about psychotherapy & counselling in some way since the sector is not regulated. Pass 100 hours of an internet diploma & never see a client but you can start up a practice. Hopefully the current Bill of Parliament will stop this though.

Back to Candida, do GP's in the UK even recognise this? How do they attempt to diagnose for it because my GP just sticks to the NICE care pathway and I don't think this gets a mention in there.

Since high strength antibiotics can cause this, how are GP's preventing Candida overgrowth? I've had many antibiotics in my life and they never consider anything more than whether the original infection has been resolved.

[Cusper]

I am so happy you are posting this because I have mentioned this on forums before and people have actually gotten angry with me. It is starting to become known to many people that i know however most of my GP's are not impressed. Again thank you for this post!!

[Serenity1990]

Back to Candida, do GP's in the UK even recognise this? How do they attempt to diagnose for it because my GP just sticks to the NICE care pathway and I don't think this gets a mention in there.

They diagnose thrush and oral thrush all the time. If a yeast infection is suspected in the gut they can order stool tests; if something more systemic is suspected there are bloods.

It's something they don't routinely test for in the basis that whilst in the West it is indeed the case that most of our gut flora is way out of balance, it's a far less common cause of the sort of symptoms the internet claims it can cause than the internet claims.

I do (or rather did) have a systemic yeast issue. There's no messing around with mine though, it presented as a absolutely horrid rash mostly on my chest but also elsewhere on my body. Doc prescribed anti-fungals and it disappeared. I now take pro-biotics and have a much more sensible diet. Has it contributed to a lot of my other symptoms? Who knows? But it was quite apparent to my GP.

[MyNameIsTerry]

They diagnose thrush and oral thrush all the time. If a yeast infection is suspected in the gut they can order stool tests; if something more systemic is suspected there are bloods.

It's something they don't routinely test for in the basis that whilst in the West it is indeed the case that most of our gut flora is way out of balance, it's a far less common cause of the sort of symptoms the internet claims it can cause than the internet claims.

I do (or rather did) have a systemic yeast issue. There's no messing around with mine though, it presented as a absolutely horrid rash mostly on my chest but also elsewhere on my body. Doc prescribed anti-fungals and it disappeared. I now take pro-biotics and have a much more sensible diet. Has it contributed to a lot of my other symptoms? Who knows? But it was quite apparent to my GP.

I started adding the Actimel for a while and noticed my digestion was better. That was just short term because I'm going to start making water kefir to see what it does for me and its far cheaper than supplementation for its strength.

Things like thrush are very common and recognised but Candida seems something thats out in internet land still and I wonder whether a GP would be bothered unless you ended up referred to perhaps a dietician or specialist in that area. My GP has never asked about diet or exercise in 8 years and until I came to NMP, despite attending self help groups, I only picked up on Candida from one of Lilharry's other threads on one of the other boards. My GP just heads for medication and referrals and this is something I have experience with other GP's in their practice so it makes me wonder about the recognition of something like this.

I just did a search on NICE's website and it only produced one study which wasn't related which makes me think there is little recognition in the NHS. Other searches of their knowledgebase just brign up oral, vaginal & skin.

Its something to at least try, just like gluten. Reducing high sugar foods is going to be good anyway and maybe a full Candida diet isn't required unless there is a majot problem so perhaps supplementation and reduction of sugar would give us an idea?

Its a very interesting topic.

[Serenity1990]

Things like thrush are very common and recognised but Candida seems something thats out in internet land still

Thrush IS candida!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Thrush IS candida!

Yes, I know but I am talking about the gut which is the context of the thread hence mentioning thrush seperately.

In your case your GP couldn't ignore the fact you had outward physical signs so he/she treated it. But what if there are none or what if they match to symptoms of other disorders such as anxiety or depression? Will a GP work through potential causes for anxiety or just fall back on an anxiety disorder such as GAD?

I think it would come down to having an excellent GP, with plenty of time to treat you which is often not the case, or from a referral to a specialist.

[wnsos]

Another thing I've noticed is the more I had fruit again (I know you need it but it literally makes up the biggest part of my diet currently and I'm surmising my body forgot how to handle it) the more I'm craving it. Even with my appetite being thrown from the last anti depressants I was on, I was having the fruit.

This combined with my already low mood and hidden fears about doctors I think are working together. Lately my diet has been made up primarily of fruit and dairy with one portion of meat and veggies a day. And given what yeast likes to eat...

[MyNameIsTerry]

Another thing I've noticed is the more I had fruit again (I know you need it but it literally makes up the biggest part of my diet currently and I'm surmising my body forgot how to handle it) the more I'm craving it. Even with my appetite being thrown from the last anti depressants I was on, I was having the fruit.

This combined with my already low mood and hidden fears about doctors I think are working together. Lately my diet has been made up primarily of fruit and dairy with one portion of meat and veggies a day. And given what yeast likes to eat...

The same can be said about when you quit sugar, you lose your cravings and stop wanting to eat sugary foods anyway. It makes sense that the same would happen when you start back on it.

Something to consider though is that healthy gut flora also eat sugar. So, its not a bad thing, in proportion, but if you have an infestation it just means you can't restore balance (bad bacteria is in there for a reason afterall) and need to deprive it while you supplement with the good to fight it off. I do wonder what the impact of cutting sugar out has on the good gut flora though.

[wnsos]

Yeah it is really really odd. I mean I could be looking into things too much but everything happening at the same time did have me wondering and I'd rather look at it this way, a way I can control.

I ate almost completely green yesterday but was having sweet cravings something fierce. Never had them before I started eating a lot of fruit again. Plus with stress having beaten my immune system to a pulp, I bet they're having a feast inside of there.

[MyNameIsTerry]

It takes weeks for the cravings to go and you also get a slump which causes many people to quit coming away from sugar. I think cutting out sugar is something to try if you feel stable enough to try it because the slump could be a low mood or depression trigger.

[Nullus]

I literally have 90% of the symptoms related to this. Interesting.