Candida

Have you seen this site ,Kareeta,may help .

http://www.candida-society.org/ncs/symptoms.htm

Have you tried Actimel and live yogurts etc as well?

Candida delayed my diabetes diagnosis because both GP and I thought that it was a result of my immune system being low (when my CD4 count goes below 200 I get frequent attacks of candidiasis in my mouth and throat). I'm on fluconazole (50mg per day) as prophylaxis against it recurring - the combination of diabetes and HIV increases the chance of recurrence.

Ketaconazole and itraconazole are also effective as can be nystan (though some people can't tolerate the taste). Externally, Canesten cream works well. Since I have to have breakfast (which I greatly resent - I hate eating in the morning!) breakfast is a pot of live yogurt, which tops up the friendly bacteria that normally keep candida under control.

Hope you got sense from your doctor...

Steve

Hi Kareeta, first of all my sympathies as candida can be tremendously debilitating. If you don't mind, can I ask what sort of things you are eating on a daily basis as diet is probably the most important factor in controlling candida. For example, you mention you follow a low-carb diet I believe, but do you eat fruit, cheeses, bacon, marmite, bread, for example?

Thanks kareeta. In my experience, taking medication or supplements will only give short term relief. Starving the candida of it's preferred 'foods' i.e. sugars and other yeasts, will help address the underlying problems and hopefully eliminate the candida permanently.

Refind carbs and sugary foods are obvious culprits but hopefully, you don't eat much of those anyway! For about 6 weeks, you may wish to try cutting out all yeast-containing carbs such as breads and substitute them with rice or oat cakes in small quantities. Also things like gravy mixes, marmite if you eat them. Fruits should also be eliminated from the diet at least initially as well as fermented foods like vinegar and most cheeses (goat/sheep cheese is usually ok) and lastly mushrooms! These foods can be re-introduced slowly once you're feeling better and have the candidasis under control.

Including lots of garlic and onions in your diet will be beneficial as they contain powerful anti-fungal properties. Generally, eating a rainbow variety of vegetables will provide essential fibre, vitamins and minerals. Natural, unsweetened live yogurt will help soothe your gut and provide the right conditions for good bacteria to flourish.

Lastly, a high quality probiotic supplement will help re-colonise your gut with good bacteria - Biocare Forte do an excellent one with 24 billion 'good' bacteria per capsule.

There is also a great product called Citricidal made from grapefruit seed extract which is fantastic at combatting candidasis in combination with diet.

Hope this helps

Mrs Puwash obviously knows more than I do , so her advice is worth taking, however, I have heard lots of good things about live yogurt, both eaten and topical. Harmless at the very least.

Men get thrush/yeast/candida as well you know.

Unfortunately my previous GPs and other specialists didn't know that.

It will respond positively to getting your BG down, but like skin infections, foot fungus, crotch rot etc. etc. once established it may take several goes to eradicate.

Meantime listen to Mrs Pugwash. It may take more than one course of meds to eradicate but everything you can do to make yourself less tasty to the bugs will pay dividends. Oh also watch out for possible reinfection if you need a course of antibiotics, they may kill off the benevolent bacteria that graze on the fungus.

hi mrs pugwash

Dont know if you can help me - I started with ORAL thrush last November following a very strong dose of penicillin for a severe throat infection. Since then I have had 4 lots of Nystan oral drops, flucloxicillin (for the thrush) and another dose of penicillin for another severe throat infection. My GP has taken 2 swabs in that time and they both came back as candida. I have no problems anywhere else in my body!! Thrush is something I havent suffered with before and although everyone seems to say I must get my sugars down, they are a lot lower that they were so why havent I had thrush before?? I have felt fairly unwell for months now and I am just concluding that it is the thrush.
I have been taking Acidopholus on and off for a while now as I also suffer with IBS, but dont know if the Acidopholus will help the mouth & throat?? I have now started using Citricidal as a mouth wash and gargling with it each day.
I would appreciate any help you can give me.
Many thanks. :roll: Jude (56 & female!) 8)

Jude said:

hi mrs pugwash

Dont know if you can help me - I started with ORAL thrush last November following a very strong dose of penicillin for a severe throat infection. Since then I have had 4 lots of Nystan oral drops, flucloxicillin (for the thrush) and another dose of penicillin for another severe throat infection. My GP has taken 2 swabs in that time and they both came back as candida. I have no problems anywhere else in my body!! Thrush is something I havent suffered with before and although everyone seems to say I must get my sugars down, they are a lot lower that they were so why havent I had thrush before?? I have felt fairly unwell for months now and I am just concluding that it is the thrush.
I have been taking Acidopholus on and off for a while now as I also suffer with IBS, but dont know if the Acidopholus will help the mouth & throat?? I have now started using Citricidal as a mouth wash and gargling with it each day.
I would appreciate any help you can give me.
Many thanks. :roll: Jude (56 & female!) 8)

Click to expand...

Hi Jude,

Whilst antibiotics can be vital for treating bacterial infections, they don't distinguish between the 'bad' bacteria causing the infection and the 'good' bacteria in our bodies which are vital for good health - they simply wipe out both sorts. This leaves yeasts like candida lots of room to grow and thus, many people who have been on a course of antibiotics find that yeast infections like thrush often follow. Yours seems to have manifested itself as oral thrush but that is usually a symptom of candidasis - a general yeast overgrowth.

As I mentioned in my post to kareeta above, the best way to fight candida is by starving it of its favourite 'food' - sugars and other yeasts. I don't know what your BS levels are like, but certainly following the sort of diet mentioned in my post above will help to get the candida under control and thus, get rid of the thrush. You will also need to re-populate your gut with the good bacteria destroyed by the antibiotics by taking a good quality probiotic every day. The citricidal will certainly help too - I've used it as a mouthwash to help with oral thrush and also as a drink 2 or 3 times a day to help combat the yeast infection. Be aware it can take several weeks or even months to get the candida under control.

As to your general feelings of being unwell, it may well be the candida which is causing that but if you are unsure about anything, it is always best to consult a doctor.

Hope this is useful but do let me knwo if I can be of any more help.