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Posted 3/12/2017 1:34 AM (GMT 0)
I'm wondering if maybe I have candida. I had it back in about '83. I had suffered from allergic rhinitis since I was just a wee lad. Tired of being a lifelong mouth breather and allergy shots, I found an ortho molecular specialist and he put me on a paleo diet and made me drink nystatin powder in h20 and in <90 days I was all better. I've been a nose breather ever since. No rhinitis ever since. I don't recall herxing back then.

Fast forward to now, I'm sick with tbd and all of its vagaries. I've been keeping an eye on my tongue and it's looking whiter than usual today. I read about many possible symptoms of systemic candida, that look a lot like Lymeco.

My doc back in '83 just made a clinical dx and nailed it. I wish there were a reliable and definitive test.

Could candida manifest in just a few symptoms? My stomach growls quite a bit but I'm regular. I'm somewhat more flatulent than usual but were I well, I probably wouldn't pay it much mind unless I had a social engagement and then would just take a gas-x and forget about it.
Other symptoms:
Intermittently wired like I drank 10 expressos though this seems to be resolving 👍
Insomnia
Unexplained weight loss
Fatigue
Fast pulse
Dizziness
Mild brain fog (mostly resolved)
etc.

I wouldn't suspect candida to cause these s/s but have read these are common symptoms. But then I have a history of candida. I guess I did have brain fog back then now that I think about it.

Have any of y'all successfully banished candida? How did it manifest? Did you herx?

I have some Sach. Boulardii and olive leaf extract I think I'll start taking.
Would appreciate to gear others experience with candida.
Best Regards,
David
Posted 3/12/2017 1:50 AM (GMT 0)
How many of those symptoms are from Lyme and cos... and how many are Candida?

That is the problem - they overlap.
Posted 3/12/2017 1:53 AM (GMT 0)
I've been on Diflucan - in case I had Candida - that was a few months ago.

Now I'm just taking the Diflucan a couple days a week.
Posted 3/12/2017 2:02 AM (GMT 0)

Girlie said...
I've been on Diflucan - in case I had Candida - that was a few months ago.

Now I'm just taking the Diflucan a couple days a week.


Are you treating symptoms or taking it prophylactically?
Posted 3/12/2017 2:26 AM (GMT 0)
That I don't know...I don't have the usual symptoms - no digestive issues..no bloating...no cottage-cheese coating on my tongue.

..I guess it's prophylactically,
Posted 3/12/2017 3:22 AM (GMT 0)
BJD-There is a really great post in the New to Lyme section about Candida. I'm pretty sure it's the last post on page two. It lists symptoms that I would never have associated with Candida like skin issues and so much more. The post also contains ways to treat.

Girlie-my LLND only has me taking Diflucan once every 3 days. The other days I take Nystatin.
Posted 3/12/2017 3:26 AM (GMT 0)

jrpsf said...
BJD-There is a really great post in the New to Lyme section about Candida. I'm pretty sure it's the last post on page two. It lists symptoms that I would never have associated with Candida like skin issues and so much more. The post also contains ways to treat.

Girlie-my LLND only has me taking Diflucan once every 3 days. The other days I take Nystatin.

I can't get the powdered Nystatin here...I tried...even had a lengthy conversation with the compounding pharmacist in my city.

So, hoping that the Diflucan will be enough.

I did take some nystatin in capsules a while back...but not the same strength as the powder that Pirouette talks about.
Posted 3/12/2017 3:36 AM (GMT 0)
My Nystatin is in pill form. I'm not going to stress about not having the powder P talked about.
Posted 3/12/2017 5:41 PM (GMT 0)

jrpsf said...
BJD-There is a really great post in the New to Lyme section about Candida. I'm pretty sure it's the last post on page two. It lists symptoms that I would never have associated with Candida like skin issues and so much more. The post also contains ways to treat.

Girlie-my LLND only has me taking Diflucan once every 3 days. The other days I take Nystatin.


Wow! Thanks jrpsf, that is a good post on candida. I'm still not sure I have it but seems possible. I'll try to self treat for a while with the saccharomyces Boulardii and Ole with some diet tweaks and see what happens. I've read from a good source that the saccharomyces Boulardii kills candida so hopefully mine isn't systemic and /or I don't have leaky gut.
Posted 3/12/2017 9:26 PM (GMT 0)
More good info daisies, thanks. Some of its conflicting as I read studies on ncbi.nlm.nih.gov that say s Boulardii does indeed kill candida albicans. I'll definitely heed the warning and use it judiouscly though.

Sorry to hear you've struggled so much with y/f overgrowth. My searches on the net for candida always seem to take me to Dr axe and other salesmen with their diet rx and questionnaires that anyone would fail.

I'm not sure if I even have it. Some of the gut issues certainly fit for me. Last time I had it was during adolescence and young adult hood. In retrospect, I remember feeling lethargic a lot back then, having jock itch and bad athletes foot in addition to severe allergic rhinitis. Those symptoms are gone in full, have never plagued me since. Though, from these 3 b's I've had some brain fog.

What tests did you finally get that provided useful information that guided your treatment successfully?

Thanks.
David
Posted 3/13/2017 5:46 AM (GMT 0)

1000Daisies said...
Yes, I have much too experience with this. I realized a year+ ago that I was dealing with systemic yeast issue. I self-addressed it last year by going after it. ....

Best of luck! Honestly, I've found it more difficult to get help with the yeast issues than I have for our lyme/etc issues. Go figure!

I agree with 1000 Dasies on this 1000% Because I too was systemic experienced kidney pain and fatigue over and over again. Its reduced now.

Be wary of any natural yeast product. I stopped S. Boullardi as it gave me the crawls. Some brands has been found to be contaminated with S. cerevisiae.

I stay away from all yeast. In my opinion there is no such thing as a good yeast.

Biotin is another tricky one. It too made me crawl and people swear it is good vs. yeast. If it makes me crawl its not good for my imbalance.

I think the crawls can come from yeast expansion too because it just explodes in a budding fashion when fed what it likes.

I too thought maybe I had a resistant strain but stuck with Fluconazole for 6 months and I am glad I did. I took that long to clear up the last of my serious eye issues.

I used Doxy and
Nystatin pulses to assist the Fluconazole and my eye problems cleared with this combo.

I recently realized I had to go back on as I was experiencing symptoms while off. Plus now I am on abx. therefore even more reason to use it.

I hope to be able to come off of everything in 3-6 months and then will rebuild flora with resistant starch and Bravo suppositories.
Posted 3/13/2017 3:32 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,
My grandmother had candida very badly.
I did a lot of research and we had her on
Baking soda
Apple cider vinegar
Probiotics

She had it really bad, mouth and vagina (sorry, boys!)

I would not take any drugs until trying the above first. Drugs may make the fungus resistant to drugs and you don't want to create a super bug. We all have candida in our body, it has its purpose. You just have more of it. You will find a lot of info on youtube from very good docs about the above natural remedies. They will replenish your body with the good bacteria and candida will be so crowded out, it won't be able to multiply. ACV and Baking soda will KILL candida. No need for drugs for candida! These simple remedies are backed up by a lot of science. My grandmother is 95 and was bedridden for months. She recovered and is able to take short walks, which is a mirracle, considering she was not able to speak, walk, and hardly drank anything (nevermind eating!) for months.

Good luck!

Post Edited (Simela1) : 3/13/2017 9:36:41 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/16/2017 3:32 PM (GMT 0)
Black Jack - "I wish there were a reliable and definitive test. "

There is.

I did not read all these comments, jusy commenting on the statement above....

Quest has Igg and Iga Candida Albicans blodd test, its a regular insurance covered test. Reliable too- for systemic candida - it told the truth in my case.

If its a different yeast strain, good luck....there is always the saliva/glasss of water home yeast test, I used it , seemed accurate with symptoms.
Posted 3/16/2017 4:19 PM (GMT 0)

astroman said...
Black Jack - "I wish there were a reliable and definitive test. "

There is.

I did not read all these comments, jusy commenting on the statement above....

Quest has Igg and Iga Candida Albicans blodd test, its a regular insurance covered test. Reliable too- for systemic candida - it told the truth in my case.

If its a different yeast strain, good luck....there is always the saliva/glasss of water home yeast test, I used it , seemed accurate with symptoms.


Thanks astro, I'll ask for that test. Did you tested positive on that one? Do say more please.

As an update, I'd been noticing increasing white coat on my tongue with some telltale cottage cheese bumps toward the back where I can't brush without a gag. Saw the fnp the other day and got nystatin liquid. I asked for the pure powder but she couldn't find it in her pdr. I'd probably have to go to my LLND for any chance of getting the pure powder, but he's more likely to just try to sell me one of their overpriced supplements. He's become predictable in that way. So I'll give the nystatin a go. The pure powder changed my life profoundly back in '83.

As for oral thrush, how likely do you suppose it is that if I have oral thrush, that I have it elsewhere?
Posted 3/16/2017 5:03 PM (GMT 0)
This thread is a bit of an omen to me - considering I have been dealing with yeast issues my whole life, and Traveler just the other day suggested I read page 2 of the ''new to lyme'' thread. I have thrush on my lips, head of my penis (sorry to be graphic), I also get outbreaks on the folds of my nose, scalp, chest line. Bowel issues as well as others here report. Fatigue and memory issues. I'm starting to think my worst symptoms are actually candida induced. I've got back in contact with my alternative health practitioner who devised me a specific plan based on candida elimination (which she said I have). I've had extensive GI tests and what came out is I am chronically deficient in vitamin B9.

A few other things came out from my GI (stool tests) concerning extremely low microbiome diversity and that I have a group of bacteria in my gut (Euryarchaeota Phylum) which she says shouldn't be there, as well as candida issues.

Because the Lyme came as such a shock to me I kind of overlooked her proposal to treat my candida issues, at the time not thinking much about candida and kind of dismissing it. Now it keeps coming up again and again on this forum I think I should get on it.

To whoever mentioned the nasal rhinitis. I think this is what I have and the reason why as a herx reaction to echinacea angustifolia I had a major nosebleed. I had an opening up feeling in my nasal passage which i think was a candida die off reaction. Besides my Buhner protocol I have this planned for candida:

Tanalbit
NutriB Complex (she wants me to take this because my B9 is so low)
Mineral Drops
Samento (TOA version of cat's claw that I'm already taking)
Magnesium (I tested low on this)
Oregano oil (organic)
2-3 cloves crushed garlic 2x a day
fermented foods as much as possible

Oregano and garlic I've added myself, the rest is her proposal. I want to involve her though and attempt her plan because she's been so good to me.

With regards to pure power nystatin, I contacted an alternative health place in my country and it is available but only through prescription. I'm going to ask my nutritionist if she can get some for me.

I love all you guys. This forum really is amazing. It's not so much the fact the information is spoon fed, it's being able to bounce off of people that know something.
Posted 3/16/2017 5:11 PM (GMT 0)
Also, I'd like to ask how important is it to treat localised candida infections (e.g. skin rashes)?

Or can these eventually be eliminated by treating candida internally ?
Posted 3/16/2017 5:37 PM (GMT 0)
Black Jack- Yes I tested positive for candida albicans via the Quest Diagnostics lab test. Glad I did it. I tested a couple times with this one. So candida was in my blood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My 100% conventional non-lyme insurance Dr even did it for me..........100% covered and ins didnt even b!tch about it like they do for everything else.

Its on the Quest website, or was when I re-tested 2 months ago. Killed it with 2 months of Diflucan, didnt mess around like I did so many times before.

So I think it was candida albican Igg and Igm together as one test. One is recent, one is now - the Igg/Igm thing.

Just remember it wont pick up other strains, but candida strain is the common one.
Posted 3/16/2017 7:45 PM (GMT 0)
Agreed, you all on this forum are a treasure trove of info. Seems not many docs know much about anything but the usual ailments. But many of you seem to have found knowledgeable docs, or learned via self hacking or your own research.

It seems there isn't a universal cure for y/f infections. I've seen conflicting info: saccharomyces Boulardii good, otoh bad. Ketogenic diet a must, yet others say it's a detriment.

Astro, what were the symptoms that cleared for you after the dx and subsequent Diflucan rx? I'll ask my pcp for that test.

Munkra, your symptoms seem very overt. When I had Candida back in '83, the symptoms weren't near so overt as yours. (story of my life) I had severe allergic rhinitis mostly but I had bad bouts of jock itch, and nasty athletes foot during adolescence. All treated symptomatically until I found an ortho molecular Dr in the yellow pages (pre Internet, imagine) who made a clinical dx of candida and put me on a paleo diet and the nystatin pure powder. I would think it best to treat both locally and systematically.

Daisies, yikes my heart goes out to you not only having to deal with your own health but your 3 kids! Holy smoke. You must be the ultimate multi tasker, and tough as nails.
Posted 3/16/2017 10:50 PM (GMT 0)
Yes if you treat internally, it will take care of externally. But as Daisies indicated, no harm in treating both.
Posted 3/17/2017 5:36 AM (GMT 0)
Black Jack: I suspect I had candida many times off and on for decades, (and lyme for decades) as well as leaky gut; they commonly go hand in hand.

My obvious symptoms which resolved were oral thrush, and digestive issues. A tell tale sign is gut bloating after any grains, sugar, starches, beer ect- almost for certain its gut yeast.

I had some skin issues too which lingered, but hard to tell what it was for certain. I have autoimmune stuff to- autoimmune can make skin issues like psoriasis - however its almost all gone now. I have learned dermatologists are the biggest bunch of clueless flake Drs there are - many are complete failures at their profession and didnt even know what autoimmune vitaligo skin is- my endo pointed it out LOL..

I think I had candida on my eyelids of all places, when your eyes are open, your lids are the perfect place for skin yeast - Cocoa nut oil was the only thing I could use there.

Nysatin pills are a joke, the powder gets good reviews, but is not easily avail. I used Duflican, after the failure of nystatin pills.

Post Edited (astroman) : 3/16/2017 11:39:39 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/17/2017 8:53 AM (GMT 0)
They are long standing symptoms I have to manage which get worse when I eat only slighlty more poorly (too many meals out etc). The thrush on the head of my penis actually lead to severe ejaculatory anhedonia. In otherwords I don't feel much from stimulation or from the subsequent climax but no doctors I saw could work out why, so I had a bunch of tests that all came back negative. One thing was that I had low FSH (follicule stimulating hormone) and low SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin) I think both developed from very long term candidiasis. I think these hormone changes were as a result of either/both vitamin and nutrient deficiencies or immune deficiency all caused from the yeast. The lip (exfoliative cheilitis) goes back 20 years, the thrush on the head of my penis 10 years. I am extremely dry in the areas affected and moisturising doesn't help.
Of all the dermatologists I've seen none whatsoever ever mentioned diet in any context. It's been years of steroid creams/ointments and anti-fungal hair shampoos for my scalp itching. None of them helped for long. I've had loads and loads of urinary tract infections (especially younger 20s), athletes foot as well. Only got diagnosed with lichen sclerosus last year on the foreskin which is a lyme induced skin issue according to Buhner.

It got to the point where I put aside candida, not really believing it, and just carrying on managing my symptoms ad hoc. Never got any help with my lip peeling (exfoliative chelitis) either. I've paid a lot of money at times for private consulations. One consultant dermatologist said there was nothing I could ever do and would just have to live with it. I think now I have the answer.

Sadly my sentiments about dermatologists are the same; some of the biggest time wasters in the game. I suppose at least I eventually got a diagnosis for my LS even though it was 20 years after it first started.

I'm just waiting on the go-ahead from my nutritionist before I order in the candida protocol and get started. I think she was right.
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