Yeast Questions - Piourette

Hi there! Hope you don't mind me asking you some yeast questions. So my son has it on his scalp. The pediatrician saw it via microscope - both yeast and some other name that she said indicates a type of fungus like ringworm. My daughters also have red circles on their scalps. The ped called in griseofulvin (500 mg for 8 wks) for all 3 kids along with ketoconazole shampoo. Is there more I should do? My daughter has been complaining of burning, itchy feet and both girls get on and off yeast vaginal type symptoms that we use topical ointment for. I ordered a candida diet cookbook already.

Somehow, I think we have a doozy of a family yeast thing going on. Can it be contagious?

My first symptoms were 4 or so years ago with rosacea-like pustules on cheeks that went away and never came back after minocycline (rash did not respond to topical rosacea meds). about a year later my husband got the same thing on his cheeks and recently went on doxy and I think it is gone. Following that I developed intense all over itching (worse at night) for about 4 months and then it was more off and on. My scalp has itched ever since then and I have to wash my hair daily with head and shoulders itchy scalp and it tends to calm it down - probably just putting a band-aid on the issue. After that it was heart palps, brain fog, and then before my major sickness had a abnormal pap and yeast infection. Monistat 1 treatment burned like acid and then my frequent urination started. No UTI, but urologist "suspected" fungal UTI and maybe the monistat blew the yeast up inside me. One month later all my neuro junk started. I am testing positive for Lyme too (as is my whole family). Some other symptoms I have that make me think of yeast are:waking up in the middle of the night with an intensely itchy nose, white freckles on my arms and legs, acne along back of neck hairline/back/chest, and phlegmy throat which I am constantly clearing. I am hopeful that maybe in treating this I will get over the hump. What treatment would you suggest as the most effective? I'm supposed to go see Horowitz NP the end of June. I'm thinking the Candida Diet in the meantime may be a good idea? I just don't want to screw up any candida testing they may want to do.

From the get-go I have always suspected candida. I think the catalyst was either Lyme or possibly heavy metals found in our well water. All my ailments started after we moved here with the well water. We have a high amount of lead and uranium. I am high in those as well as aluminum, cadmium and a couple others.

Post Edited (k07) : 5/17/2016 2:08:13 PM (GMT-6)

Gosh, I thought of something else. The yeast problem has probably been with me for most of my life. I had a thrush issue with breast feeding too. So it was probably present but controlled a bit before lyme/metals.

k07 -
A couple more things ---

I'd also get your husband started on a systemic anti fungal. You can continue passing y/f to ea other unless you knock it down in both of your bodies.

Also, if you've had prior y/f issues, it's very possible that you have had overgrowth for awhile due to other issues causing an acidic environment, you could have been born with it (I think I was) and you could have genetics that predispose you to overgrowth (I think I do).

Detox
SO with your history, die off is likely going to overwhelm your body... so I would start slowly but steadily and implement a rock solid detoxing program before you get started.

Titrate doses slowly
I would start off with the Nystatin powder only and start slowly and if your reaction gets too out of control, hold at low doses before you titrate up. Always detox like a mad woman.

Binder
I strongly recommend using a binder for your gut - there are several that are OTC (bentonite clay, activated charcoal) that will work OK. If you really want to get serious, have your MD prescribe PURE cholestyramine (also can be filled at a compounding pharmacist) it is expensive ($180/mo), not always covered by insurance but I think this stuff is so effective it has changed my entire lyme & co treatment. Let me know if you want more info.

Again, for the kids - I'd stick with the Nystatin for now. And I forgot to mention that the compounding pharmacist can recommend a good topical cream using the nystatin (they can make it for you).

Environmental controls
AND - I forgot a key recommendation. It is likely that the bedding, bath towels, maybe even clothes might also be full of the y/f. What I would do for a couple of wks once you start treatment is to change all the bedding and use clean towels and dress in only clean clothes---throw EVERYTHING into the wash (blankets, too and even pillows if you can wash them). Wash everything in HOT water (and also add borax to wash) and dry with HOT heat for the first couple of weeks. This should be long enough but if not just keep doing it.

Hope this helps - let me know about your kids' systemic symptoms and/or if you have more q's

-p

Thank you so much for all your great advice. I'm a little stressed in how to find someone to prescribe the nystatin for them and me. I don't think our regular docs will do it.

Interestingly enough, we moved from the north to the south. So the humid hot weather is likely not helping. Never thought of that.

I've tried a week of diflucan before with no major die off. I did notice that my urinary symptoms were better when I took diflucan. If I take more than 1 abx my urinary issues flare. Also, two other things that flared my symptoms (mostly numbness) was tumeric capaules and LDN. Maybe there's a link there?

And yes to the rosacea rash. It never came back after mino (me) and doxy (husband). I tried probably 3 or 4 topical rosacea prescriptions before the derm gave me mino.

Very good suggestions ....hydrogen peroxide on feet for athletes foot ...undycenic acid ,thorne sfx722 ,coconut oil on scalp ...gse ...idk just ideas

I think the hydrogen peroxide could be quite soothing. I'd still treat topically with something that has the Nystatin in it, though in order to kill the y/f. Maybe do the soak and then apply a cream.

During the 6 months while I was waiting for my first LLMD appt (yes, that's how long her waiting list was) I was scrambling to solve several issues. I found myself on an online forum for rosacea sufferers, hoping the chaos on my face and chest was rosacea... but the more I dug into it - seemed like it might be a demodex sensitivity. It's a little hard to tell:

1) they tend to cause extreme itching at night or in theater - they are sensitive to light so only come out when it's dark.

2) Also, they cause every pore to be agitated so often, you'll find tiny red bumps (infected pores) that don't look like acne, don't look like a rash. But are itchy--esp in the dark. I won't mention what causes the itch - you don't want to know.

And it's easy to tell if it's demodex by scrubbing the area with a soap or astringent that has tea tree oil in it--which kills on contact. I only know about this due to a woman who had a huge problem and posted about her journey including photos and how she tried everything under the sun and countless dermatologists before trying this on her own. Of course, it worked like magic.

After reading her story, I tried the scrubbing and it did not work and since my skin was already raw due to the y/f I was in a lot of pain ;).

However, I did connect her story to a previous experience I had. I realized why my skin looked like hers after staying the weekend with a friend (who suffers horribly from heavy metals and thyroid and adrenal problems--she grew up in a different country near a mining mountain so the ground water was contaminated). Anyway, she had beautiful skin tone except she always had this red bumpy skin where all her pores looked agitated. When I stayed with her once I slept in her bed, on her pillows (even though her sheets were clean). My skin felt very itchy that night...and then boom - the next day my forehead and cheeks and upper arms started to look like hers. I didn't know what it was at the time but it also cleared up on its own. Now I know.

Anyway, my issues were caused by the yeast/fungal issues and were easily solved with the protocol I previously shared.

Back to your issues -
I asked about the animals because they may also be "sharing" these y/f or demodex issues with the family, if they are like my pets were and there is nothing "off limits" to them. So if they sleep or nap on the same furniture/in bed than you could all be sharing yeast/fungus and the demodex population could also become higher because they thrive in yeast/fungus.

Treating pets
So - this can get tricky. It's hard to tell if your/their issue is demodex or y/f or both. The quick-n-dirty y/f approach might not be effective long-term but it also will be less hassle up front, assuming your issue is only y/f.

So - start with a y/f protocol for everyone (topical and local or systemic anti fungal Rx), rewash all bed linens/blankets/comforters, bath towels & bath mat, clothes as if there was a lice outbreak (although you don't have to place everything into plastic bag to suffocate, etc...) just wash/dry in hot temps like I shared above and be sure to use borax - maybe add some tea tree oil to wash for good measure? And keep soiled and clean separate. And be sure to do this once a week.

I'd also dissolve some borax in very hot water, when it cools pour it into a spray bottle and spray the mattresses carpet around the bed and wherever the pets like to hang out DAILY.

You might not need to do this but since my head/face was the main problem area, I also threw my pillows away and bough cheap ones for $7 at Target - then I replaced them with good pillows when the problem was under control. I really went all-out since it was only me and I re-made my bed every 2 days for awhile, which worked really well. Always used fresh towels and wore freshly clean clothes.

I would definitely get some topical to treat the pets' skin issues and if the dog has y/f around the anal area, it's growing from within so talk to the vet about a gut anti fungal and I have no idea what that would be.

The toughest part is keeping the y/f colonies from repopulating while you're all trying to heal from within. So, gauge your focus on the environmental controls (washing, cleaning, spraying) during this period. You might even entertain a quarantine for the animals --esp at night and keeping them away from the same surfaces your family spends time on--for awhile.

This should do a lot to knock back a y/f outbreak. You might have to increase intensity or extend duration if you need to.

For good measure, if you also suspect demodex you can also do what the woman did and try scrubbing skin with some tea tree oil-based product (and she got a brush and scrubbed her skin kind of hard to get the stuff dislodged from her pores), but it worked really well for her.

I think once you knock this back--you are going to be SO relieved, more comfortable, and will help provide clarity to your lyme & co treatment... far less confusing. I was a whole new woman when I got all this stuff figured out. Your kids will be happier too... And mom's the hero! Maybe you'll get extra hugs.

OK - will check my email!

-p