summer16 said...
I started oral antibiotics 3 months ago (again). Prior abx treatment caused Candida problems in the gut.
The first month I had white splotches in entire oral cavity and into the throat area which did cause some difficulty with swallowing. My ENT doctor prescribed Diflucan for 5 days and an oral swish and swallow suspension which did get rid of the thrush.
For the past 2 weeks the thrush is causing burning, slightly swollen tongue along with some white splotches. I called my LLMD and I was told to up my A.D.P. to 4 tablets instead of 2 daily and to take 1 tbs of apple cider vinegar twice daily along with 2 s boulardi capsules daily. He is not a fan of prescribing Diflucan for those with the mthfr genes. I’m continuing using the Nystatin oral suspension.
Any other thoughts of what to do?
Patty
Hi summer16 -
I am so sorry you're dealing with all this plus trying to treat. Admittedly, I didn't read the other responses - in a bit of a hurry. But here is my advice:
Since you've developed another overgrowth after fighting this back once already, it's clear that you have a severe yeast/fungal overgrowth that might have already grown resistant to what you've taken because frankly, it was a weak approach your MD prescribed. Time is of the essence - you need to get it under control fast and hard with a much more aggressive approach, or the y/f has a chance to become resistant to any antifungals you use.
Step 1
You need to get the y/f overgrowth under control before continuing with abx so
first, I would pause the abx. The y/f will be VERY difficult to treat while you are also exacerbating the problem with more abx. If your MD acts resistant to this, he has no clue what is going on and quite honestly, he doesn't need to know that you've paused abx for a week. But this is critical.
Step 2
At first, you need to employ both guns - a local antifungal (like Nystatin) and a systemic antifungal (like diflucan). After you get things under control maybe you can get off the diflucan. I sympathize with your MD's cautious approach to Diflucan but I also don't necessarily agree with it in this instance - you need to hit this hard and fast.
The following are a few issues almost all MDs overlook regarding y/f and treating it:
> If you already have that significant an overgrowth, you're either highly susceptible to y/f (meaning, your natural gut biome is not well-balanced) or there is another impact creating a worse situation (sometimes heavy metals and y/f go together) but it's not a good time to do serious heavy metals detoxing, or it could be some other issue. Regardless, for people like us, it's important to stay on an antifungal throughout your abx treatment - otherwise, this will continue to happen.
> The Nystatin is generally prescribed at less than half the effective dose. I don't understand why MDs do this but you're only creating a resistant strain(s) of y/f with a weak dose. You can deal with running out too early later - if MD won't give you more, you can get creative w/ the pharmacist about
reasons you need the Rx renewed early...)
Here is a good resource for dosing - Dr Myhill recommends significantly higher doses, which has worked for many people:
www.drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/Nystatin_-_how_to_take_it> Some MDs prescribe the wrong antifungal. Again, check the suspended liquid - is there sugar or other fillers in it? If so, stop using it immediately. You need to have your MD order PURE Nystatin powder and you can get this from a compounding pharmacy (if you don't have one near you, email me and I can give you a reference for a pharmacy I live who ships for free).
If the suspended liquid has NOTHING other than Nystatin, you're good to go with it but you need a much stronger dose so I would double what was prescribed for a few days than triple it, and then increase it again after that. Increase doses slowly at first. Don't worry about
overdosing - it's not harmful for most people (it's derived from the earth). You will likely feel significant die off which will feel like a terrible herx, which is why it's very important to detox (see below).
> Also, the strain(s) you're dealing with might not be effective w/ Diflucan - the Nystatin has more coverage and fewer resistance issues although it can still occur if the dose is too low. It sounds like both Nystatin + diflucan worked in the past so I think it's safe to try again but at higher doses!
> MDs forget about
detoxing - herxing from pathogen die off is kind of like a sepsis condition in your body that people like us with methylation (MTHFR) issues need to support. Plus, the yeast/fungus also create unique neurotoxins and other toxins that are tough to get rid of. You need to help the body process the killed yeast with a GI binder like activated charcoal, bentonite clay, modified fruit pectin - the binding will help remove what you kill off and maybe even some that is growing, and will help prevent more y/f from growing as well since you're still taking abx.
You can also do some oil pulling with coconut oil (a natural antifungal) and add oil of oregano or another antifungal oil to it.
> When taking the systemic antifungal like diflucan you need to have liver enzymes checked monthly and you can support liver/kidneys with something like milk thistle seed or burdock root, Pekana is also a good homeopathic liver support for drainage although I've never tried it.
> At this stage, the apple cider vinegar won't help - nor will most other antifungals you might ingest. The y/f is too strong and overgrown. You will likely need to stay on the Nystatin while you're taking abx or this will liekly happen again. The natural antifungals are best reserved for PREVENTION and MAINTENANCE after you're done w/ abx and for people with less susceptibility to overgrowth than some of us have.
> And - no sugars in the diet - and cut back on simple carbs.
Here is more info - it explains a lot more about
the PURE Nystatin powder, if you're interested:
Y/FO post in the "New to Lyme?" thread:
www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=1606610&g=3644275#m3644275-p