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Anyone take acidophilus supplements? (And other yeast-infection-ostomy-related gripes)

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Posted 7/16/2011 10:54 PM (GMT 0)
Hi all,

As many of you know I've been battling yeast infections (fungal infections) under my wafer since last October. I've had oral diflucan, and that works for a while but then it comes back...my dr is reluctant to continue prescribing it because you can become immune.

I use nystatin powder under my wafer all the time now. Have for 9 months. I just recently started getting vaginal yeast infections as well. I'm SUPER sick of this.

After looking into a million possible treatments, I kept coming back to the one thing that made the most sense: yeast is actually in your intestines, and chronic infections means you have an overgrowth. This can be treated by diet changes and acidophilus supplements. The whole thing makes sense to me, but I REALLY don't want to do this diet. You have to cut out all yeast/carbs/sugars for a month until everything clears up, and then you can slowly add them back in. It is obvious to me that I need to do this because those are like the ONLY foods I eat!!!

My problem is this: trying to find a refrigerated acidophilus supplement that is good with an ileo, and finding foods on the candida diet that I can actually eat. It's mostly meats (fine) and fresh veggies (scary). I am such a picky eater to boot, and that makes for a VERY tough month. :(

Any suggestions or ideas or words of wisdom would be lovely...thanks for everyone's input! :)

Post Edited (80sChick) : 7/16/2011 5:07:07 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/17/2011 2:42 AM (GMT 0)
You can eat lots of eggs, meat, and cooked veggies should be fine (lower carb ones are best). They don't need to be fresh (meaning raw). Have a look at the blog "mark's daily apple" for a lot of recipes for those on the paleo diet (similar to the one you are going on).
Also look into seeing a DAN dr who will consider rotating your antifungals if the diet doesn't work. They call this the "anti fungal parade" and use it to treat autistic children (many of whom apparently have GI issues). There are many other and more potent anti fungals than diflucan and rotating them properly prevents you from building up immunity.
Posted 7/17/2011 3:39 AM (GMT 0)
We use Natures Bounty Chewable Acidophilus with Bifidus
Milk Free - strawberry flavored 100 wafers in the bottle.

When hubby was taking so many pills every day with the UC I got these so it wasn't another pill or capsule to have to take. Just to vary things up a bit.

Our Vitamin C is orange flavored chewable and the calcium we use the caramel flavored chews (Vivactin).

Anything to get away from pills, pills and more pills even though he takes so few.... now that he has eliminated 23 pills that were for UC and Pain management.
Posted 7/17/2011 4:26 PM (GMT 0)
I do notice an improvement from periodic yeast infections since I stopped eating a lot of processed foods (which contain a lot of sugar and preservatives). I don't drink soda anymore and don't sweeten any drinks except for coffee now but that's the most I've done food wise. I was taking a Acidophilus supplement for a while but when I ran out and wasn't able to get another bottle for a few days I didn't notice a difference....so I stopped.

I know your situation is a lot more intense than mine was and killcolitis' suggestion of rotating anti fungals sounds pretty logical if changing your diet doesn't work. I hope that you can find relief soon!!!
Posted 7/17/2011 5:26 PM (GMT 0)
Here is something I found on the antifungal parade. It looks like it may a great option for you. I am so sorry you are still dealing with the dreaded yeast. I sit here now with a vaginal yeast infection from antiiotics and yuck...it is no fun.

Anyway, here is the link.

http://www.vsan.org/rok-az/misc/DrWoellerAntifungalParade.pdf
Posted 7/17/2011 5:29 PM (GMT 0)
I did the anti-yeast diet years ago and it was not fun, but sounds like it might be necessary for you. To keep out of trouble with yeast I eat yogurt and frozen yogurt and take 3-5 acidophilus tablets a day. You won't notice a difference if you quit acidophilus right away. Keeping the affected area dry is very important, moisture and heat are you enemies with yeast. Sounds like you need to have a long talk with your doctor, maybe ask about using an anti-fungal cream. I remember eating lunch meat in taco shells to stay away from bread. It is tough, but you adapt.
I take Nature's Bounty Probiotic Acidophilus. I pick it up at CVS and keep it in the frig. Back when my bowel would tolerate it I took strong garlic capsules, which combats yeast, but it is very rough on your system. Check everything with your doc.
KBD
Posted 7/18/2011 12:32 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you all so much for your input.

My aunt is a nutritionist so I will talk with her about what I could do as far as diet and this parade you speak of.

Also, KBD, why is garlic rough on your system? What happens if you take it?

I have an appt with my GI in 2 weeks. I will discuss this with him then.
Posted 7/27/2011 5:36 PM (GMT 0)
Stephanie,
When my Crohn's got worse the garlic, like onions, was too much for my bowel. But if you can take garlic, it is good to combat yeast.
KBD
Posted 7/27/2011 11:04 PM (GMT 0)
I know I'm new to this but I have taken the BioK fermented milk and since I started taking it about two years ago I never had another yeast infection. It's not the tastiest but I drink half a small container (it's a really small container) and I find the strawberry one not too bad. I just take a swig of it and then eat my breakfast and get on with my day!
Posted 7/28/2011 1:13 AM (GMT 0)
I've been drinking that BioK stuff for about 2 weeks now...it's so gross! Haven't noticed a difference yet. The guy at the store said that it should clear up any problems within days. :(

I'm starting to think I have a lot of problems more with my immune system, becuase I'm doing so much to combat this: Candida Diet (which I'm beginning to think is just extreme), garlic supplements, Bio-K, acidophilus supplements, Vitamin C supplements, etc... and not much is helping. I was on immunosuppressants for 10 years because of Crohn's, and now that I'm off finally, my aunt/nutritionist pointed out that it may take a year or more for my body to return to normal now that I'm feeling better and able to eat more normally.

I hope she's right...I am going to try to reduce my processed foods, carbs, and sugar intake once I'm eating more foods after this Candida Diet garbage, and I'm going to see my GI to get his take on all of this in about 10 days. Hopefully someone can help me. This is really frustrating.
Posted 7/28/2011 3:32 AM (GMT 0)
6mp and immuran do take as much as 6 months and can take as long as a year to get out of your system!
have you tried mylanta? i read somewhere that someone put that on a yeast infectin and it cleared it up. i used to get a lot of yeast infections anytime i took an antibiotic, and i would always get thrush.
there is some lotion that women put on their breasts when they get thrush from breast feeding, i can't remember the name, my sister and one of my friends used it, might clear it up, it's over the counter.
Posted 7/28/2011 3:32 AM (GMT 0)
6mp and immuran do take as much as 6 months and can take as long as a year to get out of your system!
have you tried mylanta? i read somewhere that someone put that on a yeast infectin and it cleared it up. i used to get a lot of yeast infections anytime i took an antibiotic, and i would always get thrush.
there is some lotion that women put on their breasts when they get thrush from breast feeding, i can't remember the name, my sister and one of my friends used it, might clear it up, it's over the counter.
Posted 7/28/2011 3:44 AM (GMT 0)
ok i looked up trying to find it and i found a couple of things

alaczen
http://www.dermnetnz.org/treatments/topical-antifungal.html
GENERIC NAME: clotrimazole
BRAND NAME: Lotrimin, Mycelex

ok these are for ringworm and althetes foot, but they are also fungus, so maybe?
lamisil and tinactin are the most common, but if you do a search for ringworm treatment you can find the rest
Posted 7/30/2011 3:12 AM (GMT 0)
I would recommend drinking Kefir daily. Find a plain, organic one, which will have a lot less sugar. It's a little tangy but I think it's really good. The fruit ones taste wonderful, but while you are trying to get rid of the infection you don't want that extra sugar. But you can try the fruity ones after its cleared up as a maintenance against yeast. It is extremely high in probiotics.

The best probiotic is VSL#3. It is often recommended to UCers but it is also for ileos, colostomies and J-pouchers. It was specifically designed for extreme IBD and has been used in all diversions successfully. You can google VSL#3 and get tons of places that sell it. It is pricey at $50 for a month's supply but I've been told time and time again by several different doctors that it is the best you can get. Once my current probiotics run out I'm switching to it.

Side thought, have you ever tried Microguard powder? That cleared my yeast infection up in about 10 days. Maybe just switching will improve it at least since your body gets used to treatments and eventually they stop working. (Obviously you have a deep candida problem so it may do nothing but hey worth a shot when it's only $10)
Posted 7/30/2011 2:55 PM (GMT 0)
What is kefir? Never seen it at the store.

I tried VSL 3 before my surgery. It made me violently sick, like to the point where I'd mix it into a drink, and within 1 minute of drinking the drink (sometimes in the middle of the drink), I'd have to run to the bathroom and had some of the most awful diarrhea with it. Seriously, it was that fast. Crazy.
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