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Posted 10/13/2010 9:22 PM (GMT 0)
I dont know anything about it but hear about it now and again here. I was wondering what you guys knew about it. How do you find out if you've got an overgrowth of candida, and what do you do about it? What does the medical profession say about it in relation to IBD?

tia!
Posted 10/14/2010 12:47 AM (GMT 0)
No doctor had ever suggested that yeast/fungus may be my problem, even after a gamat of tests over the years. But, after researching and reading that fungus can be implicated in many of our diseases, I decided to experiment with an antifungal diet, along with natural antifungals, as diet alone would not be enough.  Had nothing to lose and everything to gain. I was tired of being sick and tired. Amazingly (as I really did not believe it would be so dramatic for me), I saw much improvement after 2 weeks of a strict low carb, no grain, no sugar diet. Lots of veggies, protein (meat/fish/poultry), and some lower sugar choice fruits. Real, good whole, natural foods. Stayed on a phase 2 of that diet for about 6 months which allowed the reintroduction of some grains. 

I am not sticking to that diet anymore, but am still careful of what I eat, as yeast products still bother my gut, as does too much refined sugar and preservatives in processed foods. Probiotics have also been a major help for me. I also take beta glucan for an immunity booster and have not been sick, not even with the sniffles, for over 4 years since then...and I am an elementary school teacher. Lots of germs there :)

I did hear that a spit test first thing in the morning may be an indicator; spitting into a glass of water before eating or drinking anything and if you have yeast, a long spit strand will develop in the glass of water. I did have one of those before I went on the diet. Wives tale? Not sure :)

Posted 10/14/2010 5:13 AM (GMT 0)
I am suspicious of yeast as well, I know for a fact once I eat to much sugar foods or starches, I begin to have other strange systematic problems. Even before I got UC officially, I think there was something going on in my body that was related to yeast, toenail fungus, prostrate problems, throat problems, all of these things seem to worsen with sugar and starch intake. All began within a short period of a few years while being completely healthy before. I can cut down for a time, but never can completely rid myself of these issues, including UC. Taking oil of oregano now and see how it goes.
Posted 10/14/2010 7:09 AM (GMT 0)
I've had 2 major episodes of candidasis in my life, following antibiotics treatment. Those happend 1-2 years before i had developed UC and AS symptoms. So i am relating those episodes in wich my gut flora got altered with my disease.

I am on a low carbs, no starch, verry small amount of natural sugars diet. It does makes a difference.

For those afraid of candida or suffering frm it you shoudl avoid for a couple of months sugars - this means all carbs - alcohool and omega 3 suplements. All those play a role in candida overgrowth.
Posted 10/14/2010 9:03 AM (GMT 0)
Ok, so my next question is whether anyone has had any success on SCDiet while also trying to treat candida? Ive already cut out carbs, grains, sugars, etc for scd, cutting out honey completely as well just might suck ALL the joy out of life. Maybe its just me, but I am struggling to get used to no chocolate, but to not allow any sweetness including honey and fruits... idk, its probably for the best Im just wondering how others have coped.

Did you get to the point where you were suffering so much that the 'joys' of eating the sweeter things in life were out weighed by the suffering caused by the candida? I really could be getting there, but its tough. The cravings are very strong and I can sometimes become like a monster.

Im just wondering how those who've cut out ALL sugars to treat candida coped with it.... and did it work?
Posted 10/14/2010 9:38 AM (GMT 0)
I had a horrible skin infection that I was on antibiotics for. The antibiotics only stopped the infection from growing. It did not make it go away. Eventually, I started a food journal and found out that bread and cheese would make the inflammation worse. I stopped eating bread and cheese, which were the only foods that contained yeast/mold that I was consuming at the time. The infection gradually went away.

I don't think I was eating sugary foods at the time.
Posted 10/14/2010 9:56 AM (GMT 0)
Ive been doing some research and the antifungal diets Ive found are very similar to the Specific Carb Diet, which Im already on. The only problem is that Ive cheated a bit on it... chocolate. Anyway. I found this website that goes thru a step by step plan to eliminate candida-overgrowth causing foods. Like Ive said Ive already completely eliminated grains, carbs, sugar, etc. I thought Id have to give up the fruits and honey, but it seems I dont. Honey maybe but atleast I can have fruit. I can start juicing again too...

here's the website I mentioned.
http://www.candida-cure-recipes.com/candida-elimination-program.html

To be honest, I feel horrible and have done for a few months now. I wonder if the reason is a number of things. Perhaps doing scd cold turkey was a major shock to my system. Also, the cheating hasnt helped, maybe its prolonged the die off process. Its as if Ive hit the wall. Im wondering how long it will last, the die off symtpoms. Im experiencing ALL the listed symptoms and I was getting worried it could be something more serious but it seems its just the die off!
Posted 10/14/2010 11:29 AM (GMT 0)
hi genifer

I think it's "withdrawal" symptoms when you feel like you've hit the wall, withdrawing those sugars (including carbs starches, etc). Although I didn't notice it when I started SCD 8 months ago I recently felt it big time when I had to do a re-start of my diet due to sugar-creep (my term).

When I was on vacation for 6 weeks I felt WONDERFUL and then when got home things went slowly downhill. I finally got serious about getting back to WONDERFUL and pulled the excess sugar back out. Man did I feel lousy, foggy headed, moody, stomach upset. It took will power not to give in. Yes it is a major system shock, no question.

I don't know if it was candida or not, it doesn't matter to me what it is, I just want it better. The good news it's getting much better. Fruit is not good for me at this point so you've at least got that :-)
Have you discovered pork rinds(chicharones) yet? Legal SCD snack, I just wish I could find some low-salt version.
Posted 10/14/2010 12:07 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Ima, thanks for chiming in. I dont like pork rinds, personally, but I LOVE pork belly. I dont know if you can get it over there but its the very fatty cut of pork, if you can slice it thinly enough its like bacon (we'd call american bacon streaky bacon). I dont bother slicing it like that, I just broil it (we say 'grill' instead of broil) after salting the fat up so its nice and crispy.

Its yum!

I feel much better knowing its just withdrawl symptoms and Im not dying or anything like that. Every now and again I get into these slumps and I dont even realise what it is! When I realise its aaall good and its whats supposed to happen, Im stoked again to carry on.
Posted 10/14/2010 12:29 PM (GMT 0)
Hi genifer.

I do not believe in "withdrawal symptoms". They can be there, afor a couple of weeks, maybe 1-2 months, but after that your body will adjust on the new diet.

I was in kinda of simmilar situation like your in the begining of this year. And i got out of SCD because things were started to get worse. After 1 month of high starch diet (bread, pasta, potatoes and so on) i got bac on SCD without seccond thoughts.

I reduced the amount of honey i use - 1 tablespoon per day, or maybe less.
No chocolate for me.
Only white grapes - they contain less sugars. Occasionaly 1 apple, or some canned pineapple (without suggar).
Homemade blueberries jamm...

Of course i am craving for sugars. Sometimes i cheat with a little of berries juice (no suggar added) or some more fruits than i should have.
My favorite food was dry cottard cheese with a lot of honey... I do eat it once in a couple of weeks. I abbused this food a lot in my first SCD try, finished 800 ml honey pot in about 1 week. Now i know i should not have...
But as long as i do it rarely...

Anyway - diet counts a lot - and i can tell the difference after being on SCD then on high stargh then back on scd.
Stress counts a lot too - so when you feel you can'd go on, just cheat a little, it will help your rezolve, because you know what you get after cheating don't you? :)

Remember, this is a long long road...


Regarding candida diet - i am unsure that an extreme diet will be helpfull for our boddies, since we already have some difficulties in absorbing the right nutrients.
SCD or NSD - no starch diet - are already pretty restrictive...
Posted 10/15/2010 12:42 AM (GMT 0)

imagardener2- intrigues when you said you felt wonderful on vacation and started going downhill after you returned home. Kinda sounds like you may have an environmental mold thing going on there. That's one test people may do to see if there may be mold in their home...leave for a period of time (feeling better when they do) and then come back to see if the symptoms return. Is it possible your home or workplace could have mold issues, water-damage?- even if you can't see it with the naked eye?

I definitely had die-off, real bad. Almost called the ambulance as I had never felt such pains in my body. Lasted 3- 4 days, stayed in bed, and had terrible fatigue, D, and headaches. When it finally left, I attributed it to die-off, or Herxheimer Response, which told me I "did" have a fungal problem. Think of alcoholics or drug users; they have terrible withdrawal when trying to break their addiction.

You don't need to starve yourself. If SCD is too strict for you, consider a diet that allows most veggies (except potatoes, mushrooms, yams, beans), berries, and most beef/fish/poultry. I was not hungry when I did the phase one antifingal diet, but the sugar/grain cravings were bad to begin. It disappeared within 2 weeks. After feeling sooooo much better, I did not want to even let those foods past my lips again. It's a personal journey. No one can tell you what to do. No guarantees, but I would say it is worth a shot. Just don't give up too soon, and don't sabotage the diet by cheating, not even a little. You will wake the sleeping giant. Remember, your body did not get sick overnight.

Posted 10/15/2010 4:06 PM (GMT 0)
For chocolate cravings something one can try is virgin coconut oil, mixed with cocoa powder and steivia or Xylitol to sweetn it. It's not perfect but does seem to help the chocolate craving. Supposidly extra virgin coconut oil is good for fighting candida, but just what I read online.
Posted 10/15/2010 11:11 PM (GMT 0)
kim
There is definitely no mold in my home, there may be different pollens in the air here but I haven't had that sensitivity for years. I have actually compared what made the difference in how well I was on vacation and one thing stands out--activity. No sitting around, we were on the go every day, and I think my colon liked it.

This week after getting strict again with my diet it has gotten back into shape but boy was I miserable. I also noticed that upping my intake of VSL#3 was also beneficial this week, it really made a positive difference in gut happiness and BM quality. Perhaps I got too sloppy in what I was eating but after a very bad time sliding right back into bad territory things got turned around. I am grateful beyond words.

I agree about not cheating, it's not worth feeling that bad again. There's some part of my brain that keeps trying to talk me into it, apparently it is not best friends with my colon lol. One day at a time. Oh yeah, more activity too.
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