I think the candida is real. Just not solely to blame, no way would i go back to sugar the way i used to eat it until i managed to get my whole body well again. I think everyone has an intollerence to something in this day and age, it's natural, with some much pollution around, but what we need to do is find out why were getting candida, and then we can eliminate the root cause and then we should be able to eliminate the candida itself.
When my doctor asked if i wanted to see a shrink i just wanted to scream... try living with my symptoms for a day and then tell me it's in my head, i've gone from being an active shop manager to being a homebound vegetable in pain and having no good reason for it, they can't give me an answer, just like they can't give you one, so we have to find the answers for ourselves.
Well done sunshine on getting a gluten answer, i think it's a stepping stone to getting your health back, and the doctors can apologise all they want, it doesn't give you the last few years of health back you've missed, but now you need to be positive and work on getting your health back, step by step, work on gluten then tackle the candida.
We all have an underlying root cause for this desease, hopefully we can all find it.
I like you lost sooo much weight i went from 196lbs to 105, that's not candida, i just need to find what it is...
Same for you carebear20, you need to find the underlying cause of this illness, find that then the rest should fall into place for you, buit don't give up hope girl, your very young, you have your whole life in front of you, just look at it like a personal goal that you have to overcome, start looking forward to better days.

glad you foind out what was going ion. i tdid a foode allergy testing and i know gluten was in there but it said i was fine w/ that that i was allrgic to soybean, egga, and cows milk. i was surpised it didnt say yeast cuz i rect real bad when i eat bread but my doc said htat because i took it out of my diet it may not show up.. thats why we are doing some other one shots on the arms for inhalent and food allerigies.

Carebear,
Gluten intolerance isn't an allergy. It will not show up in an allergy test. I had all kinds of allergy tests done and I wasnt allergic to anything. Its an autoimmune disease where the body just cant tolerate gluten...it can start at any time. The immune system mistakenly starts attacking the gluten as if it were foreign. In the process its also attacking the healthy cells in your body...it damages the intestinal lining. This can cause malabsorption (which has its own set of symptoms), leaky gut, candida, food sensitivities and the list goes on.
Bloodstone,
OMG....I know exactly how you felt. I was in such bad shape...and all they would do is tell me to go see the shrink. I'm still angry about it. I demanded to see the specialists again. Noone would listen...within 2 minutes of walking in the room they would just say "Have you seen a phsychiatrist? Thats what you need to do." I think it was in my chart or something because I could barely get a few sentences out before they were bringing up the shrink. Finally I figured I better see the shrink...maybe that would somehow help. She was the only one with any common sense cuz she said there was clearly something physically wrong and they just havent figured it out yet. She said no antidepressant would "fix" me. She asked for permission to relay this to my doc. Needless to say he was NOT happy...but I sure was .
You have lost over 90 lbs! I definately agree that Candida isn't doing that to you. Have you ever checked into Celiac Disease...that is exactly what the disease does when it has progressed. If you had it and it caused enough damage you would no longer be absorbing any nutrients from your food and the weight would start coming off. With as much weight loss as you've had..I'd definately look into it. What have they tested you for? Even with all that weight loss they're still telling you its in your head? Doctors are pretty clueless. I did learn that once you start talking about Candida they never take you serious....thats when they REALLY think you need the shrink. I learned that the hard way.

Also Carebear you could be reacting to the gluten in bread instead of yeast. Gluten causes more health problems than anything else we eat. All breads contain gluten (unless they are specialty gluten free breads), cakes, muffins, soy sauces, soups, pastas, beer, cookies, crackers, condiments....gluten is in most of the stuff we eat everyday. I had never even HEARD of gluten until my ex told me to look into this disease. I'd say probably 95% of the stuff I ate everyday had gluten in it. The whole time I thought it was the sugar content in this stuff that was causing the symptoms.

I haven't heard of that desease i'll certainly look into it though.
Trouble is i live in england, home of bad dentists and worse medicine practises, you can't demand anything here, you have to wait for a referal for like six months to three years and that's the small stuff!!!
We really are a third world country healthwise, unless you have money, of course, then you jump the queue..
It take's two weeks to get a doctors appointment unless they consider it an emergency, heart attack, leg hanging off!!!
Little wonder any of us over here are still alive.
They told me they would allergy test me but i could be waiting as long as seven years for that and then it's limited testing only. With me not working right now i can't afford to go private, just have to diet eliminate and see what happens.
Maybe i should buy and air ticket medical insurance and jump a plane stateside!!! wouldn't have the energy though!!!

Wow...I didn't realize how bad it was for medical services over there. I complain when I have to wait a couple of weeks for an appt. Guess I don't have it as bad as I thought. Well...you can look up Celiac online...see if anything makes sense to you. The symptoms vary so there really arent any "typical" symptoms. Most people will lose weight dramatically but then there are some that are overweight so it really does vary. Most common symptoms are fatigue, depression, bloating, diarreah/constipation, brain fog, muscle/joint pain. There are so many though...I think theres like over 200 symptoms accosiated w/ it. If you think you might have it the best thing you can do is eliminate all gluten from your diet. Most people will notice a big improvement within a couple weeks..sometimes longer depending on how sick you are. I think alot of symptoms would get better fast though. If you were going to test at the doctors you'd have to continue eating gluten..it has to be eaten continuously for about 3 months for a test to be accurate. Alot of people dont bother with the tests since once they stop eating gluten they get better so they don't want to eat it again for testing purposes. Anyways, since you have to wait so long for tests its worth a try. There is no cure for Celiac...a very strict gluten free diet will eliminate all symptoms though. I think its the only disease in the world totally corrected by diet alone. If you had it and continued to eat gluten you'd be at risk for cancer and lots of other diseases.

OMG, i just checked out the website for celiac and i can check every symptom off with a big fat tick, thanks for that sunshine. Tomorrow i'm off gluten for a month and see what happens, i hope it's the answer, certainly sounds like it.
I had a really bad reaction to shredded wheat cereal a few weeks ago, i can usually eat it, i guess that means your right.
Were both gluten free now, hopefully that's the start we need to good health.
I can't wait to see my doctor!! what i'm gonna call him if i have this isn't even gonna be printable!!

LOL...maybe you'll want a new doctor soon!
Good luck trying the diet...I hope it works for you! One thing I've noticed is that since my health started to improve when I DO get some gluten in me now its a very strong reaction...not always immediate but definately noticeable. The reactions arent so obvious when you feel crappy all the time but once you start getting a little better...boy you will notice! Remember that gluten is also in supplements, medications and believe it or not I even got sick from my lotion cuz I was touching my food or licking my fingers. Its not an easy diet but it sure as heck beats being sick all the time or taking lots of meds. Oh...my favorite site is Celiac.com. They have lots of info. plus an awesome message board. Here is the link: http://www.celiac.com/st_main.html
I highly recommend looking at the safe and forbidden food ingredients list. This is where I needed the most help since gluten is never actually labeled as an ingredient on the packages. I was pretty clueless. It just helps you know how to "look" for gluten and which products are safe to eat. If you did truelly have Celiac then you would have to be very diligent about keeping gluten out of your diet.
Good Luck!!!! I hope you get better!!!
Feel free to email me if you ever have any questions...I'd be curious to know if getting rid of gluten helps you.
Sunshne24~aol.com

I checked out that website, it was great, thanks for that.
I started looking through my kitchen cupboards and what's in the freezer and apart from frozen chips and some veggies everything i eat seems to have gluten in it somewhere, even my ketchup, which makes me sad to lose such an old and values memeber of my food chain!! guess i'll have to make my own, i went to my local supermarket on line and tapped in gluten free products and thankfully they have a lot, flour and butter as well so i can at least make my own cakes and stuff, and maybe slip some to my kids when their not looking!!
They do pasta products, which is a big plus, a life without pasta isn't worth thinking about, cookies, cakes and even pancake mix, so the upside is while i'm trying to get healthy i can put on some weight too!!
I know it's a dieting website and i shouldn't say that but trust me when i wasw bigger, i was happier and healthier!!
But my biggest bug bare is never to have mac donalds or pizza hut pizza again, or a bucket of coated chicken, chinese, indian... that means i have to cook EVERY night !!!!! AHHHHH!!

I know what you mean...I'll be sooo happy when I gain all my weight back. I've already gained 5 lbs. after 2 weeks of gluten free...I need 20 more lbs. At first I had gained 10 lbs. back but if I slip up and eat something wrong I lose the weight again...so thats what happened to me already. Bummer. Yeah it does suck about McDonalds...I used to say that Mc'D's was my favorite restaraunt...ha-ha....that gives you a good idea of what my diet was like! No more Big Macs . The fries dont have gluten...but I'm not gonna eat any until I heal all the way...there is always the risk of contamination...so I'm not ready for that risk yet. Its unbelievable how much gluten is in...basically everything I ever ate! I think it would have been very traumatic for me if I had been diagnosed with this before I got so sick. It helped that I had been on the Candida diet for 4 months already...that was so strict and I never cheated once. Now I'm actually *adding* foods in like potatoes, fruits, pastas, cookies...I was pretty excited about not having to only eat meats and veggies anymore! I've been able to find lots of GF foods near me...they're just alot more expensive. I'm glad you were able to find stuff too!
If you ever use the Celiac message board...I'm Rachel--24. I've learned so much from those people...still learning.
-Rachel

Oh yeah...are the brands the same over there in England? If you can find Tinkyada pasta...I think its the best. Some of the GF stuff isn't all that yummy. Everyone raves about Kinnikinnick products..they have pizza crusts, breads, muffins, donuts...stuff like that. I havent tried them yet...I think they have to be ordered online. I found alot of delicious cookies. There is a huge list of GF products...all the mainstream stuff. If you're interested heres the info. for getting it:


1) Go to the website, http://forums.delphiforums.com/celiac/start
2) Click on "messages" or "start reading"
3) Select the folder "GF Product List"
4) Click on the topic called "Downloadable files word"
5) Of the four options, choose the one in the upper right.
You may need to register (the basic version is free) in which case, just register first, then complete the steps above.

still look on the bright side when your all the way healed, what you spent on takeaway's you can buy all those goodies like gf free cookies and things you never thought you could eat again on the candida diet!!!
And all those new outfits!!!!
I guess when i get my health back and return to work i'll be brown bagging it for a while, i don't think they serve gf foods on the slops wagon that comes around!!
It's kinda weird, when i was eating junk food i used to craved a sunday roast, meat and all the veggies i could get, now i look at a sprout in a new light.!!!
But at least with this diet, your not really cutting much out, their are sooo many alternatives like fish in batter, ( i'm english rememeber!!) i can just use different ingredients and make my own!! Same with cookies and cakes, muffins etc, once healed it's a pretty good diet!!

You're right...there are some bright sides to this diet...plus its probably alot more healthy in the long run. I think the alternative grains are more healthy...plus I cant just run off to Taco Bell when I'm hungry. Definately more meats and veggies and fruits. I never ate vegetables...ever...until I went on Candida diet. I also learned how to cook and bake finally. My reactions to a tiny bit of gluten take about 2 weeks to go away so thats the worst part for me...I wish it was alot shorter. Thats my biggest complaint.

The weird part is i was doing a letter earlier and licked the envelope, i had a reaction to that, maybe i need to see what they use for glue??? !!!
I haven't knowingly had any gluten now for about thirty six hours plus, my heads a little clearer and my legs aren't dragging as much, and my tummy didn't blow up after breakfast lik it normally does, but maybe that's just something else, but i'm certainly gonna stick to this diet for a bit, my nose is still itchy a little but not as much as yesterday, i'm not sure if i react to soy milk though so i'm going to get some coconut milk, because i can eat coconuts by the bucketful...
I can't believe you NEVER ate veggies... their not my fav food, that would be doughnuts or chocolate, but still a nice big stir fry... in between take aways of course...
What did you eat??
I thought american's were really healthy eaters, i know you guys invented take away and all, but i thought it was the english that had bad food habits, all fish and chips and suet puddings with lots of custard.
God, i'm making myself hungry!!!!!

OMG...I forgot to mention...NEVER lick an envelope or stamp...they contain gluten! I used to get bad reactions from doing that but finally I started using a wet paper towel instead. This was long before I found out about gluten...now I know the reason. Read this: http://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?...-49105212610.20
I don't know where you heard we were healthy eaters over here...LOL...I personally don't know too many people who eat healthy. I thought we had the most unhealthy diets in the world! What did I eat before? I ate mac & cheese, mc donalds, taco bell, jack in the box, pizza, sandwiches, pastries, pasta, and microwave dinners. Pretty bad huh? I went from this to organic veggies, meats and fish basically overnight....drastic change! I never cheated once in the whole 4 months of the candida diet. I just so badly wanted to get better. It worked too...just not all the way. I think this whole experience...as bad as it was...has taught me alot. Its changed me in a good way...I appreciate things more now. When I started the diet I had no clue what to do with the veggies I bought...then I discovered stir-frys. This made them tolerable to me..now I actually like them. The only veggies I ever liked before (if I HAD to eat a vegetable) were mushrooms, corn, potatoes, carrots and peas. Of course these are all the ones I couldn't have on the candida diet so I was pretty much eating stuff I never really liked. Sheesh...I don't know how I had the willpower to stick to that diet for so long!