I am a new poster, but I have been reading this forum for several days now. Thank goodness this topic thread is here! Where else can I ask about such delicate matters.

I started Atkins on 7/23 and have lost 8 pounds. However this has not been easy as the increase of meat, cheese and raw vegetables threw me into an ongoing bout of constipation. I was told years ago I should steam my vegetables instead of eating them raw, but when I was eating a horrible diet loaded in carbs, salads and such didn't seem so harsh on my systen. I started taking SF Metcamucil capsules and it did nothing but cause awful distension. I have had to take Correctol when I just can't take the bloat, gurlgling and discomfort anymore. So anyway, the other thing that is going on of course is yeast overgrowth. It's apparent to me that I have it big time. The toe fungus on 3 of my left toes, a bizarre strain of what looks like athlete's foot on my left foot I picked up in Asia over 20 yrs ago that can never be completely killed with presription creams, a seven day course of amoxicillin which ended the day before I started induction for a tooth infection and vaginal itching. I am sick of the bloat. I started taking cheap acidolphius the day after I finished the antibiotics which wasn't really helping. I read the chapter in DNDR about candida again when I realized my weight loss seemed really slow and it described me to a T. On Saturday I picked up a bottle of Yeast-Cleanse and a good quality acidophilus. I take the Yeast-Cleanse at night and the acidophilus in the morning. Of course I have stopped eating cheese, products with vinegar, etc. I live in the desert so I drink a ton of water everyday.

Which brings me to the subject of this thread. Many years ago I had a colonic when it was popular in the 1980's. Since I am at wits end I decided to look into it again because it is also supposed to help rid the intestines of toxins, mucous and candida. It is supposed to create room for the good intestinal flora to grow. So my question to the group is whether or not anyone has tried this method to jump start eliminating candida specifically. It will also help me with the constipation issues too.

What do folks think? I have included a couple of links for those wanting more info.Thanks so much for taking the time to read this!

Mo
http://www.colonic-association.com/
http://colonhydrotherapyonline.com/

GSE
You can try this on your foot problem. Witchazel is good too. DH had a nasty bout of exzema on his scalp that regular applications of witchazel cleared right up. I take the GSE every day. It keeps my sinus allergies at bay. Did start sticking my hand in the candy jar this last month and had a vaginal flare up the middle of my cycle. Been doing this WOE since feb and it was the first one since starting. My own fault. DS had a ear infection started and I used sweet oil in his ear and it cleared it up. GSE, witchazel and sweet oil all have antifungal properties. Cheep too!! I always keep them around.

Sorry, never had a colonic, but I don't see how it could hurt. About the constipation, ground physillium husks are the best for that. 2 tbs in at least 10 oz of water twice a day to start. Drink it fask, it does get thick, but it works.

Good Luck!!

Thanks for the reply. I read a lot more about colonic hydotherapy and it is supposed to help cleanse the candida away. So I can't wait until my appointment in just a couple of hours! When I made my appoinment yesterday I had a chance to chat with the woman who wil be doing it. I thought I'd share this odd bit of advice she gave me. She suggested inserting the acidophilus rectally rather than making it pass through the digetstive system, then get to the intestines after being broken down. On the face of it, it seems logical. I asked her if it could really defy gravity and travel up and whether or not it would really be more beneficial from such a low vantage point so to speak. She said it would be. I'll ask her more about it when I see her.

As far as physillium seed husks goes, my sister who was here visiting form out of state has been on this WOE and has lost 62 pounds went back on induction when I started to be supportive and she suggested physillium as well. I tried the Metamucil SF caps and all they did was bloat me up. I tried them for several days. I also upped my water intake even though I drink around 10-12, 16oz bottles a day of water. I mean if raw veggies are killing me, I can only imagine what the physillium was doing. I'll talk about it at my appointment this afternon and see what we can figure out. I do remember mentioning it on the phone yesterday and she said not to take it as it sounded too abrasive for me. I need more details and alternatives if that's the case. But mixing it with water rather than the gel caps may be better. If anyone knows or has had a similar experience, please let me know as I can't keep up this cycle of constipation.

Thanks for your reply and the GSE suggestion. I almost bought some oil of oregano and the woman at the nutriton store said it could also be used topically. But since it's so expensive, I wouldn't want to use it externally.

Mo

So how did the appointment go?

It didn't go as well as I had hoped. Apparently I have some blockages. Overall it's beneficial regardless but both of us were suprised we didn't get better results. She stressed that I make one more appointment while my colon is well hydrated so I leave in an hour for my second one.
She also said to not eat any red meat last night so I skipped meat altogether & had an Atkin's shake then for dinner I sauteed a cup of spinach and scrambled in 3 eggs. She seemed to think I need to take enzymes to help break down all the meat since for years I have been eating very little of it & in very small portions. This WOE focuses a lot on meat so I may cut way back on red meat and focus more on chicken, etc. and introduce hamburger and such later. From what I have read about enzymes it runs the gamut form it being a waste of money but helps people who are lactose intolerant (which I am). I'm not doing much dairy though. I am going to try a month supply of enzymes and see how it goes although cutting out red meat for the time being won't be much of an experiment as it will set up a which came first chicken or the egg scenario. Who knows, if enzymes work, I may be able to go back to eating salads, which I love.

I'll post a short follow-up abouth how it goes this afternoon.

Thanks for asking. Oh and I am down a pound to 190.

Mo

Hi MolnPhx,

I personally would never have the colonichydrotherapy. It will not correct your Candida yeast infection nor solve any other irritable bowel disease that you may have. The constipation is caused by a lazy intestinal system which is the result of a long term high-carbohydrate diet. This will correct itself over time. It will get better slowly over several months. Hang in there.

A few suggestions:

Avoiding red meat is the wrong way to go. Instead, eat high-fat red meat like beef ribs. Grilling is good on medium heat to medium rare. Actually, I eat them while they are still raw in the middle. This may slow you weight loss because of the extra calories from fat. Decrease the fat as you improve to speed up weight loss.

Observe all the usual Candida restrictions.

Include a good probiotic program.

Take Carlson's lemon flavored cod liver oil and Borage oil with GLA.

Cook all vegatables to reduce the fiber content.

Absolutely avoid all fiber supplements. Candida and pathogenic colon bacteria think fiber is party time with unlimited free food. Stop feeding them.

Once a day drink a lot of water in a short time period, like 32 oz. within one hour. I like to drink a 44 oz. mixture of 2/3 unsweetened ice tea and 1/3 diet Pepsi that you can blend yourself at any self serve fast food or supermarket. However, I am a large male and recommend less for you.

Check out my web page:

Bowel Diseases and Candida - News You Can Use.

Kent

Ack, I put together quite a long reply to all your points and somehow managed to lose what I wrote.
I have to do some things this afternoon, but I wanted to thank you for your reply and will follow-up sometime tomorrow if I don't get to it later this evening.

Mo

I just thought I would add my experience to this post. I suffered from recurrent yeast infections and urinary infections for a couple years. It made my life pretty miserable actually. My mom then found a doctor who has a preventative medicine practice and was the first to say the Candida word. My mom has severe candida. I went to see the Dr and she put me on difulcan for a week and wow, how much better I felt. Since I started giving up foods that I had eaten for so long (I started Adkins) and took oral acidolophlus and olive leaf supplements my infections have been to a bare minimum. It's wonderful! However, recently I have had a thick white coating on my tongue. I was afraid this was the yeast coming back and that I had oral thrush. When I went to the same Dr she said it was from colon problems because there were not red bumbs under the white coating. She recommended me drinking aloe vera juice for my colon. I just ordered some from foreverliving.com. I am suppossed to drink 1/4 cup twice a day for the next three months.

Hi, Mo,

I just saw your post regarding colon hytrotherapy and though I would sent you a personal message about it. However, my message is so long that I cannot post it. If you would like, you could send me your e-mail address and I can write you there.

Whammy

Hi Whammy, it's MoInPhxATyahooDOTcom
Of course, replace the AT and DOT with the appropriate info. For some reason I can't send you a PM. I learned long ago to not post addresses in forums to help keep the spam away.

Mo