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  #76   ^
Old Sun, Sep-26-10, 02:36
Annajen's Avatar
Annajen Annajen is offline
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Posts: 87
 
Plan: candida diet
Stats: 116/113/110 Female 5'1"
BF:
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Hi ct89!

Nice to meet you! We're all still out here, although depending on our symptoms we don't always post frequently. Your symptoms were actually quite similar to mine inasmuch as I also had lots of antibiotics as a kid (I seemed prone to strep throats a lot), blood sugar/hormonal imbalances plus awful diet as a teenager (I thought I could eat anything and sometimes ate irregularly, cravings for sweets etc), and then after my pregnancies I had a lot of food allergies and issues.

A few things you might want to try to help things would be milk thistle (really helps detox the liver and protects against heavy metal toxins somewhat too), and for the Candida specifically, get some Pau D'Arco tea which is antifungal and antimicrobial generally and drink it between meals.

You should be able to get some at a health food shop but be a bit careful and make sure it's the proper stuff from a proper supplier (beware the internet for ordering it) because some brands are filled with ordinary stuff and have a low concentration of Pau D'arco so go for the pure stuff.

Probiotics are going to be essential and you may wish to consult an alternative therapist (find a good one with experience in candida previously---someone with an office, an internet site, medical qualifications etc, not the well-meaning neighbour next door who sells Aloe Vera on the side or something---you will need proper treatment for the food allergies and you will need to have your progress monitored either with allergy prick tests or Vega machine tests or something.

OK, as for your intestinal wall being overcrowded with too much bad bacteria and fungi---take the probiotics immediately because the good bacteria EAT the yeast fungi and the bad bacteria. They will clear the wall for you and you will need to take them at least 2 - 3 times per day, probably just before meals (at least that's what my doc put me on). For many months.

Also, you'll have to get some medical attention to discover WHY you had this history in the first place. I mean, you may have underlying blood sugar imbalances (not diabetes exactly but insulin resistance in my case contributed to the whole syndrome---that's one example for you). Thyroid, immune system, endocrine system etc all play a role in keeping down the yeast and protecting the gut so somewhere along the line you need to work out what exactly is going wrong there.

A few other things to help. Barley green grass powder (if you're allergic to barley, there are variations on this) is a high chlorophyll detox powder which gives oxygen directly into your blood stream. The oxygen boost helps kill the candida, but beware the die off symptoms.

Sprinkle ground cloves on your food (tastes nice on white grapefruit, which is also antifungal mildly) to kill candida also.

When you feel better, aerobic exercise will also give the yeast a good bashing, since they are anaerobic.

Red beets (beetroot) also turns into oxygen in your bloodstream partly and is also very good at killing candida, along with coconuts, virgin coconut oil, etc, only don't use dried coconut ---use fresh.

Hope that helps for a start. Good luck and let us know how you get on!
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  #77   ^
Old Mon, Sep-27-10, 20:36
ct89 ct89 is offline
New Member
Posts: 4
 
Plan: Vegetarian Candida Diet
Stats: 116/116/116 Female 5'6"
BF:
Progress:
Location: United States
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Thanks, Annajen!

That information is very useful.
I was looking through my tea drawer - yep, tea drawer, I love tea so much all my tea needed its own little hidey spot - and I discovered that I had some really high quality detox tea. And, whadaya know...it's made of Pau D'arco and clove! It has some other things, too, in lesser quantities, which are also antifungal. And the best part is, IT'S SO TASTY. I'm going easy on it because my die off has been pretty bad, but I'm feeling much better today, so I think I will try drinking some again tomorrow.

Financially, I'm not really in a place where I can see any professionals, but when I am, I definitely want to. It would be nice to get some formal testing for allergies - there might be some stuff that I'm sensitive to and don't know about. It's been hard to tell what's an allergy and what's just difficult for me to digest.

I have begun taking some really nice probiotics (Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics 12 Plus Professional Formula). I may end up switching to Garden of Life's Primal Defense, just because it's a little more affordable for me and from what I've heard, is still a very high quality probiotic supplement. Do you know of any others I should consider that are in the less-than-$30 range? I'm getting my stuff from the Swanson Vitamins internet store. They seem to have the best prices, and they have a large selection of excellent products.

Due to some health problems that I had when I was younger, I have been tested for ALL KINDS of things! Like, really exhaustive testing. I'm as healthy as an ox, according to western medicine. Nothing wrong with my blood sugar or thyroid (thankfully ).

I will definitely look into this chlorophyll business, and see what I can get that's gluten free. Does kale have chlorophyll, by any chance? Or nori? I have so much kale that I could open my own farm stand .

When I can afford it, I'm definitely going to get a big tub of organic coconut oil. I actually have a little already that I use to moisturize my hair and skin, given that I'm allergic to just about every body product out there other than castile soap. It seems like it would make a delicious thai stir fry, with some garlic, lemon, lime, ginger and whatever veggies I have on hand.

I'm doing the Lahoz Protocol Candida Diet, which I will be on for the next year or so. I'm vegan, and it's awfully difficult to get the calories I need without going fat-heavy on nuts and oils (at least on the Stage One diet, which will last for at least 3 months), so I'm thinking I will start eating eggs. My roommate's family has an organic farm, so at least I'll be eating healthy eggs from happy chickens that I know personally and have tended to and cared for myself. The chickens don't seem to mind when I take their eggs, actually. They're more interested in what food I might have for them, or the particularly bug-laden patch of grass their buddies just found .

So, I am now on Day 6, and I feel pretty good. Yesterday was brutal, felt like I had a really terrible flu, but I woke up feeling much better, and this evening I am feeling great! I was even able to go out and run some errands, do some housework, and clean my guinea pigs' cage. I have found that I feel satisfied with much smaller portions of food now. I was always a binge eater, and exercised like crazy to offset it, but now I feel things are balancing out. It's taking some adjustment, but I think I'm going to like this diet a lot. Food just...tastes better. Maybe I just have more gratitude for the things I can eat. Also, my skin is clearing up already. I have had acne for 10 years, so I'm pretty psyched about it finally starting to heal.

Now, I'm starting to think about "holiday dishes" that I can do within my current diet parameters. I've got something in mind that will *somewhat* approximate pumpkin pie or spice cake - quinoa with a little bit of pumpkin, nutmeg, allspice, clove and cinnamon; sweetened with stevia. My birthday is coming up soon, and I think I'll do that for my "cake." Healing is a lifestyle, and I think my mindset is fitting right into it!

Oh gosh, this is rather long, haha. I'm just one of those expressive types that ends up rambling sometimes...
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  #78   ^
Old Tue, Sep-28-10, 05:19
Warren D Warren D is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 331
 
Plan: Fatty meat
Stats: 135/135/135 Male 166
BF:11%
Progress:
Location: Ibiza, Spain
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ct89
I´m vegan,
If you are serious about getting rid of candida then you need to be doing everything possible to regain your health. Candida enjoy vegan food. Drop the vegan thing completely and get on something like the paleo diet. You are concerned that you may have food allergies and intolerances. There are far more vegan foods that are allergenic than there are paleo foods that are allergenic.
Having a few eggs here and there isn't really going to cut it. Get serious about it.
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  #79   ^
Old Wed, Sep-29-10, 17:01
ct89 ct89 is offline
New Member
Posts: 4
 
Plan: Vegetarian Candida Diet
Stats: 116/116/116 Female 5'6"
BF:
Progress:
Location: United States
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Warren D, thank you for the advice!

I am currently on the "Whole Approach" candida diet, which can be done effectively as a vegetarian. I don't consume soy out of concern for its healthfulness, which I'm thinking is probably the allergen you are referring to.

I am definitely serious about this, and I am lucky that I have found a way to do this without going against my true nature. I am a VERY emotionally sensitive person, and chose long ago to not consume the flesh of an animal because I could not live with myself when I did; it hurt too much. This may be one of those situations where there is no way for me to paint the full picture of why vegetarianism is essential to my mental well being. Whether others can or cannot understand why I make the choices I make, it is irrelevant - I have to be true to myself. If it comes to the point where I have to choose between survival and eating an animal, I will cross that bridge if I come to it.

So far, with this Whole Approach diet, the candida seem to be dying in hoards, and adding eggs into my diet as well as a yellow pea based protein powder will satisfy my body's need for any additional low-carb protein. I am, however, setting up an appointment with a nutritionist just to be sure.

Thank you for your concern . I will report back on how things are going.
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  #80   ^
Old Tue, Oct-05-10, 07:55
peteranac peteranac is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 100
 
Plan: atkins
Stats: 175/154.5/135 Female 5'5"
BF:38.8%
Progress: 51%
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Hello all,

I am back to check in on everyone and I see we have a newbie! Hello CT89. Nice to meet you. You'll find that your symptoms are classic candida. Mine flared up after a horrbile sickness and multiple rounds of antibiotic and sugar consumption. I was able to combat it in 5 months and have lived on and off the Candida way since. I have however contracted parasites (which by the way go hand in hand with Candida!!!) I am back with giardia AGAIN. and am currently on my detox from it. I noticed on Wedneuisday opf last week that my bowels changed and have not been the same since. Lucky for me I already have a lovely person to help me and she has determiend that it is giardia. The die off for me was extreme tiredness, headaches, anixety galore!!!! and digestive issues. Well she new that I did not handle to die off well from the last Parasite cleanse so she gave me something a little more gentle. So here I am again day 3. It has been a stuggle for me as it wasn;t until last october that I started with this and my husband is not sure what to do with me. He knew that I was sick as I was bedridden for a month and tehn an additional 4 months of tiredness. I was fine until march of this year when the candida cleared and I had the parasite (anxiety galore again!!!). How have you dealt with yur anxiety issues? I have never and I mean NEVER been this anxious or ill in my life and it is really play a toll on me.

Annajen how are things with you? Are you still running and keeping your energy levels up? I hope to talk to you guys regularily to help us through this as many people think I am craxy and turning into a hypochondriac!!!!!
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  #81   ^
Old Wed, Oct-06-10, 10:11
ct89 ct89 is offline
New Member
Posts: 4
 
Plan: Vegetarian Candida Diet
Stats: 116/116/116 Female 5'6"
BF:
Progress:
Location: United States
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Hi, peteranac!

I'm so sorry to hear that you are unwell . You WILL conquer that giardia! Have you been doing a colon cleanse? I hear a quality colon cleanse can help with parasites.

I had all kinds of little tricks to deal with anxiety. Some days I coped better than others. Mostly, what I tried to do is cultivate a "safe" feeling environment for myself. Sometimes it was where I was living. Other times, when that was not possible, I'd choose a specific activity that was my safe haven (one of them used to be playing cards by myself - weird, I know ) and in times where I was too anxious to function, I would (as soon as was convenient) retreat to my safe place/activity, and sort of get lost in it. It helped me soothe myself. If I was somewhere where I couldn't do that, a lot of the time deep breathing/focusing on my breathing (unless I'm hyperventilating, in which case, I needed to NOT think about breathing, haha) and telling myself that I was 100% safe, that while anxiety was uncomfortable, it would NOT kill me, I would be okay, and there was nothing to be afraid of...that would often help me calm down. Sniffing a little bit of lavender essential oil helped, too. Snuggling into a cozy blanket and watching a comforting movie. Listening to soothing music. Basically, I gravitated toward anything that I found comforting, anything that made me feel safe. There are many herbal remedies out there for anxiety, too, which I have not tried, but have heard good things about. One of them is Rescue Remedy. I'm not sure if it's something you can have when you're doing the candida detox, but it's worth looking into. Chamomile and Valerian are very calming, so a tea made of the two may help you during a panic attack. If I think of anything else, I will let you know! It's sort of hard for me to remember all of the things that I did to cope - those were bad times for me, and I think my mind is blocking a lot of it out. I was prescribed anti-anxiety medication (lorazepam), but I hardly ever took it, and I eventually stopped taking it altogether because I found that if I took it for more than a day or two in a row, it actually made things worse. I would not recommend it, except sparingly, only during very extreme panic attacks.

I have now been on the detox diet for a bit over 2 weeks. I feel tired sometimes, like I need a bit more sleep than I should, but I also sometimes feel like I have way more energy than I used to. Today is definitely a tired day, but I bet I will perk up after I eat a nice kale salad. Overall, I'm loving this diet! I'm getting way better nutrition than I was before, and trying all kinds of new foods/recipes. The other day, I had celeriac for the first time! My digestion has improved a LOT. I can now eat beans and eggs! Still staying away from onions until I can get some allergy testing done. I have found that my bowels are rather slow, despite the fact that I'm drinking tons of water, and my diet is very high in fiber now. I was thinking that it may have something to do with having more fat in my diet now, which digests slower - or perhaps it's just my intestinal flora remodeling. Who knows! I hope this is a temporary thing. It's not uncomfortable, I would just prefer things to be more regular.
I have not developed any new food allergies. I think my body is starting to recover. Overall, I feel that I am getting much healthier. Practically everyone I know is or has recently been sick (including my roommate) and I am in perfect health! I love it.

I have to say, this diet would be excellent for anyone wanting to slim down. I was already rather slender, and this diet is just melting the remaining fat right off! It's almost unbelievable. I eat plenty, and every day, I wake up thinner than the last. If this continues to an unhealthy point, I'm going to have to just about double my food intake, hahaha. Can't say I'm unhappy about that, I do LOVE food...

My birthday is tomorrow, and I've got a lovely candida diet meal planned!

Everything is homemade, except the dressing, which is Annie's Green Garlic:
Vegetarian Chili
Kale and Artisan Lettuce Salad with Green Garlic Dressing
Low-Carb Pumpkin Cookies, sweetened with Stevia
Low-Carb Ginger Dairy-Free "Ice Cream," sweetened with Stevia

Very excited!
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  #82   ^
Old Wed, Oct-06-10, 15:21
peteranac peteranac is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 100
 
Plan: atkins
Stats: 175/154.5/135 Female 5'5"
BF:38.8%
Progress: 51%
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well happy birthday to you and glad to hear you are feeling better. You may notice that the days you feel most tire are wet or damp days as candida does tend to thrive in that type of environment.

I am on the third day of 1 pill a day and I think I can up it as I have had not side effects except racing heart but that has settled down to normal now. Also I notice with me my heart rate speeds up just prior to my time of month (crazy and sorry to all those male readers!!!!) We'll see.
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  #83   ^
Old Tue, Oct-26-10, 04:01
Annajen's Avatar
Annajen Annajen is offline
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Posts: 87
 
Plan: candida diet
Stats: 116/113/110 Female 5'1"
BF:
Progress:
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HI CT89 and Peteranac!

Just checking in again. Glad to hear you seem to have a lot of useful stuff in your arsenal of candida-fighting medicines and teas etc, CT89! It should get easier in time. Grapefruit seed extract is another useful OTC anti-microbial and anti-fungal which might help. I was on it for 6 months and the doc insisted that it was his first choice, at least in my case.

My candida is generally under control under normal circumstances but unfortunately when I have to take an antibiotic or something it can get bad again for awhile and need extra special dieting and medications/GSE etc afterwards, plus tons of probiotics still.

Sorry to hear about the giardia Peteranac. Crumbs. You're having a tough time, but at least you're on top of it. Hopefully it won't be too long before you're feeling good again.

Anyway, as I said, just checking in. Keep up the good work guys! I'm a lot better but it varies quite a bit day-to-day with stress, diet, travel diets if I have to travel (which always throws it since I can't always take brown rice absolutely everywhere I go) and if I'm not careful about spotting any early recurrance symptoms.

Another underlying issue in my case turned out to be pre-diabetes. I'm not diabetic but I had bad insulin resistance and any blood-sugar issues can often be underlying in candida cases, since yeast adore sugar and blood sugar imbalances. I didn't technically test out as diabetic, though, which is scary because that means that non-diabetics with insulin resistance can also present ideal conditions for candida growth.

One more thing to get checked out if anyone out there is having recurring candida issues or stubborn candida issues. Since I've been on Metformin, the candida seems more under control too.

Take care and hope you're all on the mend!
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  #84   ^
Old Tue, Oct-11-11, 09:32
gweny70's Avatar
gweny70 gweny70 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,319
 
Plan: Figuring it out
Stats: 366/282.2/166 Female 5'6"
BF:YEP/YEP/YEP
Progress: 42%
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