hi all. I've been battling with candida for 10 years. It was only diagnosed as candida 2 years ago. Since then I've been on two programs to try and eliminate it. An extremely strict diet which was supplemented with herbal remedies galore and included fruit for breakfast every morning. This had very little effect and in fact I had unbelievable pains from all the fruit I was eating.
I changed doctors and have been on and off with caprystatin and diet. This initially worked well, but soon had little effect and I've been going on and off my diet for a while which I know is not that great.
I've been reading all about the SF722 pill, and would be interested in anyones opinion. To be honest I feel like I'll never beat this buggery problem. I ended up in hospital two days ago after fainting from the pain in a mall, the doctor diagnosed me with a urinary tract infection, gave me a series of antibiotics to take (wonderful!!) and said he'd book me for some scans. They just don't bloody take you seriously.
Sorry to dump this all out on my first message, but you can probably tell I'm at my wits end. I'd appreciate any DEFINITE success stories from anyone and also comments on the SF722, do you think its worth going down this track?
Row

What are your symptoms? Candida can also persist because of anything else that upsets your GI tract. I think mine came from un-diagnosed Celiac and now that I have removed all gluten from my diet (even the gluten from possible cross-contamination) and am eating low carb, all the yeast symptoms have gone away.

If you have lots of GI upset you could ask your doctor for a blood test for celiac disease as a first pass to see if you have it. A random screen of people in one study showed that as many as 1 in 250 people have celiac or some form of gluten sensitivity and that most went undiagnosed for years or were misdiagnosed for IBS or other GI problems.

thanks for your comments. Before I was told I had candida overgrowth I had been diagnosed with IBS and food allergies. Some of the main symptoms are extreme constipation, gas, pain, bloating, extreme feeling of lethargy, inability to concentrate, heaviness, I've had these problems in varying degrees since my late teens.

I always thought that food was the biggest problem, my diet is not particularly great I eat a lot of carbs and am a complete sugaraholic. I've tried heaps of diets but often I have such bad cravings for starchy foods that I can't keep them up for long, also I have real problems losing weight. What would work for the normal person (2 months of strict diet) would hardly make a dent with me, although generally I feel healthier when I'm eating properly.

Obviously I need to do a bit more reading around the subject, I've never heard of this infection you mentioned. I see a homeopath every couple of months, and when I first went on the caprystatin I was heaps worse than I am now and alot of my food allergies disappeared, however It's just not working very well for the candida problem.

what is your history with this illness?

You can be tested for celiac disease initially by a blood test for gluten antibodies. Basically people with this illness respond to gluten as if it were an invading pathogen and the immune system attacks it. That immune attack makes you feel sort of sick because it cause inflamation. What is worse is that the immune system gets confused and starts to attack your small intestine. This causes atrophy of the cells that absorb food nutrients so a lot of what you eat is malabsorb and ends up in your colon for the yeast to feast on. Some people get diarrhea, some get constipation, some lose a lot of weight but that usually only happens in severe cases. Most people spend several years or more being told they have IBS or some other hard to diagnose/hard to question bowel upset. The malabsorbtion causes general illness because you aren't getting all the nutrients you need for health. You crave food because you aren't getting the food your body needs where it needs to go. Mineral absorprtion is also messed up so some people (especially older women) get osteoporosis. Skin isn't as nice as it could be and wound healing can be slow.

If any of this sounds like you find a doctor who will give you a celiac panel blood test
antigliaden IgG & IgA (gliaden is the specific protein in wheat that causes the problem)
antitransglutaminase IgA (one of the self proteins that the immune system attacks)
total IgA (people with celiacs are sometimes low on total IgA antibodies and so show a false negative on the IgA tests)

Those are the minimum blood tests. If any come back positive you could have celiacs. A biopsy of the small intestines can be done to check for damage (a scope goes in through your mouth under light sedation). If you do have celiacs than the only treatment is to eliminated ALL gluten (found in wheat, rye, barley and oats) and never eat any amount of it again. This can be challenging but the diet has saved many lives.

If your doctor says you can't have it because it is a rare childhood illness he's/she's wrong. A study has shown that in random testing 1 in 250 people have celiacs disease and many are undiagnosed. Do some websearching. There is a lot of info on the subject and if it sounds like it might explain how you are feeling then see a doctor that can at least order the blood tests.

I would not advise going gluten free without testing (you have to be eating gluten for the tests or they will show up negative) because the diet takes a fair amount of effort and committment. Gluten can be found in many many products including many of the low carb products. Cross contamination is an issue too. It is better to know ahead of time whether the effort is worth it.

Promenea is right about everything. Here is a support site for Celiac's (I'm GF myself too). Celiac.com Once you have the test, if that's your problem there is a great list of food to avoid. I personally won't eat anything with any kind of additive, preservitive or coloring, because most times you can't find out what it's made from. I couldn't believe the things grains are used in. Good luck on your journey!!

Liz

M1, there is a good support forum with great food lists (people call and check on stuff and contribute info to the lists) and a recipe section. Not many low carbers but a few and we've discussed that on the forum. If you don't know about it you might be interested.
http://forums.delphiforums.com/celiac/start

I'll check it out. The Celiac.com has a fairly active forum too. Lots of info. Haven't really looked much for LC since I found this. As soon as I figured out that was my problem I just quit eatting it all. That's the only thing that can be done anyway so I figured why not? It's not good for you anyway. Now I'm just trying to get all my nutritional needs firgured out.

Thanks again. Liz

One of the tips that stunned me was that you have to get rid of all your pre-celiac non-stick cookware and wooden spoons and anything porous in which you've cooked gluten containing food. Apparently it keeps coming out and glutenizing you.

That wasn't a problem for me. I only use non stick sautee pans and they get changed out every 6 months because I cook a lot and wear them out. All my other cookware is stainless steel and my utensils are plastic because wood molds too fast and dries out in the dishwasher. If I can't throw it in the DW I don't want it!!!

Liz

Rowena, I have never tried the SF722, so I have no idea. I am currently taking Candistroy, and Olive Leaf extract, and Yeast Cleanse (contains Caprylic acid). I revolve all of these, you don't want to take the same anti-fungal for two long, the yeast will become immune. I also take a probiotic.

I have been reading about a product called Candex, and am considering trying it.

Rowena, I can't stress enough how important the diet is. You have to eliminate sugar. Not for a few days, FOREVER! Try Stevia, a natural sweetener. Also, take L-glutamine, an amino acid for the sugar cravings, also the L-glut will heal your gut.

You are probably having trouble eliminating the yeast because you are not following the diet. And your antifungal might not be strong enough. I had a hard time giving up sugar, too, but it can be done. Just remind yourself that it is not YOU who wants the sugar, it is the YEAST!!! Don't feed them, and they will go away!!
Giving up wheat is a great idea too.

-Denise

Thanks guys for all the great advice. Yes, I do have huge problems stopping the sugar and the starchy foods, particularly bread and potatos. I find when I go on the very strict diets I get even more pain in my gut and the only thing that relieves it often is the solid starchy foods, the cravings can get really bad, I need to keep remembering that's the yeast yelling out for its food.

I guess that's the symptom I need to really focus on the most as I give in to it a lot, mainly because I don't feel I'm improving much.

I think you're right about my anti-fungal not being strong enough, I'm taking 2 Caprystatin and 2 Nutri-calm (basically B vitamins). I've just started the Primadophilus today. So as of tomorrow will up my Caprystatin to 3 in the morning and 2 at night, also cut the junk food right out. Will see how things go and perhaps try the Twin Labs Yeast Busters next if no improvement. I'm gonna beat these little Buggers!!

Thanks for the info on the Celiac, will definitely look into this, as it sounds possible for my symptoms also.

Row

Row, It might help too if you take your antifungals at night before bed and your probiotics & L-Glutamine in the morning on an empty stomach. L-glut is an ammino acid that heals the linning of your gut. It also crubs sugar cravings!! I take 2 500mg caps 1/2 hour before each meal. You can order them at iherb.com or a good health food store. They're great!! Keep up the good work!!

Try not to eat too much fat if you're not used to it, ease into it. That can up set your stomach. I ate too much at first and my gall bladder threw a fit!! And go easy on the raw veggies. Steam them. That might help too. Hang in there!!

Liz

heh Liz, thanks for your comments. I was a bit confused by the no fat thing though, I thought it was really important with candida not to eat any saturated fats, only the good ones like olive oil, fish oil, etc.. can you clarify which fats you mean.

I took my first hit of Yeast Fighters (Twin Labs) this afternoon and OH MY GOD, the Caprystatin definitely wasn't working for me becuase I have the most intense die off reaction now, I thought I was feeling like shit before. The comment about feeling like your drunk is pretty accurate, all the aching and heaviness gets 100 times worse. It's confirmed everything for me and I'm not gonna do any more slacking around with this problem.

You mentioned taking my anti-fungals at night, does it make any difference to the amount of yeast that dies off? with certain things I've read in the past it can be an issue because your body has slowed right down, do you think this would apply to the anti-fungals, the directions are just to take 5 per day, not when but would be interested in comments.

Was wondering if anyone had problems with aching legs and hips , this can get soooo uncomfortable some times. I haven't had any outward signs of skin fungal infections though, only the intense itching and crawling skin, so I'm wondering how bad my candida is. Have been reading back through some of the threads and makes me think it's probably a mild to average case. Would be interested in any comments.

see ya
Row

I was eating mostly "good" oils, but I upped my intake more than I thought when I changed the way I ate. My gall bladder didn't like that, so I had to back off. Fat on meat is OK if you watch how much you eat. Beef is acidifying and you want and more alkaline environment to kill the yeast. I've seen some anti-candida diets say only fish and poultry, some say all meats, some say no pork or eggs... So I just get the good cuts of what I want and organic whenever I can. Going organic if you can is important. There are antibiotics in "traditionally" raised meat products and that can prepetuate the candida problem. As for your stomach ache...fat of any kind is acidifying and a little harder to digest if your digestion is sensitive. So it can upset your stomach. Try to eat it as part of a balanced meal and not by itself. See if that helps.

I was taking the anti fungals morning and night and someone here said to take them only at night, that way you sleep through the die off. I take them before bed on an empty a stomach as possible. That way they're running through me by themselves so to speak. Not to be gross but I'm a "regular" gal and within 1 hour of being up in the morning I have my "constitutional" (I always thought that was a weird thing to call it!) and since I last ate some 10-12 hours before, things must be running while we sleep!!

Make sure you're getting enough calcium. I was having leg pain and that's what it was. I'm late!!! gotta run!!

Liz

thanks Liz, I'll start taking them before I go to bed, hopefully it won't be too hard getting up in the morning.

At the moment the effects are pretty debilitating, when I took them yesterday afternoon I was feeling pretty shitty and still quite hard to get up this morning, so something is definitely going on. I guess it's just a matter of balance because taking them during the day pretty much rights you off, and its hard to function normally, work, etc..

I tend not to eat much meat anyhu as my stomach is pretty sensitive, just stick to chicken and fish. It's confusing because so many people say different things about what you can and can't eat with Candida.

Would be interested in any good recipe websites if anyone knows of any. Everyone seems pretty impressed with the Atkins diet here, I'd never heard of it so will look into that further.

I found Karen Tripp's website quite inspirational if anyone's interested, http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/4966/
lots of good tips and recipes she worked with while suffering with candida, she's now fully recovered.

cheers,
Row