Hi Tom,
Well, the simple answer is, "yes, you could still have it". It sort of depends partly on what levels your gastro calls "normal" and whether it has spread to other body tissues (e.g. skin) which he may not be able to determine from gastro tests alone.
From what I have read and been given to understand, it works something like this.
First, something in your gut causes an imbalance between the "good" bacteria which should be there and the yeast/fungi which they are helping to keep in check. This could be anything. Stress, bad diet (= "junk food, alcohol, caffeine), good diet but wrong foods (= lots of starch and hidden/added sugars) pregnancy (ok, not in your case but in a lot of women's cases), antibiotics etc.
Once this imbalance occurs, the yeast get out of control and go from their usual form into a sort of form which takes root in your intestinal mucosal wall and starts to grow strongly and firmly into the wall. At that point, these "rooted" forms can do damage to the wall (picture ivy and a brick wall . . . ivy has real suckers and can damage the morter etc). At that point, the yeast may mix with your blood stream if there are little "cracks" in your intestinal wall. It can then travel throughout your body and start to grow in other places (organs, skin, etc).
Now, gastros may say (quite correctly) that yeast is a normal part of the flora and fauna of the gut, and that a certain amount is expected, and everyone has it anyway, so big deal. Even if they find it in your colon, they may say "Well, looks fine to us". They also may not say that. They may say "Wow . . . look at THAT!" at which point they'll put you on heavy antifungals and monitor its disappearance.
The reason for the low libido and prostatitis symptoms may be completely unrelated to a yeast problem. In other words, depending on what ELSE is going on in your body, there are other reasons for this type of thing (I am not sure of your age, smoking habits, overall health, vitamin and mineral status, electrolytes, blood ph balance etc).
Those problems also COULD all be related to a yeast problem insofar as yeast can live in organs in your reproductive system and cause problems directly there, or else also indirectly through your lack of ability to absorb enough zinc, iron, copper, selenium etc and other minerals needed to keep your immune and reproductive systems healthy.
So, really, you are beginning a process of trying to find out what EXACTLY is causing what. Yeast may be a good place to start though.
Prostatitis can also be helped through the use of an herb called "saw palmetto" which you can buy at a health food shop. This has been shown in studies (google "saw palmetto" and "prostatitis" together to see the studies) to reduce benign prostatitis in men.
Even if that works, though, the idea is to get the UNDERLYING CAUSE treated. Your body wouldn't get prostatitis for no reason, so you have to find what went wrong and remedy it. Saw Palmetto can help with the symptoms and maybe a few of the imbalances in the prostate, but it won't cure yeast or other problems.
Anyway, good luck with the gastro! Let us know how it goes!
|