self diagnosed Candida "sufferer"....I've been on Threelac since the beginning of February...on my third bottle...taking 3-6 packs a day.....nothin'....do NOT waste your money. In fact Threelac contains YEAST for crying out loud. Yeast isn't good for candida in any form.

But i digress...just got back from my family doctor and i had a long interesting talk with him about the candida syndrome.

I don't want to discourage anyone on here who has convinced themselves they have Candida based on a simple spit test or even on the advice of a naturopath, but unless you get an allopathic doctor to diagnose a candida problem, don't auto-assume you have a candida issue. the spit test really means nothing. thick mucous-y spit is caused by all sorts of things, the *least* of which is systemic candidiasis. in fact, my doctor said that candida is a problem suffered predominantly by HIV + patients or possibly terminal cancer patients, but rarely by individuals of average health.

the word on the street is that it's MUCH more likely that a food allergy, thyroid issue or adrenal fatigue are causing your problems than a candida overgrowth.

I would strongly suggest you have an MD run thorough tests for EVERYTHING else FIRST before subjecting yourself to the hell that is trying to rid yourself of a yeast infection you more than likely do not have.

just some thots to (easily) digest.

I saw my doctor for regular check up. When I showed him my tongue, he prescribed diflucan (it did nothing). A friend of mine is a pharmacist and he said my tongue looks like a chemo patien's tongue. I have not had chemo. And I have not lost a pound on low carb since Feb 22 (except six pounds of water which now comes and goes). What are you going to do now?

All I know is after I did a strict anti-candida program, and then after stayed LC, many of my auto immune problems AND my allergies went away.

Kitty, it sounds like thrush. My son got it after being on a strong antibiotic after oral surgery. Nystatin cleared his up. There are cheeper programs than threelac. Candistroy worked GREAT!! And many people I know have used it with good success. It's not expensive either.

I had a thyroid test (a complete blood work-up, in fact, in November)which came back normal but i went back to my doctor today and laid it on the line that my symptoms were not clearing up and that i had an appointment to go see a naturopath. He said there are better things to waste money on.

So bottom line is, i'm having my thyroid/adrenals tested for hypo and hyper thyroidism and adrenal fatigue. This is quite a feat to have gotten my doctor to order specific tests for these considering my initial test results were negative on everything. As well he ordered a stool sample (which i submitted....yech...) and i will wait for the results of these.

If parasites, thyroid or adrenals aren't the issue, i am going to pursue food allergies, as this is more than likely the cause of my symptoms than candida.

also, a healthy case of anxiety/stress will trigger all the symptoms i am suffering from and more than likely what most people are experiencing along with any number of other things, rather than candida. this is all straight from a doctor who has been my doctor for 6 years and a practicing doctor for 20 years. he knows what candida is and he gave me his advice. i'm going with it.

as i said i am not trying to discourage anyone from any course of treatment they find works for them. i'm just saying there are a myriad of reasons for "candida" symptoms to appear, none of which have anything to do with candida. have yourself checked out thoroughly by an MD. if you really believe you have candida, make them test for it. there are tests (none of which are conclusive of course) that an MD can have done if they are asked.

just be sure that candida is what you have before you try and treat yourself for it.

Thanks Sik and M! for sharing. I might try Nystatin next....Frustrating!! :-P

Dear sikofitall,
Sorry to hear of your bad experience with Threelac. I also hate to waste money on things that don't work. Like the GI specialist who did a complete IBS workup and found nothing. Like the emergency visit, abd CT scan, blood work that found nothing when I was in severe pain after eating beef. Like the Board-Certified Johns Hopkins allergist who tested me for 50 allergens and found nothing that was causing my chronic urticaria (he prescribed prednisone/vistaril/zantac). Well, garlic and acidophilus got me off the prednisone and vistaril. And, after educating my primary care physician about Dr. Crook and Dr. Teitelbaum's CFIDS treatments, I convinced him to give me Nystatin and Diflucan. My IBS disappeared immediately! (Now, the problem is keeping it away permanently). Your problem may not be yeast. You don't mention what caused your problem, and I hope your doctor found it. My experience with allopathic medicine (and I am an RN) is that it is big business driven by the pharma companies, and many people here (including myself) have good reason to look for alternative answers. Antibiotics have the potential to really screw up your intestinal flora (which is how I believe my IBS started - yeast overgrowth and hives after clindamycin), and allopathic medicine's solution was to mask the symptoms with prednisone and antihistamines, actually causing the problem to get worse. Thank goodness for forums like this. I was very close to going on disability.

I find that most of what physician's do these days is pharmaceutical industry driven. When you are tested for something and it ends up "negative" then you are treated like the symptons are not real. When they really are. The "box" is created by the pharmaceutical industry. And, it is hard to find a Doc who can think outside the "box".

Sikofitall:
Don't be daunted by an allopathic doc saying that - most of them don't believe you can have a candida infection unless you have Aids, cancer or going through chemo. A GOOD allopathic doc will recognize that you have a problem and will stop throwing out empty "NoYouAin'tGotIt'Cause."

I've been taking Diflucan for years and it would keep my head above water but I would never fully recover. My new doc that I acquired since moving to this town (allopathic doctor) realized I too had the white coated tongue from hell (and 300 other symptoms for the last 7 years) that I had candida and checked my thyroid.

The thinking by doctors needs to change. I agree that it is HIGHLY unlikely that the candida just overgrew on its own. There is likely a cause for it (all kinds of problems in your body that are causing a depressed immune system by disease or by circumstance as in the case of the thyroid not functioning at full speed).

On Threelac, I've heard it is cow fodder as well and I also heard some years ago that it had yeast in it.

I hope you find some relief soon as I know what it is like to only feel half human for a lack of energy and all the hurts and discomforts that come with it.

I have low thyroid function and take synthroid. It took about 3 months for my candida to really kick the ol' bucket so stick with your medication if you are diagnosed for thyroid malfunction.

Best of luck to you.

Jeannie

I agree, you can't take the advice of an allopathic doctor... I say that even though I'm married to one. They're a whole different breed who treat disease, not prevention. Basically, they deal with one end of the bell curve. Don't trust allopathic doctors to know ANYTHING about nutrition, and candida is a problem I consider to be nutrition-related.

Having said that, I was diagnosed by an allopathic doctor turned complementary doctor. I was very fortunate.

I never found great results with Threelac.

Wanda

What kind of allopathic doctor would I see to find out if I have candida? I'm on disability so I can't afford to see anybody that my insurance won't pay for, which means only "traditional" medicine. But I have had nearly every symptom on the candida list for many years. I was diagnosed 14 years ago with CFIDS after exhaustive testing to eliminate all other possibilities. I've only recently begun to suspect that my problems might be due to a system-wide candida problem, even though I've had countless vaginal yeast infections over the years. The most recent one which I've had continuously for many months has now become completely treatment-resistant Until a few months ago Diflucan worked for me, but I took the doses last week and still have it. What kind of specialist should I see? I suspect that my gynecologist is too "mainstream" to believe I could have system-wide candida, since I don't have AIDS or HIV or cancer. Thanks for any help you can give me!

I belong to a candida support group on Yahoo and frankly one of the first things that they say is that the overall concensus is that prescription preparations aren't as good as herbal preparations for killing systemic yeast.

The biggest thing is the diet, you just can't feed the stuff. But eventually you want to bump up the force. I went with the RenewLife products, first tried ParaGone, that helped, some, but something in it was a little harsh for me, so I only went through one two week cycle with that.

Then I realized the same company makes a straightforward candida preparation, and I'm currently taking that (called CandidaGone). By golly the stuff works!

Even better, it's a two part formulation (pills and a liquid), I have an itchy patch on my arm that I've had since July (first I thought it poison ivy, then I thought it was ringworm, I've decided it's yeast related), I've been applying the liquid directly to that itchy patch and it looks like its clearing up! And I had tried several OTC antifungals on this, including Lamisil, without success.

IMHO, regarding getting a M.D. doctor to help you ... frankly I gave up on Western medicine several years ago. Frankly, I'm not exaggerating when I say I've dodged one too many bullets from M.D.'s and I'm not putting myself in the line of fire ever again. I'm the only person I know whose almost been killed by the treatment for a UTI, but there you have it, I am and that was the final straw that put me off M.D.s permanently. I'll go to one if I need a wound stitched or a bone set, but otherwise, they can go pound sand.

Yeast can mutate when your immune system becomes suppressed, and severe stress can suppress your immune system. In my case, I was in a very bad marriage and wanted out and after more than a year of that stress my health went haywire. From what I figure (guess, extrapolate) the yeast morphed and grew roots, this created leaky gut syndrome, I developed several food sensitivities/allergies (including, and most life changing, to gluten), I also got quite severe chemical sensitivity, and then I REALLY started getting sick ...

I've been sick and miserable for over six years, and THIS TIME I think I got a handle on IT! If that means I have to eat broccoli and turkey and chug CandidaGone indefinitely, then that's what I'm gonna do! I sleep more soundly, my skin is clearing up, I'm losing weight and I have emotions again, Whoopee!

To all, you have to find a doctor who does the candida antibody titer test. To Cameokid...did your hives go away? I have systemic cold urticaria (hives) after taking Biaxin. Nightmare central!

Just wanted to respond with my story.

I have gluten intolerance (that is self diagnosed, the blood work came back negative, but there are a lot of false negatives in the world of gluten intolerance). I believe that has lead to leaky gut. The leaky gut caused malabsorption of a lot of vitamins leading me to be chronically anemic and low on vitamin D (living in northern new york didnt help!). Then I think I couldn't absorb iodine effectively and I got hypothyroidism. Then the candida. That one was diagnosed via an antibody test. Oh, and fibromyalgia and adrenal fatigue. such a pain.

The word isn't in yet on 'systemic' candida. some people believe in it, some dont. me, i dont know yet. i think all my problems go back to gluten intolerance. i think a lot of people who have problems losing weight and so forth need to cut out gluten and see if that helps. then, if it doesnt, go on the candida diet. its really strict, but im finally able to see some movement in the scale. im also taking garlic, probiotics, coconut oil, oil of oregano, etc. all things my homeopathic doctor prescribed.

its a long road to get better, but as long as you are on it, its half the battle.

All your symptoms can be caused by vitamin D deficiency.

Zuleikaa, you bet me to it.

I was going to suggest Aetheana read your Vitamin D Information post.

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=281586

I bet she can benefit greatlly from it.