My Candida Journey

Pain

2008-10-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

I'm in pain. All the time. I was tempted to chock it up to weight gain, but the reality is that while I haven't exactly been eating healthy, I haven't actually gained any weight in the last few months either. So why the sudden onset of pain, spreading from knees, to ankles and knees, to ankles and knees to wrists, then to the forearm, back, hips, neck, oh yeah, the neck pain. It's been so long, it's back again, huh?

Oi.

So if it's not weight gain, what is it? I read somewhere awhile back that candida can settle into the joints and that's where I seem to be in pain...that and my forearms. Which is weird, but I chock that up to carpal tunnel. Except for the first time in ten plus years, I'm not working at a computer for 8 hours a day. Hmmm.

On the infamous pain scale from one to ten, I'd say it goes from a 4 to a 7 depending on the day, the time of day, level of activity, etc. I'm not one to take pain meds like advil, etc. unless it's a headache. Which has also been happening again lately. {sigh}

So I haven't been medicating with advil. I have enough stomache problems, I don't need to load up on mega doses of advil every day. But tonight the pain is worse than normal. Usually I wake up stiff and creaky. Tonight I feel that way already. I don't usually feel pain just lying in bed at night.

Oh, the analysis I could do on this! How did it happen, what to do about it, what could it be? I've looked at a few different "diagnoses" but I really think it's just the candida. Which results in thinking I should do "the diet," but that seems like a life sentence. Seriously.

But it's that or pain. Which looks like a life sentence as well.

Choices.

Another symptom

2008-09-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

I'm puzzled about something. I'm inclined to think it's candida related, but I don't want to just jump to that conclusion with everything.

A few years ago I noticed that when I drank wine, my toes would swell. Weird, but true. Then one time it happened when I was eating "healthy" chips. Then it started happening seemingly randomly.

I also had a food allergy test done which cleared up a lot of the confusion over the "randomness" of it all. At that point I pretty much figured out it was happening whenever I had something with sesame oil or blueberries or something else I happen to be allergic to.

Now here's the really frustrating part.

Now EVERY Single night, my toes swell and get really really hot. Every night.

Now, candida can be a painful, irritating, frustrating, longterm, annoying and imposible thing to fight and live with. But this is just ridiculous!

Realize, I hate the heat. I can't stand humidity. I live in New England and wish I lived even farther north. I don't handle heat well. And every single night my feet heat up and swell.

Oh. I don't do swelling real well either.

Stevia

2008-09-05T12:43:00.000-07:00

So what's the deal with Stevia?

My understanding is that stevia is a natural sweetner, just like sugar is a natural sweetener. The differences, (and I only have noticed two so far,) are that Stevia and Sugar come from different plants and Stevia is much more potent. Therefore, you can only use a fraction of stevia for the same amount of sweetness you'd get from sugar.

The Big Deal with stevia is that it cannot be sold in the US unless it is marked "dietary supplement." My take on it is that big business (the huge American mega industry of sugar and sugar substitutes) is afraid of little old stevia because it's better for you (doesn't show up on glycemic index and doesn't show any negative side effects even in Japan where they have been using it extensively for years) so if stevia starts to be promoted as a sweetner instead of a dietary supplement, sugar and sugar substitutes will bomb. But that's just my opinion.

Here's some more information you may want to check out to make up your own mind:

~Stevia.net

It all started when...

2008-09-05T03:39:00.000-07:00

I was born with a congenital illness called Hirschsprung's disease. Very simplified, it causes a portion of your intestines to be paralyzed. Therefore peristalsis stops and waste gets backed up in your intestine. It's a very painful condition with a host of consequences.

Infant/Childhood
When I was eight months old, a friend of my mother's prayed for me and I was healed. A lot of people will scoff at that, but my medical records prove it. In 1976 there was no other treatment for Hirshsprung's besides surgery. I still have yet to have surgery on any part of my body 31 years later! (Besides getting my wisdom teeth taken out.)

One side effect of Hirschsprung's that I did suffer, however, was yeast infections. My mom recently confided that I'd had multiple yeast infections as an infant. I'd also been slightly anemic from the day I was born. In fact, all my life, whenever I've been tested for anemia, I am never very far from "borderline anemic,"(in either direction) no matter the treatment.

I read somewhere recently, I think it was Dr. Crook's Yeast Connection, but I may be wrong...that whenever there is a yeast infection in the reproductive system, there is a corresponding infection in the intestinal track. And that when there is an inbalance in the intestinal track, there is a very high chance of a yeast infection in the reproductive system.

While I am incredibly grateful that I was healed of Hirschsprung's disease, I believe the origin of my problems with candida can be traced back to my infancy and those eight months battling the disease. I was constantly constipated and/or impacted. I cried constantly, I hardly slept.

Even as a toddler, my mom recalls that I rarely slept. She would put me down for a nap whether I slept or not, just because she needed a break!

I developed allergies very young. When I was seven years old, I got my ears pierced and we discovered that I was highly allergic to any metal but gold. I was allergic to most animals, dust, mold, mildew. I would toss and turn in bed for an hour or two before falling asleep. I resorted to making up stories in my mind in order to entertain myself!

When I was nine years old, I began having such hard stools, I would bleed. They put me on stool softeners which had some, but little effect. I still did not sleep easily. At that time, my bed was right next to a window with a streetlight outside it. I'd prop a book so that the light shone on in and would read long into the night.

Yes, I think all of this and more can be traced back to infection due to complications of Hirschsprung's Disease and the resulting yeast infections.

And so it begins.

"Sure Cure"

2008-09-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

From colon cleanses to oil of this and tea of that to eating raw garlic, there's a lot out there that claims to have some effect on candida. It could be a full time job just figuring this out and then implementing the plan! (I mean, RAW GARLIC! Have you ever tried it? It burns!!)

Which is why so many of us latch on to the first site that promises fast, pain-free results! We go through the regimen, no matter how expensive and depriving, and we wear ourselves out trying to make sure we take these three pills 20 minutes before eating and those two pills during our meals and don't forget the tea!

{panting}

Not to mention meal prep. You wouldn't even dream of making anyone else eat it, so you make two meals (something I've sworn not to do!) and somehow eat half of your own meal because quite frankly, it's horrible.

But the more I research and hear from real people, what worked for them and what didn't, I'm getting back to reality.

The point I'm taking from a lot of what I read and hear is that all of our bodies are different. It's something I've been saying for years. Candida charts a different course in every body. Some are similar, some completely different, and some of us have a lot of overlap in it's effect on us.

In the same way, treatment is going to be different as well. Maybe raw garlic doesn't burn for someone else. Maybe I'm the only freak of nature that can't stand the taste of soy. Maybe you LIKE the restrictions of the candida diet. Maybe you can use threelac and no diet restrictions and it works like a charm and for me it won't because I've been battling it, unbeknownst to me, since the day I was born. (More on that in a later post.)

But I digress...we're all different and different treatments will work for different people. Sites and companies that spout their "this will work for you" marketing scheme really don't get it. But then again, they're the sales people, we're the ones suffering from the actual problem.

Threelac

2008-09-03T07:08:00.000-07:00

I've done a bit of research over the last couple of days and have found this new treatment for systemic candidiasis which couples Threelac and Oxygen Elements Max for eradicating the fungal overgrowth of candida. I have to say, I'm hesitantly optimistic about the stories I've heard, BUT ...

Before I went out and bought this miracle cure, I wanted to look for bad press, play devil's advocate, so to speak. There were, of course, a few forums which challenged threelac's efficacy, then I came across this site (sales site) which directly addresses some of threelac's bad press.

I appreciated their cautionary tone, even though they are selling the product, they are very grounded, recognizing that a small percentage of people have almost immediate results while the majority of others have slower improvement. They actually recognize that a very small percentage don't have any success with the product at all!

Mostly, I was concerned with claims that Threelac contained yeast. This was their response:

"First of all not all yeasts inflame candida, some yeasts are living and some such as brewers yeast cannot referment after they have been used in fermentation. There is a small amount of yeast, a nutritional yeast, in the Threelac and it's job is act as a food source for the Threelac lactobacilli until they can get through the stomach acids and do their job. This amount of yeast won't enflame the candida simply because the numbers of Threelac organisms that survive the stomach acids are very high. So it won't inflame Candida but be careful if you have an allergy. Some people do have sensitivities to this yeast, or to the lemon flavored powder, and may not be able to take Threelac."

All good information, and sets my mind at ease. I believe I'll look be purchasing some of this in the near future, but I still want to read that e-book I got yesterday.

But 85 pages. Oi.

Some Symptoms

2008-09-02T10:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a helpful and pretty complete list which I found on Candida Free:

"Symptoms vary from person to person and fluctuate in severity, or may come and go. Most symptoms are invisible, which makes it difficult for others to understand the vast array of debilitating symptoms with which we contend.

The most common are:
an incapacitating fatigue
problems with concentration and short-term memory
flu-like symptoms such as pain in the joints and muscle
extreme tightness in the shoulders and neck
hyper-acidity/acid reflux
brown colored mucus in the back of the throat
blisters in the mouth/tongue/throat
either white or "blood blisters"
un-refreshing sleep
sore throat
white coated tongue
dark circles under the eyes
an aversion to being touched or jumping "crawling" skin
chronic sinus problems and headaches including migraines
chronic dental problems
Visual disturbances may include blurring, sensitivity to light and eye pain.

Psychological problems may include:
depression
irritability
anxiety
panic attacks
recurring obsessive thoughts
personality changes and mood swings (irrational rage or crying for no reason - fear of talking to people, any kind of confrontation, isolation)
paranoia

More of the physical symptoms may include:
chills and night sweats
shortness of breath
dizziness and balance problems
sensitivity to heat and/or cold
alcohol intolerance
gluten and/or casein intolerance
irregular heartbeat
irritable bowel constipation and/or diarrhea
painful gas and abdominal bloating
low-grade fever or low body temperature
numbness, tingling and/or burning sensations in the face or extremities
dryness of the mouth and eyes
difficulty swallowing
projectile vomiting

Also:
menstrual problems including PMS and endometriosis
recurrent yeast infections
recurrent ear infections
rashes and dry, flaking skin
eczema
dermatitis
acne
skin discoloration and/or blotchiness
dandruff
jock and rectal itching
chronic athlete's foot
chronic toenail and fingernail fungus
ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
allergies and sensitivities to noise/sound, foods, odors, chemicals
anemia
weight changes without changes in diet
light-headedness
feeling in a fog
fainting
muscle twitching and muscle weakness
restless leg syndrome
low sex drive and/or numbness in the genital area"

Out of the 61 symptoms listed, I currently have 45.
(listed below for my benefit so that I can look back and remember what I "used to have" when I no longer have it!!)

The most common are:
an incapacitating fatigue
problems with concentration and short-term memory
flu-like symptoms such as pain in the joints and muscle
extreme tightness in the shoulders and neck
hyper-acidity/acid reflux
blisters in the mouth/tongue/throat
un-refreshing sleep
an aversion to being touched or jumping
"crawling" skin
chronic sinus problems and headaches including migraines
chronic dental problems
Visual disturbances may include blurring, sensitivity to light and eye pain.

Psychological problems may include:
depression
irritability
anxiety
recurring obsessive thoughts
personality changes and mood swings (irrational rage or crying for no reason - fear of talking to people, any kind of confrontation, isolation)

More of the physical symptoms may include:
chills and night sweats
shortness of breath
dizziness and balance problems
sensitivity to heat and/or cold
gluten and/or casein intolerance
irregular heartbeat
constipation and/or diarrhea
painful gas and abdominal bloating
low-grade fever or low body temperature
numbness, tingling and/or burning sensations in the face or extremities
dryness of the mouth and eyes
difficulty swallowing

Also:
menstrual problems including PMS and endometriosis
recurrent yeast infections
rashes and dry, flaking skin
acne
skin discoloration and/or blotchiness
dandruff
jock and rectal itching
ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
allergies and sensitivities to noise/sound, foods, odors, chemicals
anemia
light-headedness
feeling in a fog
muscle twitching and muscle weakness
restless leg syndrome
low sex drive and/or numbness in the genital area

As well as other symptoms I've been told can be linked to candidiasis:
extreme body odor
extreme foot odor
infertility
itching deep in the ears
snoring
grinding teeth at night
dull hair, falling out by the handfuls
brittle and ridged fingernails
symptoms of Hypoglycemia
stuttering and stammering for words
permanent "goosebumps"
pale, "ghostly" complexion
light headedness
respiratory infections
sinus infections
cravings for bread, sugar, alcoholic beverages
insomnia
joint pain
tendonitis

Helpfull Candida-related sites

2008-09-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

~Global Health Trax, original supplier of Threelac.

~Basic information at About.com

~A holistic approach at Holistic Health Solutions.

~A free ebook on an easy home test (spit into a glass of water...way cheap!) and suggestions on treatment at SubtleNRG.com or go directly to the report at The Candida Fix. It will ask you for referrals, but they are not necessary for getting the free report. It will be e-mailed to you whether you provide referrals or not! The spit test is described in the report.

~The spit test is on just about 90% of all candida sites in the net! I may even post it on my sidebar...

~A blog devoted to all things candida related! Amazing amount of information here!

~A long list of what you can and cannot eat. Oi.

~Another interesting link, Candida Free. I've only skimmed it so far, but proves to be chock full of info. It does recommend product sales, but you don't have to buy a book!

~Interesting link...it's an e-book for sale. The "hook" follows:"Please don't waste money on supplements that do nothing but chase symptoms - I have been there so you don't need to.What You Need To Understand Is How To:Identify And Eliminate The Root Causes That Create The Perfect Breeding Ground For Candida Yeast.If you want a solution that is Effective, And One That Gets Fast Results -- Then Click Here To READ MY STORY" My normal policy is not to post/ advocate/ recommend sites that are strictly sales sites, but I've purchased the book & haven't had time to read it yet. I'll update here with my impressions so if you wish, wait for my report back by the end of the week (9/6/08) before you shell out $24 & change for it...

starting today...

2008-09-02T10:13:00.001-07:00

Eventually, I'll try to document the background to how I got to this point, but this blog is dedicated to documenting my journey of battling candida going forward.

One of the many side effects of systemic candidiasis is foggy brain, inability to focus, etc...so you can understand how I'm not so eager to just jump in and think back to how this started, but...

I'm looking forward to sharing my sucess story one day and that will include the whole dark story!