It’s More than Candida

Q. Cynthia, I have been gluten free for over a year and I also came off dairy, coffee, alcohol, sugars, yeast, wheat and fruits without ridding myself of a slight feeling of a urinary infection most of the time. My Naturopath placed me on quite a regime with supplements, antifungals, Colloidal Silver at times, and this regime changed my numbers from very high lab results to almost perfect across the board. HOWEVER, I still have horrible symptoms of candida and almost a constant feeling of a urinary infection.

I just had a set back last weekend with fatigue, depression, brain fog, burning eyes and of course urinary issues. I have done antifungals, candida cleanses, liver/gallbladder cleanse, drink a lot of water and just haven’t broken the code yet. I read where Pantothenic Acid can help rid my system of toxic by products called Acetaldehyde. This is to counteract brain fog and allergic sensitivities and candida. I’m up for information on this protocol and which lab tests do I need to take to see what kind of yeast I have in my system? I saw the yeast on a slide one day, but I have been told that finding out which yeast would be helpful. Diflucan is a temporary relief, Nystatin is also. But After 1 yr- it seems time to take a new action. Changing my diet was hard as I ate too many sweets/sugars, but it is achievable and a new normal now… Has anyone had these similar issues and found a way to manage this? I am new and impressed with the hands on approach. Is an AlCAT for sensitivities good?

I am unable to eliminate these symptoms permanently so far and I eat like a squirrel…(nuts ,protein, veggies, water, no sugar, fruits , dairy or alcohol-coffee) Please guide me? Tks for the blog. Debra

A. Hi Debra

Yes, most everyone with severe Candida overgrowth has the same experience you are having. It is pretty much par for the course. The key to alleviating symptoms is consistency and thoroughness.

If you had a setback, then it may have been the result of a variety of issues. Some of the most common possibilities include: your yeast may have became resistant to the antifungals you were taking and has flourished abundantly, you had an exposure to mold, you were exposed to pesticides or some other chemical, your adrenal glands may have taken a nose dive, too many starchy carbs or nuts, or a nutritional deficiency has resulted in more deterioration.

There’s a lot more to it than just Candida. Yeast overgrowth is often accompanied by food sensitivities, nutritional deficiencies, adrenal fatigue, neurotransmitter disruption, hypothyroidism, heavy metal toxicity and more. All of which produce the same types of symptoms as Candida, so it can be hard to know where the symptoms are originating. Each of these issues must be addressed as they perpetuate one another.

Avoidance of environmental toxins like mold, pesticides, perfume, air fresheners, petrochemicals, etc. is an important part of the recovery process on two levels. For one, they weaken the immune system and encourage yeast to proliferate and secondly, they disrupt neurotransmitters in the brain and the autonomic nervous system and trigger symptoms like depression, anxiety, insomnia and brain fog.

Adrenal fatigue is a very important issue in Candida, depression and chronic fatigue and I encourage you to learn more about it on my adrenal fatigue page and adrenal recovery basics video.

Additionally, depression also has many contributing factors besides Candida, so it’s important to cover all the bases there as well. You may want to take a look at What Your Psychologist Hasn’t Told You About Anxiety and Depression for an in depth and comprehensive discussion of all these issues.

First off, you should not be eating like squirrel. The diet needs to contain meat, and a lot of it, and lots of low carb vegetables. This is important not only for Candida but so you can have adequate levels of fat, protein and cholesterol to make neurotransmitters and hormones.  There should not be any grains in the diet at all; this includes brown rice, oats and corn and the alternative grains like kamut and quinoa, as they all break down into sugar in the body. Most people with Candida have problems with nuts, as they too can feed yeast. Nuts should be limited. You can read up on the diet on the following pages:

Paleolithic Diet

Candida Diet

Healthy Diet Plan

Candida mutates and gets resistant to antifungals, so antifungals must be rotated. Diflucan only kills yeast in the blood stream it doesn’t get what’s in the gut, so it must be accompanied with Nystatin and other natural antifungals.

Nystatin should always be in powder form or lozenges, not tablets, so that it can coat the entire alimentary canal. It should also be prescribed in the dosage of 1.5 million units, 3 times a day and taken for a good 6 months. However, Candida may get resistant to it.

Yes, pantethine (not pantothenic acid) combined with molybdenum will help the liver to eliminate acetaldehyde that is emitted from the yeast, because it increases enzymes that help the body achieve this goal. I have found this to be one of the most helpful steps in the process. Reducing acetaldehyde in the body helps alleviate many symptoms like brain fog, chronic pain and depression, however this does not get rid of Candida. Typical dosage is 300 mcg of molybdenum and at least 600 mg of pantethine a day. This is especially helpful for those with chemical sensitivities. However, pantethine is also needed to help strengthen the adrenal glands and is needed in much higher doses, as much as 1200 mg or more a day.

If molybdenum is taken without other minerals it can cause an imbalance in copper, zinc or manganese, which you don’t want to happen either, because that will cause a host of symptoms as well. So a good multimineral should be taken with molybdenum.

In my opinion there is not any reliable test for Candida. They may or may not find yeast when it exists. However, if you have a test that does identify it then it certainly provides you with some valuable information, and having another test that can assess what substances it will be sensitive to is helpful as well. On the other hand, whatever it’s sensitive to one month can change the next month.

Candida is often accompanied by other unfriendly bacteria and parasites and they can cause similar symptoms as well. The GI Effects Stool Test is the best test to identify bacteria and parasites, but it may or may not find Candida. However, the GI Effects test provides an abundance of helpful information overall.

Candida is the most popular topic on this blog, so I’ve written about it probably a hundred times. You can find an abundance of information in the Candida Archives and my Ebook Candida Secrets.

The ALCAT test is an excellent test to identify food sensitivities and it will tell you if you are sensitive to the Candida organism itself, but it doesn’t tell you if you have yeast overgrowth or what kind of yeast you have.

Feeling like you have a urinary tract infection on a consistent basis is called Interstitial Cystitis, which basically means inflammation of the bladder. However, something must be causing that inflammation, and in my opinion that something is yeast and/or unfriendly bacteria.

Saccharomyces Boulardii and colostrum are helpful for many people in overcoming bacterial and yeast overgrowth, and the associated symptoms like Interstitial Cystitis.

If one can afford them, then an Organic Acids test, Amino Acids Plasma test, RBC Mineral test and hair analysis can be immensely helpful in identifying nutritional deficiencies and other underlying problems that are at the root of most health conditions.

Unfortunately the road to recovery is not easy or fast. It takes time to put the puzzle together. The primary point to keep in mind is that it requires persistence and a commitment to lifelong changes.