In 2008 I was given intravenous antibiotics for a massive leg infection. The antibiotics didn't react well with me and my throat began to close up. They were the last of 3 or 4 other antibiotics they tried, which didn't work. I was at risk of losing my leg. I knew nothing about the importance of probiotics during antibiotics during this time. I didn't know anything about candida.
Over the next few weeks, I began to feel more and more spacey, "out of it", drunk and "high". My panic attacks increased. I drank more to deal with the anxiety. I had muscle aches, tremors, muscle twitches, heart palpitations and arrythymias, my asthma got worse... it was a hard time. In around 2012, by luck, I came across information on candida and realized that candida had grown out of control after the antibiotics in 2008. I wasn't going to the bathroom except maybe once every 7-12 days (number 2, that is). Dysbiosis is what I had and have, but medical doctors knew nothing about it. Or if they did, they never told me.
My first tries at the candida diet were unsuccessful. the die off and cravings undid me, and I am on disability so supplements and healthy food is very hard to do, money wise.
I am going to break down what works for me below, and what doesn't appear to work.
What I am sure has worked for me...
1. oil and grapefruit liver flush (just haven't done enough)
2. high dose vitamin C (at least 8,000 mg) helps me breathe easier when my asthma acts up (I've read high dose vitamin C also helps flush the liver and gallbladder and
3. fasting helps (seems to help my liver expel a lot of tan chaff)
4. Enemas (enemas are the main way I have started to clean my bowels, since I am profoundly dysbiotic)
5. I remember that the product Greens Plus with added probiotics worked for me. I haven't purchased it in a long time because of money problems (vitamin C, iodine and magnesium alone adds up)
6. Cutting out coffee and caffeine in general has really helped me reduce my panic attacks...
7. Quitting smoking has helped my lungs (might seem obvious, but I want to make a thorough list)
8. Quitting alcohol has helped my life in numerous ways.
9. Having pets (a cat and 2 rats) helps me from getting depressed and hopeless and lends order to my life.
10. My body seems to release a lot of tan chaff from the liver and/or gallbladder when I make a specific cauliflower, onion and ginger soup with green curry paste. I will tell how to make it at a later date.
11. Taking 1 tablespoon of epsom salts mixed in 3/4 cup of water helped decrease pain in my gallbladder during a gallbladder attack (by dilating/relaxing the gallbladder ducts)
12. 1 mg sublingual ativan is the only thing that helps when I get bad shakes and bad panic attacks and feel like death is imminent. However, I generally only need 3 of these a month, and I get 10 mg a month.
13. Baking soda in water helps a LOT when I have interstitial cystitis symptoms, although sometimes the urine looks mildly pink after I drink baking soda water during a flare up (perhaps the pink is small amounts of blood in the urine?)
14. Sticking on a very strict anti-candida diet with fish and greens helped a lot, but this diet is generally too expensive for me to do on disability. Am going to work on this again.
Products and things that I think have helped
1. I think threelac might have helped. It caused a lot of die off and I wasn't very strict on the diet at that time (I tried but the sugar cravings were huge). It was too expensive for me to buy more than one time.
2. psyllium husk fiber (unsweetened) seems to help get mucoid plaque out, but am not sure.
3. I think colloidal silver might have helped, but was too expensive for me to get often and take in the doses I needed.
4. I think liver massages might help.
5. I think oil pulling might work, but have been too undisciplined to do it consistently. Will try again. It does get much thicker and white, though, and it smells awful when I spit it out (I prefer to use sesame oil)
6. While volunteering at a cat shelter, the cat nip spray for the animals seemed to help relax me a LOT. Interestingly enough, the local health food store sells cat nip tea)
7. I think my homemade milk kefir helps repopulate my bowels.
Products and things I am trying now...
1. natural calm magnesium powder- want to see if it helps with anxiety, heart fluttering/palps/missed beats, jerking at night, panic attacks, leg twitches, muscle twitches, etc.
2. I have recently started taking milk thistle for my liver. I will keep track of how that goes.
3. urine therapy/urotopy. Have done this on and off before, but never long term. I am trying it now. I plan to drink at least 3 to 4 cups of urine a day.
4. Just bought almased today and am interested in doing a modified almased diet with miso soup in between and raw veggies and liver cleansing herbs and liver flushes.
Things I need to do to improve my chances of success
1. write down everything I eat and drink, every day, and all grams of sugar and carbs
2. list all herbal supplements
3. list all symptoms and look for trends
4. do an enema every day (since bowels are stuck)
5. High dose vitamin C everyday
6. Milk thistle every day
7. Do oil pulling more consistently
8. Avoid debating and arguing online, as it causes stress
9. Take more naps in the day to heal
10. Do intermittent fasting 2 times a week