Okay here is a condensed version of the story of my battle against the beast that is candida. I’m a 26 year old male by the way.
I was a super healthy kid, barely ever got sick, healed incredibly fast if I ever got scraped, had the thickest hair ever and could eat absolutely anything without consequence.
I guess things went downhill when I got to college (go figure!) 8 years ago. Lot’s of booze, pot and unhealthy eating decisions were definitely taking place. At one point, I had major headaches and my doctor told me to take 1000 mg of advil to make things better. I think this is where everything went bad. I started to notice my hair was falling out all the time all over my body (which never happened before). I became constipated all the time, started experiencing stomach pains, got major insomnia and had red bumps appearing on my thighs all the time after eating. Whenever I have a wound, it never properly heals. My nose is ALWAYS stuffed. I have weird creepy crawly sensations all over my body and scalp that annoy the hell out of me, only after eating. I have been getting new skin moles all over my body which I believe is definitely yeast related. I’ve read a lot that people think moles are yeast being trapped by some body mechanism. This makes sense considering ACV, coconut oil and
Iodine all get rid of moles.
Through a lot of research on the internet, it appeared that I had a classic case of candida. I’ve spent over $10,000 on supplements and tests and visits with an MD/ND and I am still in the same predicament today. I’ve tried the candida diet, coconut oil, SF 722, Oil of Oregano, nystatin, tons of probiotics, kefir and anything else alternative. I’ve been tested for everything under the sun but the only issues we found on the tests was yeast +4 (taxonomy unavailable) on a Metametrix stool test and a high Reverse T3. Colonoscopy came back fine.
I do try to eat healthy but being a twenty something, it is just impossible to eat a true candida diet and be sociable. I also do drink beer every week. I have gone 45 days without a drop of alcohol while doing the McCombs plan and while my digestion did improve, I am still in a rut today and unfortunately my hair is getting REALLY thin and my stomach is still a mess. I would love anyone to comment on my situation and help me out. I have listed below the supplements I am taking and my theory on what I think about them. There is so much conflicting information on the internet that I really only want people to comment that have actually SEEN true improvement from taking a supplement.
I know I need to stop drinking beer and I am probably giving it up indefinitely after Thanksgiving. Enough is enough and I need to heal myself for good.Unfortunately, it just seems right now that this beast cannot be tamed.
Here are the supplements/routine I am doing right now:
Coconut oil & Psyllium &
Bentonite Shake- I took this from the Whole Approach guys but use coconut oil instead of caprylic acid since i believe it has a better antifungal capability. If I take coconut oil straight up, I tend to get pretty constipated and my stomach ends up hurting.
Coconut Water Kefir- I just started drinking a half cup in the morning and a half cup in the evening. I have been reading these forums and people can’t make up their minds on whether probiotics are effective against candida or not. I’d like to think that they are absolutely necessary to keep candida under control but I am not sure if you should take it while you still have a lot of candida.
HCL tablets- I take about 4 HCL tablets after every meal. I think that my stomach digestion is absolutely shot which is why I have a ton of gas and see undigested food in my stool. I have been trying the “burn theory” and got up to 6 tablets before any burning sensation so now I am trying 4 tablets and hopefully winding my way down to 0. I think digestion is the key to all of this and I have totally lost it all. I will go to bitters once I feel that my digestion is good.
Sauerkraut- I make my own and have been having three cups a day. I feel like it is effective but once again, I am unsure about probiotics.
Zinc- Trying to improve my digestion, I supplement zinc 50mg per HV’s words of wisdom.
New Chapter Multivitamin for Men- I feel like I am missing nutrients in my diet cause of my digestion so I take this as well. Once again though, not sure if I am fueling the candida or not.
Rice Protein- I lift weights and need to supplement with extra protein. This stuff has no carbs or
Sugar and I feel that this wouldnt affect the candida, right?
Diet- I am not very strict on my diet, in fact I eat a whole wheat sandwich almost every week. I do try to go for veggies and chicken the rest of the time. Come Friday or Saturday I do binge drink with about 10 beers a night, one night a week. I know that this needs to stop before I can get better but I am also in the prime of my life and need to be social or I’d go nuts!
HV’s Adrenal Tonic- I am taking this because I am sure my adrenals are shot. This illness definitely does stress me out along with the crazyness of my job. I can’t tell if it’s really working or not but I feel my mood is a little better? Could be a placebo effect.
Exercise/Sauna- I lift weights about 4 days a week and go running 2 days. I go in the sauna almost every day- makes me feel great.
Vitamin C- I take about 4 grams of buffered vit C every day. I am not sure if it is die off but I do get the feeling like it is working as I get that creepy crawly sensation all over my body. I think that it acidifies my gut and this is killing candida. One day I took 8 grams of vitamin C and for the first time in a long time- my nose was completely unclogged! That is a lot of vitamin C to take. I am not sure if this is a good immune booster or antifungal but regardless I am taking it now.
Lugols Iodine- I take 5% 4 drops a day. This stuff I’m pretty sure is a great antifungal but I also feel like I am destroying my good bacteria.
So that’s what I am doing right now but life still sucks. If anyone that has been “cured” or seen marked improvement from a particular supplement, I’d love to hear your story. At this point, I am 100% committed to doing whatever it takes to knock this out for good including avoidance of beer and following a strict diet. I just want to live a normal life and am sick of being sick, as I’m sure you all are. Can anyone tell me if they think I’m doing something wrong with my routine or something that I’m not doing or something I should test for? I just don't think pharma antifungals are the answer to this disease which is why I will not touch diflucan and then end up with an even stronger yeast.
I just ordered a hair analysis test and will see if I have any heavy metal issues but I have never had
Amalgams or anything of that nature so who knows.
Thanks in advance,
The Don