Recently, someone suggested to me that I might be suffering from alcoholism because of candida overgrowth. I've been looking on this Candida Forum as well as on some of the generalized candida info pages on curezone in order to see if there is a way to test myself for candida.

In the following paragraphs below, I will outline my situation and describe what I've been doing to maintain my health. Any suggestions on how to where to go next would be most welcome! Can anyone suggest a way to test myself for candida? Someone told me about spitting in a glass of water and watching how the spittle diffuses -- is that true?

MY SITUATION:

1) I came to curezone in February 2006 as a "weekend alcoholic" who suffered from fatigue, poor sleep, abdominal bloating, Depression (although at one point in my life, I got drunk about 4 nights a week, when I was in my 20s)

2) Since March, I've been doing colon cleansing (psyllium everyday, and sometimes Oxypowder , from time to time) and olive oil/GF Liver Flushing (A.Moritz protocol, every 2 weeks). From these techniques, my bloating has disappeared (to what I consider satisfactory level), and I have removed many liver-stones. In fact, now I pass less and less stones, so I believe that I will be stone-free in the next few months. My bowel movements are regular, solid, and of a dark color, so I'm convinced that plenty of bile is indeed being delivered to the intestine. (But they didn't always look so good!)

3) for the past year I've been taking a daily 45 minute speed-walk in order to get a cardio workout, and for the past couple of months, i've been doing this while wearing leg weights. From doing this every day, my stamina has improved, and I have no complaints about soreness, energy, etc. I don't feel lethargic anymore. In fact, now I look forward to my exercise each day, in contrast to how it used to be, where I wouldn't want to move.

4)From the depression/anxiety forums, I learned that I was defficient in serotonin, which is responsible for feelings of well-being, self-esteem, mental energy and good sleep. The solution was to start taking 5-HTP supplements which I have been doing since March. From taking HTP everyday, my sleep has improved dramatically, with vivid dreaming, and 7 - 8 hour sleep cycles (I used to get only 4 - 6 hours each night). My feelings of worry and depression, low self-esteem have all evaporated dramatically, to the point where I feel satisfied with how I look at the world and myself right now.

5) over the past couple of years, I've been transitioning over to a vegan diet. At this point, I only have meat once every 2 weeks, preferably fish, and for my meals I avoid ALL animal products. I do try to have some of my meals raw, but at this point, I don't feel ready to commit to a 100% raw diet.

6) To deal with the alcoholism, since March, I take kudzu on the days when I know I will feel tempted to drink, mainly weekends. In the past 4 months, I've only had 1 relapse day. I was never able to do this on my own, without the kudzu, so I'm certain it's not just a placebo effect. Since alcohol drinks are carbs, the question is whether or not my body's craving for them is due to candida or something else.