Re: Panic/Anxiety disorder for years caused by Candida

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read this,


All of my troubles started on October 6, 2009. I went to a clinic with a fever of over 103 degrees with flu like symptoms. I was about 2 days deep into one of the worst cold sicknesses I ever had when I decided I needed to see someone about it. They did a blood test right on the spot, and did not do a chest x-ray. They assumed it was a virus or chest congestion with no clear evidence. They prescribed me the strong flouroquinolone Antibiotic Avelox along with Tamiflu. I did not take the Tamiflu but started the Avelox for a 5 day term.

On the drug Avelox I had never felt more wierd. I had nervousness,vertigo, diarhhea(normal), extremely heightened sense of smell, lack of coordination, and indegistion from what I can remember. I finished the dose and would be coughing up alot of yellowish green mucus during that course, which still lingered after the Avelox period. The flu subsided and after ward I had some fatigue which I thought was fairly normal. Two days later I was in the gym and felt very winded and nauseious. I thought this was just from having a bad flu and left my routine very early. I shrugged it off and just thought I would continue working out after a few days.

A week passed and I was always experiencing gastric issues, stomach murmurs, extreme nausea, and then the anxiety hit. The first time I had a panic attack I did not know what it was. I was driving back from a restaurant and had drank a beer with friends and was coughing while I had the beer and thought nothing of it again. I just thought it was because I was still getting over the lingering flu like symptoms. In the car on the way home I felt like I was choking on my own heart and that it would explode. I felt like my heart was being pulled in many different directions and was having some sort of spasm. I had extreme chest pain in the center part of my sternum and other sharp shooting pains around my chest. That night I took tylenol when I got home and layed down with my mom paranoid that I was going to die, and having never experienced a panic attack or anything of that nature other then one time I did mushrooms and had rapid heartbeat and hallucinations. This was much worse then that.

I went back to the same wretched clinic the next day. Not having health insurance did not give me many options. The Dr said that the gas and nausea were a product of the Antibiotic killing off all of my beneficial bacteria, hence I knew that already. The panic and nervousness was anxiety, and the sharp sharp chest pains he had absolutely no answer for. I was prescribed ranitdine, an acid reducer to take twice a day for a week and hydroxyzine to take once at night for anxiety. He never asked my history of anxiety, which had been virtually none. I found that odd. I also found it odd that he did not tell me to eat yogurt to get the beneficial bacteria going, nor a probiotic, nor an antifungal due to the harsh nature of those extremely potent Antibiotics .

I started the treatment with the ranitidine twice daily and hydroxyzine for a week. I returned a week later to the clinic and said that my stomach acid level had declined and I felt a little bit less nauseous, which the Dr thought was the greatest thing since sliced bread. That by no means meant I was cured of anything whatsoever to me. I said the anxiety had not subsided and did not even know if this was anxiety and why I had it now all of the sudden. He said thats ok, "Here is some generic Xanax (Alprazolam). I was upset knowing that with all of my other issues if I was to take the Alprazolam, the side effects would be enhanced ten fold.

By this time I was experiencing a severe lack of appetite and had lost 25lbs, so my weight was around 170. I was a very muscular person so I think that made things a little more severe dropping that much weight, that quick. I had sharp pains now in my chest and back constantly. They were at the inner part of my sternum, sometimes at my nipples and in my back towards the middle and near my kidneys, yet did not feel like I had kidney trouble.
All in all I felt with the lack of appetite that my body was going into a state of famine and eating itself. I wouldnt know the terminology of how to describe how I was feeling.
At this point I still did not know what to blame all of this on.

I had never been on any Antibiotics . I had never been that sick with a flu/cold as severe and fever that high. I had never not been able to eat any foods. I never had allergic reactions to anything. I never had anxiety/panic attacks or depression. I also never ever lost my appetite. Not even if someone vomited in the middle of my meal.

I added all of this up and just blamed the Avelox. I was thinking this clinic was just throwing out samples of Antibiotics for any old thing, knowing that you cannot give antibiotics for a virus of all things. There was no conclusive evidence of a virus until later on. I later went to my GP and decided to buy insurance because things were getting serious. My GP suggested that I take acidophilus and yogurt, which the advice sort of didnt click with me yet. They said we dont know and we do not know if you could have had h1n1 or the swine flu, which are just really bad flus anyway, which I had. I did not care what flu or what virus or what cold it was at this point. I just wanted some sort of treatment and still never received it. I was dehydrated no matter how much gatorade and water I would drink and remain that way until now. I had a heightened sensitivity to all smells, was extremely nervous and on edge at all times, and to make matters worse I had a semi-physically demanding job working outside at a pool serving food. All in all I was at the point of extreme fatigue and not knowing what in the world is wrong with me. The GP just recommended the yogurt and I continue the Xanax.

I took the Xanax only a few times but the side effects were making me depressed and extremely lethargic. I quit the Alprazolam and went back to hydroxyzine in the period of about one week. Then I made the bold decision to just tough it out and let my body take its natural course by completely abandoning all drug treatments. They hydroxyzine was starting to make me more lethargic and nauseous all of the time and was not worth it.

I was thinking the anxiety subsided a little and the yogurt was helping me get back ten pounds that I had lost. My appetitie was still at an all time low and at this point it was nearing the end of October. I was desperate and called a supposed natural healer. I went to him and explained my situation. He recommended Meyers Cocktail IV(vitaimin infusions) with glutathione. I was optimistic about it until I had the treatment done. I felt like vitamins were in the back of my throat, as most people probably do. Afterward I had probably never felt worse or more wierd in my life. I thought I would vomit but never did. I felt just very tingly and edgy. I was nauseous and for 3 days I would pee every 30 seconds. I could not get out of bed. I called out of work all 3 days. My penis and testicles also hurt extremely bad. I was somewhat nauseous. That Dr (the vitamin guy) said that since my body was so depleted of vitamins that it had a violent reaction. I found that a little bit true, and alot false. I explained to him that my lower back was hurting and I thought it was my kidney. I laid in bed only peeing and eating crackers for near 4 days. That was rather dreadful. That natural Dr that pumped people with vitamins in the most unnatural way did recommend to start Acidophilus. Shortly after this incident my penis, testicles and stomach hurt alot for about a week and a half.

I started Acidophilus and my appetite, for the most part, did come back. I think I was overeating because at this point Depression definetly set in coupled with the anxiety ofcourse. I had the lowest energy levels I had ever encountered and was becoming more desperate to find out the cause of all of my problems. The chest pain was still there but had subsided and was only sharp once in a while. My stomach hurt where my spleen would be. I had and EKG which read fine.

At this point I had developed more of a sleeping problem. Some nights I could not fall asleep, and some nights I could not stay asleep. I still have this problem but not as bad as it was. I went back to my GP. They prescribed me Effexor and made me get a plethora of blood and urine tests. The tests were for thyroid, parvovirus, HIV, kidney/liver, white blood cell count, EBV and many more that I am probably forgetting at the moment. Everything came back normal except for the Parvo, which a neurologist later clarified.

I did not take the Effexor due to paranoia of side effects and horror stories of that particular drug itself. I still was in pain, could not get refreshing sleep, and could not breath well at all. I sat on the couch all day. I did forget to mention that my breathing was awful. I could not take in a deep breath even though my oxygen levels and EKG read perfect. I had an Ecocardiogram over my heart and they did not see anything visibly wrong as well. I also had an ultrasound for my spleen with no visible issues.

Before the nuerologist I went to a clinic to try and get an antifungal because I was reading about Candida, Systemic Candida, and Candidiasis. This clinic was used to seeing cases of sprained ankles, bad colds, and minor issues such as that. This doctor had a look at my mouth and did not think that I had thrush. No blood test for Candida, no urine or stool test even recommended. He did mention that Candida is very hard to diagnose. I just thought that this Dr wanted to hurry me along and did not take into account that potent antibiotics can cause yeast overgrowth or fungal infections. But I am not a dr and what do I know?

I finally went to the nuerologist in early December after all of this had happened and I could not get any real diagnosis after being to 4 doctors with no diagnosis whatsoever other then panic disorder, anxiety and Depression with no history of any of those. I still had symptoms of nervousness, irregular breathing, extreme fatigue, headaches, lethargy, and brain fog (just being unable to concentrate on anything for an extended time of 5 minutes).
She recommended I do a Lymes Titers test (negative), along with an EEG, and MRI, which both came back normal. She diagnosed me with Post Viral Syndrome after clarifying that the Parvovirus could have been severe and really wore me down. She did not think that the Antibiotic Avelox was the cause of any of these problems. She recommended me to a psychologist and infectious disease doctor. I went to both. She gave me Clonazepam(Klonopin) for my chronic insomnia. I did not take it and gave alot of it away due to my past experiences with medicine.

I forgot to mention that before I went to the clinic about the candida I tried 2 sessions of acupuncture which made me a little nauseous and jittery. They gave me herbs with orange peel and liquourice root for spleen qi. The herb made my chest flare up and I was taking it for 2 days(3 times a day). I felt horrible panic and palpitations. I had tight shoulders, tight chest, and tight neck with an overall panicy feeling. I discontinued those herbs. I did one more session of acupuncture. Once again I had that nauseous, jittery feeling. I thought I was supposed to feel relaxed but did not at all. Still had the shortness of breath and irregular breathing the whole time. I was prescribed different herbs with cinnamon and something else. This time I was treated by a different acupuncturist because of the mishap. They both clarified that my tongue was white and stomach very tender and sore. This all was in November so sorry if the timeline was just messed up. I did not take the herbs the second time around. My paranoia of herbs and medicine is at an all time high and still kind of is.

Went to a psychologist and it helps to talk to them but for the most part I know that I have no past history of mental illness. I know that my anxiety in the past has been minimal and based on everyday issues that most normal human beings face.
I feel I am only there because of the buildup of all of this and never being clearly diagnosed based on reputable evidence.
She has no idea about the problems breathing, and chest pain. She thinks that it is just to safe to say it's flat out anxiety. She has to say that or else she wont get paid or have stupid patients like me going back to them, even though she is a very nice person and has great advice. I always have understood how there process works because I studied it.

The psychological methods used to combat it work, but only to an extent. They cannot stop the sharp back pain I still get, the irregular breathing, the bubble I always feel in my throat, loss of libido, chronic fatigue, lethargy, painful orgasms and whatever else I am forgetting at the moment.

Reprogramming your brain through psychology cannot beat a physical illness. I just find it very hard to believe that it can. Maybe I am being close minded because of all that has happened to me but I just do not see any correlation to why this would work in terms of me personally.

I started feeling a tiny bit more energetic just recently (middle of January). I still experience all of the last symptoms I just wrote 2 paragraphs prior. The main symptom is irregular breathing and I am thinking this makes me tired and nausous most of the time. I started taking a different probiotic(Ultimate flora 60 billion by Renew Life).
I have paid very close attention to my diet and I feel that I do crave Sugar and carbs. I do not know if this goes for most people, especially in America. Coffee makes me extremely nervous and jittery, along with chocolate. These were my 2 favorite things in the world before this illness. The reason I mention diet is because of the possibility of Candida and a fungus overgrowth due to the beneficial bacteria in my gut leaving the possibility of fungus to thrive and get out of control (just something I read)

At this point I am just still hoping someone can explain all of this and has an idea for a treatment.

I recently tried to do a yeast cleansing diet with the product Candigone and had a severe panic attack at the end of the day(one dose taken in mid afternoon). The panic attack was similar to the one I had when I took the chinese herbs. I am guessing I either do or do not respond well to herbal formulas. Sometimes things get worse before better. I know these types of treatments seem very unbearable to push past that panic.

I took Clonozepam to calm down and then was thinking the Candida could be systemic(in the blood), hence all these sharp pains all over my body at different times could have been my intestines or other tissues leaking fungus into the bloodstream.

For the next three days I had tight chest in the upper region mostly and felt as if something was in my throat which made it hard to swallow. I went to the ear nost and throat doctor on February 5, 2010 and asked him if this was an allergic reaction. He said my tongue did not really answer the question of what type of reaction it was. Simply another pat on the back and he commended how I am going about all of this.

Once again, I have no idea. I am just guessing. I have no real good diagnosis, other then post viral fatigue.

I thought it was Lymes Disease but the Lymes titers came back normal. I know there are about 5 more tests that can clarify Lymes, including a brain procedure. Are they all worth it? I do not think so at the moment. Another possibility I thought was that the virus and Avelox caused a severe deficiency in my body causing this imbalance and perpetuating the symptoms. i.e. magnesium, gaba, niacin or something??

At the moment I get fatigued very easily. The most I can run is 30 yards and then I will be extremely out of breath. I just stick to walking for exercise along with stretching and minimal yoga. That has seemed to just keep everything at bay for the moment but I am hoping I can get back to a somewhat more intense regimen. First I would have to know some sort of treatment before taking any drastic jumps into a workout routine.

Before all of this I ran everyday about 3 to 5 miles. I would go to the gym atleast 3 days a week. I ran marathons about a year ago and was not in any particular training regimen before getting sick. I ate a steady diet, sweat normally and felt good most of the time.

I am just wondering how one bad cold/flu could cause all of this for anybody. I have heard of people having many problems with the drug Avelox. I have also heard of many problems people have had with Candida and getting rid of it. I hope I will one day be of the same good health I was before all of this happened.

I have noticed that my eyes are sometimes very bloodshot and usually red, which they werent before. There are dark circles under my eyes and I do not sweat as much as I used to. I only go to the bathroom once a day when I used to go after almost every meal. Just putting as much information as I can for all holistic reasoning and approaches.


Just recently I started the candida diet. My chest and back flared up everyday for 5 days and even more so at night. I took two benadryl, ate a fruit bar with a biscotti and my chest tightness seemed to dissapte substantially. My back pain was still there. My nerves are jumpy still and this feels like an allergic reaction to the diet. But why after 25 years of no allergies whatsoever. Did Avelox cause something this bad? I just joined curezone today in a desperate hope to end my suffering.

Thank you for reading all of this and I appreciate all and any help in this journey for health.
I can be reached at hockeyucf05@yahoo.com or (954) 854-4518.

Thanks again and best wishes to all on there journey back to health.