Re: Immune restoration Th1/Th2 balance.

Hey dvjorge,
Sorry to hear you like many of us hear on the boards can correlate our illness after the use of Antibiotics . I was a very healthy 18yr old teen, going to the gym daily, work, college, hanging out with friends, dates, etc. For three months I had to go on Antibiotics for a recurring strep throat infection that would not respond to Amoxicillin, so eventually the doctor changed to Tetracycline and the infection vanished. After the dose of TetracycIine I noticed something about me changed. I started losing weight that was hard to gain back, sever acne, dryer skin, thinner hair, less energy, low testosterone feeling, more anxiety, fear, negative thinking, and certain foods started to affect how I felt. I stopped working out, going to work, and even school because of a chronic, hidden infection that was ravaging my body. I look back and I wish I new about the dangers of using Antibiotics without administering antifungals and probiotics but that wasn't my job to know, if was my physicians and he failed me.

After a year or so I self diagnosed myself like many with fungal/yeast overgrowth of the digestive tract, and went on the strictest of anti-candida diets, took natural antifungals and even Nystatin. I improved quite a bit, but I still could not tolerate carbohydrates without feeling inflammation. I knew there had to be another species of infection that was out of balance and causing me to feel this way.

What I found that is often overlooked on the boards is an overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria that can reside in the small bowels causing chronic inflammation which leads to malabsorption, vitamin+mineral deficiencies, accumulation of toxic by-products in the liver and body(hepatic encephalopathy), and ultimately a vicious cycle depressing hormones and the immune system. The only effective form of treatment is antibiotics but I hated the though of taking the very drug that caused this situation in the first place. My way of thinking has changed that DIET ALONE CAN NOT GET US INTO THIS MESS, SO DIET ALONE CAN NOT GET US OUT! I honestly believe that as I know many of my friends who eat frozen, fast foods all day, look and even FEEL great. I eat more nutrition in one day then most of them in a week, and I'm barely getting by.

To cut to the chase, I decided to go on a 10 day course of Rifaximin at 400mg 3x a day. Total of 1200mg per day. I noticed that I had a substantially less amount of inflammation in my face, Acne cleared up, started to feel stronger, less infected feeling, and my tongue was clearer. Most of you are probably thinking that how could my tongue be clearer if white tongue is Candida related, thats the thing i don't believe it is always thrush. I believe it has to do with how we are absorbing, and when I took these antibiotics my digestion improved, providing less food for Candida to feed on the gut.

I view Candida like this, it is either overgrown A) because we've killed all the bacteria in our GI tracts and it was allowed to spread, which I think is more difficult to achieve then we believe if our immune system is fairly healthy going into it or B) it's consistently overgrowing because of a hidden underlying bacterial infection that not only taxes our immune system on a constant basis by preventing absorption in the small bowel and producing toxins, but by leaving large amounts of undigested food for the fungus to feed on! I truly believe that is why so many people can not get rid of a chronic fungal infection, its because their underlying problem is bacterial in nature. We must also respect the fact that it is bacteria that account as the most dominant species in the gut, not fungus. Its fungus that is controlled by bacteria not the other way around.

If you read this and are still skeptical, now that I have tried all the natural antimicrobials, antifungals in the world, at very low doses and high doses with no real benefit. I've also tried probiotics only to make the problem worst. I've found the best diet to help curb inflammation is Healing by Bee's diet. I do recommend staying on Nystatin while on Rifaximin to curb a possible fungal overgrowth. Just test trial the Rifaximin, many of you have been ill for months or year, what do you have to lose? Just make sure you're on a strict anti-fungal diet and Nystatin too. I also recommend Glutamine, Collagen, and Zinc for gut repair.

Am I completely 100% cured? No. But I've improved over 70%, and can tolerate more foods without acne, and a feeling of intense inflammation, brain fog, sickness...

If anyone reads this, ask yourself, are you 100% sure it is candida or do you just feel better on an anti-candida diet? The anti-candida diet only works because it minimizes fermentable substrates for all microbes in the bowel, including BACTERIAL infections that you may have.

I don't want to say that you don't have a fungal/yeast overgrowth but you may also have a bacterial infection that is perpetuating the yeast overgrowth and preventing you from a full recovery.

Don't take my word for it.
FIRST PLACE WINNER! of Townsend Letter Magazine.
Best of Naturopathic Medicine 2013

Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth:
Often-Ignored Cause of Irritable Bowel Syndrome
http://www.townsendletter.com/FebMarch2013/ibs0213.html


Natural antibiotics will hardly be effective if you are thinking about going the natural route, trust me I tried for months. They just don't have the strength to make drastic changes in the bowel like antibiotics. The key again is diet, Nystatin, and good probiotics after the course of Rifaximin.

Hope this can add more clarity to the possible causes of dysbiosis in the bowel.

- Brian

P.S. Fecal Transplant therapy can provide a more effective means of treating infections (dysbiosis) in the gut if you can find a doctor to administer it, and better yet know someone who radiates good health to be your donor.
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