Hooooboy…
I am the queen of yeast/fungal overgrowth. Before I even suspected lyme & co, I was having severe systemic problems and had no idea what it was or what caused it. After weeks of searching and exploring the internet, I figured it out. I had no insurance at the time so I ordered a couple of anti fungal Rx over the internet (from the UK). And BAM, relief.
It was through this process that I learned so much about
why we get y/f overgrowth, what a normal gut flora balance is supposed to be, how to maintain it and how to overcome imbalance.
From my extensive research, I've learned that some people were born w/ a y/f imbalance, due to their mother's imbalance (probably me). Others have a genetic disposition of gut flora imbalance (definitely me), which you can find out through DNA mutation investigation, others develop an imbalance from their first dose of abx as a child, and others develop problems w/ longer term use of abx and herbs as they start lyme & co tx. And, there is evidence of alcoholics having an impossible time recovering from alcoholism w/out treating their y/f overgrowth, since the yeast basically changes brain function.
My main problems began during 2013 when I was given 6 or 7 rounds of abx and steroids for chronic sinusitis and bronchitis. For 13 months I was in/out of urgent care and the ER. But the infection was not bacterial, it was fungal, thanks for checking docs! So I got worse and worse and worse… got to the point where I couldn't walk, couldn't hold my arms above my head long enough to wash my hair and I was losing my mind.
Ironically, I realized after googling all my sx, all the different abx doses started bringing out very specific lyme & co sx and that's how I got clued into the true cause for everything and got to an LLMD.
But also, all the abx I took (w/out probiotics or antifungals as I had no idea how to take abx and thanks again docs for not informing me!) created an insane y/f overgrowth and I wasted about
6 months trying different natural remedies while the problem continued to get worse.
My face and chest became red, itchy, stingy, raw, "bumpy" with strange acne like bumps that were not acne, peeling at times. My eyes started stinging whenever I washed my face, vision became blurry and I would get these floaters and every day would feel these painful stabbing sensations in my eyes. I would feel and hear "crackling" in my ears like I had water trapped in the canal, constant ear aches, stuffy ears like my hearing was impaired, and often felt dizzy when I turned over or shifted my head too quickly while lying in my bed. I had constant post nasal drip, constant sinus pain in my face, behind my eyes, temples, cheeks, teeth pain at the roots. I had yeast growing vaginally, in the rectum and growing out of my belly button and nipples. I was a mess.
I stumbled onto a naturopath's blog, who was a recovered alcoholic and had spent 10 yrs trying to solve her y/f overgrowth and finally worked it out and shared her journey and her solutions. Fascinating stuff this y/f is. Following is a link to her site but be sure to click on her links in this article as there is a wealth of information on y/f and tx:
www.holistichelp.net/candida.htmlAbx kills ALL the good bacteria with the first dose you take. Some say this is also true of antibacterial herbs, but the other components of the whole herb, which are not in the pharmaceutical stuff are less impactful to flora but you can still get an imbalance from herbs. Also, most animals reared for food are treated w/ abx, in fact, it's becoming a huge problem. So, some of the foods you're eating also include abx, that have the same impact on gut flora.
Some say you will never recover your full gut flora and that it is extremely rare these days for anyone to have the same flora they were born with. In fact, I've read articles about
studies on the gut flora of indigenous less developed populations, which have been relatively unaffected by western culture, and how incredibly different it is compared to any American's flora, even a healthy person.
Short version is to be safe, you probably shouldn't be treating these lyme & co microbes w/out also including a high dose of probiotics every day and an anti fungal (natural preventative remedy of no y/f overgrowth is evident, and hard hitting anti fungal Rx if it is).
I also learned that there are two different types of y/f overgrowth: local, in your gut since you ingest most of your meds and systemic overgrowth occurs, usually from leaky gut. I've written about
this here:
www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=3412983In addition to the right anti fungal, a good probiotic, a sugar/simple carb/processed food free diet is key.
It's great that Maui has had success with the NOW product, but one problem with a product like that with so many ingredients is that y/f can become resistant to tx. So it's OK use a combined product like that intermittently. But if you need something on a consistent basis, you're better off rotating single ingredient natural antifungals. And for serious cases that include leaky gut and systemic problems it probably won't be effective and you need hard hitting Rx for a good several months. More detail about
how to implement the Rx is in the link above, because there is a specific approach for that too.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any specific q's.
p
Post Edited (Pirouette) : 5/29/2015 4:47:55 PM (GMT-6)