So sorry! I missed your posts.
Me
I have done adrenal/thyroid/neurotransmitter testing. I started w/ an ND 6 yrs ago. She was great. I was a total novice about
EVERYTHING. We did a lot of thorough testing for these, GI, yeast/fungus… everything under the sun except Lyme & Co.
My adrenals were in crisis. I was hypothyroid. ALL dozen or so of my neurotransmitter levels were off-the-charts too high or too low. I was unable to digest solid food. I was a mess. She started me on various supplements to address the adrenals and neuroTs but after 2 yrs and $20k, we made NO progress. Everything we did just seemed to swing levels to the opposite extreme. I ended up moving for my job so had to find a new ND but ended up w/ my LLMD. And after that I ended up going down the Lyme path.
But with DNA testing I finally learned that I have mutations that disrupt neuroT functions (among other things), so this might be why the supplements never worked.
But I also learned the hard way, that the only thing that really helps adrenals is the hardest thing to do. Only after I literally quit my (very stressful) job and dropped out of life, finally started treating yeast/fungus, and healed my gut, did my adrenals recover and neuroTs rebalance (for the most part) and this also took about
a year. And only then did I start w/ Lyme & co treatment. I still intend to do more testing and find a specialist who can help me with a few things I think are still out of balance. But I got to a point where I was stable enough to focus on Lyme & Co.
You
Since you've been w/ a functional MD, I'm guessing she's testing thyroid appropriately (although some don't). But for others who might be reading, it's important to get the T3 and T4, reverse T3, T4. The pituitary gland produces TSH, which is what most MDs only measure but it doesn't tell you how well the thyroid is using it to do the stuff it's supposed to do.
A good specialist can also tell someone has struggling adrenal glands w/out testing… there are some obvious signs. But the (right) testing is good because it helps create a fuller picture of what they're doing throughout the day with the 4 or 5 sample saliva tests. The cliff notes: adrenals pump out cortisol to keep your engine going but it's also based on how stressed you are. Cortisol should be low when you wake up but then shoot up to max levels around noon… then slowly fall (parabolically) throughout the day to its lowest. If you're too high or too low at certain times of the day it can help you understand how to supplement, and maybe even which stage you're in.
Fruit
Bananas are one of the sugariest fruits and very high in simple carbs. If it has to be a banana, try just a little bite or two. Even no-added sugar fruit juice is nothing but sugar. When you take all of the fiber out of fruit, it's the juices left and it's all sugar. Better than a pepsi only because it has vitamins, but the body processes juice and pepsi the same way. For our y/f fighting purposes, it might as well be a spoonful of sugar. I know I'm a broken record about
this but it's really not the best and I have to reiterate that for other people reading who might be able to tolerate Nystatin + water.
Can you try taking the Nystatin with a chilled unsweetened herbal tea? I like to make mint sun tea and keep it in the fridge. It's mostly water but maybe a strong flavor might help make the Nystatin taste less horrible. Thinking of ideas for you…
Testing
Hooooboy. I think I'm finally understanding your situation - all along I thought we were talking about
GI overgrowth. I understand you have probably also had GI overgrowth but I'm understanding correctly now that your testing is vaginal swabs? Although I think it's great how you discovered your strain. Awesome of you to have it cultured. I think there are some similarities in testing/treating but in a lot of ways, GI and vaginal overgrowth are different ballgames.
I also went from never having had a vaginal yeast infection (overgrowth) to having them for about
2 yrs STRAIGHT in my late-30s. Have no idea why, no triggers (they can be sexually transmittable but that wasn't my issue). Then, it kind of disappeared. I did notice a correlation to drinking wine - even in small amounts - but that is recent because I've been casual beer/wine drinking since I was young.
So, starting in late 30s my gyn would always say it looked like I had one and the swab showed one. I didn't have overt sx. Then she gave me a monistic Rx suppository… OMG - it burned horrifically and I had to jump into the bath. Either the pain was from overly sensitive skin (agitated from the overgrowth?) or it was either not a typical yeast or also maybe a biofilm issue. I no longer drink alcohol and after treating specifically for systemic overgrowth, haven't had any vaginal issues since.
Gynecology - yet another area the medical industry is almost clueless about
. It seems like there are different strains involved. I will suggest that taking Nystatin orally probably won't do much directly for vaginal overgrowth.
I haven't tried colostrum but I definitely recommend trying vaginal suppositories and try adding small amounts of the OLE drops, oil of oregano, and try other anti fungal tinctures (tiny amounts - and google to make sure there isn't anything you shouldn't use). Definitely try adding the Nystatin powder - I know women have had success with this.
You might also look on Earth Clinic for more home remedies to try like the above:
/www.earthclinic.com/cures/yeast_infection.htmlIs there anything else in your hygiene protocol that you can try changing? A different soap or tampon? Could it be that you are reacting to something and it's causing this strain to grow more aggressively...
And last - have you had your partner tested? We can give yeast/bacteria back-and-forth that often shows up only as vaginal issues. Your partner might also need to be treated in order to get your body rebalanced.
Hope that's more helpful!
-p
Post Edited (Pirouette) : 4/18/2017 2:18:22 PM (GMT-6)