Breastfeeding, candida and mercury ... am lost ... ;)

[AnnieMarie]

I have been reading the huge thread in Susun Weeds opinion on candida - http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/952566/please-comment-on-susun-weed-letter-titled-candida-is-a-helper-it-is-keeping-you-healthy/01 .  I am pretty certain I have candida overgrowth, considering my 8 huge amalgams and depression, tiredness, food intolerances etc I am pretty certain there is mercury involved.  DD is 2 and still nurses, so that has a huge impact on everything I do ... I have finally gotten myself to the point that I need to do something about my and my kids health ... they have food intolerances, tantrums (huge ones, not normal for age type ones)  DS - 4yo refuses to eat any veggies at all, and gets definite bouts of 'depression' - can a 4yo be depressed?  he is very negative in outlook.  Anyhow to cut a long story short I have a couple of questions - which I am certain will evolve into several more once I start getting some opinions here...

I was reading about glutathion and biotin to protect the nursling from mercury ... what about N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) would that work as well?  so far I haven't found glutathione on its own in SA, will keep looking.  What about upping other anti-oxidants, can get this in one capsule:

• Beta Carotene 10% 120mg
• L-Glutathione  50mg
• Vitamin E 126iu
• Co-enzyme Q10 10mg
• Alpha Lipoic Acid 10mg
• Selenium 50mcg

I have been trying to find help for years in SA as I am certain my 14yo DS also has mercury issues, but so far everyone from regular doctors to homeopaths and naturopaths has laughed this off, now he has been diagnosed with depression and I have had a fight not to put him on pharmaceutical anti-depressants.

I am working towards a healthy diet consisting of a lot of fermented veggies, raw ACV to ferment legumes / rice, lots of eggs and protein.  Avoiding fruit for a while, both DD (2) and DS2 (4yo) seem to be adicted to fruit, possibly due to candida?  We have green smoothies daily with some fruit, but I am avoiding all other fruit.  We have been gluten free for a while, and have gone corn free now as well.  The kids have no dairy, I have a little milk in my 1 - 2 cups of coffee daily.  Want to start bone broths, if I can find decent meat / bones - not easy to find meat without all sorts of crap in it here.

Also started doing mag sulphate baths...

not sure if there is anything else I have missed?

I also read about Nystatin on that thread, would getting rid of the yeast this way not cause the mercury it has been bound to to be released into the body?  This worries me as I really dont want to do anything that could hurt DD, but am really tired of feeling like crap most of the time even though I take care to eat healthy - the teeniest amount of sugar or alcohol leaves me feeling awful for days.

What are the chances of ne having candida issues - though I have a lot of symptoms and got a probable in Bee's candida test on her site - if neither of kids have ever shown any signs of thrush? ... Or is this a silly question? ... it just seems I should have passed it on to at least one of the two younger ones, both who BF for many years.

Edited by AnnieMarie - 1/4/11 at 11:12am

[Panserbjorne]

Biotin doesn't protect breastmilk, but glutatione can.  Basically supporting your detox pathways to make excretion more effective is what will help.  Since glutathione is pretty specifically phase two detox that's what moves things on out.  It's hideously expensive, which is tough, but it's SO helpful.  Especially given the fact that you feel awful for days after alcohol?  That to me says that you may have a slow phase two detox.

Biotin is certainly helpful if yeast overgrowth is an issue-immensely so.  I would certainly look at that if the picture fits.

I wouldn't use NAC, as it's my experience, and the experience of several other people I know that it feeds yeast.  I also wouldn't do ALA, but plenty of mamas do and perhaps they can give you some feedback.

I'm not sure what your doctors are laughing off?  I'm so sorry-that's a terribly feeling.

You definitely don't need outwards signs of thrush to have it be an issue, but be aware too that there is a lot of overlap in symptoms for several related diagnoses.  Candida itself is a symptom, as far as I'm concerned so I wouldn't even really call that the "issue" so to speak.

Because they're my favorite modality I would certainly encourage you to look at flower essences to help with your ds's outlook and mood.  Yours too.  They can be shockingly effective when used correctly.

[AnnieMarie]

Thanks for your response Panserbjorne, I am starting to feel like my head might explode with information overload.  I did that spit test from the other thread this morning and definitely have yeast, nice to be able to confirm it.  What worries me the most is that by killing off the yeast I am going to release mercury into my milk and it will affect my daughter - the thought of that totally freaks me out and is what has prevented me from doing anything in the past ...  My 14 yo had very little sediment in his spit test, but there was some.  couldnt get the little ones to do it.

I am looking at using several herbal remedies for myself and the kids Wormwood, cloves and Olive leaf extract for parasites, we live on a farm and the kids are always around animals so parasites are likely.  I have read that Olive leaf is great for getting rid of candida, and I definitely felt a lot better when I was taking it a while ago when I had a cold.  It seems that cloves will help with the glutatione issue as well, still haven't found plain glutathione in SA, but found this about cloves...

"Cloves are said to have a positive effect on stomach ulcers, it may be used to lessen nausea, vomiting and flatulence and to stimulate the digestive system. It has powerful local antiseptic and mild anaesthetic actions. Cloves contain sesquiterpenes, these have been shown to have significant activity in inducing the detoxifying enzyme glutathione S-transferase in mouse liver and small intestine; the ability of natural anticarcinogens to induce such detoxifying enzymes correlates well with their ability to inhibit chemical carcinogenesis. Hulda Regehr Clark, Ph.D., N.D., in her book "The Cure for all Cancers", says,"[cloves have a great parasite killing abilitiy], nothing else known can kill the eggs of parasites in the body."

B....y doctor asked me if we had been in contact with mercury, when I mentioned mercury toxicity and I said yes my amalgam fillings and DS1 through vaccinations and he looked at me as if I had grown an extra head ...   The homeopath didnt even respond to it, just carried on with what he was checking with one of those electronic testing machines - he didnt pick up candida issues in me which makes me wonder about his abilities, he cost us a fortune is meds and while the stuff has made a minor difference the herbal remedies I have used on my own for depression have made a major one.  So I feel like I am pretty much on my own with this and my 4yo DS is in major tantrum mode today ...

Sadly when I did try flower essences they didnt seem to do much, maybe I was using the wrong ones?  I have always been a fan of herbs and am glad I sat up and did research on-line about them ... hopefully they will be helpfull and get us on the right track along with eating more TF and fermented foods.

What about herbs for detox, to aid the detox process - you mentioned slow phase 2 detox - what does that mean?

Thanks for the help