Anyone knowledgable about diet for chronic Candida yeast?

[Ophelia]

If so, please reply as I have a few questions.  Thanks!

[KKKK74]

Not very knowledgable  - but doing it with my 2 1/2 year old at the moment so happy to chat about it !

[Ophelia]

Thanks!  I'm wondering about:

-once sympoms are gone, how long to stay completely sugar free?  2 months?  More?

-after that period of time is it OK to add in natural sugar like fruit?

-a book said it is necessary to take antifungal along with the diet, but said NOT to do it while nursing.  I'll be nursing for at least 2-3 years!  Any option?

-does sodium lactate from beets count as sugar?  How about sweet potato and carrots?

[Panserbjorne]

there are as many variations on this diet as there are people willing to write about it. There are no hard and fast rules. The best thing you can do is pick a plan and stick to it so you can evaluate how you respond. Sorry! A good portion of how you do respond will be contingent upon the underlying reason for the yeast.

[Ophelia]

Hmmm, I can't begin to fathom what the underlying reason is....I seem to be more prone to it as I get older.  This last pregnancy, I had chronic vaginal yeast infections pretty much the whole time.  Then at the end of the pregnancy I got it under one arm.  Now I have it under the other arm since not long after she was born, and this one is not going away.  I have been using prescription antifungal for 3 weeks now and it's gotten a little better but not going away. 

I find it odd that my diet is a heck of a lot better these last two years than it used to be...yet now I have all these yeast problems :(

I am also on a steroid asthma inhaler which I know doesn't help the yeast to go away.  I may be able to quit it though, because I have been dairy free for DD, and I have forgotten to take the inhaler for a few days now and NOT short of breath.

[Panserbjorne]

that's great!  you're right, that's not helping you in terms of the yeast, but of course if you need to it you know...live then it is necessary.  once it's not then you have a much better chance.

[mama.rye]

Why no antifungal while nursing?  What about something gentle like Grapefruit Seed?

Sorry, I am learning too and just hopping on your bandwagon! I took the GS supplement while nursing, and also considered Candex, which is supposed to be a pretty gentle yeast eating supplement?  Wonder if anyone has any info on that...

Good Luck!

[Koalamom]

Originally Posted by Panserbjorne 

A good portion of how you do respond will be contingent upon the underlying reason for the yeast.

I know alot about yeast infections. I used to have them for years. I went on all kinds of crazy diets, and took the most expensive best antifungals. Well the infections only got worse. I got them under control when I finally addressed that I have circulation issues, and lots of warming foods especially ginger helped me and the yeast infections finally stopped hounding me when I cut out dairy 100%. So for me it wasn't always the sugars but an underlying cause. Sorry if this doesn't address your question but it is my experience.

[Ophelia]

Thanks!  How do you know if you have circulation issues?  What are the symptoms?  I know my hands and feet always seem cold unless it's pretty warm out.  I get cold very easily.

I'm already off dairy for over a month now.

Regarding the antifungal, the book I read said not to do the 'plan' while nursing.  I do have a naturopath I can go to but being unemployed we are really low on money.

[Koalamom]

Well you could have circulation issues then. For you it could be a totally different thing but it is looking at the bigger picture not just the outward sign of yeast.

I know what you mean about not having the cash to run around finding a good natural dr. I am pretty broke and most things I do are self help stuff or thorough research.

[Koalamom]

I am not an expert but I did some brainstorming and I was wondering if you have been at your current location for only the last year or two and are you in a big city or a place where you would be dealing with environmental toxins outside?

[Panserbjorne]

circulation issues generally have low thyroid function as a root cause (which would also be a cause for chronic infections.)  Have your tried taking your BBT?

[Ophelia]

Thanks!  I have lived in the same metro area all my life.  I have asthma and allergies, both food and environmental. 

I have wondered about thyroid issues before, but when I was tested in 2005 it was 'normal'.

I also have PCOS, and have only taken my temp while trying to get pg.  i do have all my charts. 

[Panserbjorne]

I'd take a peek at your temps.  test results are not exactly definitive even if you have people that know what they're looking for. 

[Ophelia]

Thanks!  Is there a website with info about this that will help me decipher?  I don't know what to look for.

[mbravebird]

I'd recommend Dr. Rind's website for helping you interpret both temps and supposedly "normal" test results.

But I actually came on here to recommend calendula tincture as a gentle but effective anti-fungal that you can take while nursing. You can also drink calendula tea. It is a long-term fix, not a short-term thing, in my understanding.

We had thrush here for the first time ever after a round of antibiotics, despite me giving probiotics three times a day. Really freaked me out, not understanding why it happened or how to reverse it. In addition to three-times-a-day probiotics, which we were already doing when the thrush arrived, liquid olive leaf extract seemed to really help. His thrush would be gone by the end of a day of OLE (also 3X day), and then be back the next morning. I then added calendula tincture, and saw some more improvement, but still the thrush was back every morning. I then added pascalite clay in the morning and evening, and within two days the thrush was just a few tiny dots in the morning, and then totally gone. I can tell there is still some imbalance because my nipples are still occasionally itchy, but I'm thinking it's finally going away. It will be important for us to continue the treatment for a while, though.

That's our story -- I'm thinking all the things worked in concert for us, although there's no real way to tell. The OLE is an anti-fungal too, but it's also an anti-bacterial, so it has a slightly different action than the calendula. My boy had some bacterial issues evident in his poop from the antibiotics too, so that's part of why we used it. OLE doesn't kill good bacteria, which is one of the advantages it has over other anti-bacterials like GSE or oregano oil. You can add OLE to yogurt and the good bacteria will continue to thrive and culture.

The clay helps with both bacteria and yeast. Panserbjorne can probably explain its action much better than I.  The most improvement happened after we added it, but it could be that it was the combo of everything that hit the sweet spot. Everybody's different, and the root causes do matter, as the above lovely ladies have mentioned. Good luck!