Yeast Free Living

Archive for the ‘Candida Albicans Overgrowth Information’ Category

Do you feel sick all over?  Do you have a hard time describing your symptoms to doctors but know that something just isn’t right?  Are you tired of feeling like and being treated like a hypochondriac.  Do you have the sneaking suspicion that you could live a happier and more fulfilling life if only these chronic and unexplained health problems would disappear?  If you answered yes to any of these questions I hope that the following information will help point you in the right direction in order for you to regain your health and ultimately live the life that you so desperately seek.   First I do have some more questions, well they are not really my questions but they are questions that I was confronted with when first learning about Candida Overgrowth (Dysbiosis) and its link to many common diseases and conditions many years ago while trying to solve my own chronic and unexplained health problems.  The following questions are from Chapter 1 of William G. Crook’s The Yeast Connection and Women’s Health and may resonate with you. 

• Have you taken antibiotic drugs?
• Have you sought help from many different specialists?
• Have you taken birth control pills?
• Are you troubled by fatigue and/or muscle aches?
• Are you bothered by food sensitivities and/or digestive problems?
• Do you crave sugar?
• Do you sometimes feel spaced out?
• Are you bothered by depression and/or irritability
• Are you bothered by headaches
• Are you sensitive to tobacco smoke, perfume and other chemicals?

I answered yes to every one of these questions and was thrilled to find out that my chronic health problems, the problems that I had sought answers to by seeing countless doctors, undergoing numerous tests and even exploratory surgery, for over 15 years may finally have an explanation.  After answering these questions I read the words “Your health problems may be yeast related.”  I sure hoped so.  I desperately wanted an answer and this felt like my last hope of regaining my health.  No doctor was able to help me so I was out of ideas.  I figured I would keep reading and see what this guy had to say.  I went on to read the wide array of symptoms associated with candida overgrowth.  The following is a list of diseases and conditions that were listed not only in Yeast Connection and Women’s Health book in other books that I have read on Candida Overgrowth. 

• Weight gain
• Chronic Vaginal Yeast Infections
• Chronic Bacterial Vaginosis
• Premenstrual Syndrome
• Vulvodynia
• Sexual Dysfunction
• Dyspareunia
• Infertility
• Endometriosis
• Interstitial Cystitis
• Numbness
• Tingling
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Crohn’s Disease
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Colitis
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Myasthenia Gravis
• Eczema
• Acne
• Lupus Erythematosus
• Asthma
• Sinusitis
• Psoriasis
• Chronic Hives

This was another list that resonated with me.  Especially the first eight conditions listed.  I was plagued by numerous female health problems from the age of 15 and I was treated with alternating rounds antibiotics and anti-fungals several times a year for over 12 years.  In retrospect I realize that this treatment was making things worse but who knew.  I would have taken anything just to feel normal. 

I do not know about you but I am amazed at how many diseases and conditions that candida plays a role in.  This is probably why it is so hard to diagnose and may even seem ridiculous to think that your vaginal yeast infection, eczema, joint pain and sinusitis are all somehow related but  now a days after living and breathing the treatment plan I am convinced that they are very much connected.  I believe that our body is just trying to tell us that something just isn’t right in anyway that it can.   If you can relate to all of this keep gathering your information on candida overgrowth and it’s treatments.  I highly recommend The Yeast Connection and Women’s Health by William G. Crook.  It is a great starting point to understand and beating Candida Overgrowth. 

Is Candida albicans overgrowth (Candidiasis) a real medical condition?  To be completely honest I don’t know the answer to this question.  What I do know is that when I follow the dietary guidelines developed to treat this “condition” I feel relief from chronic health problems that have plagued me for more than fifteen years.  Year after year I sought out a variety of doctors to help me find answers to my chronic health problems but there was never an answer.  Doctors would politely turn me away offering me variations of the “It is all in your head” explanation.  I grew frustrated and exhausted.  I believed that I would never find relief from my chronic sinusitis, yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis and many other symptoms.  I continued to try to find answers constantly Googleling my symptoms.  As more literature surfaced on Candida albicans overgrowth I began to recognize myself when reading the causes and the symptoms of this condition.  I have heard countless stories similar to mine but the question still resounds. 

If you have made it to this blog you probably fall into one of the following categories.:

1) Self-diagnosed believer looking for information and recipes (Very Common).
2) Naturopathic health practitioner or chiropractor-diagnosed believer looking for information and recipes (Common).
3) Physician-diagnosed believer looking for information and recipes (Rare).
4) Skeptic looking for answers for unexplained chronic health issues (Common).
5) Mean skeptic who believes that everyone who acknowledges Candida albicans overgrowth as a real medical condition is crazy and/or stupid.  You will probably leave a demeaning comment somewhere on this blog (Very Common).  

I fall  into the first category.  I am self-diagnosed because I grew tired of physicians dismissing my concerns and this condition as a fad diagnosis, when it was the only thing that seem to make sense after countless and pointless rounds of antibiotics and antifungals.  I was done with being viewed as crazy.  I decided to take matters into my own hands.  I am not proposing that you do the same.  It is possible to find a health care practitioner with an open mind that will discuss and help you treat this condition, but I decided it was time to take a leap of faith and try the diet.  I felt that I had nothing to loose. 

 I am not a doctor, pharmacist, nurse of any other type of health care practitioner.  I can’t diagnose this condition and I am often just as confused at all the controversy that surrounds it as you probably are.  I have done countless hours of research on it and I believe that it is a real medical condition that has been the cause of many of my health problems. That said I will not get into a debate on whether or not this condition is real.  It is real to me and if it is real to you, I hope that this blog is provides you with right information that will help you to start regaining your health.  Here you will find general information on candida and recipes.  

Tennille