[YEA]  05/01/2004: Jan writes: "I discovered I had a Candida overgrowth 3 years ago when I decided to go on the Atkins diet. Dr Atkins mentioned Candida in his book and told how to identify who might have it. I determined that I did by using the spit test, which involves gathering the first saliva that you have in the morning upon waking, and spitting it into a glass of cold water. After it sits for a few minutes to l hour, if the saliva forms long strings reaching down towards the bottom of the glass, like roots, that indicates a Candida overgrowth. Or it may become cloudy or cause flecks, if the infection is somewhat less rampant. I had lots of long "roots." So I started doing some research on the internet to see what I could do about it. My sister and her family had had a Candida overgrowth 15 years before, and went on a VERY strict diet for a year, taking Nystatin daily along with the diet and she and her family got rid of it and were able to eat a "normal" diet again. I, however, did not want to use drugs. I believe in the natural way as much as possible, so I started doing some research.

The first thing I did was cut out sugar and switch to Aspartame or whatever other non-sugar sweetener that was available. Almost every diet food had Aspartame, and it tasted good, so I used it in everything. Diet drinks, sugar-free jello, sugar-free anything seemed to have Aspartame. Being completely unaware of the dangers of Aspartame, I used it freely. If you are not aware of the problems with Aspartame, do some research on the Internet. It is a neurotoxin and poisonous! Avoid it at all costs. They are now finding that people can go blind using it.

Within a few months on Aspartame I was so sick I couldn't sit up straight in a chair. Almost paralyzed, I could barely walk and I couldn't think or remember anything...it was like living in a fog. This stuff is truly legalized poison. I found info about Aspartame on the internet and immediately cut all of that out of my diet and very slowly the brain fog began to lift, and I started to regain strength. Now, two and a half years later, I am still not 100%, but I am doing so much better. Motor functions have returned to normal. My memory has improved greatly. I don't have to live by lists all the time now, and I can remember details of my work and daily life.

I continued my search for a sweetener that would substitute for sugar. All of them have their problems and ALL of them feed the Candida! Even Saccharin in the pink packets will feed the yeast to some extent, but I found it to be the least offensive. Stevia will, as well, though to a smaller extent as you use less of it. Nutra Sweet or Sucralose is a chemical made from Sugar. It is no longer sugar, though it tastes sweet like sugar and is promoted as being made from sugar. It is still a chemical and has a whole set of contraindications of its own. Aspartame and Splenda or Nutrasweet, the main sugar alternatives, are not safe, as even brief research on the internet will show.

I went on a strict diet for over a month consisting ONLY of plain meats with no flour coating, no condiments or additives. I ate only fish, eggs, butter, olive oil and olives with the vinegar drained off them and replaced with olive oil flavored with garlic powder, and a cup of beef bouillon, if I wanted something hot to drink. (Chicken Bouillon has carbs in all the brands I've looked at, so ALWAYS read any label of whatever food you want to add to your diet.) All of those have zero carbs, but the olives have some vinegar, which also enables the yeast to grow, because it prefers an acid rather than alkaline condition, so I used those sparingly. I didn't like drinking the olive oil plain, so I eat a couple of olives in it for flavor. I included them, because I learned that 2 tblsp of olive oil per day will prevent the Candida from mutating from the single cell to the long chain type, which penetrates the walls of the intestine, causing Leaky Gut Syndrome. This leads to Candida infection throughout the body and creates allergies, because from what I've read and understand, undigested food particles slip through the holes in the gut created by the Candida and cause havoc with the immune system.

I fasted for two weeks, then stayed on this strict diet for a month or more to control the Thrush, which was (I thought at the time!) my main manifestation of Candida infection. (As I've since learned, I have a chronic sinus infection from Candida which is what causes the sore throats, laryngitis and Thrush to occur!) Over the next year, as I gradually controlled the Thrush and stopped the outbreaks, I gradually added back into my diet, salad with low carb dressings. Then things with a few more carbs, and occasionally a complete break from the diet where I'd CRAVE sweets and anything with carbs. At those times, I'd eat anything that wouldn't run from me...of course, in the process, causing another outbreak of Candida. The Candida itself, I've learned, causes these cravings, so complete avoidance of extra carbs while you are getting well is best. Cravings and bingeing is what threw me into Thrush. I never had that before, even though I did have a Candida overload. My body was able to cope with the overload, until I started cutting out carbs, then had cravings and then binged.

Looking back I can see all this clearly, but at the time I was learning what had carbs, that vinegar and most condiments--catsup, mustards, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, etc. all have vinegar or something else fermented in them that feed the yeast. Alcoholic drinks are also fermented, so I avoided them as well. I also learned that anything made with a culture like cheese or sour cream also add to the yeast load. I had 5 or 6 really bad outbreaks of Thrush during that time, sometimes knowing I'd eaten the wrong thing, and other times, completely mystified as to why I was having an outbreak, thinking I'd followed the diet so rigorously. It has NOT been a pleasant experience. After a Thrush outbreak, I'd have to fast completely with nothing but water for 10 days, waiting for the Thrush to die out and for my mouth to heal. One time, I fasted the 10 days, had a meal of only a chicken breast, and immediately had another outbreak, so I fasted for another 10 days before I could safely put anything into my mouth. Because I couldn't eat anything for 10 days at a time, I lost at least 10 lbs. every time I had an outbreak.

I learned later that cooking meat at high temps, such as are used in frying, which I did with the chicken breast (and seasoned it with lemon pepper!), where you get those nice brown drippings that can be used to make gravy, causes chemical changes in the meat, and those chemicals also feed the yeast! And spices, too, will feed the yeast!. Only salt and pepper have not caused me to have a reaction, when I am fighting a heavy load of yeast. Lemon Pepper does. Garlic powder will. Curry will. They are from plants, so I suppose they must have some small amount of carbs, however tiny, in them. Witha huge yeast burden, feeding it any amount of carbs will cause it to grow even larger.

The safest way for me to eat meat, which has zero carbs, was to bake or boil it, lightly fry it if I must, steam it or slow cook it in the crock pot. NO high temps. High temperatures cause chemical changes and it will feed the yeast. I also avoid meats that have been processed, such as lunch meats or sausages, because the may contain sulfites and other chemicals, which also enable the yeast to grow.

So over the next 2 years I lost 65 lbs., fasting, because I couldn't eat. I was sick and weak from the Aspartame poisoning and the Candida and still searching for something to control and kill the yeast. About 6 months into it, I found GSE (Grape Seed Extract). What a blessing. Ten to fifteen drops in a glass of water actually killed the yeast! I drank it three times a day and gradually felt better and better. But even though I wasn't having Thrush outbreaks, I still always had a small patch of Thrush inside my cheek. It never ever healed completely.

I started adding foods back into my diet and after almost 2 years, I was eating close to a normal diet. I still didn't eat any pasta, or bread more than once a month and then only if it was REALLY heated, as in a toasted cheese sandwich, so as to kill any remaining yeast in the bread or the cheese. I very rarely ate corn or peas or potatoes because they are high in complex carbs, but still, I felt I was back to an almost normal diet.

By the way, I've found that it takes anywhere from 6 to 12 hours for a food to be digested, for the nutrients to get into your blood stream and be distributed throughout your body to feed the yeast, before that food causes a reaction. So, I finally figured out that it might not be what I had JUST eaten an hour or two before, it could also be what I had eaten 6-12 hours before that was causing reactions. And the reactions could go on for 6 hrs. to days or weeks, depending on the load of Candida I had at the time.

Then, two years into fighting Candida--about 6 mo. ago, I tried a coffee drink my friend was selling which contained a mushroom derivative. He touted it as a wonder drink, providing energy and a mood elevator. I wondered if it would adversely affect me, as I knew mushrooms and Candida are both fungi. But I thought if I start to feel any symptoms, I'll just stop.

Well, it was wonderful. I felt really good, had lots of energy. Five days after starting to drink it, I had the WORST outbreak of Thrush ever. No warning. Just woke up with fever and chills and face swelling horribly, tongue so swollen I couldn't talk! It was VERY painful, as my whole inside of my mouth and tongue was RAW and bleeding from the Candida. I immediately started on my control program, no food, mouth rinses and gargling, but it was so painful I broke down and bought some Nystatin. I couldn't deal with the usual 10 days of bleeding and pain and swelling and waiting to heal.

So I purchased half a pint of Nystatin and it really did work! It was a rinse and spit kind of prescription, but it contained SUGAR! Can you imagine! I found that out when I swallowed some and had an immediate, renewed outbreak the next day. So I used that faithfully for two weeks. (The woman who sold me the prescription at Shopko told me she had been on the same prescription for 12 years!!!! I was shocked! The poor woman. She never will get well on that rinse. It merely controls the Candida it comes in contact with, but it contacts only what is in the mouth and throat. The rest of the candida throughout the body is never touched, so it just flares up again later.) Well, Nystatin didn't heal the Candida, but it did control it. When I tried to back off taking it, I'd have a new outbreak.

I missed work because I also had a raging sinus infection, draining into my throat, clogging my vocal cords, and causing Laryngitis. I used to get Laryngitis twice a year in my younger days and took a prescription antibiotic twice a year to heal it. I'd get a sore throat and then lose my voice. (I was also on long term birth control pills. I learned later that both birth control pills, because of the hormones, and antibiotics, which kill off the good bacteria that eat fungi, actually promote Candida overgrowth! The doctor said I needed my tonsils out, but even before I knew about taking proactive care of myself a healthier or more natural way, I knew I didn't want doctors cutting me up, so I wouldn't let them remove them. Looking back, I think, What Idiocy! Tonsils are the guards and fighters of infection. Just because them become inflamed and are fighting the bacteria in your mouth and throat, the medical professionals want to remove them! That's crazy.

So after purchasing Nystatin, I got back on the internet to do more research, and found a wonderful site: www.jnutra.com . (Their phone number is 1-316-651-5739.) It is Jernigan Neutraceuticals site and it belongs to a husband and wife Chiropractor team who create their own medicines and do their own research. They have a 10 step healing program. Go there and click on Somerlyton, then on Diet and Nutrition and after you read that, click on What to Expect. You may be as amazed as I was at these doctors' healing concepts.

What I found there to help me is Yeast Ease. It kills all 5 of the major kinds of yeast on contact. All of the doctors prescriptions kill only one, and not even one efficiently, as they can come back as resistant strains! Is that scary or what! And it kills not only in the mouth and gut, but Yeast Ease kills Candida systemically! It gets into your blood and organs and cleans out the yeast! But it must work very slowly. After 3 months on it, and eating ONLY meat during that time, I am still overwhelmed and having Candida outbreaks, when I try to add back carbs. However, it does kill on contact and it is absolutely wonderful for controlling Thrush or skin problems caused by Candida. At the first hint of Thrush I put 7 drops in a glass of water and sip and swish it over a few hours and it kills it immediately. No more swelling or pain! That alone is worth the price. And it is 'way cheaper than Nystatin and better for you. No side effects.

Four months into the Yeast Ease, I can tell you I FEEL the difference. In fact, after just 10 days on the Yeast Ease, I felt so good I actually started adding foods back into my diet, but it was too soon and I felt a mild outbreak coming, so stopped it immediately. But I know from my symptoms, it actually is controlling and killing the yeast.

BUT...NOTHING CONTROLS YEAST LIKE DIET.

Whatever you eat, WILL feed the yeast and it will grow. No matter what you use to kill some of the yeast, the rest will multiply. Therefore, eating the fewest carbs and the foods which feed or promote the growth of Candida is the quickest way to health.

In order to effect a quick and positive change, I went back to eating meat only. And the meat must be as free from human contamination as possible. Sausages, wieners, bacon, ham, lunch meats, deli meats, etc. all contain preservatives, sulfites, nitrites and nitrates, and God knows what else that I have no idea about. These will, I've learned from experience, feed the Candida or somehow encourage its growth. Even plain meat contain substances that feed it or enable the yeast to grow. Most beef is loaded with hormones and some antibiotics. Same for Chicken. Turkey and pork seem to be better in these respects. Pigs seem to have fewer health problems and seem to need fewer antibiotics.

I again ate NO condiments, nothing but meat, eggs, fish, butter and olive oil, olives and bouillon. Zero carbs. I read every label and look for anything that ends in "ose" which indicates sugar of some kind. I avoided anything with vinegar, anything fermented, anything with a culture like cheese, or any kind of carbs. There are NO good carbs when it comes to Yeast. Forget the carb bars. They feed the yeast, too.

In its favor, I've found that if I eat sugar, as opposed to complex carbs, such as corn, squash and potatoes, I have a smaller reaction than when eating the complex carbs. Maybe because it burns off quicker in my system? The complex ones hang around in my blood as blood sugar longer, thus feeding the Candida throughout my body? I don't know, but I don't recommend eating either, if you are trying to reduce your Candida load. Sugar, complex carbs and "net carbs" all feed the yeast.

Coffee, because of the caffeine, is also not good if you are fighting Candida. Caffeine raises your blood sugar. Higher sugar content in your blood feeds the yeast throughout your body, and that makes the yeast grow again.

Of course, "meat only" is not a healthy long term diet. I have survived nicely on it for a month or two at a time by using an array of supplements. I am using

Citracal D, 660 Mg, plus 400 D, 1 tablet 2 times a day

Magnesium, 400 mg, plus 15mg zinc, 3 to 5 tablets, 4 times a day

Potassium, 550 mg tablets, 5 of them 4 times a day

B complex, 125 mg timed release, 1 tablet 4 times a day

Beta Carotene, 25,000 I.U., 1 capsule 4 times a day

Vitamin C, 1000 mg, 1 tablet, 4 times a day

Vitamin E, 400 mg, 1 capsule, 4 times a day

Selenium, 200 mg. 2 times a day

Plus the other supplements, such as MSM/L-Lysine, enzymes, GSE, Yeast Ease, etc mentioned later in this article.

I have had a chronic infection for YEARS. I thought I had allergies to different things, and I did, but I'm finding that the lighter the Candida load I carry, the fewer allergies I have! I was allergic to dust and smoke and mold and wheat. I still can't tolerate mold, but dust and smoke hardly bother me, and I rarely have hives from wheat anymore, when I was eating some previous to this last outbreak. Occasionally, just one hive would pop up for a day and then disappear, if I have eaten something like a donut, etc. If I dab this with a few drops of Yeast Ease in a pint of water, it heals quicker! I am actually oozing yeast. Some people get red blotchy skin, some get sore places where their bra or clothes rub. Some get oozing red places in the folds of their skin as where the abdomen and thigh meet or under their arms. Yeast Ease, just a few drops in a pint of water, applied with a cotton ball, will clear these up.

Two other miracle workers I've recently discovered are Oregacyn and Oregamax from House of Nutrition. Oregacyn cleans up the sinuses and Oregamax cleans up the intestine. I was tremendously improved on these two after only a few short weeks and able to return to a nearly normal diet. I am not sure that Candida will ever be completely cured as it is a normal part of our bodies, so I plan to stay on a maintenance dosage for as long as necessary...maybe for life! I do know that now I have the tools I need to fight and control the Candida. Thank God!!! It has been a long miserable battle.

Over the past two years, trying to do healthy, closer-to-nature healing, rather than doctor's prescriptions, I have tried and learned some things I'd like to share. Candida manifests it presence in many ways, up to 300 different symptoms, I've read. Yours may be different, but here are some of mine and ways I've found to deal with them..

Candida Symptoms I've Experienced:

Depression:

So many people are on antidepressants these days, but I've found that this too is greatly improved by reducing the Candida load and eating good balanced meals, and making sure I have enough Calcium and magnesium in my diet. The nutrition books recommend 2:l ratio for Calcium/magnesium, but I've found that my diet contains much more calcium than magnesium (when I'm eating real food, not just meat), so I need to supplement EQUAL amounts of Calcium/Magnesium in order to balance what I am taking in through eating. This has worked well for me and I rarely suffer from depression now, unless I am in the throes of a Candida attack again.

Hands and Feet feel cold:

Yes, this too, is a symptom of Candida overload. It can be symptomatic of other things as well, low thyroid for one, but reducing your Candida load will help you here, too.

Incontinence:

I've found that when my Candida load is heavy, I "dribble" more, especially under stress such as laughing or coughing. If my ears are ringing, I can expect this to manifest. I wear mini pads, and they help prevent embarrassment, but of course do nothing to solve the problem. Again, systemically reducing the Candida load is the way to "cure" this.

Overweight:

Candida causes cravings for all the wrong things and makes us addicts of carbs and sugar and white flour. This throws off our metabolism and causes weight gain. Controlling the candida will allow your body to return to normal, stop the cravings and cause weight loss. Yeast Ease is the only thing I know of that will SYSTEMICALLY eliminate yeast in your body. If you don't eliminate the systemic load, it won't matter how many symptoms you battle, you will never win. Those symptoms will always return, because your body still has the infestation!

Your liver also plays a big part in weight control, because it determines whether your body stores or burns fat, and it can be affected by the Candida, so consider a liver cleanse at least 4 or 5 times, and more if you are seeing good results each time. Intrahepatic stones can harbor live viruses, bacteria, candida, etc. When your liver processes waste material, bacteria, parasites, candida, etc. can be harbored in the stones that block the bile ducts. These need to be cleared out of the body. Info on liver cleansing can be found at. http://curezone.com/forums/m.asp?f=460&I=5776

Paragone:

This is a mixture of different oils and herbs taken as drops in water, plus two capsules three times a day. It is effective against many kinds of parasites. I did this cleanse twice, but did not find a substantial difference in my candida symptoms, so I may not have had parasites that responded to this.

Pinkeye:

When my sinuses were badly infected, they blocked the tear ducts from my eyes which drain intothe sinuses, and that caused red, infected eyes or Pinkeye. A drop of Yeast Ease in Colloidal silver makes a good eye drop for me. Or I used three drops of bleach in 1.5 ounces of saline or plain water. (Bleach in your eyes? Why not? I swim in a chlorinated pool. And bleach kills germs and fungi on contact!) I also wash my eyes in the shower. I hold my hands under the shower head spray so that a very fine spray comes off my hands. I put my face into that spray and blink rapidly and it washes my eyes thoroughly. (Our water is from a pure, underground source and has no fluoride.) I follow that with the eye drops.

Rashes or Itching skin:

Candida can cause a red rash on your face or elsewhere, pimples that are watery and weepy, or soreness in the folds of your skin, under arms and in the area where thigh meets abdomen, to mention a couple. Candida is anaerobic, which means it likes to be without air, and it prefers dark, moist places. I have found several good remedies for these problems.

Redness and soreness in folds of skin can be cleaned up in a few days with Oxygene oxygenated gel (About $10). It is a multi-level marketing product, which I get from my dentist. It is clear and has extra oxygen in it. I rubbed a small amount over infected area at bedtime, so the folds of my skin would be more stretched out than during the day time. As it dries out, I just add a few drops of water to activate the oxygen again and in a few days the rash or soreness is gone. The bleach solution will also work here, but it will sting slightly. I apply a hemorrhoid salve such as Preparation H, after washing it thoroughly. (Hemorrhoid salves that contain shark liver oil promote healing better than anything I've ever found. It is wonderful for burns and will even remove scars if you use it long enough To remove the scar, keep using it even after the burn is all healed, until the scar disappears!)

Yeast Ease kills on contact. Ten drops in a pint of water applied with a cotton ball will have redness, rashes or pimples cleaned up in a few days, if your rash is due to Candida. Yeast Ease is effective, even diluted to 1 part per 3200 parts. Can you imagine! So use it sparingly in your topical applications. No need to waste here.

Of course, the salve or Oxygene or bleach solution or Yeast Ease used topically is only a temporary fix. It doesn't cure the systemic problem, which will continue to reoccur, until you control the yeast load in your body.

Ringing or itching in Ears:

Wash ears with soap and water. Dry inside with Q-tip. I put a drop or two of bleach/GSE solution or Yeast Ease solution on a clean Q-tip and swab the inside of ears as far in as I can comfortably reach. Itching stops almost immediately. The ringing in my ears subsides as my total yeast load decreases. One of the ways I can tell I am getting a yeast build up is that my ears start ringing. I've also found that as I flush my sinuses and clean out the infection, my hearing improves. I thought I was losing my hearing and normally have the TV up very loud, but that is also improving.

A masseuse friend recently told me about Tea Tree Oil (also known as maleleucca oil). It is a powerful antibiotic and anti-fungal which penetrates your skin. I've diluted it with olive oil and applied it across my face from my hairline to my upper lip and from ear to ear, including inside the ears, behind my ears and on my temples, so that it would cover all the sinus passage areas. I've also applied it under my jaws to the areas where the glands in my neck are, because they are always swollen from dealing with the constant sinus infection. I do this 2 or three times a day as time permits. I am experiencing a daily reduction in the ringing in my ears, and my swollen glands markedly decreased in size after just a few days of this. I've had better results with the Tea Tree Oil than with any of the other remedies. It seems to absorb into my sinuses and help kill whatever infection is there. The right side of my sinuses is almost completely healed, and the left side is markedly better after several weeks of application. I rare,ly find flecks of yellow mucus, indicating pockets of infection in my sinuses, because they are SO much improved.

Scalp itching:

At first I used ¼ cup dark vinegar to 1 pint water as a rinse after shampooing. This helped a lot. I used dandruff shampoo for 30 years and that helps, but I wanted more natural means. Now I mix 5 drops of Yeast Ease into 1 cup of water and use it as a rinse, after I use my conditioner. It kills on contact. But, if your body is still loaded with yeast, it will continue to come out on your scalp or elsewhere, so you must control the load your body carries to affect a permanent solution. It is the same with all other symptoms I'm listing. Unless you reduce your systemic load, none of this will be permanent.

Sinuses:

In 1999 The Mayo Clinic did a study on sinus problems and found that almost ALL sinus problems involved fungi in the sinus cavities. They also found that when doctors treated sinus infections with antibiotics, which do kill bacteria, but which can not touch fungi, they may have prevented the secondary infection in their patients, but they CAUSED a greater infection of the fungi, because bacteria, the good ones, eat fungi, thus helping to control it. That was printed for any doctor to read, yet even now, their treatment of choice for a sinus infection is antibiotics! Go figure!

I made a sinus wash from 1 ounce of Colloidal Silver (It fights bacterial infection which is secondary and usually accompanies the yeast infection) 1 drop of GSE and 3 drops of bleach. I use that as a sinus wash as many times a day as I feel stuffy. A saline solution base, which you can buy at any drug store, would work with 3 drops of bleach. Whatever you use, your sinuses should feel less stuffy when you are done, maybe even clear! If you feel stuffy after 3 to 5 flushes and nose blows (blow gently as blowing too hard can force the mucus back into your sinuses), perhaps you are reacting to one of the ingredients in the nasal wash. Everyone is different. I seem to get the best results with water and 3 drops of bleach. Yeast Ease in this is not optimum for me. Maybe because 1 drop in l ounce of either base is too strong? I don't know, but I seem stuffier afterwards. Maybe I'll try diluting it more before using it. 3 ounces to 1 drop? Trial and error are the name of the game.

I know that when I see any yellow colored mucus, that indicates infection. Clear mucus probably means sinuses are putting out mucus fast enough to wash out infection, but if I am coughing up any yellow mucus or blowing my nose and producing yellow mucus, that always indicates infection.

For many years I've used over the counter nasal sprays, such as Duration and others like it. I've read that they aren't good for you, cause addiction to them, etc. So from time to time, just to see where I am, I get off of the spray, one nostril at a time, so that I can still breathe out of the other, but I can see if my sinuses are better. Well, of course, they weren't improving, because I didn't know how to treat them. I've since learned about nasal flushes, so now I feel I am making some progress. I also see that the more sinus washes I do, the less I seem to need the Duration.

When I looked for directions on the internet on how to do a sinus wash, I found I had been reaching only about half of my sinus cavity area. I found a picture of where all the sinus cavities are, and after seeing that, I could see that I needed to do the wash standing straight up, then bending way over--almost up-side-down, and turning my head slowly from one side to the other side to make sure all of the areas of the insides of my sinuses were washed. Your sinuses extend back to your inner ear area as well, so spraying with your left ear down and then your right ear down will reach other areas as well. When I get "water in my ear" as it feels sometimes when you go swimming, I just bend over and let it drain slowly out or lay on my side with my head lower than my body, the plugged ear UP.

Sinuses are coated with a mucus layer and in order for the solution to reach the infection in the skin under the mucus, it does seem to take a while to clean this all out. I do 3 to 5 consecutive flushes. Then 3 to 5 more in a few hours. When I started to do the bending over wash, I found several areas that stung around my eyebrow and temple area, so I knew there were infected areas there that I hadn't reached previously. The up-side-down flushing has helped immensely! My breathing is much improved and I sleep better because of it. When I am stuffy at night, Vicks helps me to breathe.

However, I recently tried Oregacyn, from www.HouseofNutrition.com, and it is wonderful. It is made specifically for sinus infections. I started with 1 capsule twice a day, but increased to two capsules twice a day after a few days. By the time I finished the first bottle I noticed some difference. By the time I finished the second bottle I was no longer seeing any yellow mucus or infection and was breathing VERY well, using my nasal spray only a few times a day rather than every hour. I ordered 90 capsules more and am seeing improvement every day. This has been the absolute biggest help I've found. There is even research to back up the benefits I've seen. I still use the nasal wash at night, but really am impressed with the improvement I've seen on Oregacyn. This has really cleaned up my sinuses! I was back on a regular diet after only 5 weeks of Oregacyn! I still go slow on the carbs, but I have added most things back into my diet, including an occasional dessert!!

Other things that helped:

I also read about inhaling vapor from a dehumidifier or vaporizer with about 5-10 drops of Tea Tree Oil to 2 quarts of water. Oil of Oregano can be used for this as well. When I was really struggling with the infection, I inhaled the vapors for 5 min or so each hour, blowing gently to remove whatever I could. This helped immensely. I have also used the vaporizer in my room while I sleep. I mixed a gallon of the above mixture and it can be stronger if you wish, and sleep with that all night. That has also helped me to breath more easily.

If I had REALLY bad congestion, I've found that a wet wash cloth on my face and a hot heating pad over that will cause my sinuses to drain, so that I can do a sinus flush. I find sitting in a semi-reclined position in my recliner chair was best for drainage. Other ways I found to break up congestion are to peel some onions or eat horseradish or have a good cry.

I also took decongestant pills for years. A year ago I decided to stop those. I noticed NO difference in taking them or not! What a lot of wasted money there. I had built up a tolerance to them and they were having no affect. I recently took some for a day or two and they were helpful again to clear congestion and halt the flood of mucus.

Sore Throat:

Whether it is from draining sinuses or strep throat or anything else, I use the same mixture: 3 Tblsp. Household liquid bleach in 1 cup water. Gargle 3 or 4 times in 12 hours and soreness will be gone. Bleach kills germs and fungus ON CONTACT. I haven't had a sore throat for more than 12 hours since I started using this. It knocks it out immediately.

I also tried gargling with Hydrogen Peroxide and putting that on topically. It stings and it isn't effective. What I am able to buy over the counter isn't strong enough.

Thrush:

3 Tablespoons household liquid bleach to 1 cup of water. Gargle and spit. This was an amazing find for me. I was cleaning the shower one day and noticed some mold growing in the cracks of the grout. I got out the bleach and wiped it down and that was the end of it. Then, I thought, why not kill my fungus (Candida), too! It kills on contact! At first thought, it was a bit scary. Putting bleach in my mouth? But I thought about putting my hands into bleach, even a straight solution, and it didn't damage the skin or hurt at all, unless I had a cut, so I thought I'd give it a try. It doesn't taste good, but it sure works. Until I started using Yeast Ease, I gargled daily with a mild bleach solution, as maintenance, sort of like using Nystatin. It doesn't cure it, but it kept it from becoming an outbreak, except when I really overdid it on the carbs. Now I gargle with 7 drops of Yeast Ease in a pint of water. No taste, no pain, and it is completely effective, too.

I've also noticed I no longer have sore teeth or gum problems, since I started gargling with bleach. I used to lose a tooth every couple of years--due to an infection in the root of the tooth, I thought. The Dentist said it needed a root canal, so I'd get one and then a few weeks later it would flare up again and I'd have to have it pulled. Turns out, it was infection getting into my gums. Gargling with bleach prevents whatever germs there were in my mouth from getting into my gums and infecting my teeth. (Could that have been due to the Candida in my mouth?) What a blessing that has been. It's really reduced dental visits, too!

I also soak my toothbrush in the bleach solution every day so that I don't reinfect myself from germs from a previous brushing. I use only baking soda for brushing my teeth. It scrubs and cleans and freshens nicely without adding any sugar to my mouth.

As for gargling with the bleach solution when having a Thrush outbreak... It is painful! Bleach in a cut on your hand stings like fire, and it is no different when your mouth is raw and sore. It is like having a mouth full of fire, but it does kill the Candida on contact, so even a brief rinse and spit kills it. However, it can't reach the Candida that is still coming out through the skin of the mouth, so I gargled several times a day until the outbreak subsided. It is painful. And I fasted. If I ate anything other than water, the outbreak worsened. Yeast Ease is SO much more pleasant to use than bleach.

Vaginal Infection:

I used 2 Tblsp. Vinegar in 1 qt. warm water to use as a douche twice a day till no more itching. It was gone in a few days. I have had no outbreaks vaginally for a long, long time. I'm told a few drops of Tea Tree Oil in some water works well as a douche, as I'm sure Yeast Ease would, as well.

Supplements:

I have tried a variety of supplements to control Candida. Olive leaf, Caprylic acid, tea tree oil, several ProBiotics, soil based organisms, hyssop, Wild oil of oregano come to mind. All are touted as killing Candida, but either I wasn't taking enough, and I always take more than directed, or they just weren't effective enough to show me any results. Oregamax capsules did seem to help for the l bottle I tried early on, but not nearly as much as Yeast Ease.

Acidophilus is imperative for proper intestinal flora. Lots of different kinds, brands, strains and varieties are available. Some offer mixed varieties of acidophilus and some have just one. Some have soil based organisms which are supposed to eat up the Candida, and they do work, but they are soil based, which means they don't thrive in our intestines and thus, must be continually replenished. I've also read that there may be some problems with long term use of the soil based organisms. They can cause problems which are NOT fixable. I tried them before I did some research and did get good results, but they are very expensive and must be on-going, and they work only in the gut, not systemically. After learning of the contraindications, I stopped using them.

I buy my Acidophilus and pro-biotics from Swanson's (1-800-437-4148). They have a great catalog and offer things other places don't have, and also have some really good prices. I am always cost conscious, so the other two local places I buy my basic vitamins and minerals from are Wal-Mart and Costco.

Colloidal Silver is an infection fighter and is touted as being effective against Candida. I tried the low dosage variety that comes from the health food store and could see no benefits. At 60ppm (high dosage) silver, I have been using 6 tablespoons per day internally, plus mixing it with the GSE and/or bleach as a nasal wash. It does help, but I can't say it GREATLY helps.

Enzymes dissolve and "eat up" the Candida, so they are digested for our energy rather than having them living off us and causing us problems with the gases that they produce as by products of living in our bodies. It makes sense, doesn't it? Digest them! My friend and mentor Elaine said she has had Candida problems in the past, but she did a parasite cleanse with Paragone and started taking enzymes and does so faithfully with every meal, and hasn't had an outbreak since. She recommends about 1500 Betaine HCL with each meal and 3 or 4 tablets of the mixed enzymes. These only clean the gut, not your blood or organs, but once those are clean, the enzymes will help to keep your organs from being re-infected from the Leaky Gut Syndrome.

I ordered two different enzyme tablets from Puritan's Pride (1-800-645-1030. They have great specials in their catalog and low prices always.). They are Betaine HCL and Digestabs which have copious amounts of several different kinds of enzymes in it.

I had some Papaya enzymes here which I had left over from another time I took enzymes. I started to take them again and caused another outbreak, because I didn't read the label. That particular brand of enzyme is LOADED with sugar! Chewable, tastes sweet! I should have known...

So again, READ THE LABELS. You'd think I'd have learned that by now, wouldn't you! Duh! Some days I just want to give myself a good boot in the backside!

Flax Oil is one of my favorites. I've taken three 1000mg gels 2 times a day for a long time. It is supposed to kill Candida, but it is also good because of its Omega 3 oils, and those are beneficial in many ways, so I continue to take my flax oil. Evening Primrose oil is also good, but so much more expensive. Fish oil is not as good for Candida, and all but the pharmaceutical brands of fish oil contain USDA approved amounts of heavy metals such as Mercury. That comes with its own set of new problems! I don't want that and can't afford the pharmaceutical brands, so am using Flax oil.

Heavy Metal pollution in your body also adds to the amount of Candida you may have. After reading "How I Cured My Candida," which discusses how heavy metals contribute to the Candida problem, I learned that the Candida problem may in fact be allowed by my body as a preference to dealing with Heavy Metal pollution. The main thing I tool away from that book was Paragone, which is a treatment for parasites, including Candida. l noticed no great difference.

GSE has been a staple in my arsenal for the past year and a half. It does kill yeast in the gut, and it can cause diarrhea if too much is taken. I didn't consider that all bad, though, as I felt I was also flushing out more Candida, rather than letting it sit inside and reproduce. I still use it, as I know it works. It can be added to the nasal flush, used topically or taken internally. But I feel it doesn't work nearly as well as Yeast Ease. Two 4 oz. Bottles of it, about 8 to 10 month supply, cost about $32 including shipping, from www.Americannutrition.com . Their phone number is 1-219-661-2811)

MSM and L-Lysine are two I started on recently to help me overcome the sinus infection systemically. My friend Elaine suggested I take 8000mg of L-Lysine and 3000mg MSM three times a day. This combination is, I'm told, an infection fighter. I took MSM alone in a smaller dose and didn't notice any difference, but since she has suggested this and she is VERY knowledgeable in homeopathic remedies, I trust her suggestions. I've only done this for a few days, and my sinuses are improved, so it may be due to the flushes and the MSM/L-Lysine combination or maybe only one or the other. I'm just so sick of the sinus infection, I'm willing to hit it from any side rather than try one at a time to see what is working. I KNOW the Yeast Ease is. I trust the MSM/L-Lysine combination is. MSM is good for fighting Candida internally as it is sulfur and our bodies need this for a variety of reasons, including good joint health.

I also learned that to be effective MSM must be pure, no additives such as calcium stearate, magnesium or rice flour or anything else in it. You can buy PURE MSM at some health food stores, or it comes in 8 or 12 oz cans from the local FEED STORE. It is made for horses! Works just fine for humans, too. (This is not the only supplement or medicine that I buy from the feed stores. Prices are much cheaper for animals than for people!)

As a side note, the L-Lysine is AMAZING for killing whatever virus is responsible for Herpes! I used to have horrible outbreaks of cold sores and have many scars on my lower lip to show for it. I read that L-Lysine helped, so took about 2000 mg 4 times a day for a couple of months and haven't had an outbreak since. One time, a few years later, I started to feel just the tiniest warning that a cold sore might be coming, so I went back on the L-Lysine for another month and haven't had anything since then. This must have been 20 years ago.

Olive Oil, which I discussed earlier, is taken to prevent Candida from forming the long chain variety and penetrating the gut, but also for its heart healthy benefits.

Potassium helps to change the pH. Balance of your body's chemistry. Candida prefer an acid environment, but Potassium will help it to become more alkaline. I doubled my intake of Potassium. I can tell from wearing jewelry, even 14K gold, that my system is very acid, because even gold will make my fingers turn black from the metal. But within two days of doubling my intake of Potassium, my fingers stopped turning black from the metal! So I'll watch this and adjust it as necessary. I love tomatoes and lemons, which are very acid, but those can change the pH. Balance for a person fighting Candida, so those aren't optimum for me right now.

Baking Soda (1-2 Teaspoons in 4 to 6 ounces of water) each evening before retiring for 2 to 4 weeks was recommended as another way to change the pH in your body.

Yeast Ease is my most wonderful find to date. It DOES kill on contact. Just the tiniest touch on a slight skin outbreak and the eruption begins to heal the next day. I had one which had been raw and weeping for several days and even the hemorrhoid salve wouldn't heal it. One touch of Yeast Ease and it began to heal the next day.

I can see and feel the difference in my body, and hear the difference in Tinnitis in my ears. Within 12 hours of starting to take the Yeast Ease, I could feel the Thrush healing. Two weeks into taking it, I felt like a new person -- cheerful and energetic, not from Yeast Ease per se, but from LACK of Candida. It is NOT strong enough, however, to overcome a carb laden diet. The Candida will reproduce and the battle is never ending. If you feed the yeast, it will grow. REMEMBER--NOTHING CONTROLS YEAST LIKE DIET.

Other Resources:

"Let's Play Doctor" by Dr. Joel Wallach & Dr. Ma Lan

This book is a must have for all people who want to be proactive in their own health care. Dr. Wallach and his wife Dr. Ma Lan describe many common diseases and maladies that we suffer today and tells what to do to cure them. He also has a section on what different vitamins and minerals do for or to the body and what overdoses of these will do as well. I worried about taking too much of one thing or another, but after reading the book and knowing what is or isn't to much and why and then being able to recognize the symptoms of too much or too little has been of great value to me. You can obtain a copy from me as I bought a whole case of them to share with friends who also want to be well. $15 each. Or you can get one from Dr. Wallach's office by calling 1-800-755-4656

Revised, "Coping with Candida Cook Book" by Dr. Sally Rockwell, nutritionist

This book has a comprehensive list of foods and how many carbs they contain as well as lots of good recipes. I found that I couldn't use many of the recipes until I reduced some of my Candida load, but they are all lower carb recipes. The book contains everything from salads to main dishes to deserts.

The Liver Cleanse Diet book by Dr. Sandra Cabot

I did the liver cleanse to help rid myself of candida trapped or thriving in my liver. I found lots of good info on the internet by looking at Curezone.com and searching under liver cleansing. I found instructions for using olive oil and lemons to cleanse my liver of the parasites and candida which may be present. The candida diet is even more restrictive, but knowing about both helped me. This book also set the stage for my body to begin burning fat, rather than storing fat! I found I was 'way overweight because no matter how little I ate, I still stored fat and gained weight. Once I did the liver cleanses and started on the enzymes and thyroid and the began candida diet, I lost weight naturally--1 to 2 lbs. per week.

The Sinus Cure by Dr. Murray Grossan, M.D.

This book explains sinuses function and provides a seven step program for reducing and relieving symptoms, which is his idea of a cure. It does discuss sinus flushing and recommends it. I found that part helpful.

"How I Cured My Candida" by Ian Solley.

Lots of good info on how the body works, why different things work, heavy metal pollution and cleansing to rid your body of both heavy metals and candida. It is an ebook you can download on the internet and print yourself.

Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue?

These are interrelated and each can be helped immensely by controlling the Candida. I stop short of saying "cured" but I believe from my experience that Candida is the overriding and most influential factor in both diseases. I have a report that I will share with you, if you are interested. Just ask for it.

Juicing

As a side note, Juicing is wonderful for your body, as it delivers so many liquid nutrients to your body immediately. This liquid form of food makes for more availability than chewing up foods which don't always get completely crushed and mixed with saliva to prepare for digestion. BUT ... juicing also delivers all the sugars and carbs, so it may not be the best for anyone in the midst of fighting the Candida battle.

Best wishes on your journey to better health.

Here are the two places I found that have articles that relate to Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia and Candida

Candida, Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia

http://www.curezone.com/dis/1.asp?C0=75

And this one has good info, too

http://www.candidasupport.net/candidarelateddi.html"