Denise (California) on 10/06/2022
I read a number of very encouraging posts about coconut oil in the nose & sinuses to clear up a sinus condition. I first tried it very gingerly by breaking a Q-tip in half and putting a little in each nostril, but not up beyond where the nose starts narrowing at the bridge. The next day my breathing was a little better. Then I did the same thing the next day but went up higher carefully with the Q-tip. The next day my breathing was even little better. The next day I melted some coconut oil and let it cool to warm, laid on my back and with my husband's help, driped maybe 1/8 tsp into the nose on each side, and turned my head side to side so the coconut oil could flow into the sinuses on the sides. The next day I was blowing my nose some and had a little sneezing. I thought, good it's cleaning some of that stuff out. I did the same thing a few days in a row but it didn't seem to make much difference. Then I used 2 or 3 times more and I hung my head upside-down so the oil could go into all sinuses, including on the forehead.
A couple days later I was blowing nose and sneezing like crazy. I had to constantly stuff kleenex up my nose and blow nose very often. The amount of sneezing and congestion was tiring, inescapable, miserable. But it got even worse, a couple days later I had thrush, a candida infection in the throat. I started gargling every day and painting the throat with a paste of baking soda and a bit of water. A few days after that both eyes especially one, had conjunctivitis and eyelids could not open very well. I kept one eye closed all the time because it was easier. I used various methods to treat the eyes. Salt water at times and boric acid other times, three or four times a day. Both were somewhat helpful, but the eyes took at least 3-4 months to mostly clear up. After a month or so I was only using the boric acid and salted water once or twice a day. One eyelid still did not open fully until about 9 months later. Sinus congestion, runny nose & sneezing went on in a Torrential way for about 3 weeks. Basically all I was doing was nursing all of my symptoms, sometimes looking on the internet for possible relief, Nothing else. After about 3 weeks it started easing up slowly but was still severe for several weeks more.
I now believe that I had a candida overgrowth in the sinuses (possibly especially bad in sinuses of the forehead). After using coconut oil I think that as candida was getting drained out of the sinuses some of it landed on my tongue and throat and created a thrush infection, and some traveled into the eye sockets creating eye infection.
Currently I am using a product called Xlear, spritzing 1 spray up each side of the nose twice a day. I think it's keeping the candida under control, but not diminishing it.
Denise
Replied By Art (California) on 10/08/2022
One reason you might not be getting more benefit from Xlear Nasal Spray (XNS) is because your dose is low compared to dosing recommendations on the box and to the dosing used in the case series of Covid-19 patients who used XNS to good effect to reduce their symptoms and speed their recovery from Covid-19 as discussed here :
https://www.earthclinic.com/xlear-for-covid-recovery.html
And here :
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7645297/
Here is a relevant quote about dosing form the case series :
' The patient was instructed to spray Xlear nasal spray twice per nostril four times a day every six hours for seven days, which was an adjunct to her self-medication.'
You reported that you are using :
' Currently I am using a product called Xlear, spritzing 1 spray up each side of the nose twice a day. '
That totals 4 sprays per day, a relatively small amount of active ingredients per day.
By comparison, the case series used a total of 16 sprays per day or roughly 4 times the amount of active ingredients that you are using per day. Indeed, Xlear recommends using 2 to 4 pumps in each nostril per use twice a day as a nasal spray alone. So that also totals as much as 16 sprays per day. That dose, of 16 sprays is the same as used in the case series except that the case series does it in 4 doses instead of 2 and I would expect that gives a more even antimicrobial affect compared to using two doses per day. It is also worth mentioning that GSE is beneficial against much more than Candida. It really is a potent antimicrobial and the Xylitol is additive and both help to breakdown biofilms.
Grapefruit Seed Extract and Xylitol are a potent antimicrobial pair against the tested strains of Candida, but it takes a minimum amount of active ingredients in order to have a beneficial effect. You report that you are seeing benefit at your current dose, but insufficient to clear you of the effects of the Candida and the Candida itself, assuming that it is Candida.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212555821000545
Here is a relevant quote from the study :
' GSE demonstrated a fungicidal effect against all tested Candida species, whereas miconazole demonstrated a fungicidal effect against only C. albicans. SEM images showed various cell damage patterns in GSE-treated Candida cells. Fluorescence microscopy revealed that almost all Candida cells were killed by GSE-treated. '
Dose can make the difference with any medicament between effective or not effective.
Art