June (KC, KS) on 02/05/2008:

Well, several months later and several months of taking ACV/BS and I began noticing increasing problems with vaginal yeast infection...much to my surprise. I have not suffered YI in years! I really could not understand why this was happening, but began to suspect it had something to do with the ACV/BS affecting the ph balance of my body.

The past two weeks I've come down with the cold/flu combination we've been hit with here in Kansas. I fell ill, I believe, because of a temporary lapse in my preventative supplementation measures. Plus, I work at a hospital so I'm exposed to everything. Flu bug symptoms included vomiting, terrible nausea, constant diarrhea (luckily I did not have this, but my boyfriend did!), horrible sore throat, mucus, coughing and stopped up sinuses.

To combat the illness I tried lugol's iodine, swedish bitters, h2o2, colloidal silver and salt water gargles for the sore throat. Outside of strep, I don't believe I've ever had a sore throat that lingered as long as this one did-about 4 days! I also quit taking the ACV/BS because I read long ago you should never try to lose weight while sick. I came back to EarthClinic to read about flu and sore throat cures and saw lots of feedback on cayenne pepper for sore throat.

I recently tried cayenne in an ACV drink recipe here that was so disgusting I had to pour the whole thing down the sink. It tasted foul and burned my mouth, so using cayenne for my sore throat was a last resort. But so many people said it was The Cure, so I had to try it. Here's what I did:

I emptied one capsule of cayenne into 3/4 cup of hot water and let it steep for a while like tea. I then drained the mixture through a coffee filter and into a small spray bottle. Then I sprayed the mixture on the back of my throat, gargled a bit, then swallowed. The spray completely bypassed my mouth, so no unnecessary burning. The burning in my throat actually felt kind of soothing and effective. And, what a miracle cure!!! What iodine, h2o2, colloidal silver and salt water could not do in 4 days, CAYENNE PEPPER DID IN 2 HOURS!!! It completely took away the sore throat and I continued to use it periodically for the next several days to ensure the sore throat did not take hold again.

Now, for the flu symptoms. After reading EarthClinic some more I learned ACV is the #1 flu remedy, and I had quit taking it!!! So, I started back on the ACV. I had severe nausea and sipping ACV/BS helped rid me of the nausea which would continue to flare up. The ACV/BS definitely seemed to help with nausea. I also noticed it helped unclog my ears.

I took a great deal of ACV/BS. My weight loss mixture has usually been 2 Tbsp ACV & 1/4 tsp baking soda with Stevia added to sweeten it up. After fizzing subsides I add about 1 qt water and drink through the day. I would do this 1-2 times a day. But in my attempts to rid myself of the flu I was taking 4-6 Tbsp ACV w/ BS in about 1 qt of water.

While I do feel this remedy has helped me heal from the flu, which I'm still fighting a bit, it has also had the unfortunate side effect of worsening my yeast infection! Two days ago I spent $12 on a bottle of probiotics to help. It's helped some, but not completely.

So, once again, I came back to EarthClinic and found the page on ACV/BS side effects. I see I am not the only one suffering from the yeast infection side effect of BS. So, I am now going to try ACV alone, no BS, mixed in water. I really wanted to use the BS because of all the good things I have heard and its ability to protect my teeth. But I am guessing it is responsible for my yeast infection.

Also, in my reading I discovered the suggested relationship between electrolyte imbalance and too much baking soda! For the past several months my heart palpitations had been getting incredibly severe, so I started taking various forms of electrolyte solutions. I found Ted's recipe of sea salt/magnesium citrate/potassium citrate to be a fabulous cure. But now I really suspect the baking soda might have been contributing or even directly causing my electrolyte imbalance and subsequent heart palpitations all this time!

I am further dismayed by reading that BS can deplete your body of chromium, B-vitamins and iodine---some of the very substances I have been trying to increase my intake of! I have also noticed that this winter my face has really dried out in ways it has never done before, such as crepey skin on my forehead and increased wrinkles around my eyes. I have been lamenting this as premature aging, but now I suspect the drying effects of baking soda. I hope I see a reversal in these symptoms, because I have read a great deal about how ACV is supposed to make your skin glow. I was beginning to think I was the exception to the rule.

Of course, there are many many messages about how much ACV/BS has helped people. I'm guessing it all comes down to finding what works best for your body. I often think back to the blood type diet recommendations and how certain things work for certain blood types and other things don't. It appears that baking soda does not work well for someone like me who is O+ and has a naturally acidic body chemistry!