Candida is NO FUN!

Here's a little health tip that I learned the hard way. Check out the following link (men too): http://www.womentowomen.com/digestionandgihealth/candida.aspx.
It is a great, realistic article on a systemic yeast infection. Up to 1 in 3 people can have a yeast overgrowth in the intestines at any time. The problem is, this is America. So typically you get a drug from a doctor which doesn't treat the common cause. It is often misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome, eczema, chronic fatigue, crohns disease, gastroenteritis, diaper rash in kiddos, athletes foot, or arthritis. From http://www.thecandidadiet.com/candidasymptoms.htm:

Candida is such a difficult condition to diagnose because it can affect each sufferer in a different way, on a different part of their body, in a way that may even be unique to that person.

For this reason, Candida is often misdiagnosed and the symptom is treated instead of the underlying cause, rather like taking a lozenge for a throat infection!

Practically, patients often have to diagnose themselves because the symptoms of Candida are so confusing. The consensus is that many more people are suffering from Candida than those few who are diagnosed correctly. Symptoms include abdominal pain, fatigue, bloating and indigestion, Oral Thrush, joint pain- sometimes confused with arthritis, Weight gain - very resistant to dieting, Fungus - on your fingernails or athlete's foot, confusion and decreased memory, frequent urinary infections or vaginal yeast infections- antibiotics won't help, red itching eyes - no eye remedies help, rashes and itching, and depression or mood swings - occur randomly and without warning.

In all my testing, we found I have a major yeast build up and hardly any good bacteria. Though the gluten/casein free thing is helping some, I have realized the yeast build up has got to be attacked in order for me to fully recover back to my old self. The yeast actually increases your likely hood of food sensitives. I am so thankful that I have a doctor who looks at the big picture. If this hadn't been caught, it would have continued with years of fatigue and illness. Just keep it in the back of your mind in case you ever start having several of these symptoms. Now I just have to muster the self control to keep sugar and yeast out of my diet for the next few months! Eek! And one last friendly tip: Don't google image search "candida" unless you have a strong stomach. Oh, my.