Hello everyone,

I think I've been suffering with Candida for YEARS, with no relief. I'm now pregnant and I swear it's flared up more than it has in years - debilitating headaches, brain fog, and lots of the "big D." Yuck, to say the least. And this is on top of regular morning sickness! In any case, I've started probiotics, the "Pearls IC" and I've been taking them, one a day, for about a week now. I've been sick as a dog, stomach-wise, every day since I took them - lots of the big D, almost every day, twice a day some times. My question is, does anyone know if you can be allergic to probiotics? Or is this dieoff? It's such a nuisance that I'm considering stopping taking them, but on the other hand, if this is dieoff and I will get better, I don't want to stop. Also, apples and potatoes seem to make everything worse, which is strange to me because I thought they were both really healthy foods.

I'm only taking probiotics because I can't take any antifungals right now due to my pregnancy.

Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you.

Kelley

Definitely not an expert here - but wouldn't apples and potatoes - both starchy foods just feed the candida? I find the most releif from symptoms on a lower carb WOE, and the carbs I do eat tend to be green veggie carbs, with some fiber. And I'm sure pregnancy hormones just make it all harder to balance. I'm sure you could be sensitive to the probiotics - it could be the "dieoff" response.

I've heard that garlic, oils like fish oils, primose oil, castor oil, vitamin E, coconut oil, capryilic acid (fatty acid) can all help to treat candida. But I'm not sure what if any would be okay during pregnancy.

Just some alternatives...

sounds like die off symptoms to me. If it's a different type of reaction, maybe try taking a different probiotic...i really like the kind that's refrigerated and not in a pill form. you mix it in a cup of h2o.

coconut oil and anything with omega 3s will REALLY help you out. also, try using grapeseed oil for your homemade mayonnaise.

eating apples and potatoes will DEFINITELY make your symptoms much worse. Anything with carbs...every time I eat anything like that I instantly feel really drunk.

Hope this helps you out a bit!! Good luck and congrats on being pregnant....

Apples give me the runs. Apple juice is even worse. Apples have a diuretic effect - I think it's the pectin. "An apple a day..." is one of the worst health myths out there as far as I'm concerned.

One great easy way to make raw garlic palatable is to use it in mayonnaise or salad dressing. I have some recipes on my vinegar-free salad dressing page:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=377849

What is commonly thought to be candida may in fact be Klebsiella pneumoniae. There are good data to support the idea that Kp may cause Crohn's disease, and some other disorders as well. The problems go back to starch consumption; starch feeds Kp, which in turn produces an enzyme called pullulanase. The proteins in the system that forms the enzyme are mistaken by the immune system for collagen, which causes the autoimmune reaction.

However, of the products that are unsafe to eat, potatoes (loaded with starch) and apple peels (loaded with amylopectin- the particularly nasty form of starch) rank right up there. Do peeled apples agree with you- in small quantities (1/4 to 1/2 apple)? If they do, then I'd recommend reading "Breaking the Vicious Cycle."

Good luck!

You could be reacting to the added ingredients in your probiotic. My goal with supplements these days is to get them in as pure of form as possible. Unfortunately, they cost more that way.

I reacted to a probiotic once, and since I'm allergic to so many things, I was afraid that I was allergic to probiotics, too. I was afraid to even try them again for a long time, but recently I found one for which the only added ingredient is the coating so that it can pass through your stomach without being damaged by the stomach acids. So far I'm doing okay on it.

I've heard elsewhere that candida is not the only organism that can overgrow in your GI tract and cause the same symptoms. Is the treatment for Kp the same? Does it respond differently to things like sauerkraut? (I seem to recall that sauerkraut actually has some klebsiella, at least in the early stages).

Treatment for Kp is straightforward: no starch. The primary problems from starch come from Kp producing enzymes to debranch amylopectin (the predominant type of starch). Ebringer elucidated the precise pathway by which this happens.

Fermented products- when they're actually fermented (I understand much of the sauerkraut is just pickled and laced with chemicals, rather than fermented), there's less "food" for *anything* to subsist on, particularly bacteria. Fungi can still chew away at the long-chain carbohydrates, so perhaps that is why it does not help with candida.

Thanks to all of you for your advice. I'd never heard of klebisella pneumoniae (sp?) so I'll look into that. I'll probably try other probiotics too - any recommendations?

Kelster, I'm not sure whether or not there are rules against posting brands on the board, but I'll chance it: So far I'm doing well on Renew Life.

eta: If I need to edit, someone, let me know.

I stay away from that stuff, but really? I thought even commercial sauerkraut was really fermented - it's just pasteurized afterwards. No worries though, I make my own. So much cheaper, so much more fun, and so much tastier!