Yes, I firmly believe there is a connection. I am reading a book right now called "CAndida Related Complex - What your doctor might be missing." by Christine Winderlin. I am also reading The Yeast Connection Handbook by William G. Crook, MD. Dr Crook is an expert on yeast overgrowth.

Yes, I understand about the list of symptoms being similiar. You said half the symptoms are allergies, half are fibro. But all are candida. Candida causes allergies and food allergies, too.

Also, Dr. Crook says that women are more susceptible to yeast problems because progesterone levels increase candida. That is why women who are pregnant get more yeast infections. So, yes your problem could be hormone related, and it could all be related to candida.

You did say you have never had a yeast infection, or taken antibiotics in five years. Have you ever taken cortisone medications or steroid medications? Have you ever been on birth control pills? Are you allergic to mold? If you answered no to all of these questions, it might not be candida that is an issue for you. I personally very rarely get a vaginal yeast infection. I have a myriad of other symptoms, mainly gastrointestinal. I am allergic to mold. Highly allergic I should say. Mold allergies are a big indicator of candida overgrowth.

I am taking a few different formulas to help eradicate the yeast. First I am still following the induction plan on Atkins. Second I am taking Candistroy, alternating with Yeast Cleanse, and Olive leaf extract. I also take a probiotic. I am noticing a clearing of symptoms, all happening slowly. It can take 6 months to totally clear candida, and perhaps longer.

I hope that this was not too confusing. I agree with you that hormones could be an issue for you. But the question is, what is causing your hormone levels to be out of balance? Candida could play a part in that, but it could be many other issues. Research is key. Dr. Crook has a website, just search for Dr. Crook on google .com, and he has a questionaire. You might want to look into it.

Hope all this was helpful!!!

Have a great day!!

-Jess

re: hormones...that's just my age I guess. (peri-menopause)

No, i'm not allergic to mold (just had allergy tests done last month). Was on birth control pills for only about 6 months about 25 years ago. I don't recall ever being on steroids. I have a big issue with them. But I may have been put on them when my back went out before I read up on that. That would have been more than 7 years ago.

Thanks for the info.

I have been trying to modify Atkins some, but I think I will go on it fully and see what happens.

Having had both candida and fibro, I don't believe they are necessarily related in that they affect each other, but more the candida is a symptom of our too-high sugar/starch diets. I got rid of mine purely by low-carbing. I did try some of the natural antifungal supplements, but never bought a second bottle of any of them. It took me about a year to be totally symptom free of the candida, but I remain symptom free to this day. I also had fibrocystic breast disease and giving up caffeine and going on low dose birth control pills brought that under control. Oh, I still have the fibrocystic 'changes' in my breasts, but they aren't getting any worse. I managed to stop it. I no longer take the B/C pills, only took them for 6 years. However, I believe that the "tendency" toward getting fibromyalgia was signaled by the fibrocystic breast disease and the fall off the telephone pole triggered it. Ridding myself of the candida did not stop the fibromyalgia from forming, nor stop it from forming any further. Today I still constantly battle the adhesions, but I am very slowly winning the war.

..Earthlight: Yes, what you are describing are adhesions/lesions. Some lesions can be *quite* large and are very very painful. They have a very 'stringy' feel to them, versus the 'corded' feel of a muscle in spasm. A lesion will feel glued and will hurt a great deal, and may also produce a bruise quite easily. Guafenesin helps, but my kidneys didn't like it so I had to come off it.

KJ--wow! I have never even heard of this! But it may be a problem of mine. I had a manicure not long ago and had to halt the manicurist's attempts at massaging my arms. It hurt too badly--for a couple of days afterward I felt bruised. I also have the lumps and bumps under the skin nearly all over my body. I thought that maybe candidas was the culprit, but this sounds like adhesions might be the culprit.

I too have high bp and insulin dependent diabetes. I've been following a low-carb diet for several months now and last month modified it to fit the candidas diet and Dr. Bernstein's diabetes diet--they are all so similar that it works, although it's rather confusing at times. I too want to be med free, but unexplained spikes in blood sugars preclude that at the moment.

How is the best way to reverse the adhesion problem or is it even possible? Are there any exercises, certain types of massage, or even vitamin/herb protocols? Thanks for the informative post!

susan

I was in a car accident a little over a year ago (why I'm on Atkins. I gained 40 lbs in 6 mos after the accident). My doctors have been throwing thier hands in the air when it comes to my symptoms that remain. My legs go numb when I lie down, I can't always put pressure on my right arm, and I occaisionally get a wierd sensation in my right forearm that fells as if my muscle is pulling away from the bone, if that makes any sense. Someone today mentioned that it might be fibro, and I remembered seeing it here so I thought I'd check it out.
I've never had a yeast infection, but I am allergic to mold and penicillin.
Does anyone have any input?

I forgot to mention that I also have been experiencing MAJOR sleeplessness since the accident. I am currently taking Ambien to help.

I will say that sleeping problems are a major part of fibro. As a matter of fact, the medical establishment do not know which comes first, the sleeping problems or the fibro.

And you did have an accident...which can be a precursor to fibro

Your nerve problems may be due to your weight gain. I have noticed all kinds of peculiar things since I gained so much weight.

sknymonkey,

I do believe you now have fibromyalgia/CFS. It is often thought (but not proven) to be triggered by trauma. I now think it is somehow also insulin resistance related. Since I was rather 'forced' to go low-carb due to having become diabetic, I am finding that a lot of my symptoms are relieved. I also get 2 hours of deep tissue massage a week. (Quite painful--I have to get a 'relaxation' one about every fourth session in order to 're-center') But it is a constant thing. If I have to go for a few weeks without massage, the adhesions re-form and I have to go through getting them broken up again. It's kind of a 3 steps forward, 2 steps back thing. I personally feel it is some kind of an autoimmune response, but I have no clue (nor do the docs) on how to stop it. Meanwhile, I continue my self-directed course of therapy. I don't like taking medications, but I did find that increasing my magnesium and melatonin helped a great deal. I sleep much much better now. I also take an armload of supplements to make up for deficiencies. I had a doctor tell me I was quite low in magnesium and she recommended I take a chelated magnesium supplement until it gave me 'the squirts' then back off 250mg. I ended up taking 2200mg/day of magnesium for about 3 months before the deficency was relieved, then I was able to back off slowly, but I still take about 1000mg because I apparently have a high magnesium requirement due to the insulin resistance et al....

Thank you both for the input. My doc used to be a nutritionalist, and he's been recomending LC diets to people with fibro since the 70's. He says it solves the problem with 40-45% of the people he's seen, and at least alieviates some of the problems with the others. He say's he wan't to see how I am in a few more weeks on the diet before he diagnoses me officially, but he's pretty sure I have it. Thank god for this WOL and for people who listen to us.

"I personally feel it is some kind of an autoimmune response, but I have no clue (nor do the docs) on how to stop it."

My doc also said that he often beats his head against the wall with some fibro patients. I say as long as I can sleep, at least I can be human. I still can't sleep without Ambien, and believe me I've tried it all. I would prefer a more natural approach, but I've been so desperate for sleep that I gave in to pharmaceuticals. I used to take Metagenics Myocalm P.M. with calcium, magnesium, passion flower, valerian, hops and kava kava and it would knock me out cold, but it hasn't worked since the accident. I still recomend it to people all the time. There was no hangover the next day. I can't go for a massage yet, but seeing your success I might give it a try soon. My phys. therapist said that my tense muscles are all that's holding me up right now and if the get too reaxed too quicky it will thow everything else out. She sais maybe in a month or so.
Thanks again