Hi,

I'm new here, and desperate for advice from people who are familiar with Candidiasis. I've posted this on the candida board too. This is long and I appologise, but I don't know where else to turn. If anyone can take the time to read this I would really appreciate it. I'm desperate.

I suffer from CFS/ME and, 18 months ago I embarked on a nutritional trial which was aiming to establish whether Candida is THE reason for CFS. I went on the strictest version of an anti-candida diet (that is dairy and gluten-free as well as sugar, yeast etc. Everything organic and fresh, no frozen or preserved, nothing refined etc), and a personalised supplementation programme.

I didn't experience any 'die-off' reaction at all, in fact, there was no real change in my symptoms. I plugged on nonetheless.

A year down the line there was still no change, I felt exactly as I had before embarking on the programme. A few months later I suddenly crashed, to a completely bed-ridden state. I had given up smoking 48 hours before, and my doctors think this was such a shock to my already weakened system and that this was the cause.

My nutritionist said this is finally die-off, and that in a month or two I would start turning the corner.

Seven months later, I am still barely able to lift my head from the pillow, despite doing everything my nutritionist advises and to the letter. My nutritionist keeps coming up with reasons, ie my liver is struggling to detoxify, so I went on more supplements to correct this. No change. Now she is saying give it another 9 months.

I am now starting to doubt if Candida is my problem at all, that maybe my CFS is down to something else. I wonder if my nutritionist is maybe more concerned with proving her theory is correct, rather than my best interests. The supplements alone are costing in excess of £150/month, and it seems a lot to pay for no gain. I'm also not sure how much strength I have left to continue living like this. I cannot even get to the toilet on my own.

I really hope that someone here, who has experience of anti-candida programmes, would be able to tell me; if Candida is my problem, would I have seen some results by now?

Thankyou so much to anyone who can comment.

Cascade

I think the CFS/ME is the problem and I don't have any good solutions. I am at the same level in my CFS/ME as you. The anti-candida diet is probably a good idea, but spending big money on supplements (that don't work) is not a good idea. I would suggest using only one supplement at a time & if within 2 months you see no benefit - drop it. I would suggest checking out www.remedyfind.com - of course what may work for one person doesn't always work for another.
The only two things that I've noticed made a slight difference were daily B12 (methylcobalamin) injections as per Dr.Cheney's protocol and/or guaifenesin as per Dr.R.Paul St.Amand's protocol.

Thankyou, Cindy, and soory to hear that you are 'where I am'. It's far from fun!

I've done some research into different treatments over the last few days. Maybe I'll come up with something new to try. I can't keep paying this money for something that's not really helping me.

Hi Cindy and Cascade,
I'm new and I'm writing because you might want to consider what my new doctor just told me as I think it makes sense? He said I should avoid, for now, supplements that work to kick-start and strengthen my immune system. (He was refering to some things I asked him about like blue-green algae and astralagus.) He said he thinks the CFS I had 15 years ago and the Candida I have now might be related to an overactive immune system. He said he thought that giving my immune system "fuel" in the form of otherwise good supplements is like throwing gasoline on a fire. He said we need to first calm the fire down to coals and slowly build it back up. As I mentioned in another mail, he said to continue with probiotics and Saccharomyces boulardii (I have it in FloraStor) to get my digestive tract right. He approved of my taking vitamin C, E, magnesium and a good basic multiple. He said I should continue with the Candida control diet. I'll find out more when I see him next week to get the results of some tests back. I just thought it was an interesting approach and since I've spent a fortune on supplements and alternative medical providers, I was stunned to find I didn't need to buy anything this time. What a concept!! By the way, do either of you also happen to have a history of "hormonal" issues like endometriosis?

Incredible! Writing all this down is making me remember what worked best for me in the awful old CFS months besides time, rest and light exercise. It was acupuncture! It helped me more than any other therapy or supplement. You have to repeat several treatments, maybe 4 times in 2 weeks to get it to "stick" Then you might go back once a week or two? Anyway, I remember I'd go in and lie there and, at first, I'd feel jillions of exhausted but whirling around waves speeding through my wretched tired body. But needles later -- all those jittery waves were smooth and they seemed to moving all in sync with each other. It was so nice and that's why I'm thinking that this slow-it-down thing, while counter-intuitive, might be the direction to go again. Thanks for reminding me! If you can afford to spend any more dough on treatment you might consider that.