Candida?

[no-more-muffins]

I went to an N.D. yesterday. He was ok to go along with the candida theory. He mostly attributed candida to heavy metal exposure. He mostly treats people for "adrenal fatigue" he said.
He gave me an Rx for diflucan for 2 weeks with 1 refill. He also gave me a copy of an outdated diet plan which included barley and "plenty of whole grains" as well as "whole grain flour". It was actually he diet plan from one of his collegues. He didn't really seem to be familiar with a lot of the general info on candida. He told me that after the meds for 2 weeks and the diet for 3 I should go hog wild and eat whatever I wanted. When I asked him why he said, "so you can know if the food makes you react". Um. That's bad advice. I would never do that. I think that is as absurd as a gluten challenge. I know I'm not going to be cured in 3 weeks. I am supposed to go in for a follow up in 2 weeks. Should I keep going to this guy? My M.D.s have been even less helpful in this area.

For those who have been treated with candida, which meds did you use and for how long? Please tell me your experiences, including how the die off was for you.

[tex]

He was ok to go along with the candida theory.

He mostly attributed candida to heavy metal exposure.

He gave me an Rx for diflucan for 2 weeks with 1 refill.

He also gave me a copy of an outdated diet plan which included barley and "plenty of whole grains" as well as "whole grain flour".

He didn't really seem to be familiar with a lot of the general info on candida.

He told me that after the meds for 2 weeks and the diet for 3 I should go hog wild and eat whatever I wanted.

Should I keep going to this guy?

As I'm sure you're well aware, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, (SCD), would be a much better choice, than the diet he suggested, since it was developed to treat candida overgrowth, among other things.

Be aware that if you should have a big die-off of candida in a short period of time, you may experience a Herxheimer reaction, (or a "Herx" effect), in which you get sicker, before you get better.

I'm concerned that he may not do a very good job of supervising your treatment, (based on his comments about "going hog wild", after 5 weeks of treatment - that seems like a rather cavalier approach). I could certainly be wrong, but I'm thinking that treatment for candida overgrowth typically takes more time than that.

I hope you can get some responses from members who have been through that treatment. I'm not sure if any of them still read the board with any regularity. CAMary is one, who sometimes logs in - hopefully she'll see this and respond. I can't recall who the others were, at the moment.

Tex

[no-more-muffins]

Tex, I liked your smilely response to my post. And that doctor was saying eat whatever I want in 3 weeks, so do the diet for 3 and take the med for the first 2. Since he gave me a refill for the diflucan I plan to take it for 4 weeks. I am not sure if I need to do it longer though. I really feel like he is not qualified to be supervising my treatment at all. He was a really nice guy though... Very easygoing and nice. I don't know who else to go to though. My Ins. doesn't cover him so I certainly won't be going any longer than necessary, that's for sure. I may "use" him to get my drugs if I still need them but I don't know.

I have read stuff about the die off period and I am not looking forward to that. They say it's a good sign though...

[no-more-muffins]

So far so good. I have had some increase in headaches and nausea but so far I haven't been hit too badly. I was really worried about the fatigue and so far I have been ok. And I have been feeling quite a bit better the last few days since I have been on the candida diet. I was really fatigued and down during the earlier parts of the week but my moods have been much higher the last few days. Hopefully I'll stop waking up at 4:30/5:00 am and start sleeping better too. I am starting to think that there may really have been another food that was bugging me. My suspicion was the peanuts. Since you can't have peanuts on the candida diet I'll be eliminating those for awhile.

Even if I am not 100% sure what is wrong with me, at least I can see progress with what I am doing. That way I can know what to do even if I don't know why.

[tex]

I'm glad your outlook is brighter. Being able to see progress, makes it all worthwhile.

I think that your impressions of that doctor are right on target, and your plan sounds good.

Even if I am not 100% sure what is wrong with me, at least I can see progress with what I am doing. That way I can know what to do even if I don't know why.

I see nothing wrong with that philosophy. When the doctors think they know what to do, they prescribe a drug, (or two). If they don't know what to do, they prescribe a drug anyway, and if it doesn't help, they prescribe another, etc. If a drug seems to help, but it has objectionable side effects, they often prescribe another drug, to counteract the side effects of the first one. If it's OK for them to play that game, then I see no reason why it's not OK for us to use trial and error diet changes, to do the same thing, even though we may not always understand why it works. The doctors usually don't really know why the drugs work, either, they just know that the drugs usually/sometimes yield the desired results.

Tex