Annie D: Last year I was diagnosed with clinical depression. Of course I was given an antidepressant which has a side effect of anxiety. An anti-anxiety drug was prescribed to balance the side effect. I take both of these drugs along with thyroid medication and occasionally asthma medication. Before I was diagnosed with clinical depression, I was having mood swings and anxiety, and I could not stay on task well. I craved pop and candy, etc. Last fall I had a major toxic attack that put me in the hospital for one week. The doctors still don’t know what caused that. I was covered with bruises and then cobblestone hives. My blood pressure dropped dramatically and my heart was racing. Eight hours prior to entering the E.R. I was given a shot of cortisone. The E.R. Doc said that prevented the case of the “Killer Tomato.”
Things have continued to progress in a downward spiral. I continue to CRAVE the pop (and I do drink between two and four a day) and my mood swings have become more pronounced and sometimes even frightening. Each day I don’t know what to expect from my body. Now my doctor has added a mood stabalizer — Seroquel — to my collection of pills. This seems to be contributing to more volatile down moods. My husband has been reading about candida and is pretty convinced that this is my problem. The one major symptom of candida that I DON’T suffer from is vaginal yeast infections. I welcome any comments from people who have or are suffering from either problem. In Agony, Annie D.
Lynn of Virginia: Hi Annie. I don’t get vaginal yeast infections, and I have candida. I used to get them years ago when I was on the pill, but that was a long time ago. So it is possible to have candidiasis and not have vaginal yeast infections. I have some trouble with rashes when it is hot but they are easily cured with antifungal cream.
Susan in Olympia: I have been there. 15 months ago I had recurring suicidal thoughts, major depression, really low. What helped me tremendously was SAMe. It was incredible. In fact, six months after I had started taking it I thought, “Wow, I’m not depressed any more at all. I can stop taking this.” I stopped, and within a week the black cloud came rolling back in. So, I started up again and felt good again. Since that time I have switched over to TMG (tri-methyl-glycine), which is a lot cheaper. It promotes the body’s production of SAMe. So it may work for others as well. I really feel for you. You need to get help to feel better so that you can handle all the other issues of this health challenge.
Polly: Annie, you are already taking a thyroid supplement, but there might be something more that you can do to relieve your depression and improve your hormonal balance. Studies of depression indicate that adding T3 thyroid is more likely to improve response to antidepressants than is T4 thyroid medication. [2] Chances are, you have only been put on T4 thyroid (eg Synthroid). Unfortunately, that is how most doctors have been taught to treat their patients. You may have to insist that they let you try some added T3. (If your doctor isn’t comfortable/familiar with using T3, then you may have to find an alternative doctor.)
There are many other strategies and things to consider.
1. You might have hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). This can contribute to both the anxiety and the depression. So eat small meals often.
2. Natural progesterone can sometimes help with hypoglycemia and there are reports of it helping with depression too. It may be helpful to try this supplement at some point. (Book 4 has a chapter on estrogen and progesterone.)
3. Excess estrogen can contribute to anxiety/ depression. I hope that you aren’t taking birth control pills. This could be adding to the depression and anxiety episodes.
4. Zinc to copper ratio. Have your doctor check this ratio of minerals. According to Dr. Braverman, a strategy that often helps with anxiety is getting your zinc/copper ratios corrected.
5. The B vitamin biotin seems to help with blood sugar levels, and because of the dysbiosis you may have both a real and functional deficit of this vitamin. Raymond Peat, PhD, mentions that 1 to 2 mg of biotin can stop some depressions. [3] However, since biotin can also feed yeast, it is best if it is employed after the yeast growth is down somewhat. If you take biotin, take some inositol with it to protect your liver.
6. Low dopamine is a contributor to depression for some people. Dr. D’Adamo sells a formula *(Catechol-O) that may help those who have low dopamine. He feels that the tyrosine, TMG, and folate in the product may improve the efficiency of brain dopamine metabolism. http://www.dadamo.com
7. Toxins from Clostridia could be interfering with your dopamine metabolism. Dr. Shaw said that Clostridia bacteria produce DHPPA, a molecular mimic of norepinephrine and dopamine. [4] Clostridia is resistant to most antibiotics. So it is a very common intestinal problem. (Look up Clostridia in the index for ways to eliminate it.)
8. Taurine and coenzyme B6 supplements might help. Taurine and coenzyme B6 are often lowered by the yeast overgrowth. There are significantly decreased levels of taurine in depressed people. [5] Replenishing the taurine and B6 might help increase dopamine levels. (If you try taurine, be sure to take it with a meal because it can increase stomach acid production.) You might want to wait until you have the yeast and bacteria growth down a little before you try the taurine. There is some concern that the taurine might increase the growth of the yeast.
9. SAMe has helped many people with depression. (If you have bipolar depression, SAMe supplements might not be appropriate.) If you try SAMe, keep in mind that it should be balanced with B12, B6, and folic acid. Fortunately, there is a product that has the B12, B6, folic acid and the precursors to SAMe in it. The product is called *Me-cofactors by DEWS Twenty-first Century Products. http://www.DEWSnatural.com At about 75 cents a pill, it is expensive, but it still costs less than the ordinary SAMe pills I’ve seen. I tried a sample of the Me-cofactors. (They sell a packet of a few pills so you can try it before spending money on a whole bottle.) Although I do not have depression, I definitely got a mood and energetic lift from it. My personal observation was that the mood lift from the Me-cofactors product was much more pronounced that the mood lift I got from TMG.
10. Take steps to reduce the production of lactic acid in your body. (Infusing lactic acid into the blood can induce panic attacks. [6]) Things like thyroid, salt and slow breathing exercises can reduce the production of lactic acid. B vitamins, coenzyme Q10, adequate protein or anything that improves your energy levels may help control lactic acid production too.
11. Magnesium is very important for eliminating panic attacks and anxiety reactions.
12. This last one is pretty obvious: eliminating stress in your life will help with the anxiety.
Sally: I suffered from debilitating anxiety attacks, which evolved into a deep depression and was treated with antidepressants. This did help some, but I never felt right. I had been off them for years and still had terrible fatigue, sporadic anxiety attacks and mild depression. I tried the St Johnswort, which helped some, but it still was not right. When I started the candida diet and antifungals, the anxiety attacks and depression were amongst the first symptoms to completely resolve. I still had some fatigue until I was tested for hypoglycemia and started eating to control that.
Candida and hypoglycemia often go hand-in-hand. Allergies often accompany this syndrome and the pancreas can be an allergic target organ. (Just like allergies can make your nose “run” or cause fluid in your lungs, they can make your pancreas “run” also.)
Candida can affect a multitude of body systems and I’m sure after reading all these responses you are quite overwhelmed at this point. The thing that is most important to glean from this is to find a good doctor that is experienced in treating candidiasis. Start the no sugar, no starch diet for 3 weeks (this is good for candida and hypoglycemia). After 3 weeks, add an antifungal and only whole grains in small amounts. Don’t get overwhelmed from trying to do everything at once. If you make one change at a time, you can really see the difference each change makes. I no longer have candida and 80% of my problems are gone (still working on the allergies, which are much improved), but even after two years of treatment I still try to make one improvement in my diet or lifestyle every week. It is so great to feel healthy again and I’ve found that good health is the greatest addiction a person can have. As you feel better you will have more energy to make more changes. Just start with one thing at a time. Sounds like you have a wise and wonderful husband. That is a big plus, as a supportive family member can really speed recovery. Keep us posted on your progress. As everyone is different, what you learn will most likely help the next guy for treating candidiasis.
Polly: If you suspect it is an allergic response of the pancreas, then keep a diary of your foods. At least theoretically, the pancreas may be more susceptible to the lectins in wheat, potatoes, tomatoes, and peanuts. [7] So observe if these foods give you more problems than most.
Mitch in New York: I’m sorry to hear that you are having a tough time with depression. It’s been very difficult for me as well. I was actually diagnosed with candida this time around by a psychotherapist. I was so screwed up mentally that I went to get help. Within ten minutes of meeting my therapist for the very first time, she asks me if I had heard of candida! I had many more mental symptoms than physical ones, which is how I didn’t notice my candida had come back for an encore. She referred me to a nutritionist. Naturally things got a lot worse physically and mentally with yeast die-off. My “Die-Off” effect has been particularly brutal and ongoing. Nothing at all like the first time (which wasn’t exactly a six-week picnic!). I don’t know if you are comfortable with taking anti-depressant medication or not. I’ve tried a few and I’m cautious about them. But I also started taking Paxil in late January and quite frankly I would have completely fallen apart without it. I had incredible anxiety and depression previously. The medication didn’t make me jumpy or feel drugged (bummer!) It just took the edge off so that I didn’t snap when things got rough last month. Anyway, consider my experience and hopefully you can find a sympathetic counselor/therapist to help as well. My thoughts are with you. Cheers (raising a glass of some sort of new trace mineral concoction).
Del: I’ve certainly had very, very heavy depressive episodes in combination with such blatantly somatic symptoms that I eventually reasoned that whatever-it-is is affecting my brain as well as other organs & muscles. Depression can, after all, be caused by cytokines (immune-system signal chemicals) in the brain. These can be produced on the central nervous system (CNS) side of the blood/brain barrier, so nothing will necessarily show up in blood tests. FWIW (for what it’s worth), my own advice is we all use symptomatic treatments, so don’t be afraid to treat the brain as you would any other organ. I’m on the maximum allowed prescribed dose of Prozac: I have no regrets, and am not embarrassed to admit that my brain is one of the organs affected. I think we’re dealing with auto-immune dysfunction here, and candidiasis may be just one manifestation.
sarah Offline
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06-06-2013
I feel for anybody whos had to or having to suffer with candida! Im 31 and believe ive had candida since a child. I always remember feeling not right, i had behaviour problems, learning difficulties, and weird phobias. Things really took a bad turn after i had my son, 12 yrs ago. I got major depression, anxiety and other odd things kept happening with my body! i convinced myself i was dying, and my drs just kept handing over more antidepressants. I was unable to sleep and began having more mental problems. Anyway years later i went to have accupuncture, the lady told me to have a stool test for candida, so after the test showed i had candida, i then began taking *threelac due to the die off after months of not feeling better i gave up. I then looked in to mercury fillings and how they can cause lots of illness. So had them all removed, months later no better! in fact worse, my depression is so bad daily thoughts of suicide! drs increased my antidepressants, but no better. My main symptoms from candida are, Major depression, suicide thoughts and attempts, bloating, skin itching, hair thin, ringing in ears constantly, itching eyes and allergys, eye floaters, yeast type string in my mouth , not nice. Well all i can say is candida has destroyed me over the years, i pray to god most nights not to wake up, worse thing is my son has all the signs of candida! so does my mom. Its like candida has taken over my family. After recent tests it turns out my adrenal glands, have been effected by years of candida. Candida seems to mess up every part of the body and mind if left. Im unsure how to go about getting better or if this is how i have to live, well i dont class it as living its just existing. Candida is evil and maybe 1 day drs will be able to no more or help people rather than handing them perscription drugs which really dont solve the problem.