Dear Stephen,
In fighting my lyme with herbs I’m still having a hard time controlling candida. I have often wondered if my remaining lyme symptoms might be due to systemic candida rather than just lyme as the lyme symptoms (energy-related, and sometimes mental alertness) seem to wax and wane based on my diet and intake of probiotics or other anti-yeast meds. I take a LOT of probiotics, both as pills of various brands, and as fermented foods- yogurt, sauerkraut, and rejuvelac, and it’s been 4 months since I’ve stopped antibiotics. I’ve tried oral nystatin and oral diflucan at various times, and it still comes back. My experience with the candida now is similar to what I experienced while on antibiotics, although not ‘quite’ as bad now that I’m just on the core protocol. I eat a very low-sugar diet, which doesn’t seem to help, and am just starting to try to cut out grains. sugary vegetables and potentially moldy foods for a few weeks as an experiment per the Yeast Connection book. One question that’s come up on the Lyme forums is whether any of the core protocol herbs might be killing ‘friendly’ bacteria along with other bacteria. It really feels like everything I’m doing should have controlled this candidiasis by now and I’m trying to figure out what other factors could be contributing. I know one of the core protocol herbs is antifungal but other herbal antifungals don’t seem to help in my case.
In fighting my lyme with herbs I’m still having a hard time controlling candida. I have often wondered if my remaining lyme symptoms might be due to systemic candida rather than just lyme as the lyme symptoms (energy-related, and sometimes mental alertness) seem to wax and wane based on my diet and intake of probiotics or other anti-yeast meds. I take a LOT of probiotics, both as pills of various brands, and as fermented foods- yogurt, sauerkraut, and rejuvelac, and it’s been 4 months since I’ve stopped antibiotics. I’ve tried oral nystatin and oral diflucan at various times, and it still comes back. My experience with the candida now is similar to what I experienced while on antibiotics, although not ‘quite’ as bad now that I’m just on the core protocol. I eat a very low-sugar diet, which doesn’t seem to help, and am just starting to try to cut out grains. sugary vegetables and potentially moldy foods for a few weeks as an experiment per the Yeast Connection book. One question that’s come up on the Lyme forums is whether any of the core protocol herbs might be killing ‘friendly’ bacteria along with other bacteria. It really feels like everything I’m doing should have controlled this candidiasis by now and I’m trying to figure out what other factors could be contributing. I know one of the core protocol herbs is antifungal but other herbal antifungals don’t seem to help in my case.
Stephen’s response:
This is such a tough problem for some, especially after long term antibiotics. I am not aware of any herb that can cause this problem except for grapefruit seed extract (which is not exactly an herb). I would suggest you read my book on fasting, The Fasting Path (see bookstore), as fasting has shown some of the best results with tough to treat candida. The Yeast Connection does have, as well, many good suggestions such as the one you mention. I have also had success with a tincture combination: desert willow and chapparo amargosa – equal parts of the tinctures blended together. 1/2 tsp 3x daily for 30 days or so.
This is such a tough problem for some, especially after long term antibiotics. I am not aware of any herb that can cause this problem except for grapefruit seed extract (which is not exactly an herb). I would suggest you read my book on fasting, The Fasting Path (see bookstore), as fasting has shown some of the best results with tough to treat candida. The Yeast Connection does have, as well, many good suggestions such as the one you mention. I have also had success with a tincture combination: desert willow and chapparo amargosa – equal parts of the tinctures blended together. 1/2 tsp 3x daily for 30 days or so.
Stephen
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