Candida?

I believe that Candida is possibly the root cause of my acne and my intestinal problems. I havec taken many of the Candida questionairres and all of them have come back positive for Candida.

Here's my history:

Back in 1998, I went to see Dr. Levin (an internal medicine doctor who specializes in preventative medicine) and through a stool sample and history (I was on antiobiotics for 4 years for the acne!), he told me I had a yeast buildup. This can occur when you take antiobiotics and never replace the good bacteria that was wiped out from the antibiotics. So I went on Diflucan for a month and took Turkey Rhubarb (colon cleanser) and Oregano (which is another antifungal). I never changed my diet or took a probiotic. Then I went on the pill for about 9 months. Ever since coming off of the pill (pregnant within a few months), I have struggled with acne on and off.

I took dairy out last fall and my acne went away for about 6 weeks. Then I had a horrible break out for no explained reason. Then I got pregnant with Addie a few weeks after that and the acne continued until my 2nd trimester which is when the estrogen kicks in and the progesterone goes down. But right after I got pregnant with Addie, I started having horrible stomachaches and then the gas kicked in. I went back to the same doctor and we did a stool sample and he found very few good bacteria and a little bit of extra yeast. He diagnosed me with low stomach acid and told me to take some enzymes with hydrochloric acid in them and a good probiotic. This worked for me for awhile. Right before I went to see the doctor, I forgot to take my vitamins one day and I felt great that day. It's because all of my stomach acid was being used up by my vitamins. But after a few months, the gas returned.

Now that I'm no longer pregnant and not nursing, my acne has come back in full force (no more estrogen to slow down the acne). I have tried to reintroduce dairy a few times, but have mixed results. My digestion is fine, but some of the times, I break out after eating it and sometimes I don't. I also have an occastional rash/hives in the creases of my elbows.

I have recently read that Candida can cause low stomach acid and Blood Type A (me!) is prone to low stomach acid. So that could be where my hypochlorhydrea is coming from.

So, my plan is to stop eating "yeasty" things and eat no refined sugar and really limit the sweets anyway. And to try the Threelac product. So, we'll see where I go from here. I actually have some Diflucan, but I want to see if the Threelac will work without it.

Still waiting on it to arrive in the mail.

Addie's 6 Month Check Up

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted. I apologize for that.

It's hard to believe that Addie will be 7 months old tomorrow! Time has flown by for sure. We finally got her in to see the doctor 2 weeks ago for her first well-baby check up. :) They asked for her records. I said she had none. :)

She weighted 15 lbs 6 oz and was 25" long. Our biggest kid. :) He really wanted me to give her the Dpt shot for the Pertussis, since Whooping Cough is going around our community. But there is mounting evidence that it is the Pertussis toxin that is triggering Autism in many children. See the NEDlife Blog. So we will do everything we can to strenghten her immune system so that if she is exposed to it, she won't get it. Or if she does get it, we'll just be able to fight it more successfully since she'll be so healthy. But I cannot take the risk of giving her that vaccine with Autism running in our family. It's just not worth it. The doctor was not thrilled with me and he really wanted me to think about it. Which I have done. I think the important thing with vaccines is to understand what you are getting vaccinated for and what happens if you actually get the virus. All of our parents survived measles and mumps. It might not have been fun, but they did fine. Tetanus is a scary one, obviously. But for both Emma and Tailyn, I have prescriptions for Tetanus only shots should they land in the emergency room with a cut.

So, it was a pain-free visit - no tears whatsoever, which was nice. Addie is still the happiest baby around who loves to bounce/swing in her jumper. She's really good at it! And yesterday I caught her rocking back and forth on hands and knees! Not ready for crawling yet!

We've introduced solids to her now. She's going to be gluten and dairy free for at least the first 2 years of her life. So, we've just stuck with rice cereal and fruits and veggies. I've got to go to Whole Foods to try to find the GF cheerios for her to try in the next month or so. She's gone through most of the veggies and most of the fruits now. Having to feed her definitely throws a wrench into everything. It just makes things more complicated. Thankfully, if she's not tired, she's a pretty happy baby and doesn't complain much.

I think that's about it for Addie!