Candida Overgrowth

[GFqueen17]

So I am convinced that I had candida overgrowth. I have been doing a ton of research on it and I have found that very often, people with food allergies have it. Especially people with celiac disease becuase celiac disease cna cuase iron malabsorption and that can cause candida overgrowth. So anyway, if this is really what my problem is, I want to get rid of it ASAP, it is making me miserable! However, there is so so much information about it online that it just makes me confused. I don't know what information is important and what information is accurate. I was really hoping that people here have had experiences with it and could share them. I know there is already a thread on this forum about this sort of thing but it only has alot of information and I want to hear people's personal experiences.

[Rachel--24]

My personal opinion is that candida doesnt become a chronic situation unless something else is going on that is allowing for that to happen. Basically, if you truelly do have an overgrowth of candida which doesnt go away...then you would most likely have an underlying problem that you would need to address in order to get the yeast situation under control.

My own experience is that the diet and antifungals only help to reduce symptoms but dont actually eliminate the problem most of the time. This means that you will feel much better on the diet (possibly because its reducing yeast...possibly because its removing foods you may be intolerant to....possibly because it is very natural and eliminates most processed foods...or a combination of these things). However, in my experience.......if yeast is an issue and you *only* address the yeast.....then it can be very difficult to get rid of.

I believe that in most cases chronic candida is a symptom of some other problem.

I think that every person is different and many times what works for one person may not work for another person. It can be trial and error as far as diet and supplements go.

I dont have major candida issues anymore and for me what seemed to help the most was eliminating high phenol foods (salicylates and amines). I can eat sugar now and it does not cause yeast to flare-up. I'm still working on other underlying issues.

[Silliest of Yaks]

Suppressed immune function is known to play a role in fungal and yeast overgrowth, could this be a factor for you?

I had tinea versicolor (fungal skin infection due to overgrowth of normally present varieties) that I just couldn't kick for years before my celiac Dx. My doctor told me that some people who are just prone to this overgrowth, so even though treatment was helpful in the short-term, it kept coming back. Since changing my diet, the tinea versicolor has stayed at bay. I'm guessing (and hoping) with fewer demands on my immune system, my body is better able to keep the fungi in check!

I did, and still have, a slight IgA deficiency, as I learned when I got my bloodwork done for Celiac. I don't know enough about immune function to comment on how that could come into play, but I wouldn't be shocked if it was a factor for me.