Severe Fungal Infection

[applegirl03]

Okay, after about 6 months of unidentified symptoms and countless trips to the Doctor, I have finally got an answer...

I have been gluten free for 7 months now, diagnosed with celiac for a year...After a bunch of tests/er visits/ CT Scans/ pain/etc....my one DOc actually did a stool test which showed I have a massive fungal infection in my digestive system...I was wondering if anyone else has had this? She told me it was fairly common with Celiac patients. So I am on 100mg of Diflucan for 1 month, then natural supplements and pre/pro biotics for life after...as of now I am one week into the medication and I feel like death. I was warned this was the "die-off" effect of the yeast infection. My Doc also told me when the infection starts to die it releases an endotoxin that hits your blood stream and actually makes your symptoms worse for around 2 weeks. I am having all the symptoms I was before (fatigue, pain, constipation, headache, anxiety, just generally like I've been hit by a train) only on a larger scale....has anyone gone through this? Anything I can do to help ease the pain? How long did this last for others? Just wanted to ask if anyone else out there was ever as miserable as I am right now? lol...plus I accidently glutened myself this afternoon, which is just adding salt to the wound...If anyone has any input or advice I would very much appreciate it!

[beefree11]

Hi applegirl. Sorry you are going thru this, as if the gluten issue isn't enough to deal with, huh?

I am not sure about the fungal infection. My dd was told she tested (stool sample) positive for parasitic infection (I swear was from a cruise she was on ). She was given a probiotic for parasites. The house smelled like a garlic factory for awhile there. (Summer/fall when it's hot and humid! ugh) We are not sure if she is all clear, yet. She is between insurers, so she may need to be retested. But they are difficult to get rid of.

Has any testing results been able to name the actual fungus you are dealing with? Are you off of all carbs and sugars?

I suppose all gluten sufferers will be more susceptible to ailments of all types having a compromised immune system. Is it that your body is so busy fighting off the food allergy believing THOSE proteins to be the enemy to fight while leaving the door open for all types of baddies? Do you take anything to build immunity during the treatment, or all the time, just in case?

We have been taking enzymes and probiotics for years now. Digestive problems have been the standard for me for so long.

Good luck in fighting that thing and hope you get better soon!

[amtazim]

My son had a similar problem....they suggested taking charcoal. It makes sense if you think about it. Charcoal is used to help absorb the die off toxins. You can find it at any drug store in capsule form. Good luck!

[Wolicki]

I had a really nasty, full GI fungal infection prior to being diagnosed with celiac. I had to take the diflucam three different times for a total of 4 months. I can't really say if I was worse on or off, because I was still so sick from undiagnosed celiac. I am on probiotics for life, and you should probably be on a no carb/sugar diet to help facilitate healing. Hang in there, it will get better!

[burdee]

Okay, after about 6 months of unidentified symptoms and countless trips to the Doctor, I have finally got an answer...

I have been gluten free for 7 months now, diagnosed with celiac for a year...After a bunch of tests/er visits/ CT Scans/ pain/etc....my one DOc actually did a stool test which showed I have a massive fungal infection in my digestive system...I was wondering if anyone else has had this? She told me it was fairly common with Celiac patients. So I am on 100mg of Diflucan for 1 month, then natural supplements and pre/pro biotics for life after...as of now I am one week into the medication and I feel like death. I was warned this was the "die-off" effect of the yeast infection. My Doc also told me when the infection starts to die it releases an endotoxin that hits your blood stream and actually makes your symptoms worse for around 2 weeks. I am having all the symptoms I was before (fatigue, pain, constipation, headache, anxiety, just generally like I've been hit by a train) only on a larger scale....has anyone gone through this? Anything I can do to help ease the pain? How long did this last for others? Just wanted to ask if anyone else out there was ever as miserable as I am right now? lol...plus I accidently glutened myself this afternoon, which is just adding salt to the wound...If anyone has any input or advice I would very much appreciate it!

I was diagnosed with candida (fungus infection) by a Metametrix Lab microbial profile stool test in 2009. My doc prescribed nystatin (2 capsules 3x daily with meals) for 2 months. I did NOT have any 'die off' symptoms, but I did have initial side effects of nystatin (nausea and gas) for about 3 days until my body adjusted. I've taken at least 6 more stool tests after my nystatin treatment. All subsequent stool tests were free of candida. So I know the nystatin worked.

My doc chose nystatin, because it does not affect the liver or other organs, like difulcan and other stronger antifungal meds. So I didn't get really bad side effects during my candida treatment. I also ate my normal diet free of gluten and my diagnosed allergens (dairy, soy, eggs, cane sugar, vanilla and nutmeg). I didn't follow a restricted carb, yeasts, grains or moldy foods diet recommended by many 'candida' sites. Nevertheless my nystatin only treatment eliminated my candida infection.

I got other kinds of gastro infections after that (3 more bacterial and a parasitic infection), but no more fungal or candida infections. However, my last stool test results (9/2010) showed I was free of all bad gut bugs. I continue to take high dose probiotics (100 billion live cells daily).

SUE

[WheatChef]

This is a severely common thing in the celiac community. It's a result of two common factors. The first is that as a celiac you're at a huge risk of having an unbalanced gut microbe population. Without a healthy balance of the right kinds of gut bacteria it's easy for other things to take hold in there. The second factor is that many gluten-free people end up overindulging on carbs during the transition process. Many of those gluten-free specialty products are almost pure sugar and fungi live off of the sugar you ingest and the sugar in your blood. Consistently high amounts of fungal food leads to high infections of fungi.

I kept having on and off problems with fungal infections until I went ketogenic-paleo and soon after starting that had some pretty big die off symptoms. Take this time to get plenty of rest, do plenty of stretches and drink A LOT of water. This release of toxins is really taxing only our body so the more things you can do to help your body flush out the excess the better. I know my ears were somewhat bad along with a few other areas with traditionally low circulation, manually moving/bending/rubbing them really helped clear things up.

[applegirl03]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions I really appreciate it!

My doc said it was just a severe fungal infection and I'm about 11 days into a 1 month treatment of Diflucan...I also did the MetaMetrix stool profile test and thats how I found out what had been making me sick for over 6 months...the "die off" seems to be a little bit better. I had a 3 day migraine that had me puking and almost in the hospital. My chief complaint with all of this is that I am still very constipated and having trouble going to the bathroom. I really hope that changes after the Diflucan is finished. My Doc also ordered some supplements and pre/pro biotics to be taken for life after the diflucan is finished.

I would say a big thing I am worried about is that since gluten is out of the picture I have been craving sweets and chocolate especially. My doc says if I want to eat a piece of chocolate I am going to have to take this one supplement before I eat it and after to inhibit the growth of yeast from the sugar...I didnt mention to her that I wouldnt just eat one piece, I would probably eat 15. SO I guess I need to cut down the sugar! lol....

I really appreciate all the responses to my post, it helps to know there are people out there who have gone through this as well. It hard to see the end when your still stuck in the middle so the suggestions are very much appreciated!