Candida, I hate you
The irony is not lost on me that while writing my last post about how great my body is and how I need to love it cause it loves me, that inside something was festering.
What I was originally assuming was a reaction to antibiotics (I wasn't 100% wrong btw) turned into my dear sweet body saying something along the lines of "oh she thinks I'm great does she? Let's give her something to really piss her off then"
I mean I can only assume that's what it was thinking of course.
4 doctors later, I've got the diagnosis I knew I had all along. And they say Dr. Google is always wrong! HA!....at least not this time anyway. (We won't talk about all the other times I self diagnosed the C word)
Lets start this off with a short explaination of Candida ok?
"It’s a type of yeast that normally lives in small amounts in places like your mouth and belly, or on your skinwithout causing any problems. But when the environment is right, the yeast can multiply and grow out of control.The infection it causes is called candidiasis." - WebMD
So it's something that's always there but sometimes can get out of control, or if you're lucky it never does....In my case I tried a new shampoo which I was allergic to = skin infection = antibiotics = crazy ride
Get in and buckle up...
* also some photo's are gross, walk away if you feel so inclined
The more I learned about Candida the more I saw other points in my life where it has shown it's presence, for example between Sarah's and Erin's pregnancies I for months lived with unexplained hives. Doctors & Dermatologists couldn't tell me the cause BUT here take all these drugs.
About 8 weeks into Erin's pregnancy they went away (coincidentally around the same time we had our first ultrasound and learned she was a viable pregnancy) AS it turns out Candida can be brought upon by stress as well, getting and remaining pregnant is a stressful time for me.
So if stress weakness your good gut health and then I go and throw an antibiotic in there I'm basically a ticking time bomb right?
Welcome to my current life...I work to much, there I said it. I never say no to a job. On average I'm doing 6-8 radio shows a day. The problem is I LOVE IT....Finding it hard to find a happy medium there Tosh? yes, yes I am.
Candida is itchy and cruel. I felt like I had a deep sunburn and my skin was bumpy and raised like sandpaper.
One highly trained Doctor even insisted I had Scarlett Fever, can we please note I hadn't had a fever OR better yet a sore throat, but he insisted I did and just forgot. ummmmmm ok
The day it moved onto my face was the day I said ENOUGH and went in search of a quick fix, cortisone cream.
If you know me you will know that I always try the "natural" route 1st.
Step 1: Detox
Step 2: Incorporated 1 millions herbs and vitamins
Step 3 : Changed my diet
Step 4: FREAK THE F*@K OUT CAUSE NOTHING IS WORKING (fast enough)
With the help of the Cortisone Cream I have been able to get this under control but will be sticking to the very strict diet for fear....total fear of this returning. Pizza will change that soon, no worries
The diet basically has me vegan, gluten free, nut free, sugar free, fruit free, corn free and starch free. Was it hard at first? Do you really have to ask? A better question is, am I bat shit crazy?!
For now, yup!
Seriously though, Candida is not the bad guy, you actually need it in your gut.
Just keep it under control would ya?
If you are going through this as well the following are my recommendations....
Website: https://www.thecandidadiet.com/
Herbs & Vitamins:
-Coconut Kefir
-Golden Milk
-Ginger Tea
-Garlic
-Oregano Oil
-Grapefruit Seed Extract
-Caprylic Acid
- Aloe Vera
-Echinacea & Goldenseal
-Apple Cider Vinegar
By no means am I a Doctor as you could probably tell from the trucker mouth, this is just what I found helped!