YEAST
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DISCLAMER: consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you're seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. The information I'm sharing is what I did to sucessfuly erradicate my Candida health problem, doesn't mean it will work for anyone else and shouldn't be taken as a medical or health advice of any sort. This blog is for entertainment purposes only, so I am simply sharing what I did that worked for me, in the spirits of hopefully inspire people to find help for this problem if they suffer from it.
I had recurrent vaginal Candida. No wonder, a decade+ of infections, a period of chronic symptoms, and loads of antibiotic use... Sometimes I’d go for a good while without symptoms, other times it would be non-stop every month, or every 15 days...Until one day, and despite not having any vaginal symptoms whatsoever, and on a longer course of antibiotics…it did end up in my bladder. I had no idea of what was going on, thought it was bacterial and not responding to antibiotics for months - I had a year of pure hell, bladder wise. I must add that, honestly, with time, most of the times I had Candida, I didn't have all of the typical symptoms. Sometimes I'd have little to almost no symtoms, others, no vaginal symptoms at all - but my bladder would signal it, and it's similar to a UTI, in varying degrees, minus the burning at the end of the wee, for me.
It took me quite a long time and research and being open to new stuff to effectively get rid of it and its recurrences, and I was forced to do a 180º turn when it comes vaginal health – and gut health, because it’s all related. I used to treat it with creams alone but ended up in a vicious (and dangerous) path of recurrence, needing creams all the time, and taking Fluconazole like its candy it's definitely not the way to go. Like antibiotics, the more you take it the more depleted you'll be of good yeasts (that help fight it) and the more open to resistance you'll be left (01).
Having this said, if you see yourself in a similar situation, I encourage anyone to go do a vaginal swab as soon as you can, because it can be yeast or BV, or something else! And if it is yeast, it’s important to know which yeast specifically. I'll just say Fluconazole doesn't treat every yeast out there, and you can have C. Albicans, but it can be C. Glabrata, or any other. Self-medication can be dangerous with these things and so I really urge anyone to go check that as fast as possible. Don’t let problems down there fester for long because sooner or later it can all end up in the bladder… IF it was yeast: The gyno would either give me either an appropriate cream and/or an appropriate antifungal, and with plenty of recurrences I'd be put on longer doses, but I'm aware that this approach wasn't curing the root cause of the problem nor avoiding it’s recurrence… (as we’ve all seen that’s what happens to our bacteria in the bladder…) and that was the only thing I did, so I was open to more problems and the vicious cycle continued and dependence on these creams/pills is horrible. As we all know, antibiotic overuse makes our vaginal flora go wild and depleted of good bugs, and these things happen: yeast, bacteria and or even virus have a free pass to grow (HPV in my case) because defenses are completely shut down. And then whatever overgrows here, can go to our bladders. Those 2 holes work in synchronicity (actually, the 3rd one also does…the gut). So it’s important to not only kill what’s down there causing havoc, but also give back, nurture it with what’s missing. To understand this and a lot more, I REALLY encourage anyone to listen and follow this brilliant doctor (women’s health advocate): 1st - “Vaginal Ecology: How to Keep Things Healthy Down There” --Read: https://avivaromm.com/vaginal-ecology-down-there/ --Spotify (same): Episode 64 – Natural MD Radio (it’s her podcast). 2nd - “Preventing & Treating Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) Naturally” -- Read: https://avivaromm.com/prevent-treat-bacterial-vaginosis/ -- Spotify: Episode 70 – “Bacterial Vaginosis: What’s a gal to do?” – Natural MD Radio There are others on Cervical Health, hormones, HPV and more, but for yeast/BV related info, these 2 are a must just to start. On both of those she shares protocols of what to do, take, supplement and insert. I listened to both regardless of what I had (BV/yeast) because found important to learn to notice the differences and understand my body. What I did/do to (successfully!) prevent yeast from causing me problems is grounded on her Vaginal Ecology protocol, although not only, as you will be able to tell if you consult the links I've shared: • Not being afraid of adding a probiotic enriched natural yogurt locally and internally at night when things were particularly itchy, and use it for days (it helps “kill” whilst “giving back”); Some anti-fungal creams come with applicators - saved those, disinfected them properly, and used them with the yogurt. Used old panties at night :p I just did this in the beggining of my "kick-candida-out-journey". • Banished sugar 100%. For 6 months at least after the last recurrence (as strongly adviced). No, not even that small piece of cake in a b-day party or whatever. No, not that small cookie. No, no cereals with sugar – whatsoever. Zero!! I found this to be FUNDAMENTAL if not the most important thing of this list - to not ever feed it’s growth in the first place/help meds work faster. Sugar is food for them. (And for bacteria too, even if we don't feel any differences, bladder wise). Starved them! Cutted down also on particularly sugary fruits and was careful with too many carbohydrates, the digestive system breaks down the digestible ones into sugar also. *gut applauses* • I take orally Optibac for Women with those 2 very important strains daily (that she mentions, not only her but other sources): Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14. There’s also Fem Dophilus for this and also RepHresh Pro-B Probiotic Supplement for Women. • I insert the Optibac ones
(vagina), with only these 2 strains in particular. I used them once a week but it was too much for me*, so I now use them once a month only. With time, in my country, I found an over the counter one with these 2 strains specifically, to be used internally - but for quite some time I used just the Optibac ones internally, had no problem. • Kept them on rotation with another amazing strain, for internal use only, L. Crispatus, as she mentions (not only her but many other sources). This is actually a very important strain, for many things vaginally. I use Physioflor. (example, once a month: Friday: Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14. Saturday: L. Crispatus) *NOTE: the overuse of vaginal probiotics can develop cytolytic vaginosis (aka too many lactobacilli). I do this only once a month, learned from trial and error, but found these probiotics to be very helpful for me. Read the disclamer of this post. • Kept the PH of the vagina consistently low: daily. I don’t use boric acid, I find it violent - less alone on a daily basis; If you can tolerate it, great! It can be very useful for C. Glabrata (02). I personally use Lactic Acid almost daily now (the acid Lactobacillus produce anyway, so it’s a natural acid already present on our vagina (03)); I’m currently using Papilocare that has it, but that’s because I’m fighting HPV since last year, otherwise it’s a generic one with lactic acid only over the counter. • I ate Garlic - around 4 to 6 cloves, every day. Didn’t rely on supplements alone. Got creative, ate them always after/with a meal, but just found ways to eat them. Took a good garlic supplement anyway for a boost (Allimax Pro). What I'm looking after here, is the Allicin in garlic (04). • I took Caprylic Acid as supplement also (several brands do it) to help kill yeast at the source of the problem also (gut). Caprylic Acid is found in coconut oil and is a natural antifungal/antimicrobial. I also used pure organic coconut oil as a cream just outside when things got itchy during the day. Although they weren't itchy all the times I had candida, for sure. • Bio-Kult Candea is well known for this; it has Lactobacillus rhamnosus PXN54, which it’s different from Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 (the most researched). I took it for little time as I unfortunately can't tolerate the other (any) lactobacillus mixes of probiotic supplements. • Now - Candida Support – with herbs that help kill it/degrade it’s population, over time, in the gut also. A definite helper!
• Tea Tree suppositories: Helps kill harmful bacteria/fungi; Used it here and there and then continued with the low Ph stuff daily + the other probiotics; I come back to these once in a while. • Ate a bunch of parsley every day – antimicrobial (even for the bladder). Came up with a daily GREEN smoothie that I like – low on very sugary fruits – and chop a cup of parsley and add it to the mix. It’s also good for the bladder as it’s an antimicrobial “wash” of sorts, I feel. • Payed attention to my menstrual cycle and noted any changes for the better or worse during the month (this alone would be another subject !). • Last but not least, got aware of any potential supplements I was taking that were a yeast trigger. For me, it’s clearly iron and other minerals. Pathogenic bacteria/fungi compete with the host for iron, and in my case (not everyone though, surely) it was a big big trigger for bladder fungal infections, specifically. __________________________________________________ Of Note: Every time I would feel sugar cravings, it’s the fungi/bacteria asking for food, making the host crave those (me). They’re literally trying to survive. It’s actually well-known now by gastroenterologists that sugar cravings are a form of dysbiosis (gut imbalance). In those moments, I give them the precise opposite of what they are asking, by eating LOADS of greens. Good green smoothies with celery, that parsley, etc. With time – months – the cravings went away. I eat loads of greens every day, and if not, I always find time to do that green smoothie (every week at the grocery I buy the things I need for making them during the week, it’s a habit now and I actually love them now!). Doing my own research while looking for products I found great suppositories /more good stuff, but this would turn to be too lengthy and overwhelming. And what I shared is the bulk of it. Gut health was key. This took me time but granted lasting success so far!! And it’s what I do now, and I will continue to do until I’m at least 6 months free of any antibiotic. I just hope one day I can share my sucess story regarding the bladder... So, if you're reading this and can somehow relate, know that there is hope, but go get a vaginal swab for starters! And a fungal urine culture ON TOP when it comes to UTI bladder symptoms, don't ever rule out yeast as a small thing, even when the vaginal swab comes clear (mine did at some point and I had it in my bladder!). But be ware these can come up as negative or mixed flora on regular cultures.
(as an European non-English native please feel free to correct me) Take care 🌿 (01) https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/antifungal-resistance.html (02) https://www.healthline.com/health/womens-health/boric-acid-for-yeast-infection#other-treatment-options (03) https://bmcmicrobiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12866-019-1388-8 (04) https://www.healthline.com/health/garlic-for-yeast-infection#whatis-a-yeast-infection?