The Candida Curse!

"Health is merely the slowest possible rate
at which one can die.”
-- Unknown

Chapter 1 - “Antibiotic Child”

I am what is known as an "antibiotic child" - a child who grew up in the late sixties and early seventies, that doctors prescribed antibiotics to for the slightest infection - both viral and bacterial.  I was also diagnosed with asthma at 2 years of age.  According to my mum, I had probably been prescribed antibiotics 6 - 8 times a year until I was 17 years old. Having never being told or prescribed "probiotics" or "interflora" with the antibiotics until I was 18 - the damage to my digestive tract and system was already extensive.  Antibiotics, although a "miracle drug" that has helped countless millions, also kills off good bacteria which is necessary for a healthy digestive system and immune system.  I cannot recall how many times I had been to the doctor for "thrush", "cystitis" and "spastic colon (IBS)" problems, from the age of 14 onwards and had generally just accepted the fact that I was prone to these bugs and couldn’t do much about them.

To add to my health issues, I have a blood condition, "eliptocytosis" (sic) (red to white blood cell ratio unstable; cells are elliptical in shape not rounded), although not life-threatening, does depress the immune system even further. It also played havoc with my "monthlies", gave me severe migraines, and had me hospitalised several times for hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) and anaemia. So when I was told by my Gynaecologist that I would probably not be able to have children (I was an un-married 20 year-old), it didn't seem to matter so much at the time. 

My then best-friend, (now my husband) was engaged to be married to a lady who was desperately trying to fall pregnant even before their marriage - and we discussed the issue of kids and I can remember very clearly saying "if I can't have kids, I'll try and adopt - there are too many children without parents for me to worry about whether I give birth to them or not - I would love them anyway!".  So when we finally got married in 1995 (after being together since 1988), the issue of having kids was - "if it happens, it was meant to be, and if not, we'll adopt". 

Chapter 2 - Hormone UP’s and down’s

Since the start of my "monthlies" at 15, I had drama - I would either bleed profusely for two weeks or have no period at all for 3 months, but would always have dysmenorrhoea (painful periods).  For regulation, I was put on numerous types of birth control pills - all did not seem to agree with my hormones or diminish the pain - and eventually the doctors suggested I try the injection. The injection was normally only given to women who had been pregnant, but this seemed to be the best option at the time. Two years on the injection, a breast exam showed the development of a batch of lumps in the breast tissue from a build-up of hormones - luckily all benign cysts.

The doctors would not put me back on the injection, so the troubles started again. If I wasn't crawling on the floor in pain from ovulation or dysmenorrhoea, I was passing out from sugar and blood pressure dives. A decision was then taken to insert the "loop". For a period of two years, I was fine again except for the occasional pain. Then one day I woke up with incredible shortness of breath and a burning sensation in my lower abdomen - I was taken into hospital with a suspected eptopic pregnancy and after an emergency op it was discovered that my body had rejected the loop. And so the cycle started again.

Over a period of 20 months, countless visits to Gynae's and GP's started, neither could find any reason for the bi-monthly pain and as I was allergic to anti-inflammatory's, there was nothing they could give me - it was either go back on the injection, have another loop inserted (a newer variety), the pill or try to conceive - what they forgot is that if I could hardly stand from pain around ovulation and my periods, how could I try and make love to fall pregnant???

Then I heard about the "baby doctor" - a homeopath who had helped countless people become parents - so off I went, and discovered something that the doctors after all this time, had never discovered. The reason for the painful ovulation, the cystitis, the IBS was all due to one thing - CANDIDIASIS (systemic yeast (thrush) infection!). I had had thrush on and off for the last 15 years that I had become so used to the symptoms that I just carried on with my life as no tablet or cream ever seemed to work. Dr "P" prescribed a hormone balancer (to help with the ovulation pain) and a strong "probiotic" and diet to control the thrush - within 3 months I was pregnant but more importantly those 3 months were almost pain-free.

Chapter 3 - The JOY of CHILDREN!

After the birth of my son, Keanu, in September 1998, my health bounced around quite a bit. Although with sleep deprivation being one of the worst, I don't really remember whether I was sick or not!  The emotional stress of becoming a parent, the anxieties, the fears, the "firsts" and the joys are endless and time is no longer yours. Keanu was a fairly good baby and slept well from 10 weeks until 18 months old. We then took him to visit my brother and his family in New Zealand (their daughter was born on the same day in NZ as Keanu in SA). Once in NZ, Keanu's time clock did not adjust by the necessary 12 hours and his nights were NZ days and vice-versa - this was the start of 9 sleepless months for us.  Keanu would sleep from 7pm till 12 midnight and then we would be up with him.  Eventually after GP's, Paediatricians, Homeopaths and Sleep Therapists, he finally found his sleeping pattern again, and that's when all my drama with my health started. Obviously now that my son was well again, my body could now blapse out!!

Chapter 4 - The downward SPIRAL!

November 1999
When Keanu wasn't sleeping I had a breakdown from lack of sleep - and the doctors prescribed anti-depressants for delayed "baby blues" - the tablets did nothing for me, the anxiety, the insomnia (yeah as tired as I was I couldn’t get to sleep!), the mind-fuzz and the feeling of not being all "there"! The only thing the tablets did was make me incredibly nauseous and fuzzy.

After changing to two different anti-depressants, I eventually gave them up and just drank St John's Wort tea but still felt drained and stressed out. My GP had in the interim diagnosed "depression" and had told me that all my symptoms were just "psychosomatic" - all in my head!  But now even my work was suffering - I couldn't remember the simplest words and would blank out when asked questions. My body and mind was exhausted and I felt like I had been run over by a bus. My body was sore, my muscles, my bones, even my head - I had severe thrush four times in two months, I had mouth ulcers and cramps in my stomach.  Eventually, I asked a friend who was a nurse which type of doctor I should go and see first - a Gynae, another GP or a shrink?... as I did not want to go down the anti-depressant route again. I saw my Gynae first and he treated me for the thrush and put me on a 2 week course of anti-biotics and then the sh*t hit the fan.

January 2000
My body went into a total tailspin - not only did the thrush not go away but got worse and the fatigue and body pains deepened. Not happy with the treatments I was being given, I then went to my local homeopath (the "baby homeopath" was no longer practising) and he recommended a whole series of homeopathic remedies for fybromyalgia, brain fog and hypoglycaemia.

Then the tests began - my hormones, blood sugar, iron and vitamin levels were checked. Finding abnormalities with all, he then took a blood sample which he smeared on a computer microscope slide and there we sat watching and comparing my blood to a "normal" blood screen. I was horrified - my blood was sluggish, full of "strings" and all the Candida and bacterial cells were not being killed off by my blood cells, but rather my blood cells were dying right in front of my eyes! The Candida cells were huge in comparison to my blood cells and my immune system was not coping with the overload of bad bacteria in my body. The good bacteria were being killed off as well, as my body was treating these cells as "bad". The homeopath then started me on a serious diet - a blood-type, Candida and Non-Acid diet - no wheat, fruit, alcohol, peas, sweet corn, preservatives, refined flours, shellfish, meat, cow products, etc.  What I had left to eat was some salad stuff, certain fish (no bottom swimmers), wheat and gluten free breads, goat's milk and cheese.  I stayed on this diet for 40 gruelling days.

Whilst on the diet, I had to have a drip inserted into my arm three times a week - a cocktail of magnesium, iron, vitamins A, B and C - and was given a course of DHEA (the base hormone replacement). Seems like my oestrogen and progesterone levels were so out of whack as the base hormone was non-existent. I was also put on BarleyGreen, colloidal silver, probiotics (bifidus and lactobacillus in its strongest form), MSM for the painful joints and various other vitamin and mineral tablets.

February/March 2000
Once the 40 days of diet, drips (now very eina!) and tablets were up - further tests were done on my blood sugar, hormones and immune system. The results were very disappointing - no change - seems that what I had was a mal-absorption problem to boot - this meant that my body did not know what to do with all the tablets and vitamins that had been pumped into my body and was just pushing most of it out of the "waste chute".

A further test revealed that my liver and kidneys were like those of a chronic alcoholic - they could not cope with the toxins and the filtering of waste and the deluge of vitamins and minerals. My bowel and colon was also now totally mis-shaped and distended which explained the chronic stomach cramps that I had been having. The Homeopath then explained that I had CFS - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - also known as "Myalgic Encephalomyelitis" - YEP!... the good old unexplained "Yuppie flu!"( Candidiasis, Epstein-Barr virus, hypoglycaemia and anaemia all seem to be possible causes of ME - ref Discovery World - Disease & Conditions - Dr Felix Potocnik.)

Chapter 5 - A non-yuppie with the YUPPIE FLU!

At last - I was not a hypochondriac; there was now a name for how yuck I had been feeling for so many months and it wasn't all in my "head"!.

But, due to my body's mal-absorption and the liver and kidney flushing systems not working, the Doc tried another way of treatment - all the vitamins and minerals now had to be had in liquid form - vile tasting but luckily no more drips! After another month on all these infusions, the tests continued. Slight improvement on the hormone and iron levels, and fibromyalgia, but no improvement on the immune system or the breakdown of the Candida cells.

May 2000 to December 2001
The Doc then suggested I try another type of naturopathic treatment called the QX machine (Quantum Xeroid) - This machine uses your body's magnetic and electric field to diagnose where the illnesses are and how to re-balance your system.  I had 4 of these therapy sessions - not very cheap and of course to date, medical aid had only paid about 10% of my medical costs as homeopathic or alternative therapies are not covered by most medical aids - to date the treatments had cost me approximately R3000.00 per week. 

After the QX machine, the naturopath then did a course of acupuncture to alleviate the ME symptoms - not painful but not pleasant to lie there with over 50 needles sticking out of your legs, arms, feet, stomach, face and head! I looked like a pin-cushion!!

Whilst I was having acupuncture, I was also asked to try electromagnetic therapy - 40 minutes of holding on to metal rods with an electric pulse coursing into the palms of my hands, 2 minute duration’s of varying frequencies. This treatment lasted for almost 10 months - between 5 - 10 hours weekly. I had to hire a machine to use at home as I could not afford to take more time off work. This was probably the best treatment for me - slowly but surely I was beginning to feel better - not 100% but not as tired and sore as previous months.  I was advised to drink as much water as I could and had a daily dose of cellfood and colloidal silver whilst on the electromagnetic therapy.

Half-way through this therapy, I was advised to have all my metal/mercury fillings removed from my teeth and replaced with porcelain to reduce the mercury content in my body (total 11 fillings).  This was a lengthy and somewhat painful process as the dentist could only do one quadrant of my mouth at a time over a period of 5 months.  When the electromagnetic therapy course was complete, the naturopath did blood, iron, parasitic, bacterial and hormone tests - all levels slightly improved.  I was on the way up again.

Chapter 6 - TAKING CHARGE!!!

Now, I had to take charge of my own healing and treatment. Watching my diet - not too much and not too little of anything, but staying away from the really bad things.  I kept up with the BarleyGreen, Flaxseed oil, cellfood and vitamin drinks.  I started regular Lymph drainage massages with an in-house therapist - which did wonders for my relaxation levels as well.  I even started going to aqua-aerobics again - once a week was all I could get through but at least it was more than before.

Around September 2001, a friend recommended I see her psychic counsellor who had helped her through a very difficult patch. Elsie was incredible, and even the sceptic in me was convinced. Elsie made me realise that I was holding on to too many old hurts and needed to start clearing my inner being.  As she pointed out, I needed to start forgiving people who had done me wrong, and then let it go as these old hurts were also clogging up my energy levels.  Elsie also spoke about a daughter that I had in my spiritual world, as well as my spiritual guide - a Red Indian squaw named Raincloud.  All this was a bit hectic for me to contemplate and I shied away from Elsie and the thoughts that she had brought into my mind.

It wasn't until January 2002 that I finally decided to try Elsie's suggestion and went to a lady who did crystal healing.  What an eye-opener! I never realised the strength of crystals before and after just two sessions was really letting out some horrible angers that I had being carrying for so long. The anger I had that my dad had died when I was so young and I had never got the chance to tell him I loved him even though he did not treat me the same as my sister. The anger and hatred I had for my mother-in-law for trying to run our lives and the disappointment I had in my relationship with my husband for never sticking up for me in her arguments with us. This was the crack in the dam wall that eventually opened up to let all the tears of frustration out and let me rant and rave at the images of these people in front of me. 

To help me continue my "body spring-clean", I purchased the InnerTalk - Accelerated Healing CD and listened to it as often as I could. I also started really trying to use mind control and power to ensure that “I chose to be healthy and free, to forgive and forget and to love myself as I love others”.  I repeated my affirmations daily and slowly but surely started to believe that I was indeed well again.

I also started trying to face my greatest fears - that of water and heights. I went as far as river rafting on the Zambezi River to curb my fear of water, bungee jumped off the Victoria Falls Bridge and went skydiving to diminish my fear of heights. This I did with terror in my heart, but realised that I had to,
“Fell the Fear, and Do It Anyway!”.  My phobia's I am happy to say aren't nearly as debilitating as they used to be, although I am still at woes in the sea.

Chapter 7 - MIRACLES Do Happen!

February 2002
It was around about this time that my hubby and I started discussing a possibility of having a second child, which now that I was feeling a lot better, I was actually able to contemplate. However having the loop removed which had given me four "almost pain-free and period-free years" was a daunting prospect.  My Gynae removed the loop and cautioned us that it could take approximately 10 months plus for me to fall pregnant (due to historic problems and the regulation of hormones off the loop) and that I should take it easy for a couple of months.

During this time, I had joined Mands and her WhyWeight team and was one of the lucky subscribers to win a Reiki treatment in Pretoria from one of the WhyWeight advertisers. I wasn't able to take up this prize and was offered an alternative therapist closer to home.  The therapist I was to go to had been trained in the "Brandon Bays Journey Process" and she suggested that I try this process instead.  If anyone has never heard of this process, it is a journey made within your body whilst in a hypnotic and meditative state. You explore the part of your body with your mind that feels clogged or unwell and using your inner eye try and "clean" out the illness.

This process assisted me further in what I had started with earlier in my crystal healing sessions and I left the therapist drained and exhausted. Later that night I had the weirdest dream - I was going through the "Journey Process" again and saw my unborn daughter and she was beautiful. 

In April, I still had not had a period but was advised that this was sometimes normal after having the loop removed, but the back and tummy ache was returning. Just in case, I did a home-pregnancy test which showed a negative result.  In May, I returned to the Gynae as my backache was getting worse and after doing a scan, confirmed that I was already 10 weeks pregnant.  So much for the first pregnancy taking 14 months, this baby was conceived within 7 days of the loop's removal - conceived on my birthday! So the dream that I had of my unborn child had been true, as I was already pregnant when I did the "Journey Process".

The pregnancy progressed well, however I did have numerous problems that resulted in my daughter being born with PFC (pulmonary foetal circulation distress) at 36 weeks - but that is another story for another time!

Chapter 8 - The STORY to come.....

I am having my yearly blood and hormone tests next week, and let's hope that the Candidiasis is still under my control.

Remember, the power to heal and be free - is really inside you - you just have to believe in yourself and your capabilities.

My journey from the birth of my son, Keanu, to the birth of my daughter, Tyla - has been filled with happiness, illness, joy, pain, renewed health and plenty of tears, but in the end I have prevailed.  My biggest thanks go to my husband and family, for through all the bad times and tears they were there for me, ALWAYS.

Bevskins!

PS. For more articles written by Bevskins [ Read More ]