HELP!! Candida & Water Fasting....

[Ertarox]

Hey,
I haven't posted here much, but I think it's about time that I got back into it because I need the support and to tap a few other like-minded people's brains...

I work at the Creative Health Institute in Michigan and love it, but am dismayed that after 5 1/2 months, when most have dropped sixty lbs, etc, that I am STILL heavy, having lost NOT MUCH AT ALL, and although I've made SOME health improvements, it is mild, and that I am still clearly suffering from candida (which I've even been told is in MY BRAIN) and now I find out I am suffering from LOW HCL as well (candida's evil counterpart).

These symptoms---the brain fuzz, the fugue state, the lethargy---have totally ruined my life and I am at my wits end, having quit my job to come here. I preach the lifestyle great and am very passionate, but am still totally suffering. The frustration causes me to still SMOKE on and off, which is just so shameful and demoralizing at this point: I am so much smarter than that.

This has been going on forever. I am less alarmed and more exhausted at this point in life, though, thanks to enlightenment and understanding. My early 20's (I'm 30 now) were a nightmare---I was diagnosed with ADD, depression, anxiety, body dysmorphic disorder, manic depression....put on a million pills, from depakote - a stabilizer - to dexedrine - PURE SPEED! - to everything in-between. Nothing worked, so they kept upping the doses. My self-esteem was so low I thought I couldn't even be mentally ill "right", since I reacted adversely or not at all to so many of the meds. It's amazing I managed to have any fun at all back then, but I did. But the misery...I want it gone. And I'm still suffering.

I disagree that just raw foods can end candida. Because I'm living proof. We use apple, we have bananas, we use some raisins....I don't know what else would aid Candida that we eat but my candida is still there. Granted, though, I had it AWFUL. So it's gonna take a serious cleanse. I've water-fasted before, but gone back to eating cooked processed crap afterwards. Not anymore, since going raw.

Okay, I'm researching good candida-fighting herbs and have a good source for them. Plus I have my coconut oil and apple cider vinegar and will have a good probiotic AND will be doing a BioRay Rife Machine for Candida for a few sessions, at least, in Chicago, soon enough. (Yay!) But what ELSE can I do to fight candida? Am I a total freak because my body has not just bounced back into shape and health from being raw this long? I hate that I'm still fat and have no energy. I've improved, but not much. I see people come through here and miracles occur. And yet here's my stubborn old body....UGGH!

I'm thinking about having bloodwork come January, plus having my B12 checked. And possibly getting a good oxygen supplement. And this water fast should really kick it into high gear. But if anyone has any other idea how to help me, or knows any good advice, trust me, I am ALL EARS. I normally don't post that often, but need to get back into it. And Alissa's site is the only one where I will do that.....the people here are respectable and kind, unlike on Nature's First Law's board, sorry to say.

I have so many great opportunities coming up to help open other raw institutes---my passion is so strong, for people AND health. I just can't handle being in my own private hell like this. It stifles my opportunities and prevents me from living my dream, which makes me not want to live at all, I hate to say. This is getting ridiculous! I feel so STUPID all the time---my brain doesn't even work. And all I keep thinking is how there is FUNGUS living in my brain. Oy!

Your kindness is much appreciated. Wish me luck on this fast. I am an experienced faster; getting started is never fun. And how cold and weak you get is not enviable, but the purification and healing is so ideal...I looked into the Master Cleanse a bit--maybe in Jan I'll experiment with that a bit. Either way, if you read through this post, you are golden. I think I am just at my wits end...

Erica

[Melissa]

Hi Erica,
Sorry to hear about your suffering. How long have you been 100% raw? I would imagine that 3-6 months of raw, with an emphasis on greens, would have more of an impact? I've heard that staying away from all sugars, including fruit and dried fruit, is a big help in clearing candida. Does water fasting really make your symptoms flare up? I have fibromyalgia and know about getting through detox. It can be intense. I seem to lose weight very slowly so I'm trying to be patient and not make that the focus. If I read of anything helpful for candida, I'll try to pass it on. Good luck and hang in there. --Melissa

[Rawmommie]

I had thought in the past that I had a candida problem and I treated it for a while. My symtoms would come and go, but they have almost completely dissapeared eating Raw.

I'm not sure that apple cider vinegar is good to have. I had to avoid vinegar. I took garlic, oil of oregano, I had nystatin prescribed, but I think the oil of oregano and garlic helped the most. Also you can take Acidophilus which is a good bacteria that helps keep the yeast in check. If you take these and feel worse, then that means you are having die-off and they are working. If you take them and nothing happens, then maybe candida isn't your problem. Have you had your thyroid checked? Sometimes that can be the culprit. Eating raw will also help that. I think sometimes it takes a lot longer for our bodies to heal than we would like them to.
good luck!
Karen

[Ertarox]

Hey-
Thanks for the ideas. I have been 100% raw since July 18th, eating greens and drinking wheatgrass at times. As far as the cider vinegar goes, it is controversial in terms of candida and is up to each body type. I've been muscle-tested and it's very good for me. Especially in terms of increasing HCL----which is HUGE in terms of digestion. Thanks for the garlic reminder. I might use that in my "master cleanse" formula, provided I do that. And if waterfasting does make it worse for a bit (it's usually up and down), it's due to die-off, as was pointed out. So I can deal with that. So far so good today. I'm on my way....
Thanks-
Erica

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Hi Erica,

I have read of two ways to fight Candida (with the raw food diet). One way is Dr. Cousin's, where you avoid all fruits. You can do a search on him to learn about his way, or someone who knows about Dr. Cousin's will lists some links for you.

The other way, that I'm most familular with and know someone it worked on, is avoiding all FATS for 3 weeks. This would be your coconut oil, nuts, etc. This is Dr. Doug Grahams suggestion.

Candidiasis, A Serious Health Issue
by Brenda Cobb
http://www.livingfoodsinstitute.com/article5.htm

Posts on VegSource
Jacky
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/raw/messages/15769.html
Ribs
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/raw/messages/15771.html
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/raw/messages/15775.html
Lenny
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/raw/messages/2424.html

Bryan – Dr. Bernarr
http://www.rawfoodsupport.com/read.p...94#reply_43931

http://www.rawfoodsupport.com/read.p...16#reply_45816

Candida can have more causes than just food. Chronic fatigue, adrenal exhaustion, pancreatic fatigue and other issues can all play a role in candida.
Still, the overriding factor is the overconsumption of fat.
I recommend that total fat in the diet be limited in order to consume sufficient carbohydrates.
Whether you focus on covert fats or overt fats is a fine tuning that can be dealt with later in the transition phase.
Certainly overt fats should not make up more than 10% of total calories consumed.
Dr D http://www.vegsource.com/talk/raw/messages/4073.html

Covert fats are the small amounts in all food that you generally might overlook because you don't think of it as a fatty fruit. Overt fats are the obvious ones such as nuts and avocado, the foods that're outright fatty.

I hope these links will help.

<>< Helen of Tennessee

[SwishTN]

That is a lot of information! Why does everything have to be so complicated???

Maybe it's not and I am complicating it? Reply 45816 was a bit much.... how does one navigate???

I may post this question on another thread, but how does one really do well eating only live foods, without it becoming so obsessive??

I would love to rid myself of a toenail infection, that could be candida based..... but I am not sure of that....
L.