Wow! Nadia, you rock! Your post definitely is
worth reading and hope it helps everyone
understand the candida connection and overall
health along with rosacea. Thanks so much
for all your research and advice.

Brady

--- In rosacea-diet-users-support-group@yahoogroups.com, "nadevel"
<nadevel@y...> wrote:
> --- In rosacea-diet-users-support-group@yahoogroups.com, "Brady
> Barrows" <bradybarrows@h...> wrote:
> > Nadia,
> >
> > Can you give so details on what prescription fungicide and
> > natural herbal anti-yeast products?
>
> OK. Here's my summary of observation and self-experimentation over a
> decade or so.
>
> I've paid I good deal of attention to candida over the years because,
> like most women, I have had yeast infections. Researching candida, I
> noticed an overlap of symptoms of systemic candida with rosacea.
> Candida is also strongly linked to high carbohydrate consumption.
>
> I had also noticed that antibiotics I took some years ago for a kidney
> infection improved my skin. This is plausible since antibiotics
> designed for bacteria could also kill yeasts (fungi); they can be
> rather indiscriminate. (However candida is strongly linked with
> antibiotic use, so I definitely try to avoid anti-bacterials
> except when absolutely essential.)
>
> Four years ago I took a single course of DIFLUCAN® (Fluconazole
> Tablets). It is usually prescribed for vaginal candida, but I
> approached a gastroenterologist with the request for a systemic
> fungicide. (I see Diflucan and Nystatin, another common systemic
> fungicide, are also available without prescription from Rx mail order
> sites on the web.)
>
> After the Diflucan, seeing good effect, I continued with specific
> natural herbal fungicides (detailed below) for three months. There
> are many products and companies to choose from, both for single
> preparations and proprietary formulae under names like "Candida
> Clear". I make no recommendation of any of particular brands -- you
> should go with whatever you have good experience of.
>
> I currently take preventative "food fungicides" daily: garlic (also
> for the heart) and sage leaf (also for hormonal balance) with an
> occasional intensive treatment. A white furry tongue is often my sign
> for an intensive treatment.
>
> For intensive treatment, I use several single remedies rotated in four
> day cycles, because a recent finding is that the fungi adapt and
> develop resistance to agents. So rotating through several products
> should be a more effective treatment for systemic candida (also known
> as "candidiasis").
>
> I rotate four or more of grapefruit seed extract, capryllic acid, pau
> d'arco, sage leaf (or oil), teatree oil and oregano leaf (or oil) in a
> four day cycle. You should be able to find all of these easily on the
> web or from your health food store. There are other anti-fungal
> agents, such as olive leaf extract, oregon grape and 10-undecenoic
> acid derived from castor bean oil, but I use those readily available
> to me in Europe.
>
> The liquids are nasty (bitter and or burning) and are most
> conveniently taken by purchasing empty gelatine capsules from a
> pharmacy and filling them (each time, not for storage) with 5-10
> drops. They should be taken with water after food so as not to
> irritate internal membranes. Or you can drop the liquids into water or
> inside a little piece of bread and quickly swallow without chewing.
>
> If you are uneasy about taking the essential oils internally (this
> practice is an established part of the European naturopathic system
> but I see strong warnings against this on US websites), then take dry
> preparations or find other choices. Check with your naturopath if you
> have any doubts.
>
> These products may be "natural" but they should be used with
> discrimination and care. Don't assault your body unneccesarily. Check
> the web or with a herbalist to see if there are other bioeffects of
> any of the agents you propose taking that would make them not suitable
> for you. In my case, taking sage leaf is a bonus (in my case!!)
> because it is beneficial for regulating female hormones; I decided
> against colloidal silver because of the continuing debate over its
> safety and efficacy.
>
> Simple candida is quickly eliminated; but if longstanding, then the
> fungi have converted from single cell to thread-like growth in the
> gut. This causes leaky gut and inflammatory symptoms (eg see Leaky Gut
> Syndromes: Breaking the Vicious Cycle). One rule of
> thumb is that you should continue anti-candida treatment for one month
> for every year of infection. Be consistent and thorough but don't
> overdo the "killing part". Your objective is not to completely
> eliminate candida -- Candida albicans is normally found in most
> people's systems -- rather to enable healing and rebalancing by
> moderating "candida overgrowth" (triggered by such things as
> contraceptive pills, antibiotics, steroids, immune system disorders,
> overconsumption of sugar, alcohol etc.).
>
> When elimating bad bioflora, you will also be removing good ones from
> your gut. The ecological approach is to supplement with (probiotics
> or "friendly bacteria", eg see
> http://www.phototour.minneapolis.mn.us/candida/summary.html) to
> repopulate your system with good bacteria and to rebuild your
> resistance to candida dominance. Take probiotics at night or at
> least some hours distant from when you are taking the antibiotic agents.
>
> It is a good idea to take herbs to soothe and heal the lining of
> the gut (like slippery elm, goldenseal, etc), and supplementary
> dietary fibre (like ground psyllium seeds) to speed the elimination of
> toxins in the stool. You could also consider supplements that support
> the immune system (Vitamins C and E, selenium, zinc, beta carotene
> etc) and fresh foods that contain these.
>
> A supportive diet is beneficial at this time. The Roseacea diet
> without mushrooms or anything fermented, matured, preserved or liable
> to have yeasts or mould (=fungus) should be fine. Or look up "candida
> diet" on the web to get ideas. Turnips, broccoli, cabbage, onions and
> garlic are regarded as antifungal foods. Artichokes and turmeric
> support the liver (which has to deal with extra toxins). Green tea has
> antioxidants. Cold-pressed oils containing gamma-linoleic acid (GLA),
> such as olive, flax, sesame and borage seed oils, are also
> recommended, reputedly they prevent the conversion of candida from the
> single cell yeast to the invasive fungus form.
>
> You should see an effect within two weeks. If there is no
> change in your rosacea symptoms within four weeks then candida is
> probably not contributing to rosacea.
>
> One early confirmation that you may have systemic candida are the
> lousy "flu-like" symptoms of "yeast dieoff" or Herxheimer reaction.
> This is caused by the toxins released from the dying fungi. Some say
> that this is a sign you should cut back on the dose of fungicides,
> and, more importantly, support the eliminative processes of the body
> with lots of water, digestive aids and detoxifying supplements like
> molybdenum, zince and copper, and herbs like goldenseal and neem, eg
> see http://www.modernherbalist.com/dieoff.html and
> http://www.health4her.com/library/concerns/detoxification.asp.
>
> Some people think that candida can be blamed for all chronic illness,
> which is not a healthy attitude. Read up, be observant (keep a
> notebook) and scientific about it. I had a history that suggested I
> could have candida. If you think this applies to you, there are
> various self-assessment forms on the web, eg
> http://www.bodyecologydiet.com/pages_new/candida_quiz.html or
> http://cassia.org/candida.htm
>
> All the best
> Nadia