Sunday, February 26, 2012

Adventures in Candida Land

I recently (6 days ago) stumbled over an article in a magazine that has had some life changing results for me.  It was an article about Candida Overgrowth.  Candida is a kind of yeast that we all have in our gut.  It belongs there.  But sometimes, it can get out of whack and overproduce and when the levels get too prolific, it can trigger quite an array of symptoms.  Depression, fatigue, sleeplessness, yeast infections, difficulty focusing, unusually cold hands and feet and....the one symptom that grabbed my eye...skin rashes and itching and an appearance of "chicken skin".  See...I have had itchy legs since this summer.  At first I thought my legs were just dry and needed some lotioning....and so I upped my lotion.  Then upped it some more because that didn't help.  Then I thought maybe I was allergic to my soap.  So I changed it.  Then my laundry detergent, so I changed that too.  No results.  I looked at my diet for the one new thing I had added that I might be allergic to, but I am a creature of habit and there was absolutely NOTHING new or exciting in my diet that would be an allergen.  I was stumped.  I changed my razor thinking I was reacting to the cheap one I had been using.  Nothing helped it at all.  Some days the itching seemed better.  Not gone...but less.  But never gone.  I thought about going to the doctor.  But what would I say?  Hi doc...I have itchy legs?  It sounded pretty lame.  See....other than the itchy and chicken skin look on my legs, I didn't really have any of the other symptoms...with the exception of the unusually cold hands and feet.  But then...I always have those.  That isn't really new.  But that one symptom was enough that after reading the article I just had a hunch that that was my answer.  And so, the next day, I headed to the Sunflower Market and purchased a Candida cleanse supplement and then set out to see if I could see any difference.  In addition to my cleanse tablets, I have to take a probiotic to build the good stuff back up in my gut.  And then, there's the diet part.  See, Candida is a kind of yeast.  And yeast thrives on sugar.  And so, the obvious answer to getting rid of Candida is to deprive the yeast of that which it needs to thrive....SUGAR.  Sigh.  When I first read about it I just wanted to lay down and die.  NO sugar allowed.  Not even sweetish things.  No honey or agave sweetener, no fruit, not even sweet vegetables like carrots!  No...this one is hard core.  And I had never in my life felt so depressed!  Depressed or not though, I was desperate to stop itching and decided it was worth a try if it provided an ounce of relief.  And so I started the no sugar diet.  Having eggs for breakfast each day, then roasted vegetables and salads for lunch and snacks.  Then lean meats and more veggies for dinner.  And it hasn't been too bad.  I mean...the vegetables are really tasting great.  I am doing a great job roasting them, If I do say so myself!  And the results have been surprising!  I have lost 4 pounds so far.  Without a bit of hunger.  My energy is great.  And my skin...my SKIN is starting to CLEAR and NOT ITCH!!!!!!  It's truly remarkable just how much difference it has made in just 5 days!  Do I miss the sugar and my convenient meals like protein bars and such?  YES!  Do I miss fruit?  Yes!  But is it all worth it?  ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!  To be able to sleep all night without waking up and laying there for an hour at a time scratching....worth it!  To be able to see my legs whole again and not all scratched to death and covered in self inflicted sores from scratching....worth it!  To have good, clear focus and great energy...worth it!  And to see the scale moving almost effortlessly.....SOOO TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!!!  I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for that article!  It has truly been life changing!  I still have a little over a week to go with the cleanse tablets...then I can reintroduce a precious little bit of sugar back into my diet.  From what I read, I will most likely have to be conscious about sugar from here on out if I wish to keep this from getting out of balance again.  If that's the case, at least I now know I can do it!  Tonight, I am thinking that Candida might actually be one of the best things that has ever happened to me!  I'm kind of grateful for it in a weird way!  Kind of!

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