6 ms·

For about 7 years, I've been battling undiagnosed Candidiasis. Cutting down wheat and sugar dramatically has mostly eliminated my symptoms, though when I get ca

For about 7 years, I've been battling undiagnosed Candidiasis. Cutting down wheat and sugar dramatically has mostly eliminated my symptoms, though when I get careless it comes back. I've talked to three doctors about my symptoms, and done various tests, which don't show anything. None of them seemed to accept the idea that it could be caused by Candida. It's interesting to see it getting some media attention, though certainly this particular report makes me a bit nervous.

e40 8y ago
I had this in 2001 when I had a very bad bout of the flu. Toward the end, food started to taste like sand. There were really no other symptoms, though that was bad enough. Went to the doc and he asked if I had HIV (answer: no). He said he'd never seen it in a healthy person. He gave me some lozenges that were almost worse than the original problem. About 3-4 weeks later it was mostly gone. It minorly flared up in the years after that, if I had a cold and skipped brushing my teeth.
- rftgyh 8y ago
  Received same HIV question. Severe Candida infections are apparently a new phenomenon.
  - cloverich 8y ago
    *severe fungal infections in non immunocompromised patients would be new. Probably what you meant, just making it clear.
  - e40 8y ago
    I wonder what this means? Have we become weaker or has Candida mutated into something stronger?
thrownaway1911 8y ago
It may sound very strange, but I've been free from candidiasis for the last year after I've used Vyvanse 70mg (Lisdexamfetamine) for 1 month to treat a focus problem. It caused me a big and risky dehydration of my body as a side effect that I don't known why (nor my doctors), but it eliminated candidiases from my body, and I wasn't using any other medication at that time.
avip 8y ago
Data is missing. How can you know you've had an undiagnosed condition for 7 years?
- asveikau 8y ago
  Sounds like they have been convinced of it by their own symptoms but it has not had a proper diagnosis. In my own life experience this is common. People bounce around the medical system with varying diagnoses for many ailments, at various levels of confirmation, and sometimes the doctors aren't sure either.
  - avip 8y ago
    There is some distinction to be made between the verbs "convinced of" and "diagnosed with". Not to downplay anyone's medical conditions, but there's lots of FUD surrounding candida, too much money on the table, and we should all be careful with terms.
    - asveikau 8y ago
      I take it that distinction is why they said "undiagnosed".
  - coldtea 8y ago
    It's also quite common to be right and the doctors to just dismiss it (only to be proved by another doctors, sometimes year later).
- HeWhoLurksLate 8y ago
  I have ADHD. I have had it my entire life. I was "diagnosed" with it when I was 14. I was therefore "undiagnosed" for 14 years. Similarly, cars can have problems that a mechanic can't figure out how to fix. These are generally called undiagnosed problems, but they're still there.
  - darawk 8y ago
    Sure, but this person implied that they had been to doctors and the doctors disagreed with their own self-diagnosis. That's a very different thing than simply not having been diagnosed.
orhmeh09 8y ago
How do you know you have candidiasis?
nerdponx 8y ago
This article has little to nothing to do with chronic Candida albicans infection, which might or might not exist. Having spent a lot of time in and around various "health food" type communities, I don't see any reason to believe that so-called Candidiasis is actually a fungal infection. It's some kind of chronic inflammatory condition, that's all we know. Anything beyond that is speculation.
- bigbaguette 8y ago
  True, nothing to do with the article but Candida Albicans does exists in the gastrointestinal tract of about half the population. It's a commensal organism that sometimes overgrow and becomes pathologic under opportunistic circumstances: it's quite common to see it rise after an antibiotic treatment which kills the bacteria that keep this fungi in check. Excessive consumption of bread ord sugar also fuel its proliferation

e40 8y ago

I had this in 2001 when I had a very bad bout of the flu. Toward the end, food started to taste like sand. There were really no other symptoms, though that was bad enough. Went to the doc and he asked if I had HIV (answer: no). He said he'd never seen it in a healthy person. He gave me some lozenges that were almost worse than the original problem. About 3-4 weeks later it was mostly gone. It minorly flared up in the years after that, if I had a cold and skipped brushing my teeth.

rftgyh 8y ago
Received same HIV question. Severe Candida infections are apparently a new phenomenon.
- cloverich 8y ago
  *severe fungal infections in non immunocompromised patients would be new. Probably what you meant, just making it clear.
- e40 8y ago
  I wonder what this means? Have we become weaker or has Candida mutated into something stronger?

thrownaway1911 8y ago

It may sound very strange, but I've been free from candidiasis for the last year after I've used Vyvanse 70mg (Lisdexamfetamine) for 1 month to treat a focus problem. It caused me a big and risky dehydration of my body as a side effect that I don't known why (nor my doctors), but it eliminated candidiases from my body, and I wasn't using any other medication at that time.

avip 8y ago

Data is missing. How can you know you've had an undiagnosed condition for 7 years?

asveikau 8y ago
Sounds like they have been convinced of it by their own symptoms but it has not had a proper diagnosis. In my own life experience this is common. People bounce around the medical system with varying diagnoses for many ailments, at various levels of confirmation, and sometimes the doctors aren't sure either.
- avip 8y ago
  There is some distinction to be made between the verbs "convinced of" and "diagnosed with". Not to downplay anyone's medical conditions, but there's lots of FUD surrounding candida, too much money on the table, and we should all be careful with terms.
  - asveikau 8y ago
    I take it that distinction is why they said "undiagnosed".
- coldtea 8y ago
  It's also quite common to be right and the doctors to just dismiss it (only to be proved by another doctors, sometimes year later).
HeWhoLurksLate 8y ago
I have ADHD. I have had it my entire life. I was "diagnosed" with it when I was 14. I was therefore "undiagnosed" for 14 years. Similarly, cars can have problems that a mechanic can't figure out how to fix. These are generally called undiagnosed problems, but they're still there.
- darawk 8y ago
  Sure, but this person implied that they had been to doctors and the doctors disagreed with their own self-diagnosis. That's a very different thing than simply not having been diagnosed.

orhmeh09 8y ago

How do you know you have candidiasis?

nerdponx 8y ago

This article has little to nothing to do with chronic Candida albicans infection, which might or might not exist. Having spent a lot of time in and around various "health food" type communities, I don't see any reason to believe that so-called Candidiasis is actually a fungal infection. It's some kind of chronic inflammatory condition, that's all we know. Anything beyond that is speculation.

bigbaguette 8y ago
True, nothing to do with the article but Candida Albicans does exists in the gastrointestinal tract of about half the population. It's a commensal organism that sometimes overgrow and becomes pathologic under opportunistic circumstances: it's quite common to see it rise after an antibiotic treatment which kills the bacteria that keep this fungi in check. Excessive consumption of bread ord sugar also fuel its proliferation