Patients come to WholeHealth Chicago regularly with this common refrain: “You’re the fourth (or seventh or tenth) doctor I’ve seen. I feel terrible but am always told that my tests are normal and there’s nothing wrong with me.”
Then they’ll add: “I read about Candida overgrowth and the symptoms seem to fit me exactly. I took this online questionnaire and my score was super-high. But the doctors I’ve seen just say to stay off the internet. There’s no such thing.”
And I’ll repeat this fact later: Dr. William Crook’s “The Yeast Connection” was first published in 1983. That’s over fifty years ago. It sold millions of copies. Pretty amazing for a “no such thing!”.
Truly miserable people, these victims of chronic candida overgrowth. They’re usually female, and severe cases suffer from exhaustion, abdominal bloating, fuzzy thinking, muscle weakness, joint pains, congested sinuses, loss of interest in sex, and sugar cravings which of course lead to weight gain. If female, one vaginal “yeast infection” seems to follow another. Usually as teenagers they took a year’s worth of antibiotics for acne, or when a little older, super potent antibiotics for chronic sinus infections.
From experience, I know their self-diagnosis is absolutely correct. They are poster children for Candida Overgrowth Syndrome.
Our bodies host a multitude of microorganisms, and a proper balance among them, our microbiome, is one of the keys to good health. Candida (full name Candida albicans) is a microorganism that lives in our gastrointestinal tract held in check by the multiple billions of bacteria that share space with it. However, when this bacteria population plummets, usually after a broad-spectrum antibiotic is taken for an extended period, overgrowth of candida can occur and usually manifests in women as a vaginal yeast infection. By the way, it’s called a “yeast infection” because both “yeast” and “candida” are types of fungi (microscopic cousins of mushrooms).
Vaginal candida infections are well recognized by conventional doctors. Problems arise when candida grows out of control and excessively populates one or more locations in the body.
Let’s review:
Vaginal candidiasis. The most common form of candida overgrowth is vaginal candidiasis (a yeast infection), which often occurs after taking antibiotics. Remember, antibiotics kill both bacteria causing infections, but also the helpful bacterial strains that typically keep candida within bounds. Candida, however, is unaffected by antibiotics. In the absence of its natural bacterial counterbalance, candida starts reproducing wildly. Intense vaginal itching and other discomforts, along with a white discharge, are characteristic signs of a vaginal yeast infection.
Oral candidiasis (oral thrush). Candida overgrowth in the mouth, also called oral thrush, can occur in people using steroid inhalers for asthma (steroids encourage candida proliferation) and in breast-fed infants whose mothers are taking antibiotics. Oral thrush also develops in people whose immune systems are severely depleted–for example, people undergoing cancer chemotherapy, those taking immunosuppressive therapy after an organ transplant, and people with HIV/AIDS.
Candida overgrowth syndrome. Vaginal candidiasis, oral thrush, and candida overgrowths on the skin such as diaper rash are common medical conditions. When they occur, all physicians agree they should be treated. A third type of candida proliferation within the intestines, however, is the controversial disorder, accepted by some physicians and rejected by others as a fad diagnosis. It is known variably as candida overgrowth syndrome, chronic candidiasis, or simply “a yeast problem”.
The Start of the Candida Wars
In the early 1970s, two physicians working separately, William Crook, M.D. and C.O. Truss, M.D., proposed a syndrome they’d observed primarily in women who had taken antibiotics for weeks or months, usually for acne. The main symptoms were digestive (gas, bloating, diarrhea) with recurring vaginal yeast infections. In time, Dr. Crook added numerous other symptoms to his list, including fatigue, brain fog, sinus congestion, skin rashes, and the development of food sensitivities.
Because he was unable to get his research into mainstream medical journals, Dr. Crook self-published “The Yeast Connection: A Medical Breakthrough” in 1983, obviously years before the internet. Knowing he’d receive little acceptance from his medical colleagues, he included a questionnaire to help readers with self-diagnosis and self-treatment, using diet changes and nutritional supplements. On the cover, “If you feel sick all over, this book could change your life.” It became a national bestseller and went on to sell millions of copies. Dr. Crook would write 14 more books, linking chronic yeast infections to a variety of other conditions including chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, ADD, etc. before his death in 2002.
Because the information went to the general public before being broadly accepted by physicians, Dr. Crook’s readers (mainly women) who diagnosed themselves with “yeast overgrowth” encountered a wall of unexpected hostility, irritation, and disbelief from their physicians. They’d arrive, The Yeast Connection in hand, questionnaire carefully completed, and face a look of withering contempt from their doctors.
Years ago, I had lunch with Dr. Crook in the late 1990’s during a break at a medical meeting. I told him that when I was planning to open WholeHealth Chicago, the Chief of Medicine at my hospital called me into his office. He’d heard the “rumor” about my plans. He had only one question: “Was I going to be one of those Candida Quacks? If so, he was going after my medical license.”
Dr. Crook laughed and said, “I’ve heard that a lot. The hostility amazes me. Nothing ever happens.”
He was right.
What did happen over the next decade was this: Unable to get acceptance by conventional medicine, Dr. Crook marketed his book to chiropractors, naturopaths, nutritionists and patients themselves. The separation between “yes-candida-exists” and “no-it-doesn’t” widened.
Also, and this was quite unfortunate, candida overgrowth syndrome became vastly “overdiagnosed” by alternative practitioners because they “owned” it and “underdiagnosed” by conventional doctors because they didn’t believe it existed.
“Every symptom, physical or emotional, became attributed to candida. Intuitive readers told their clients their bodies were “filled with candida”. At the same time, candida was vastly underdiagnosed by conventional doctors who should have known better. (“I know you’ve been taking antibiotics for a year and have daily vaginal infections, but there’s no such thing as yeast overgrowth.”)
Now, over 50 years later, the bickering continues. Patients, mainly women, continue to hear, “I think you have candida” from alternative practitioners of every stripe, including well-meaning health food store clerks, and then face a barely repressed sneer from their physicians who declare, “There’s no such thing.”
Risk factors for Candida Overgrowth and the Tests That Confirm It
If you’ve taken a prolonged course of a broad-spectrum antibiotic (which triggers an ecological catastrophe against the helpful bacteria in your intestines a/k/a your microbiome) and you’ve developed protracted digestive symptoms and especially if you now have recurring vaginal yeast infections, then indeed you may have candida overgrowth syndrome.
Other risk factors include (though definitely not necessarily) taking birth control pills or oral corticosteroid drugs, such as prednisone, or being diabetic (having high blood sugar). Contrary to popular belief, a high-sugar diet doesn’t predispose you to candida. If this were the case, the entirety of western civilization, devouring as it does 120 pounds of sugar per person annually, would be suffering from it.
With candida as a diagnosis ignored by conventional physicians, symptoms reported by their patients are not taken seriously, many doctors just don’t order the simple tests that can prove or disprove the diagnosis.
The three diagnostic tests are:
–A stool sample sent to a microbiology lab for microscopic examination and culture of candida;
–A blood test for the presence of antibodies to candida;
–If needed, a microscopic examination and culture of vaginal discharge.
Treatment
Once a candida diagnosis is confirmed, treatment is fairly straightforward. Prescription anti-candida medications (fluconazole, nystatin) are safe and effective. For those averse to prescription meds, several natural remedies (grapefruit seed extract, caprylic acid, garlic, used in combination or essential oils of thyme, oregano, sage and lemon balm, also in combination) are quite effective. You’ll also need to follow with a good probiotic to replenish the helpful bacteria in your intestines.
Eating a healthful diet is always beneficial, but the extremely restrictive eating plan originally proposed by Dr Crook is really not necessary. Even he backed off its almost painful austerity in his later years. Although virtually all patients report feeling vastly better on an anti-candida diet, this doesn’t mean they necessarily have candida, but rather that anyone would feel better after eliminating junk and processed foods, simple carbs, and sugar.
Our WholeHealth Chicago team at all locations have been especially interested in candida overgrowth syndrome and, working with clinical nutritionist, Tam Dickson-Mayer, have developed an extremely effective program that will establish once and for all whether or not you have candida and help those who do get rid of it.
Be well,