Thursday, June 15, 2017

Candida! Do you or a loved one experience these symptoms?

Candida! Do you or a loved one experience these symptoms?

Candida!

To some, this word has no meaning.  To others it's just another "disease."  I first heard about candida just after graduating from college.  I had all of the symptoms they listed at that time.  There are other symptoms, (most of which are themselves considered "diseases"), but the most common are:

  • Chronic fatigue
  • Brain fog
  • Digestive issues
  • Recurring yeast infections
  • Oral thrush
  • Sinus infections
  • Food allergies/intolerances
  • Fungal infections on the skin and nails
  • A weak immune system
  • Joint pain
  • Low mood*
This is another list:
I really didn't know what to do about the condition, and a friend of mine was seeing a doctor who attempted to treat her condition.  She ended up being paralyzed from the treatments!!  She still is wheel chair bound some 30 years later.

Initially, I didn't do anything about the condition.  Later, when reading Dr. Atkin's New Diet Revolution, I learned more.  I felt it could be controlled with diet.  I also started self-treating with oil of oregano, as  he described in the book, and probably did that for 3-4 years around 2001.  Half a dozen years ago, I had some allergy testing and stool samples taken.  At that time, they found severe staph and strep infections.  There was also a candida infection.  I spent a year on specialized antibiotics attempting to clear these out.

In hind sight, probably all these things just made the candida organisms stronger!  I've recently begun taking a different type of probiotic -- one that actually has the enzymes to be able to break apart the tough outer shell of the candida organism.  I have heard it is like the shell of a cockroach.  No wonder I wasn't successful at just dealing with it by diet and essential oils!  Any idea how difficult it is to kill and get rid of cockroaches??  I located this description of chitinase -- the shell of the candida organism, on Wikipedia.  Basically it describes it as a pathogenic substance.  This was what I felt most significant, "Like cellulose, chitin is an abundant biopolymer that is relatively resistant to degradation." It can't be broken down easily -- meaning diet alone won't work!

Plexus ProBio 5

Since I published my most recent article, I've had a few folks tell me that they are controlling their candida with diet.  I have not found this to be entirely successful.  This is now my 3rd candida treatment.  (I had one before the special antibiotic.)  I've never previously been rid of the condition based on the fact that my food and chemical sensitivities continued to worsen.  If the candida was "under control" my allergies would be getting better.  They have only worsened until just recently. (See previous article.)

I would caution anyone against self-treatment as I have done it. I am currently being guided by others with experience.  I've become an "ambassador" with Plexus, which was founded by a team of physicians, and the group I'm in has several nurses and other health professionals as a part of it.  I'm definitely not doing this on my own!

Please, if you feel that you might have a candida-related condition, contact me.  I would love to help you work through it to health!  My email is sharlong@gmail.com.

 (I am not  recommending these sites for anything but information.)
*Reference:  https://www.thecandidadiet.com/candida-symptoms/ 
**Reference:  https://www.candidasupport.org/resources/candida-related-diseases/

Simultaneously published at http://icrecipesandtips.blogspot.com/2017/06/candida-do-you-or-loved-one-experience.html

Monday, June 5, 2017

How the Lord is working in me --- I'm been being healed of my food allergies, finally!

Last year, January 2016, I was admitted for emergency surgery to remove my gall bladder.  I had a huge gallstone, and apparently it was occluded.  I had actually known about the stone for about a dozen years.  It had been asymptomatic all that time. However, there I was having emergency surgery!  I did not recover well from the surgery.  I ended up back in the hospital something like four times over the next several months because of severe pain in my abdomen.

In January 2017, I was hospitalized for 2 1 /2 weeks, I had a severe urinary tract infection, very high blood pressure (HBP) and had experienced several small strokes.  I came home on 4 prescriptions for HBP.  However, I felt certain that God was going to give me a way out of this.  I’m an “alternative health writer,” and I really prefer the natural approach to things.  Usually I have very adverse reactions to medications.  Within a couple of weeks Elsa Moss, the mother of one of our camp’s volunteers, (my husband is the caretaker of a Bible camp), contacted me about Plexus.  At first, I thought I knew what she was talking about, then it dawned on me that I really didn’t.  I had been having the worst food allergies of my life, and my acceptable foods list was just a handful of items.  Elsa (E) and her ladies, (up-line), were able to help me through this and get me started. E sent me a bottle of Probio5,(on March 22, 2017), and I was counseled to start at ¼ to ½ capsule, opened because of my sensitivity to rice (in the capsules) and what they felt was the severity of my candida infection.  I had actually been treated for candida by two different doctors (ND and an allergist) and had done a lengthy self-treatment --  NONE of which worked.  I have been aware that I have candida since I was a young adult, so what they were telling me made a lot of sense!



 I did start slowly, as they suggested, and began to experience pretty harsh die-off symptoms.  My belly got huge!  Seriously, it was as big as I was when I was very pregnant with my 3rd child nearly 18 years ago, wearing a size 13 underwear!

Initially, I was having severe trouble with my eyes being very sensitive and red, and I had a very severe case of athlete’s foot.  I had huge blisters on my feet!  I could hardly even walk they were so painful!  I continued to take my Probio5 and use some essential oils for comfort, and within a few weeks my feet were clear.  My eyes are improving.

Another improvement I have noticed early on was the Lyme disease symptoms I had been experiencing (It was discovered that I had Lyme disease in my system by my natuopath last year.)  The major identifying factor was that I was running a sometimes quite high fever, (before Plexus!)  Even several weeks into the candida “treatment” I was still experiencing fevers, but not anything like what they were before.  Now,  I don’t have them anymore!

I’ve now been on the full Triplex for several weeks, (a little over 2 months.)  I was able to add in the other products at about 4 weeks into my Journey.  Previously, I had been unable to try them because of my allergies.  It seemed like there was something in just about every product Plexus had to which I was allergic!  However, at that point I felt I could add the Biocleanse, which helped me immensely with eliminating.  Also, E sent me a sample of the previous formulation of Slim.  I really liked it!  It really helped me to eliminate better.  It also gave me energy.  I also added in the Ease product to help with my pain which was mostly in my spine.  I have severe osteoarthritis and have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia.  My doctor also thinks I fit the profile for MS, but I’m unwilling to undergo any further testing.  I’m also unwilling to take anymore medication!

As I’ve progressed on this current Candida cleanse, (using Probio5), I have mostly experienced severe bloating, as I mentioned, and very intense itching just about everywhere.  However, I’m beginning to have some REAL SOLID results!  As soon as I added the Nerve product, about 2 weeks ago, after just 2 capsules I began to have feeling in my big toe.  It had been completely numb since I had the small strokes at the beginning of the year.  My hair is beginning to come in thicker – I had been losing hair by the handful after I came home from the hospital in January of this year.  Now I hardly shed at all!  My nails are growing really quickly too.  I’ve lost about 6# and at least a couple of sizes VERY recently.  I’ve mostly been able to cut out the pain medication from the doctor.  I’ve been using the Ease product, as needed, for the pain.

Just a few days into the Candida cleanse, I had immediate results with my thyroid/adrenal glands.  I’d had testing done several years ago and I showed a marked adrenal insufficiency.  I’ve been taking natural products for them, (pretty expensive!), for the past couple of years.  Within a matter of days, I had to stop those supplements because I had way too much energy!  I was jittery all day when I used them and I had plenty of energy when I didn’t.  I also don’t need naps most of the time, and when I do; I have to limit them or I don’t sleep at night.  I can only manage about 7 hours of sleep, which was my norm in college and when my children were young and I was actively writing books.  Also, as evidence that my thyroid is functioning better, my eyebrows are beginning to fill out.
I’ve had an open sore in my nose since I had surgery to repair it at least a dozen years ago.  It’s actually healed.  That, also, only took a very short time to heal once I started the Probio5.


I know not everyone is on the lookout for something to help them get well, but I was.  Even though I’ve had several Candida treatments in my adult life, (this was the 4th!)  This is the first one that is actually working.  I can tell because of all of these things above that I have listed.  I’m so thankful to E for sharing about Plexus with me! 

(The links open to "my" Plexus website where you can find the products of which I am speaking.  Ask me if you would like to know more!  sharlong@gmail.com)