My Candida Healing Story
My Candida Overgrowth Manifested in University
While my Candida overgrowth started rearing its ugly head while I was in University in the 90's, heavy metal poisoning was one of the original culprits, but I did not know it until several years later.
Read on for my journey from heartburn to debilitated digestion, getting on stomach medication, to getting help from an N.D., to getting worse because of unknown heavy metals bound to the candida in my gut, to eventually opening up my own Natural Healing Practice to help people worldwide.
I had Amalgam fillings fillings put in my mouth, 3 of them when I was 7 years old.
Slowly over time they leached out their mercury, my body burden went up, and my health started declining.
My first sign: a possible diagnosis of IBS, heartburn/acid reflux and being diagnosed with GERD while in University doing my B.A.Sc.
Mid University Trouble with Candida
In the midst of my Bachelors at University I started to have trouble with my digestion, meaning acid reflux and heartburn issues.
I was seen by a G.I. Specialist (gastroenterologist), had a gastroscopy and started taking a stomach medication.
Famotidine, an H2-blocker (Pepcid) for a few years.
Boy what a big mistake that was...
I was seeing a Chiropractor as well, and I was diagnosed with a Hiatal Hernia (no longer there now).
One doctor I saw was the first to mention that chocolate would cause my stomach acid to go up into my esophagus (reduced function of the Lower Esophageal Sphincter - LES)
That helped me put myself more in touch with my body.
Stronger Drugs: PPI's NEXT
While I was being seen by the G.I. doctor for a follow-up gastroscope, the new P.P.I. drugs were coming out.
They were pretty expensive then, and I was lucky to get a few samples to take for about 4 weeks of healing.
P.P.I.'s or Proton Pump Inhibitors are powerful drugs that reduce the natural stomach acid we use to digest.
One popular brand of PPI is Prilosec (Omeprazole), popularized the 'Purple Pill' in TV ads to treat heartburn and available OTC (over the counter) since 2003
So I started taking those for a little while to get some esophageal erosions healed.
I have talked with some potential clients who have mixed reactions about P.P.I.'s. Some feel they don't help much, are very difficult to use, have a rebound effect and some feel they are great to use long-term.
Many people in North America are now taking them long-term.
More Illness During My Master's
I went on to do my Master's degree right after my Bachelor.
Looking back on the period of my Master's, candida, chronic fatigue, and poor digestion slowly crept up.
As a University student, I was not eating right, and not eating much cruciferous veggies which are a source of sulfur, important for Glutathione creation.
I was not eating high quality yogurt frequently like I do now.
Chronic fatigue for me was slight, and I could still function, but I was not aware of how slowly it was causing harm.
I was having difficulty digesting foods, and my sleep became compromised.
By this time, I was on Pepcid for about 6 years.
I was not aware of the food intolerances I was developing that were going to really affect my gut.
Not to mention cause me a myriad of digestive difficulties with eating whatever I wanted.
Finishing Off My Masters in 1995 Searching for Answers
I finished off my Masters in 1995, and I was really grateful to find a book by a Naturopath about digestion.
It talked about yeast, and it gave me an understanding about my digestion and the source of my woes.
I was excited to be able to see the effects of the Candida toxins on my blood.
I was able to move to the West Coast, and became a patient of his.
And so began another journey into getting more deeply entrenched with my impending Candida Infection.
This Naturopath did not know the connection between mercury and the Candida overgrowth at that time: (more about that in a little bit).
By my current and unique definition in my practice as a Natural Health Practitioner, it was not a Candida Overgrowth Infection at that time. It would still have been easier to deal with because it was just Candida Overgrowth.(But later I went into the Energy Deficit which causes Candida Infection to really take hold.)
Although I was not tested by the N.D., I still did not have leaky gut then.
So, with the N.D. a blood picture showed the yeast toxins affecting my blood.
(I was also somewhat chemically sensitive, although not fully aware of it. I knew my detox pathways were stressed. Thank goodness for the Yeast Connection book by Dr. William Crook.)
I was muscle tested at the N.D.'s clinic and given a list of foods that I needed to avoid, some of which I had never eaten.
It was all good.
I was told the list would not change – ever.
After about 2 months of supplement work, fixing the stomach acid, and taking digestive enzymes, I was able to get off of the Pepcid.
I was in joy!
And I was extremely grateful to get off that acid blocking drug!
Here's why:
When I finished my Master's and left to go to West Coast for work, I was in dire need of help.
Unaware of this at the time, I was getting easily into exhaustion too (not the same as fatigue).
But I remember that I ate a meal at some point and it felt like lead in my stomach.
Thanks to the doctor who mentioned chocolate loosening the LES, I was getting more in touch with my body, and I really felt that.
The food was just not moving. So, I had to do something quickly! I needed a plan. I needed some hope.
Getting back to my Healing journey with this N.D., I was very lucky in choosing my own diet, and living on the West Coast.
Fresh Cod was accessible, and I was eating real Cod several times a week, making soups with beans, and I was losing weight.
When I asked what to eat I did not get much help, except to avoid those "Avoid foods".
I was learning to eat brown rice, and to become a Health Food fanatic.
I lost weight naturally without much exercise, because I wasn't eating pasta or whole wheat all the time again. Gluten Free.
I was following food combining and was more concerned about digestion.
I had to follow food combining to stop feeding the yeast.
At this time, a microscopic blood picture showed the yeast were calmer, so it was the right time to take yeast killers.
So, I was started on yeast-killers.
I remember the product vividly in my mind And boy was it powerful!
When the yeast are calmer, Yeast Killers can really wreak havoc.
Let's get rid of those buggers right? But the fatigue was enormous!
My Journey with Yeast Killers
Living and working on the West Coast was very nice, breathing fresh air, and walking home from work.
I started to take the yeast killers, about 1/4 tsp in the morning in water before breakfast, and told to gradually increase it slowly.
I remember walking home at around the same time every evening after work, and I would get that same die-off headache at the exact same time.
That was the one die-off reaction I was aware of caused by the yeast killers.
I was not really aware of the increasing fatigue being caused by this yeast killer formula.
Back then, I did not have organ energy deficits, and if my supplement program was more complete, I believe I would have been healed in about 6 months.
We had done some work on my liver with milk thistle so the headaches were not extreme.
This all helped to get off the Pepcid.
I was supposed to be getting better, and better, but when some friends wanted to go out and socialize, I had to take a rain-check because of my fatigue.
I just excused myself.
Here's why from https://chriskresser.com/dr-chris-shade-on-mercury-toxicity/
“And so that dysfunction in the mitochondria leads to the most classic symptom of metal toxicity, which is fatigue, just slowing down energy production, so that chronic fatigue.”
I didn't complain to the Naturopath, because I thought I should get much better on the yeast killers, so how would he know there was an issue?
He would have probably told me to back off the yeast killers but he would not have known what the real culprit was in my case...See more down below:
Where did this fatigue come from?
I kept telling myself I was going to feel better soon enough, and that it was just a transition I had to go through – to keep taking the yeast killers and all would be fine.
Well I was deluding myself. The fatigue did not lift.
I even had a relapse of the heartburn and had a few more visits to the N.D.
My Own 7 Physical Causes of Ill Health Reading
In 1996, I had a 7 Physical Causes of Ill Health Reading done which showed the Candida Fungus checked off.
There's Candida Overgrowth, or yeast overgrowth and then there is Candida Overgrowth Fungal Infection.
The Candida yeast goes into the Fungal form and it is an infection.
This was looming for me, but I had no understanding of this, nor was any given to me.
This was after I was seeing the Naturopath, and was about to return to the East Coast.
I wanted more answers, about why I was experiencing such fatigue.
It gave me a more complete picture of all my toxicities, including my toxicity of Aluminum which shocked me, but I knew it's source.
Back to the East Coast
My job did not work out, so I went back to the East Coast where my family lived.
I went on a trip to Italy for 2 months, where I started out in Sicily.
In Sicily I ate a few ice-creams, but I was not aware of the high content of sugar in them.
I was still not aware of the damage I had done with the heavy metals being released from the Candida.
It was quite hot in Sicily, so this extra sugar had no immediate effect. The heat masquerades it. I was not even aware of it.
When I was finally up in the North of Italy in Genoa in the second month, after taking a train ride from Rome, I started to feel malaise, and low energy.
The weather had changed, it was getting into the Fall, and it was occasionally raining.
I started to feel taken over by the yeast. Uggg. I could not eat Gelato's anymore!
I remember being at my Uncle's house in Genoa, and knowing the yeast were active, and trying to eat onions to stop the fungal infection.
I was just drowning in sleepiness after eating the onions.
Finally I went to a local herbalist and he recommended I ingest Tea Tea Oil to get it under control.
I got some stable probiotics sent to me and started on them.
I then went on my way to finish travelling, and get back to Toronto.
Still no awareness of the heavy metals I had sprung in my body from the yeast.
Eventually getting back to Toronto, I was again feeling malaise.
I felt like the yeast were very active, and I could not function properly.
I was very concerned.
I tried another Natural Health Practitioner who was a homeopath, that specialized in Candida but that did not work out.
I was taking a lot of pills, to get me out of the slump and it helped, but it was not getting to the root of the difficulty.
I was basically trying to avoid everything that was a carbohydrate because it fed the yeast.
Funny thing, I felt like I was not getting enough oxygen, like I really missed the fresh air in the Pacific Northwest forest in Vancouver.
Back to the West Coast
So, I eventually went back to the West Coast to live and have been here ever since.
After settling on Vancouver Island, I went to see the same Naturopath again.
This time he was showing me graphs of DMPS chelation tests from some of his other patients, and they all were showing extremely elevated levels of mercury, and other heavy metals.
Some were off the edge of the charts.
It wasn't like I did not believe it was a cause of my difficulty, but I was not persuaded to get an injection of a chemical in my veins.
The Naturopath had explained that he had accidentally met an M.D. on a plane and found out about the heavy metal side of Candida.
I left with a Whey Supplement that was supposed to help.
Another liver supplement to fix Phase I, and Phase II detox.
I tried and tried, but with that whey supplement, but I just could feel the heavy metals kicking around.
So, it was not going to work. A good experience feeling a bit more toxic taking an expensive whey supplement.
And the Phase I, Phase II detox supplement make me feel quite awful!
I still did not fully understand...
I was not going to do a DMPS Challenge to prove I had mercury poisoning and risk damage to my kidneys.
I didn't want to go from the Fire to the Frying Pan again.
Before I left again for the West Coast, I had tried to get my Amalgam fillings removed in Toronto. I got 2 of them simultaneously removed.
To say the least, that only made things worse.
So, luckily common sense, and good judgment, and the fear of getting worse, and some research on the internet stopped me.
One day upon getting more interested in consuming brazil nuts, I felt that after eating a particular Salami, my digestion was better.
(I don't eat Salami's now because of their mycotoxin content.)
“Likewise, numerous studies indicate that selenium, present in many foods (including fish), protects against mercury exposure. Studies have also shown mercury exposure reduces the activity of selenium dependent enzymes. While seemingly distinct, these concepts may actually be complementary perspectives of the mercury-selenium binding interaction. Owing to the extremely high affinity between mercury and selenium, selenium sequesters mercury and reduces its biological availability. It is obvious that the converse is also true; as a result of the high affinity complexes formed, mercury sequesters selenium.”
Mercury: Selenium interactions and health implications
And then they took apart the biochemistry in the cells and they found that they had high amounts of glutathione synthesis, high amounts of glutathione S-transferase, which is an enzyme which will take the metal away from a cellular protein where its interfering and link it onto glutathione.
More from the Article discussion between Chris Kresser and Dr. Chistopher Shade: https://chriskresser.com/dr-chris-shade-on-mercury-toxicity/
I would eat Brazil nuts all the time. (But I don't now because Brazils nuts don't fit well with my Blood Type Diet.)
It turns out Selenium is extremely abundant in Brazil nuts, and that Selenium can help reduce mercury toxicity.
In fact our daily requirements for Selenium is 50-100 µgrams (micro-grams), and 1 oz of Brazil Nuts contain over 500 µgrams!
Selenium is used in the Thyroid to convert T4 to T3 in a process called Deiodination.
And when the thyroid works well, you get better digestion.
So, that is why eating so many Brazil nuts gave me better digestion. But I still had not gotten rid of the mercury in my body!
My Dietary Changes Along The Way
Of course along this way I was following the ant-Candida diet mostly all the time, and food combining.
I would eat a lot of chicken, and for good reason.
All along this journey I stopped eating eggs for several years, because I could not take the toxins, and I was reacting to them.
As I write this article in July 2017, I eat 1/2 dozen eggs every morning for breakfast on the Zone.
I started to be more careful about mycotoxins and ingesting them. I was very sensitive to them.
I could not eat any tuna for several years, many years. One year I tried it and because I had tuned in to my body, I could sense its toxic effects almost immediately.
So, I didn't continue eating it.
I later started eating tuna for several months, and I found that I could detoxify the mercury from it in due course.
This was after I had done a lot of detox, fixed my Adrenals, and detoxified my thyroid gland from mercury as well.
I had also had to detoxify of inorganic copper. I did that through several years of vigorous running until one night after running I noticed I could not contract my legs properly.
That meant I was deficient in copper.
This running helped me to detox mercury too.
Then I started eating potatoes, baked with the skin on to get organic copper in my diet in larger amounts.
Once one metal comes out, the other's will come out more easily.
I don't bother eating Tuna anymore because it is just going to use up my GSH (Glutathione stores).
Everything is in balance. And exercise that is ongoing and therapeutic is just as effective as taking a great supplement.
Worked in Vancouver for 2 Years and Exposure to Mold
My journey also took me to Vancouver for 2 years, where I was unknowingly exposed to mold spores from a leaking water pipe in the concrete foundation behind the bathroom of my apartment then, in a high-rise building.
This hurt my health unbelievably. I had no idea of the damage of staying there.
I was taking some Chinese Herbal formulas to fix the spleen and boost immunity, but eventually I just had to return back to Vancouver Island.
It was traumatic, and devastating, and I developed MCS, and was highly intolerant to most chemicals in the air.
I just could not spend much time at all in the supermarkets, being near people at all. I curtailed my exposure so I could heal it.
This added even more to that I needed to Heal.
I eventually Healed the MCS as well, at around the same time as the Candida infection, over a period of 2-3 years, but I will only write about the Candida Infection Healing here.
My Symptoms Before Healing Candida
One of the symptoms I had the most during my Candida infection was the increase and decrease of chemical sensitivity depending on when the yeast in my gut increased or were under "temporary" control.
So a dietary indescretion or several of them would seem ok at first, but because of the Candida toxins, I would get more sensitive to odours/chemical off gassing in the environment.
In fact I could not go to malls without feeling worse. I just had to get in and get out.
I would leave a new purchased backpack outside so that after a while the chemical smell on them would not bother me so much.
And besides the odd ongoing constipation in the morning and forcing bowel movements, the wose symptom was my nerves.
When I would get exposed to toxins in the form of perfumes, or have to stay in a closed space with insufficient air circulation, or eat some food that was going to feed my yeast, I got this terrible nerve pain.
It was a profoundly terrible pain.
Eventually Healing Candida using Bio-Energy Supplements
While I was living in Vancouver, I started my training in Qi Gong with a Master.
This introduced me to Energy Healing and Medical Qi-Gong organ healing.
But it wasn't until I started using Bio-Energy formulas that I started my Healing journey.
I had tried the Kroeger Herb® Formulas for Candida Healing. When I came back to Toronto in 1995 I tried their Candida formulas to get the Candida under control.
But they did work to fix the issue. The Die-Off spread the Heavy Metals all over my body again, only to have them be picked up again by Candida.
It turns out that the Candida is doing you a favor by holding onto metals.
Before I discovered and started with the Bio-Energy formulas, I took mushroom formulas to get my immune system to improve and remove any immune-complexes -- for a couple of years.
I continued to take my Chinese Herbal formula for a couple of years too. The Chinese Muck I called it.
This experience helped me to learn about Chinese Medicine, boost my immunity, and keep my spleen healthy.
Around 1996, I started consuming the Bio-Energetic formulas.
I did many VRSP - Vibrational Reading Supplement Plans for myself over the years. The same types I do for my clients now.
I took a very gentle herbal formula for cleansing heavy metals, that worked so well, I had no idea how it was actually doing its job or whether it was doing its job.
But it did because I am better. There are a wide variety of chelators available, some man made, other's from nature.
During my Candida Healing years, I took an anti-fungal remedy which did not give me die-off, and also worked very gently.
I did suffer from rhizomes breaking into my gut, the fungal part of Candida puncturing the intestinal wall.
I did a comprehensive supplement plan VRSP for Leaky Gut. The supplements I used in my case back then were probably much more complicated to use properly than what is available today.
It involved pancreas, liver, and a gut Healing powder to produce lasting results.
Power, Gentleness of the Bio-Energetic Formulas
I became convinced of the efficacy, power and gentleness of these Bio-Energetic formulas when I first started taking the Gf-thyroid formula.
As a self-limiting formula, they work, and then you can stop using them once they do their job.
I worked on my Adrenals Thyroid to rebuild them.
All the while I was taking probiotics, and mostly eating a lot of yogurt to get some good bacteria into my gut.
I made sure I avoided additives, breads, or anything that would feed the yeast.
I had cravings for sugar for many years.
There was a year when I was Healing when I had this Candida Infection, when there was a lot of mental negativity. It's only natural. But it was too much and not useful.
It only wasted time.
I just kept focusing on the Healing.
I continued to have cravings for a long time. I remember I had a lot of “nerve” difficulties when I came back from mold exposure in Vancouver to Vancouver Island.
Finally Getting Back to Wellness
I can't say exactly what month and what year the infection was gone, but slowly it actually lifted. Probably around 2009.
I supposed it was when I was no longer sensitive enough to chemicals that I dared try to eat or drink something which would obviously have thrown me into malaise before.
It would have been like feeding a burning fire, with little explosions, just to keep it all going.
But it did not. I tested out my health for about 2 years by drinking Apple Juice. For those years, I liked drinking it and I used it to move my bowels because of the Vitamin-C content, and the effect of Apple juice on the gallbladder. I could drink multiple glasses at one time!
Detoxification done right!
Then finally when I realized it caused inflammation, so I just left it behind.
Dealing with Difficult Cases of Candida Infection Now
I am not sure if many people are as difficult a case as myself in Healing a Candida infection, but I have dealt with some people who were very difficult cases.
When you work on many angles to deal with these cases, and you find the right resonant supplements, including ones which are Bio-Energetic, and other's that are not Bio-Energy, you can proceed to get well much more quickly. Sometimes it is just the only way!
Healing has to be complete. The supplement work has to be complete.
There has to be a complete number of supplements to get well. A sophisticated supplement plan.
Most of the time, when you rotate your foods in a particular way, and you know what foods to avoid and what foods to eat rotationally you can also get better faster.
It's a more advanced way of eating than a simple Elimination diet.
Protein intake is increased to supply sulfur containing amino acids and ensure bile flow, and glutathione synthesis.
I found I got the same heavy metal ingestion and kicking around sensation when I ate red snapper, but not when I consumed salmon or true cod.
Tweaking diet can make a big difference.
The difficult cases are of heavy metals bound to Candida and not trying to kill it all at once.
And when you've had the Candida Overgrowth infection for a long time even without a lot of heavy metals.
Trust me. It can be a lot of supplement work to get the body back into balance. But it does end and end with greater wellness.
Two Types of Experienced and Competent Practitioners
Since I now can work with the most difficult cases, I have to say there are 2 types of Candida Practitioners who are excellent at helping people.
There are those that have healed their own difficult case, and then went on to study and help others.
That would be people like me.
And then there is the 2nd type of Natural Health Practitioner that is possibly educated with a degree, got some training, and went on to specialize in treating Candida infections developing a lot of clinical experience.
In other words, there is a lot of clinical experience needed to be able to call oneself a Master at healing a Candida infection.
If a Practitioner does not have the clinical experience, or they have not healed themselves of a very difficult case, they cannot fully understand the implications of a Candida infection.
They would not understand the degrees of infection of Candida or other fungal infections.
Some practitioners can deal with Fungal infections, where there is no energy deficit, but they can't deal with a Candida Fungal Infection when there is Energy deficit.
Perhaps their client/patient will give up.
It would be just as useless to go and see a medical Doctor who does not understand the Candida overgrowth coming from dysbiosis, much less Intestinal Hyperpermeability (Leaky Gut) resulting.
Almost everyone has energy deficits, the question is, are they needing to be fixed before Healing Candida. Most likely a portion of them should be.
Healing difficult cases or healing quickly from a Candida infection is not about taking Molybdenum, or taking Clove Oil, or some other anti-fungal, or rotating them.
It is more complex than that. It's about detoxification, rebuilding, reenergizing, and rebalancing, and tonifying the immune system and the digestion.
Otherwise, people can just slump back into the energy deficit that causes them the symptoms.
That's why people need a sophisticated Supplement Plan, Stage 1 all the way to Stage 6 and possibly more, unique to them, and with the right resonant supplements for them.
There are no protocols just for one person.
When you try to kill Candida indiscriminately, without boosting the immune system, you can drive it further into the tissues.
You have to get it back to its normal non-pathogenic state.
Candida after all has a purpose even when it's not pathogenic.
Master Salvatore, Hanna Kroeger Healer
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