Candida Night Sweats What Causes Them and How To Treat Them?
There are a variety of reasons for night sweats (including infections, and menopause), but in particular there is usually only one reason for night sweats stemming from a Candida Infection.
The reason is usually an Energetic Cause, which is the domain of Traditional Chinese Medicine Energetic diagnosis.
It is called yin-deficiency or a deficit of the yin-energy.
There are two types of yin-deficiency diagnosis in TCM which are related to night sweats: general yin-deficiency, and kidney-yin deficiency.
There is also liver-yin deficiency, or heart-yin deficiency discussed at the end.
There are also two grades of yin-deficiency in Chinese Medicine:
- yin-deficiency without heat
- yin deficiency with heat
Yin deficiency with heat is often abbreviated, deficiency heat, since it is inherently associated with yin-deficiency, and the meaning is easily understood.
Both are treated similarly, but when there is heat, there is a different formula used.
One formula is Liu Wei Di Huang Wan, and another is Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan.
Take it from me, yin deficiency is not easy to cure.
That is because when you take a formula for balancing the yin-energy, it might also hurt your digestion, and therefore you need herbal support for your digestion (yang energy) to balance the energy.
I've had the heat type, with minor night-sweats, even when I had mild candida and it is dreadful, with a feverish feeling, that usually breaks at night around mid-night.
What Exactly is Yin Energy, and Yin Deficiency?
Yin energy in foods refers to the moisturizing aspect of foods, and the balancing aspect of this cooling energy on the body.
Yin energy is responsible for building and keeping fluids in your body.
It may seem counter-intuitive, but when yin energy is deficient you have night sweats, even spontaneous sweating usually around mid-day in the summer time.
Chinese medicine divides everything in the Universe into yin energy and yang energy.
For example, Day is yang, and Night time is yin.
Woman is yin, and man is yang.
For example, diakon radish is a yin-energy feeding food, and so are avocados, oranges, persimmons, and watery eggs.
A stream or brook that trickles and makes a soothing sound by hitting the rocks provides yin-energy.
There is even music to support yin-energy.
Yin and yang energies must remain in balance for there to be good health.
Yin deficiency is not easy to cure. It is a very slow moving energy that takes a great deal of time to replenish.
The Yin Energy in the body can be depleted when you eat yang foods, or warming foods, spicy foods, and yang vegetables like onions, or garlic (especially in the summer).
When there is too much warming energy in the body, there would be too much yang energy, and not enough yin energy to balance it.
That is why you get heat, in the more pronounced case of deficiency heat.
Most people with a Candida infection have mild yin-deficiency and are on the cusp of night sweats because of an energetic imbalance in the cleansing they have already done.
Also because you are trying to hard to cleanse the Candida without understanding the Energetic Imbalance.
People with many years of trying to eradicate with Candida Cleansing and yeast killers are more susceptible to this.
Further cleansing in almost any season will cause deeper yin deficiency.
And if you are one of these people, you are probably a difficult case to heal, and you have heavy metals as a strong cause of the Candida infection.
A further deeper cleanse, perhaps moving heavy metals around and you will have fully pronounced night sweats.
It's important to understand why you have yin-deficiency when you have Candida.
Other reasons could be parasites, such as the larger intestinal ones, such as roundworms or a tapeworm
Symptoms of Yin Deficiency, Kidney Yin Deficiency With Candida Night Sweats
When it comes to the particulars of a Candida Overgrowth Infection, here are the symptoms that are likely to be associated with night sweats.
- Dry eyes
- Dry throat
- Palms are hot
- Soles of feet are hot
- Ringing in the Ears
- Rolling fever
- Constipation (Strained Bowel Movements)
In addition kidney-deficiency is another TCM syndrome associated with a Candida Infection.
Dry bowel movements, strained bowel movements or difficult bowel movements are all a direct result of the lack of the moisturizing energy or yin energy being lacking.
Even a bowel movement that is clumped little pieces together is an indication of yin-deficiency.
For there to be an indication of sufficient yin energy, the bowel movements will be long and well formed. Actually very long.
The colour should normally be dark brown, or golden brown.
If you pay close attention to the type of Constipation you have, you may also find that a yin deficit is also contributing to it.
There are several reasons for constipation while a Candida infection is lurking.
And here are the worst "healthy" foods you can eat to try to fix the constipation which will rob your body of the yin-energy it needs:
- Rye Crisps
- Dried Fruit (all kinds)
Rye bread will absorb moisture out of the bowel, but rye crisps have enough less moisture, since they are crunchy, and are much worse.
So dried fruit will suck moisture out of the bowels and put more demand on your kidneys.
So, rye bread or rye crisps unless they are dunked in your soup to regain the moisture will damage yin.
Most Dr's TCM will say that your yin is damaged, or that so and so food will damage yin.
It does not mean it is permanent damage. It just is a simple way of saying that it will reduce yin energy, but saying it damages yin is more impactful isn't it?
Don't fret because you have yin deficiency or kidney-yin deficiency because most people as they age will need a further Energetic tune-up for yin and yang energies and will have a tendency to kidney-deficiency too. It's just part of our fast paced society, and the fact that most people do not understand the energetics of their body.
Constant stress and lack of rest plays a part.
Onions or Garlic can Cause Night Sweats, kill Candida
When a person has yin-deficiency, depending on how pronounced it is, you may need to drastically reduce or completely avoid onions and garlic, cloves, clove oil, cinnamon, cinnamon oil, and other hot spices.
Especially in the summer!
In the summer you should eat less garlic and onions if you have yin deficiency, and then start again in the fall.
In fact, perhaps you tried to eat onions or garlic every day (even every other day) to kill the candida infection and then you got into night sweats!
So, you take garlic cloves in the mouth every morning to kill a fungus in your body but you did not realize that they depress yin energy.
That's right, garlic being a strong anti-fungal will as well as onions depress your low yin-energy, and cause night sweats because while you try to cure candida you are not supporting your yin energy.
What happens is that suddenly after a while, you develop the yin-deficiency and it shows up as night sweats.
Because you did not support the yin-energy with the proper medicinals.
Other Causes of Night Sweats
Too much sex can also cause night-sweats and kidney yin-deficiency. Excessive sex depletes kidney yin-energy and causes night sweats as a symptom.
Sex includes self-cultivation as well as with a partner.
Also working too much and not resting enough, going to bed late on a regular basis is a cause.
This is usually called “burning the candle at both ends”.
The act of resting supports yin energy.
There's a fundamental saying in Chinese Medicine about the relationship between yin and yang energies:
Yang cannot rise without yin, and yin cannot rise without yang.
This means you can't give someone a yin medicinal and hope to not affect yang and vice versa.
Especially if it's just one herb.
It's complicated, and not easy to fix without hurting something else.
Awareness of Yin Energy of Herbs
Sometimes you can't find an obvious reason from your diet as to why the yin energy is damaged and you have a hard time getting it restored.
It's my belief that once your yin-energy is damaged significantly, that taking in the wrong herbs will cause difficulty too.
For example, years ago, I noticed that green-teas, such as what you get in a Chinese Restaurant to warm your stomach up, and can deplete or damage yin.
If you really taste their energetics, then you will feel the moisture robbing effect.
It has a drying feeling.
The same is true of black walnut leaf.
And it can happen as well with anti-fungal herbs which require yin energy to process, further reducing it.
Just the act of cleansing requires yin-energy. So killing Candida requires yin-energy.
And everything you consume has an Energy.
And any long-term spice you use in your kitchen, or herbal tea, needs to be carefully tested energetically for it's compatibility with your healing.
What is Best Season to Restore Yin Energy?
It may seem like a new and strange concept to understand and restore Yin Energy, but that's the truth, yin energy is stored in your body in special meridians, or pools of subtle-energy.
To restore yin-energy, the best time to do this is around the Winter Solstice, but ...
In order to restore the yin-energy around this time, you will need to avoid the stress of Christmas Shopping, the holiday season and all the hustle bustle!
Basically you should be relaxed all the time.
You will also need to avoid sex for 2 weeks before to two weeks after the Winter Solstice.
If you have sex just once, the whole period of possible replenishment would go to waste.
There is no guarantee that doing this only once will replenish the yin energy enough.
But this is the optimal time, and doing it again the following year will continue to replenish it.
You don't need to be too careful about avoiding the warming or yang foods, because the time near the winter solstice replenishes yin energy naturally.
If you live in a warmer climate near the equator, you are also very lucky because you can go out walk and slowly, and with good breathing you can increase yin energy.
But you should know the limit to eating onions or garlic, or eating meats in your body if you still have a tendency to produce night sweats.
Practicing Qi-Gong during this time is also extremely beneficial to improving the yin-energy.
The reason for all this is that at the Winter Solstice, the yin-energy is at it's maximum, and it's maximum ramping.
It's kind of like someone saying you can ride up the roller coaster, and grab some yin energy, but only if you stay on at the top.
Having worked with clients all over the world, I know that stress during XMAS holidays, and running around here and there for the family is a difficulty that needs to be overcome to replenish the yin-energy.
The running around deplete yin-energy.
I can't overstate the incredible effectiveness of replenishing yin-energy over the Winter Solstice.
One month of replenishment here is like 500 hundred days of trying to replenish yin energy in the summer time. And that's not a misprint, because obviously summer only lasts for 3 months and not 500 days.
There is a special formula which can be used during this time, and it is called Zho Kwei.
But the traditional formula products from china, may contain heavy metals, and the formula may contain red dyes on the pills.
This formula is famous, and can be produced by any herbalist who knows the ingredients. Then you just need to consume it.
In my Natural Health Practice, I use other specialty manufactured and tested professional herbal based formulas that can replenish the kidneys and replenish yin energy too.
Symptoms During the Season Transition and the Winter Solstice
Sometimes during the season change and the approaching time of the Winter Solstice, you can get what is called a Yang collapse. A drop in yang energy so significant it's like a bathtub falling from the top fall apartment to the one below.
This happens because you are not taking the right formula, to provide balance to both sides of the equation, increase yin and yang as I wrote above.
There is also something about the apex of yin-energy during the XMAS holidays that causes strange symptoms.
These symptoms are always more pronounced during that time.
For example, I had one client have cravings for ice-cubes, or cold water during the XMAS holiday season, starting early in December.
That's a sign of yin-deficiency, and not a large one.
But a sign of things to come.
If you don't support it, then it will get worse.
That's called collapse.
In this respect supporting yin-energy is like supporting the wellness scaffolding of your body.
If you don't replenish it, and support it, and then you test it out with a Candida Cleanse diet, you could wind up with yin-deficiency.
Candida Yin Energy and Yang Energy Imbalances
When people have Candida for a long time, there is going to always be the yang energy imbalance too.
A yang energy imbalance shows up as food in the stool, and an aversion to cold.
Another cause of both yin and yang energy imbalance is mold exposure.
Balancing Meats with Vegetables and Legumes
Many people eat all kinds of different ways: paleo, Zone, vegan, vegetarian, etc.
Building yin is done by being careful with meats, and yang foods, and also eating yin foods, like legumes, and vegetables.
But it is all relative.
Meats such as chicken, and red meat are yang, and need to be balanced with yin-foods, or vegetables.
Lamb is a really hot meat, so beware.
It's great to pay attention to diet, but usually the way to improvement is through the proper Chinese Medicinals,
I know from personal experience that eating beans with chicken helps to balance out the warming effect of the chicken - and black beans in particular are great.
Black and blue foods are good for the yin-energy.
Season change shows the yin deficiency.
Remember a season change will show a imbalance of yin and yang energy and an insufficient pool in the body.
Such as the fall equinox.
Dietary Program to Improve Yin Energy
Dr. Debra Betts, TCM in New Zealand has written an excellent web page to understand the yin tonifying foods, as well as the kidney-yin tonifying foods.
There is one caveat I can think of to blindly following this list, and I've already mentioned it.
Yin foods are cooling, and they require a warming counter-balancing food.
For example, probably all of the yin fruits are all available in the summer, when you need to cool your body off.
People have a tendency to take too much of them hoping that the yin deficiency will subside.
Such as for example eating too many avocados and getting food intolerant, and then cooling yourself off too much, rather than building yin.
In the summer time you will have the most night sweats, and they will subside as the fall and winter approach.
The best thing to do is learn about the warming foods and not over do it.
Onions and garlic will be better in the winter, and cooked onions in a soup are great for warding off the cold in the body when you come in from the cold.
You must also make the decision as to whether you need to increase the cooking time of food to make it more digestible.
This is because raw foods are usually not a good idea for people in a Candida Overgrowth infection.
Diet is not usually enough. That is why the medicinals are needed.
One thing I love about the above page on Dr. Debra Betts web site is that According to TCM theory of dietary therapeutics, eating an omelet with some cheese will increase yin energy and yang energy.
But that is a very small amount of cheese though.
Large amounts of cheese would suppress yang and therefore increase the time needed to heal night sweats unless medicinals were used continuously, or other appropriate foods are used to balance.
Here is what Dr. Debra Betts had to say about the theory of using this list.
The idea is that these foods (yin tonifying foods) are strong sticky condense foods that can be used in small amounts to nourish Yin
I have found that Yin deficient patients (women usually) do seem to benefit from small amounts of egg , milk and cheeses.
There are different types like goats cheese that are less damp.
The usual advice for me is to ask people to take note of how they feel after eating a specific food after an hour or so - if they have phlegm reactions then these foods are not correct for them - as many people have mixed patterns and its possible to be both damp and yin deficient or yin and yang deficient - it becomes a matter of balancing what is best for them rather than following absolute lists
You have to balance those two energies out at each meal!
The Proper Season to Cleanse Candida
Negative Effects of Regular Candida Cleansing: How Regular Candida Cleansing Reduces Kidney-Yin Energy
In chinese TCM Theory or anatomy, the Kidney-yin supplies or replenishes the Liver Yin energy.
Said another way, cleansing uses up Liver-Yin, which comes from Kidney-Yin.
Are you following me so far?
So, when you take yeast killers, you demand more Liver-Yin to cleanse, and that energy comes from your kidneys.
And then can come the night sweats...
So Regular cleansing of Chronic Candida can have an adverse affect on your health.
It will eventually deplete your Kidney-Yin.
And this even happens to people who do not have a bona-fide Candida Infection too!
Your ability to cleanse Candida also has a lot to do with how well your liver is functioning. The majority of people's livers in America and Canada don't work well enough even when they are in their 30s.
There is a right season to cleanse! Most cleansing should be done in the Summer for two good reasons. But only if you have enough yin energy, or are taking yin supporting medicinals...
In the summer you will be outside and have the sun's energy to further kill Candida and warm you up. You will be exercising and there will be more oxygen entering your body. The most important reason, however, is that your Liver will have gone through the Spring and gained more energy.
Burning Eyes and Constipation
If you are suffering from burning eyes or constipation, your Liver Energy may be insufficient.
If you suffer from adverse, even mildly intolerable cleansing reactions your Liver Energy may also be insufficient or you have not addressed more important difficulties with your bowel functions.
If your Liver Energy is deficient then your liver tissue integrity may also be compromised and require long-term Healing. This lack of tissue integrity is especially true when multiple cleanses are done each and every year or there is long standing candidiasis due to heavy metal poisoning.
Added Bonus Heart Yin Energy
Heart yin energy deficiency is associated with nigh sweats, palpitations, anxiety, dizziness, and forgetfulness, and insomnia.
Heart energy deficiency or heart-qi deficiency is worth also noting because it manifests as insomnia and frequent dreams that you are aware of during the night and that are disturbing.
Key Takeaways
Remember to pay attention to warming foods, and not eat too many warming foods in the summer to help build yin back up.
Do you need to take strong herbal formulas to build the yin back up, you need to decide.
Understand that any cleansing in anyone will consume yin-energy.
Strained and dry bowel movements are a sign of yin-deficiency.
Yin deficiency should be taken care of quickly to allow the kidneys to stay healthy.
Yin deficiency usually goes hand in hand with yang deficiency - a feeling of cold or an aversion to cold and need for more warmth and cooked food.
Paying attention to dietary therapeutics to increase yin or tonify yin is a great idea, especially staying away from those yang depleting hot spices.
If you are sweating a lot, look into taking a mineral supplement.
Note that ionic Magnesium in Trace Mineral liquid products is a yang depleting product, because Magnesium is a cooling mineral - cold energy.
Magnesium in any form may be a cooling mineral too!
You may have to tonify yin before commencing any further cleansing.
Need Professional Help?
In my Natural Healing practice we find the appropriate professional formulas and we provide ones for Rebuilding, Re-Energizing and Rebalancing.
Most cases of yin deficiency and yang deficiency can be fixed with the use of formulas, and balanced ones, and inexpensively.
To find out more visit: the Vibrational Reading Details Page.
VRSP means Vibrational Reading Supplement Plan.
Our Basic plan is 3-5 months long.
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Book Reference
Healing with Whole Foods: Oriental Traditions and Modern Nutrition, 2nd Edition., by Paul Pitchford.