From: andreaf@bonnie.Rational.COM (Andrea Frankel)
Subject: Re: Information needed on Candida albicans
Organization: Rational
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 23:35:04 GMT

mrl@nerus.pfc.mit.edu writes:

>I do agree with you that many of the symptoms allegely attributable to the
>yeast syndrome are probably not.  I suspect, however, that if a person is
>having allergy problems to yeast, their health is probably not in the best of
>shape and they probably have many other health or emotional problems which are
>causing or making their allergy problems worse.  I see it in my wife often. 
>When she is going through emotional difficulties, her allergies will often kick
>up and she'll start getting real symptoms like hives.

My own experience is that the CFIDS and the "candida problem" go
hand-in-hand.  The doctor I go to for the CFIDS treatment has found
that almost all of his CFIDS patients (get markedly better when they
eliminate most refined sugars and fruit (except for one or two pieces a
day) from their diet, and most of them get even better after a few
months of Nystatin and some nutritional supplements he's found to
help.  Now that I'm off the Nystatin, I can tell you my body's reaction
to sweets is different, and I've maintained the energy gain even after
resuming eating sweets and fruit.  Also, after completing treatment for
the "candida problem", my food allergies are notably fewer and milder.

There is such a thing as establishing a diagnosis through a clinical
trial of Nystatin.  (I don't believe Nystatin does anything else of note
other than killing off yeast.)  I can't tell you how many times a sinus
infection vs. allergy has been "diagnosed" by a clinical trial of an 
antibiotic or three.  

I have no idea if it's a "valid theory", but it seems to be a good
working model to consider a person's immune system as being able to deal
effectively with a certain overall "load".  The effects of
CFIDS, candida, food allergies, inhalant allergies, various chemicals
(be they cleaning products, diesel fumes, roofing tar, perfumes, or
whatever) seem to be cumulative.  On an "overwhelm day", something can
completely wipe me out that I can easily tolerate on a "good day".
That's pretty consistent among people with CFIDS, from what I've been
reading.  

And I wouldn't put down the importance of patient history;
when you're dealing with a "syndrome" where the cause and mechanism is
not yet known, you don't know what to test or measure.  You're left with
things like how many naps per day you need (I went from 3 naps/day to 1
nap/week, a definite improvement), what level of reading material you can
comprehend (technical journal, technical book, complex novel, trashy
novel,short stories, Dear Abby, cartoons...when my CFIDS was at its
worst, I simply could not concentrate on and comprehend technical books
in my field that I used to be able to read), how many minutes of the
same exercise class you can take on any one day, whether or not you were
wiped out the day after that exercise class, how long it takes to limber
up and stop hurting in the morning (for fibromyalgia - I went from an
average of 3 hours to about 45 minutes), and so forth.  

So I guess what I'm trying to say here is that "chronic candidiasis" may
BE Considered a bogus diagnosis by itself, but when you're dealing with
an immune system problem like CFIDS, treating the candidiasis is a valid
treatment approach.  And it seems to me that a positive response to a
clinical trial of Nystatin and a low-sugar diet is as valid as a blood
test.

My personal "educated guess" (University of Hard Knocks) is that there
are folks with undiagnosed CFIDS or other immune system problems who
attribute the CFIDS symptoms to candidiasis, and get well (or at least
markably better) using Nystatin and a low-sugar diet because it reduces
the load on their immune system.

Andrea Frankel (andreaf@rational.com) -- Rational, Grass Valley Office
"Wake now!  Discover that you are the song that the morning brings..."


Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition