1. I had taken antibiotics for my Lyme disease. Since I finished my antibiotics, I have been feeling fatigue and poor digestion. Please explain why.

The antibiotics that you were taking to treat your Lyme’s disease may have disturbed the balance of good gut flora in your gastrointestinal tract. With the decrease in the good gut in your body, candida has probably taken the opportunity to multiply and overgrow. As a result, you can contribute your feeling of fatigue and poor digestion to the candida overgrowth.

The thing about antibiotics is that they are most commonly prescribed to kill off harmful bacteria in the body, however, in the process, they can also end up destroying the bacteria which are beneficial for the body. In a recent study, researchers treated a group of female mice with antibiotic for 7 days. After the treatment, they were introduced with Candida albicans. Their gut was tested for 7 days and for 21 days after injection of candida. At the same time, a different group of female mice were introduced Candida albicans without having been treated by antibiotics. It was demonstrated that the group of mice where were given the antibiotics had their gut colonized by candida. The group of mice which were free of antibiotics had successfully eliminated candida from the gut after 21 days.

The study also shows that overtime, as candida colonizes the gut, it not only grows in number and stays there for a long time, it also prevents the good bacteria from coming back. In this case, your gut flora was disturbed with the use of the antibiotics which may have caused the candida to take over and cause fatigue and poor digestion. If you suspect candida behind your fatigue and poor digestion, get tested for candida and start your treatment as soon as you can to restore good gut health.

2. My craving for sugar is so intense even though I don’t like sweets. How can I curb my cravings?

We are now aware that sugar is what candida needs to thrive in the body. If you are having intense sugar cravings, then the yeast in your body is intensifying your sugar cravings in order to stay put. The irony doesn’t escape us: increased consumption of sugar helps the yeast grow and having too much yeast gives you intense sugar craving.

Every human has candida in their digestive tract. However, in the case of a weakened or poor immune system, candida can overtake and multiply. Once the candida takes over, it is hard to get rid of it. The person must go through a candida cleanse and stay away from certain food groups in order to kill the candida overgrowth.

If you suspect having candida (not sure where to begin, take our quiz here to taking the first step), first get the diagnosis. Once it has been confirmed that you have candida, consider starting with the candida cleanse. Work with your doctor or a naturopath in determining what foods you should consume and which ones to avoid. You may also be recommended to go on probiotics to help decrease the overgrowth and help restore your inner ecology of healthy gut flora. Remember, a healthy inner ecology consists of good bacteria and beneficial yeast balance.

3. I have really bad period cramps. My doctor has tried everything to help me with the pain and I still see no results. Can you explain what else could it be?

Medically, there has been no links made between yeast infection and a delay in the menstrual cycle. While having a candida overgrowth may not directly impact when you will get your period every month, it may affect your periods in other ways.

If you get your period during the time you are dealing with a yeast infection, it may cause you some mild to severe discomfort. Due to the hormonal changes in the body brought by period, the pH of the vagina changes. If you are dealing with yeast infection, it can be aggravated with the change in hormones. Having periods also contributes to a very moist environment in the vaginal area. Yeast grows and multiplies in moist environments. When having yeast infection during a period, you will want to clean your vagina thoroughly with water as often as you can.

To help alleviate period cramp, following a clean and healthy diet will help. A diet free of sugar and carb will also help at keeping the yeast overgrowth at bay. Having a vaginal yeast infection is very uncomfortable. The risks of getting a vaginal yeast infection can be lowered by wearing cotton underwear, loose fitted pants, keeping your vaginal area dry, not overdoing with antibiotics.

4. I have severe adrenal fatigue with breathing difficulties. I don’t have asthma or a history of it in my family.

The adrenal glands are glands that help us recover from stress. When you think about the adrenal glands, you think about stress. Stress is something that affects all of us. For those who deal with stress effectively, their adrenal glands do not get impacted severely. For those who do not deal with stress effectively, their adrenals never recover fully.

When you don’t recover, you can conduct an adrenal test to determine what your cortisol levels are like. Salivary cortisol is a more accurate indication of the 24-hour rhythm or pattern of cortisol in the body, as opposed to doing one blood test. The adrenal gland produces about 7 to 10 milligrams of cortisol hormone per day. Cortisol has a fantastically powerful effect to regulate many different systems in the body. It’s one of the most important hormones that affect our inflammation.

When there is not enough cortisol in the body, the body is in pain. On the other hand, having too much cortisol can also cause problems, namely that of inflammation. Too much cortisol can also cause allergies and hypersensitive. Typically, people who feel burned out or have severe adrenal fatigue, it is because they are lacking cortisol. Because they don’t have enough cortisol, the body finds it hard to keep the immune system strong. With a weak immune system, you are prone to getting fungal infections, bacterial infections, parasites. It is a vicious cycle where when people have been sick for far too long, their cortisol levels decrease which provides an environment for the bad bugs to go up and the good bugs to go down.

If you suspect that your adrenal function is low, you can treat it with following the correct lifestyle and diet. Doing so will also help strengthen your immune system and help in fighting those pesky yeast infections off within three to six months.

5. Why do I keep getting low grade fevers without any cold or flu?

Systemic candidiasis is a serious infection that can affect many parts of the body, including the eyes, the bones, blood, heart, etc. It is caused by candida. Systemic candidiasis happens when candida enters the bloodstream. Fever and chills are some signs of this invasive yeast infection. Taking antibiotics will not help with alleviating the symptoms as it would for a bacterial infection. Systemic candidiasis is the most common fungal infection. Many people also get hospitalized for it.

Treatment of SC includes of oral or intravenous antifungal medications. When candida has entered the bloodstream (also known as candidemia), it can also cause septic shock increasing blood pressure, fastening heart rate and causing rapid breathing. Most times, people who are dealing with candidiasis believe that they have the flu. It becomes hard to differentiate candidiasis from the flu due to the symptoms they share. These people are also most likely suffering from other medical conditions as well.

If your fever is not induced by a flu or a cold, speak with your general practitioner about testing for systemic candidiasis. If that is the cause of your fever, you will want to treat it as promptly as possible before it takes over different organs in your body.