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It took me about a year to inch my way toward the diagnosis of yeast overgrowth as the cause of Recurrent Corneal Erosion. Not all cases of yeast overgrowth lead to Dry Eye and RCE. Candida Yeast overgrowth is very creative in the way it tortures you, seeking out the most vulnerable path.
Candida Yeast Background
It’s estimated that 85% of Americans have, or have had, a candida yeast infection. While those numbers are staggering, most people haven’t a clue that yeast has grown out of control in their body, triggering a vast array of health problems. Russian researchers speculate that asthma may be caused by candida overgrowth because the rate of increase in asthma matched the rate of increase in candida as measured by their testing.
In many cases, an overload of candida is picked up at birth, when a baby has no defense against it. And over the years, their bodies become more and more compromised. My mother was given tetracycline as a routine treatment for childbirth, which started me out on the wrong foot. My children, who were supposed to be getting good friendly bacteria from their mother who was unknowingly carrying a candida overgrowth, had it unknowing passed on to them.
In the 1950’s studies pegged the amount of candida overgrowth as being about 15% of the population. However, increased and indiscriminate use of antibiotics after WWII resulted in the vast majority of our population suffering from this problem and it continues to be on the rise.
Typical Candida Yeast Overgrowth Symptoms
– vaginal yeast infection
– repeated sinus or ear infection
– oral thrush (you or your babies)
– Psoriasis or itchy skin rashes
– food and environmental allergies
– headaches
– urinary disorders
– menstrual cramping
– dry mouth and dry eye
– hypoglycemia
– borderline anemia
– toe nail or finger nail fungus
– thyroid problems
– leaky gut
Onset of 8 of these symptoms concurrently led to me treating yeast overgrowth aggressively. A yes to 3 or more of these questions indicates fungal overgrowth. Over my life I’ve been treated for most of these symptoms individually. My daughter was treated for thrush as a nursing infant, even though the doctor didn’t think to treat me and I didn’t know enough to realize that was necessary.
Is Candida Causing Your Dry Eye?
By now you have probably spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to cure your Dry Eye problem and have probably even been told you will have to learn to live with it. You may have been given antibiotics, causing more yeast to grow and in turn making the Dry Eye worse. Worse than the loss of money — to some extent or another, this candida yeast infection has ruined your life.
It you haven’t experienced this, it is understandable if you think I’m exaggerating, but it’s easy to find testimonials from hundreds of people who aren’t be able to work, aren’t able to leave their house because of chemical or environmental sensitivities, are sick, tired, depressed, anxious, unable to eat most foods. All caused by the toxins candida produces and the ways it warps your body. Testimonials abound at .
Treating Candida Is Not Quick or Easy
There is a lot more to dealing with candida than just taking a drug for a couple of weeks. For almost everyone, it will take months to deal with, at the best. Especially if you want to get to a place where it won’t be coming back shortly after you stop whatever you are doing.
And getting healthy will take even longer if you’ve had it bad — even when you make changes that work effectively. Some of my symptoms began to improve within a week after I stopped eating sugar. More symptoms improved after 6 months. My doctor warned it may take me more than a year – but I cling to her prognosis that I can kick this if I keep at it. And the slow improvement is encouraging, if I take the time to track it diligently.
Candida hides out in parts of your body where there is poor circulation and little oxygen and blooms when conditions are right. Your body will fight an unseen battle against candida in your organs or the spaces between organs. And eventually your immune system gets worn out, the candida can’t be kept in check any longer, and your symptoms come back, worse than ever. This is the typical pattern. Just the time and intensity change.
Who Are The Experts?
One strange aspect is how clueless most doctors are about candida overgrowth. I’m not sure why. They can test for it; they have antifungals that work as poorly as most of their other drugs work; yet they miss it. Many doctors have a hard time helping their patients eliminate lack of energy, food allergies, chemical sensitivities, low thyroid, recurring sinus infections, skin rashes, poor digestion, and other systemic tell-tale signs. Looking at symptoms in isolation is no way to diagnose this problem. A homeopath, naturopath, or any type of expert that looks at a patient holistically is the only expert that stands a chance of helping you solve a candida overgrowth problem. Your own involvement, judgment and ultimate decisions are also necessary, avoiding blind obedience to advice or treatment recommendations of a doctor.
What is Candida – And How Did It Get Out Of Control?
Candida are species of yeast that are supposed to be in your intestinal tract in a very small amount. They have a purpose that is good. And just like any other species, they will expand their territory if given the chance.
They are naturally antagonistic to the friendly bacteria, and unfriendly bacteria, that comprise most of your intestinal flora. In fact, one of their jobs is to prevent overgrowth of disease causing bad bacteria. They can do so because they are tougher than bacteria. And they are harder to kill in general.
When conditions are right, 85 percent of the flora in your intestines is your friendly bacteria — the ones you can’t really have too much of. When you’re friendly bacteria is in this range, those pesky candida yeast are kept in their place.
So what’s happened over the last 60 years that has driven up rates of candida overgrowth?
1. In the 1950’s antibiotics were relatively new and their use was relatively low compared to now. Antibiotics kill your friendly bacteria along with bad bacteria. But not yeast. When your friendly bacteria are killed off, the candida yeast have a lot of room to overgrow, and they do.
2. Antibiotics are fed in huge quantities to cattle on feedlots and in dairies, meat pigs, and meat chickens. Many of these antibiotics make their way into the meat or the milk they produce, and you consume them when you eat non-organic animal protein. This chronically reduces the amount of friendly bacteria in your intestines.
3. Sugar and refined carbohydrate consumption has surged since the 1950’s and these are candida’s favorite foods. These refined carbohydrates also reduce the amount of friendly bacteria you have. This creates an imbalance of too few friendly bacteria and too much candida. Sugar also weakens the immune system, keeping it from doing a good job of keeping candida in check.
4. There has been a huge increase in exposure to drugs and chemicals, especially birth control pills, vaccines, pesticides, herbicides, over this time frame. The candida yeast do a better job of surviving this onslaught of toxins than your friendly bacteria do. In addition, these toxins weaken the immune system in your body.
All of this ultimately destroys much of the friendly flora and weakens the immune system so that the candida yeast begin to flourish and overgrow in the intestinal tract.
How Candida Spreads
Initially, candida fungi are overgrown in the intestinal tract. There, the toxic waste they chemically produce, irritates and weakens the intestinal wall. As the intestinal wall becomes damaged, candida “drill” holes in the intestinal wall, leading to poor digestion and “leaky gut syndrome”.
These holes enable candida to travel throughout the body, over time establishing themselves systemically. They can colonize organs, your eyes, any place that may have a weakened environment making it an easy target to colonize. Depending on where these weaknesses are, candida produces different symptoms as it colonizes different areas in each person.
They can move out of the circulation system to spots where the immune system, herbs and other candida killers cannot get to.
What Candida Overgrowth Does to Your Body
The toxins candida produce cause your immune system to become weaker as it fights an ongoing and losing battle against candida overgrowth. Your immune system is also responsible for helping to eliminate toxins, so it becomes overworked in yet another way.
The candida create an environment in the body that ensures their survival. It doesn’t help that the typical foods we eat create this same weakened environment and feed candida to boot. Or that all the toxins and chemicals we are exposed to do the same. They may not feed the candida, but they create a candida favorable environment.
So it doesn’t usually do much good when you take a candida killer, or a bunch of them. Or even probiotics. Unless you are also working to repair your body’s environment, to get the immune system working better. Those herbs or drugs kill a bunch of candida, but don’t change the environment, and the remaining candida, the ones hiding out grow back into the same spots where the candida had been killed.
The relief to the immune system when a bunch of candida have been killed may be enough to keep the candida in check for some time. But even if it is, down the road it will weaken from its constant battle against candida. And your candida symptoms show up again, and will be harder to get rid of the second or third time around.
After a cycle of antibiotics, doctors now recommend you eat yogurt to restore the good bacteria that has been destroyed by the antibiotic. There are 2 problems with that recommendation: (1) probiotics only work on an empty stomach and (2) if the yogurt is from an animal that has been routinely given antibiotics, you are just introducing more antibiotics into your system.
You’ve got to be working on the overall environment, supporting the immune system so that it can stay on top of the candida, and giving the candida as little as possible to survive on.
Candida Leading to Leaky Gut Syndrome – Another Load on the Immune System
The leaky gut caused by the candida fungus allows partially digested food to enter the bloodstream before it is supposed to. This food is not able to be used by your cells, so your immune system must get rid of it. Over time, this causes the development of food allergies, as your immune system begins to over-respond to those foods in an inflammatory response. Food allergies are a sure sign of having a leaky gut, and thus, of candida overgrowth.
As the immune system becomes more and more out of balance and sensitive, it starts to respond to many other chemicals with an allergic response, and multiple chemical sensitivities develop. That’s when you find it hard to live your life because everything affects you.
Chronic Candida Overgrowth Leading to Adrenal Fatigue and Low Thyroid
Candida yeast loves sugar, excreting chemicals that cause you to crave sugars and all types of carbohydrates. As the yeast digests the food sugars before your body can use them, your cravings can also be caused by low blood sugar levels.
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