Sunday, November 19, 2006

Part 2: The Beginning Of My Journey With Candida...

So here I was given this idea that I could have Candida. I wanted to know more about this, and so I began doing some research. Within a couple of weeks, I was tested to see if I had Candida by a having simple blood test (Candida Stain). I also had the VEGA Allergy Testing done. I was given a detailed list of all of my food and environmental allergies. I found out that I was highly sensitive to ALL the things that I loved to eat; sugar (and artificial sweeteners), cheese, wheat, all dairy products, cocoa, vinegar, tomatoes, yeast, oranges, grapefruit, broccoli, cantaloupe, plums…just to name a few. Having this list was great because it gave me some direction. I knew that my first step was to avoid these foods that made me feel so ill. For all those who know me well, I am a chocoholic, and I love pizza! Like, I love those things. I have craved these foods for as long as I can remember.

So once I had my testing done, which confirmed that I had Candida, our chiropractor put me on an ultra strict anti-Candida diet, which consisted of egg whites, oatmeal, Whey Protein Isolate, fish/chicken/meat, almonds, and vegetables. That’s it. I also had popcorn (not the microwave stuff) for a snack. I was taking digestive enzymes, an antifungal (caprilic acid), a good probiotic, and vitamins. It was difficult, but I did this for almost 2 months. I felt SO good - better than I had felt in a long time. My mind felt clear, I no longer felt irritable or depressed, I had energy again, and I was not bloated. The way that I was feeling gave me the determination to keep going. Eating was no longer fun though. I was always eating the same things, day after day. I started to feel nauseous at even the thought of eating another piece of chicken or salmon.

I was doing so well on this plan…but then I cheated. I was amazed though because I felt like I had control over my food…I wasn’t craving the sweets or breads anymore and I felt disciplined. Then a few weeks later, Christmas came around I “allowed” myself some sweets. One thing led to another and the next thing you know I am binging on baked goods and chocolate…I think it’s all I ate for days. I couldn’t stop myself. Just thinking back to that time makes me tear up because I remember how hard it was, how depressed and out of control I felt. My binge lasted months…I couldn’t bring myself back once I started to eat all those things that were in fact feeding that horrible Candida beast living inside my intestines. I gained about 10 pounds and obviously my Candida flared up, in fact it was worse than ever. I felt like such a failure – I felt like all that ground that I gained was just gone. I felt hopeless. Many times I tried to go back on the Candida diet, but I would binge on sugar or something on the second day. Like I said, the thought of eating salmon, chicken, oatmeal, and even popcorn made me want to puke.

I eventually did, but I'll tell you about that later :)

. . .

To be continued

1 comment:

Trayce said...

I did, Lori? Oh I didn't mean to. I just really don't know what to write next. I haven't had the time to really sit down and gather my thoughts completely. I almost feel like I need to be completely healed to be able to really talk about it, but that's just stupid.