Candida and Stress and Your Skin

Candida is a yeast overgrowth, an insidious detriment to your health and often not recognized in the mainstream health community. My battle with it has been one of the most frustrating things I have dealt with since trying to pinpoint a cure for my nerve damage during the last 18 years. My ND tells me that Candida is a ‘symptom’ of other problems. I realized too that I had been dealing with a mercury toxicity overload in my body which some experts feel is the reason candida comes out in force: to gobble up the mercury like PAC MAN. So, if you are dealing with a metal overload in your body; you need to deal with that as well, or you will never get rid of candida.

There are tests you can obtain for mercury and other heavy metals; you can find a good Naturopath and they may be able to tell you without a lot of fuss; if you can find a practitioner who uses a ZYTO machine; it will show up on that. IF you do have a metal toxicity; you MUST deal with it. Most individuals over 40 have mercury in their fillings. You need to find a holistic dentist at the least; and preferably one who specializes in mercury removal of dental amalgam fillings.

Author’s note: it’s been a few months since I wrote this; and while I am a LOT better overall, I am still fighting lingering symptoms of candida….and I have to be very very careful what I do as far as my diet and stress. I never go into a full blown issue…I just have irritating, nagging ones.

Knowing what I know now I realize that it is all connected. It can be pared down to two things for me anyway: nutritionand stress. IF my nutritionhad been up to speed; I think I could have handled my stress better. Do you ever scoff at how many times ‘stress’ is mentioned in the media; on the internet, in circles of conversation? Well, it is with good reason. Because stress can ‘be’ so many things; it can ’cause’ so many things. Your body is designed to run like a well oiled machine. If you do not give it the right nutrients, liquids, food, love and rest it requires; you are asking for dis-ease. Which is saying that your body is not ‘at ease’ with its world and environment because you have upset that balance. We all need that balance.

Now the skin part. Over the last several years I noticed my skin getting ‘old’. Even though I have fairly good skin (bless my mom!) it has changed a lot; it has sun damage, it has scars from breaking out, there are fine lines and deeper wrinkles. And the rest, yeah yeah yeah. But my skin all over was getting dry. I had rashes on my arms; rashes on my neck and chest…my face had acquired Rosacea. My legs, which had always been good and muscular had dry skin and veins. Most of this is nutrition. I exercise almost daily; so it really wasn’t that. Some of it is age.

See my earlier post on Sugar and Candida for more articles and resources.

When I changed my diet because of the Candida, I lost 20 pounds, all fat, no muscle and brought other health readings into more normal ranges. The skin on my body improved; rosacea improved. I still have a lot of work to do though. However; not ever ever ever eating sugar is really hard! You can not depend on a diet like that unless you are extremely committed to never eating sugar again.

Stresses: Some of this is just life. It’s just every day life. Some of it is not.

I have been on my own since the age of 18. Financially as well as living on my own.
Stressful careers and Relationship woes
Marriage – which is a great thing; but a lot of work to make it a great thing, and anyone in a long term marriage knows it can be stressful at times.
Children – Firstborn was like the Tasmanian Devil; whirling around for 18 hours a day with energy and ADHD and I could write a book on that whole entire experience just with the school and other people. I did write an article for a writing class; but it didn’t come close to what we went through.
My Husband and I watched the doctor who had diagnosed my daughter (in a room alone for 2 hours) with ADHD at age 5 on the news one night being led in handcuffs to jail because of an accusation by a young girl. Dear Lord we prayed; please don’t let this have happened to our little girl. To this day; I believe he was innocent.
2nd child was a joy but was getting asthma treatments in his high chair – culminated by a trip to the emergency room where they couldn’t stabilize his breathing for 7 hours and a three day hospital stay. When I took him off milk at age 2…guess what? The occurrences were less; although we still ended up in emergency rooms. He has very little trouble now.
In 1991 I had a medical procedure that caused nerve damage in a very private area. The untold suffering and pain and symptoms I dealt with; along with total ignorance and avoidance by the medical community I turned to for help, I know caused me unbelievable stress. I turned to wine for pain relief at night along with large quantities of ADVIL, since I was getting pats on the back and sorry looks that said ‘we think it’s in your head’. (No way could a doctor doing that procedure have caused you any problems).
In 1995 at the age of 3, my youngest was diagnosed with a genetic, rare; potentially fatal disease called Marfan Syndrome that caused him to be legally blind and have a heart condition that presents itself in its most fatal form as an aortic dissection of the heart. His life span at that time was 40. The age I was at the time. I can’t begin to describe the heartbreaking, rendering fear I had for so long. The guilt I felt. Your heart breaking is a physical thing. Anyone who has had their heart broken knows what I am talking about. Your body feels it at the cellular level. It took a lot of strength for me to embrace the good that came out of his diagnosis and also to accept the grace I received because of him. He is such a teacher here on earth. On my 40th birthday I have a picture of my husband and I before going out to dinner – I looked young and carefree. Several months later, after knowing his diagnosis, I looked like I had aged 10 years. This happens to you on the inside too. If your body isn’t strong enough; it begins to tear down bit by bit.
Owning your own business.
College expenses – (and in the middle of writing this; my son away at school calls….and all the things you went through and go through for your children are only joyous as you hear their voice).
Aging Parents, Failing Businesses, Financial woes, Deaths of Loved Ones
Health Crisis attacks because all the years I was busy being a working mother to active and special needs kids; I ignored basic health. Didn’t eat right, nor take supplements to counter that. Chronic Pain robs you of so much and causes you stress in ways you can’t imagine. Add to that an over consumption of sugar/alcohol/unwholesome foods and you have a recipe for disaster. Well, disaster struck in the form of Candida and the trials I went through because of that – ones I am STILL going through is something I don’t want to revisit – ever. More to come on Candida.