Candida die-off symptoms... Yuck!

StrangeCaptain

StrangeCaptain

Jedi Council Member
Hello all,

I thought I would comment on my recent experience of die-off symptoms in order to inform anyone else going through them that it is more or less normal. I am not putting this in the canida thread because it seemed to be a place of general candida information rather than personal experiences.

In short, since my last bout of serious alcohol abuse, some months now, I have done nothing to address the gut imbalance that must have accrued during that time. I have continued to drink alcohol socially from time to time when out with acquaintances (not ideal I know), and I noticed that each time drinking a small amount of alcohol would always trigger a desire to drink more and more. Although some psychological addiction issues may be at play in that urge, I noticed that they were always accompanied by huge urges to ingest sugar such as candy or fruit.

Even if I did not drink for some weeks, I would still have at least once a week a massive urge to ingest as much sugar as possible. I would buy 8-12 tangerines to last a few days and would find myself eating all of them in one sitting. Sometimes I would buy a bag of candy and I would be compelled to eat the entire bag again in one sitting. It felt rather ridiculous, but instead of fighting I kind of watched myself. I noticed that it was pure hunger for sugar when I would do this. When these urges would be hitting me, I found my mouth watering as I walked by every grocery store and bar thinking of sugary things within.

My diet is already dairy- and glutein-free, so I decided it was time to address the candida issue. I was finding the sugar urges and the feedback cycle after eating sugar to be increasingly intolerable and the thought that I was thinking differently because of nasty old candida in my gut was annoying and disgusting.

I stopped eating all forms of pure sugar, started taking probiotics everyday, and began taking an herbal anti-fungal. And wow...

I had read of die-off symptoms on this board, but I was still taken by surprise. It was a full week of my skin crawling and my body feeling heavy, almost feverish. I was wanting to stop in every grocery store for candy or fruit or anything my gut thought might provide some sugar. In public, loud noises would REALLY annoy me, and I did not want anyone near me.

Also, I found I could not think correctly. A couple of days ago, I was trying to study. I am taking physics classes, and I was reading the development of a subject I am studying right now. The introductory equations were easy, but I could not understand them at all. Last night before bed, I was feeling more normal and clear, and today I felt back to myself. I looked at those equations and they were nothing at all.

So yeah... Die-off symptoms can effect you emotionally, mentally, and physically. I have wondered if something else was going on, but the fact that everything changed the moment I started attacking the candida is indicative to me. Thanks.
 
Coconut oil and just eating a lot of fatty meat can help get through this.
 
I thought I would comment on my recent experience of die-off symptoms in order to inform anyone else going through them that it is more or less normal. I am not putting this in the canida thread because it seemed to be a place of general candida information rather than personal experiences.
Click to expand...

I have been meaning to post some experiences too, but wasn't quite sure which diet thread to put them under, as I wasn't really following any of the diets specifically. This seems to be just the thread for such posts.

It's funny how you don't notice how far off center you can find yourself, as the slide is gradual and progressive, until one day you look around and realize that the shadow you are standing in, is the shadow of the mountain that you once stood atop of.....

Around the holidays I had said that I was going to quit drinking and get my diet and life back to where it needs to be, but in Feb. nothing had changed. So Feb. 16-17th I finally said "Enough" and haven't drank since. Nor have I had the urge to, but once and that was while talking to an old girlfriend, who I had shared quite a few good times with, while drinking (associative behavior?).

I'll write the details, by date, to give a time-line of symptoms/reactions. Some of the time line may be a little off from actual meals posted in the "What's for Dinner" thread but should be basically accurate even though I'm writing from memory here.

Anyhow, my flatmate was out of town, and as we share cooking responsibilities, he tends to cook with pre-made soup/sauce mixes which contain soy, sugar, msg and all the other contaminates of the "American diet", even though the meals start out with fresh produce and meat, once you add these flavorings and sauces, the whole meal is contaminated. But with him out of town, I had the kitchen to myself to cook, only from scratch with no additives. I took advantage of the time to return only to fresh produce and meats, herbs and made from scratch soups ect. This was Feb 15th. Well from about Feb 18-20th, I found myself eating a couple of eggs for breakfast and a thin broth leak soup with a couple of loin chops or chicken breast for dinner, all prepared from fresh organic ingredients ect. and my appetite was waning.

Feb. 20th, my stool went from loose to liquid, with almost no substance but water. During the day I had probably 6-8 bowel movements. I had a couple of eggs for dinner that night, as I didn't have much of an appetite but hadn't eaten all day. That night, things took a drastic change. I was up and down all night going to the toilet. I must have went 12-15x (no exaggeration). My stool was mostly liquid accompanied with rumbling in the gut. The next day I went to work but there seemed to be a mutiny of the gut happening, as I visited the toilet another 15-20x. By afternoon, the rumbling had turned to cramps and pain in the lower intestinal area. That night(Feb 21) I didn't eat but the pain and toilet visits increased to the point of finally going to bed at 630am. Back up at 930 and off to work, with a continuation of the day before.

Feb 25th, By now I hadn't eaten for 3 days and the pain was as if I had a carving fork stuck in my gut with someone twisting it. The past 3 days stool had become water discharge first, followed by what appeared to be pond scum/algae (nasty I know). So I ate a couple of lion chops even though I wasn't sure how my gut would react, but by now I was getting tired/weak. I also had a constant headache the last few days. I was beginning to wonder where all this algae was coming from, being that I hadn't eaten for days, but I assumed it must be waste/detox material already in the body.

By the 26-27th I was seeing blood following the stool. I ate a large dill pickle, as I was craving salt form all the fluid I was loosing, even though I was drinking water day and night. I thought a pickle would be a simple digest and easy on my gut. I was WRONG!. The pickle went through like a steel rotary brush that a plumber might use to clean clogged pipes! I later read in the Candida thread that pickles and vinegar are to be avoided.

Feb 27th was more pain, algae and blood, but I had started eating at least a 1/2 lb of meat and a couple of eggs, trying to get my strength back. I continued for the past week increasing my meat intake to 1-1.5lbs a day, cooked in bacon grease with garlic and fresh herbs like cilantro, basil and garlic. I ate some broccoli last night and a few brussel sprouts the day before with no adverse reactions.

The pain has been gone for about 5 days now. I feel much better and my mind is clear. Toilet trips are back to 2-3 in 24hr period. I seem to need a belt at times, as some of my pants want to fall off now.

I wasn't really following the candida diet, more like cut off the alcohol that fed it. At least I assume it was candida that I was passing as it looked like algae, maybe not. Either way I feel much better now and even colleagues and customers have commented that I look/seem much better now
 
Hi seekr,

You may want to check out this site if you haven't already. http://www.gutsense.org/. You'll learn everything you never thought you wanted to know about poop and proper gut function. It must've been really scary with all the diarrhea and blood you were having. It would be a good idea to work on re-colonizing your gut with some good bacteria as I'm sure you lost loads (assuming you had much to begin with) with all that toilet activity.

fwiw
 
Thanks for the link Odyssey.

Yeah, sorry for the details on the poop, it's quite nasty, but really, I tried to keep it as tactful as possible while still conveying the message.

There's a few details I left out in the first post, about some of the other reading and things I discovered during the last few weeks. I was taking some basic supplements.. Vit C, D3, magnesium, and a multi in rather high doses (6-8g depending on which and 1g Mg) with tons of water day and night. I know the MG can cause loose stool but I was taking these before I got ill. i only stopped taking them while I was too sick to eat. Also I have probiotics on the list of things to get and will be looking to detox more thoroughly in the next month. Plus I need to find a better market where I can get a wider variety of fresh herbs to go with my "T-Rex diet".

I'll post more in a week or so once I've had a chance to research more and try the chlorella for a bit
 
seekr said:
I thought I would comment on my recent experience of die-off symptoms in order to inform anyone else going through them that it is more or less normal. I am not putting this in the canida thread because it seemed to be a place of general candida information rather than personal experiences.
Click to expand...

I have been meaning to post some experiences too, but wasn't quite sure which diet thread to put them under, as I wasn't really following any of the diets specifically. This seems to be just the thread for such posts.

It's funny how you don't notice how far off center you can find yourself, as the slide is gradual and progressive, until one day you look around and realize that the shadow you are standing in, is the shadow of the mountain that you once stood atop of.....

Around the holidays I had said that I was going to quit drinking and get my diet and life back to where it needs to be, but in Feb. nothing had changed. So Feb. 16-17th I finally said "Enough" and haven't drank since. Nor have I had the urge to, but once and that was while talking to an old girlfriend, who I had shared quite a few good times with, while drinking (associative behavior?).

I'll write the details, by date, to give a time-line of symptoms/reactions. Some of the time line may be a little off from actual meals posted in the "What's for Dinner" thread but should be basically accurate even though I'm writing from memory here.

Anyhow, my flatmate was out of town, and as we share cooking responsibilities, he tends to cook with pre-made soup/sauce mixes which contain soy, sugar, msg and all the other contaminates of the "American diet", even though the meals start out with fresh produce and meat, once you add these flavorings and sauces, the whole meal is contaminated. But with him out of town, I had the kitchen to myself to cook, only from scratch with no additives. I took advantage of the time to return only to fresh produce and meats, herbs and made from scratch soups ect. This was Feb 15th. Well from about Feb 18-20th, I found myself eating a couple of eggs for breakfast and a thin broth leak soup with a couple of loin chops or chicken breast for dinner, all prepared from fresh organic ingredients ect. and my appetite was waning.

Feb. 20th, my stool went from loose to liquid, with almost no substance but water. During the day I had probably 6-8 bowel movements. I had a couple of eggs for dinner that night, as I didn't have much of an appetite but hadn't eaten all day. That night, things took a drastic change. I was up and down all night going to the toilet. I must have went 12-15x (no exaggeration). My stool was mostly liquid accompanied with rumbling in the gut. The next day I went to work but there seemed to be a mutiny of the gut happening, as I visited the toilet another 15-20x. By afternoon, the rumbling had turned to cramps and pain in the lower intestinal area. That night(Feb 21) I didn't eat but the pain and toilet visits increased to the point of finally going to bed at 630am. Back up at 930 and off to work, with a continuation of the day before.

Feb 25th, By now I hadn't eaten for 3 days and the pain was as if I had a carving fork stuck in my gut with someone twisting it. The past 3 days stool had become water discharge first, followed by what appeared to be pond scum/algae (nasty I know). So I ate a couple of lion chops even though I wasn't sure how my gut would react, but by now I was getting tired/weak. I also had a constant headache the last few days. I was beginning to wonder where all this algae was coming from, being that I hadn't eaten for days, but I assumed it must be waste/detox material already in the body.

By the 26-27th I was seeing blood following the stool. I ate a large dill pickle, as I was craving salt form all the fluid I was loosing, even though I was drinking water day and night. I thought a pickle would be a simple digest and easy on my gut. I was WRONG!. The pickle went through like a steel rotary brush that a plumber might use to clean clogged pipes! I later read in the Candida thread that pickles and vinegar are to be avoided.

Feb 27th was more pain, algae and blood, but I had started eating at least a 1/2 lb of meat and a couple of eggs, trying to get my strength back. I continued for the past week increasing my meat intake to 1-1.5lbs a day, cooked in bacon grease with garlic and fresh herbs like cilantro, basil and garlic. I ate some broccoli last night and a few brussel sprouts the day before with no adverse reactions.

The pain has been gone for about 5 days now. I feel much better and my mind is clear. Toilet trips are back to 2-3 in 24hr period. I seem to need a belt at times, as some of my pants want to fall off now.

I wasn't really following the candida diet, more like cut off the alcohol that fed it. At least I assume it was candida that I was passing as it looked like algae, maybe not. Either way I feel much better now and even colleagues and customers have commented that I look/seem much better now
Click to expand...

I had something very similar to what you mention, with the strange jelly-like poop and incredibly sharp pains, was so bad I got admitted. Is this really a candida die-off? I ask because I had not gone through any detox or diet regimen. At least, nothing extremely strict or clean, just generally avoiding bad food. I also remember having a lot of eggs just before getting it, which is similar to your experience.

The strange thing is the docs thought that it was appendicitis and I got an appendectomy. And the symptoms resolved after that. Although they say that it probably wasn't appendicitis, they just wanted to try everything they could, so it seemed like the best choice. Bottom line is, the docs were stumped.
 
Hi marievvv, welcome to the forum.

We recommend that new members tell a little bit about themselves and how they found the forum in the Newbies section. If you are uncertain what to write, you can look at other posts members have done to get an idea of what to write. :)
 
* Dizziness
* Headache
* Fuzzy thinking
* Depression
* Anxiety
* Angry outbursts
* Gas & bloating
* Flatulence
* Diarrhea
* Constipation
* Joint pain
* Muscle pain
* Body aches
* Sore throat
* Fatigue
* Exhaustion
* Need for more sleep
* Sweating
* Chills
* Nausea
* Skin breakouts
 
I believe I had a similar experience recently. I went from "paleo" to ketogenic about a week ago and quit coffee about a week before that. The transition, while not crazy, has been a bit taxing. Just last night I got bad flu symptoms and had a fever all night. I feel much better today, fortunately it didn't last too long. I think that was due to having a largely healthy diet before the transition to ketosis.

I also had similar experiences to what seekr described, sans the blood in the stool, for about a week I've had regular watery stool, anywhere from 5-10 times a day. It's finally leveling out now...

Looking forward to being keto-adapted and feeling that energy everyone talks about. ;)

Also FYI, I have been doing liposomal sodium ascorbate and magnesium with coconut oil, blended for 3 minutes at high speed. I think that's helped a lot with what could have been worse symptoms... It kept the caffeine withdrawal headaches at bay!
 
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