If candida isnt a real problem,why does everyone go on bout it and sell products for it?Has it been disproven?

I have a question about candida overgrowth. I was told by 2 homeopathists or something in 2 health food shops,after a test that involved a metal probe in the palm of my hand twice that I had a Candida Overgrowth in my body and this was causing me to feel spacey, tired and headachey all the time.
However, my DR thinks it is depression and I am trying to forget about Candida and have a healthy, normal diet.

Any Q I have asked on here has gone completely different depending on which section. The vast majority of people on the Medicine forum say candida IS a scam and not to listen to these witch DRs.. they also say Candida has been proven to just be present in Aids victims etc..
However, on the health boards, EVERYONE seems to believe in it and have good resultsw from the diet/ani-fungals.
If candida is a fabrication, why do so many ppl believe in and and how are all these companies allowed by law to tell vulnerable ppl to buy their products?I was spending 拢100 a month in desperation!

I asked the DR if I could have a blood or stool test but he said there is no need and besides they do not do them where i live in Liverpool UK. He said there is no need to test it. He did give me a week's course of nystatin tabs, but the tabs have been discontinued lol.. I went back and asked for another prescription and he said "there really is no need for that" so.. yeah it confuses me so much :( I just want to get better and the candida diet and trying to not be anxious and depressed dont go together!!

I can sympathize with your frustration.

All people have Candida in their bodies - when there is an overgrowth, it can cause many types of problems - for instance in the mouth you get thrush, in the esophagus you get a yeast growth which makes it hard to swallow, etc. CANDIDA OVERGROWTH IS REAL.

The only true tests that can evaluate if you have an overgrowth are an endoscopy (where a tube is placed down the throat and into the stomach) or a stool sample.

Many times the cause of the overgrowth will be due to medication use - such as an antibiotic or steroid.

I had pneumonia and needed 6 weeks on an antibiotic. I developed an esophageal candida infection that needed 30 days of diflucan (oral anti-yeast medicine.) After wards, I limited bread products and sugar from my diet, as both cause Candida to grow.

I think you need to start with a stool test to see about Candida overgrowth in your digestive system - I NEVER heard of using a metal prod!

Good luck!

People believe it for the same reason they buy pills that make their penis bigger or bigger boobs.
They get away with it be making vague claims and let people read into that whatever they want.

As has already been said some types of candida can cause disease but whether or not candida causes the vague symptoms described by some has not been proven. The fact is that the yeast cell levels in your gut are kept down by the bacteria and vice versa. Some intestinal bacteria also release anti fungal compounds and the immune system keeps the cells from attaching to the gut walls, so I personally think it is highly unlikely to cause any problems in a healthy immuno-competent person.

I wouldn't believe the anti candida products sellers if I were you. The science on which they are based is somewhat distorted to say the least. For example cellulase to destroy the yeast cell wall. Quite how cellulase or any other enzyme supplement is supposed to reach the gut without being digested by the bodies own digestive enzymes is beyond me!

However as far as I know the theory of candida overgrowth hasn't yet been disproved, it's just highly unlikely that there is any truth in it. If I were you I鈥檇 have faith in my Dr even if they sometimes don't seem to, they pretty much always know what they are talking about.

I think maybe your doctor is right that you have symptoms of depression. Depression of which being caused by dietary imbalances as most peoples are. From which I'd rule in favour of a candida diet to see atleast how much improvement you can get.

I've suffered my whole life with a suppressed immune system, I don't listen to other people anymore who haven't experienced it, they can use all the medical science claims in the world and it won't convince me. When I eat a clean candida diet and take anti-funguls I feel better and that's all that counts.

So a question I would pose to your doctor then is what is causing the depression? Because if his answer is I don't know try this drug. It's time to take your health into your own hands. The first step is just to read up on elimination diets as well as artificial ingredients and their effects on mood. Most depression issues can be traced back to a diet that contains things like aspartame and MSG in it and the person suffering has extreme sensitivities to these things.

The truth is, everyone is going to have their own opinion when it comes to this. It's basically on the same level as the "Is there a God" debate in a way. Some try to disprove it, others try to prove it. All that matters in the end is you should give it a shot and by that I mean for REAL. No Sugar of any kind, starchy carbs/grains, alcohol, caffeine, yeast, fermented foods for atleast 6 months! As those who have attempted to do this diet in the past can all attest to the fact that when you cheat it's like hitting a reset button. The only guarantee I can make you is that you can't possibly feel worse, the odds are actually great that you'll feel MUCH better! Good Luck

First, a bit about medicine: One can't actually prove or disprove anything. If something happens consistently a million times in a row, there's nothing to say that it won't be different the next time.One can only look for evidence and show that something is likely to be true or not. When this scam first came up back in the 70's and 80's, lots of studies had to be done to dissuade people from this scam. But because medicine in scientific, nobody can say that it never happens. In fact, there is such a thing as systemic candidiasis, as you noted, in AIDS patients and others. But it's pretty clear you've been scammed.
I'm not sure about the laws in UK, but in US, doctors can get away with it because they're allowed wide latitude before the state medical boards step in, and there are all sorts of loopholes for unlicensed people to jump through. Also, it's the same old story. Even with a dozen cultures growing no Candida, these people will say (and technically they're correct) that doesn't mean there is no Candida, but that the tests have simply failed to confirm it. The fact that the likelihood is less than 0.00001% does not dissuade these people in the least.