E.C. asks from Chicago, IL on July 20, 2008
Daughter Diagnosed with Candida
Hi! My daughter is three and has had a lot of loose stools over the last 6 months. We thought she might have a parasite because we were out of the country in January. Our doctor ran a comprehensive stool analysis on her and found no parasite, but found very high levels of Candida. All of the different strands of Candida were at such high levels that the doctor said she had never seen this in such a young child. She asked if our daughter had been given many antibiotics in the past (she had a different doctor before) and we told her that she had been given antibiotics a few times, but nothing too out of the ordinary.
She told us to give her a combination of probiotics and herbs and stay away from sugar. She is going to take something called Floraforte and Florastat which are kid safe probiotics and then Nystatin and an herb(?) called Uva Ursi. For adults she said she would put them on a Candida starvation diet if they had an overgrowth, but because she is so young, she needs some of these foods. But she said to stay away from soy and white sugar.
Does anyone have any experience with this and/or recommendations for cookbooks or recipes for kids who need to have a strict diet without sugar/yeast etc.?
Thanks!
E.
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L.R. answers from Chicago on July 21, 2008
E., how lucky are you having a doctor who is knowledgeable on this. Try www.knowthecause.com he has a cookbook on there it is Doug Kaufman and he has many books on this subject. Any questions and I can probably answer them.
L.
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L.S. answers from Chicago on July 21, 2008
My husband was sick for years with upper respiratory stuff and finally his ENT did some allergy tests on him and found out he was highly allergic to candida. He put him on the candida diet which we had to get the book through the library. The doctor told him he didn't know anything about this but knew he needed to find a natural doctor. So my husband did a lot of research and found Dr. Lisa Holk she is a natural doctor downtown Chicago and she also teaches natural medicine. He has been going to her off and on for the last 5 years and he has been very healthy ever since changing his diet. I mean he never gets sick, maybe a little cold once in a while and that is usually because he cheated on his diet. He has to avoid all processed sugar, most dairy, yeast, vinegar. He basically eats meat(unmarinated),veggies, nuts and fruit. Good luck, I suggest you see a natural doctor that knows more about this. He had to take an antibiotic for something once and she made him take all these extra vitamins and supplements to recover his immune system after the anibiotic. Good luck. Email me back if you have any questions. We have been dealing with this for 5 years now.
1 mom found this helpful
L.R. answers from Chicago on July 21, 2008
E., how lucky are you having a doctor who is knowledgeable on this. Try www.knowthecause.com he has a cookbook on there it is Doug Kaufman and he has many books on this subject. Any questions and I can probably answer them.
L.
1 mom found this helpful
J.G. answers from Chicago on July 21, 2008
We saw Bonnie Minski -- a nutritionist in Northbrook -- to give me an idea of what to feed a one year old with food allergies. Her focus is all natural and she gave me some great ideas. (After we saw her my son jumped from the 10% in weight to the 50%.) If you are looking for a homeopathic doctor -- Tom Bayne in Glenview is great as well. He has experience with candida overgrowth -- as my son had that problem as well and he is doing wonderful now -- although, it sounds like your doc is really on top of things and into homeopathic treatments -- which is pretty progressive for an MD.
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J.D. answers from Decatur on July 21, 2008
E.
Two places I would recommend going to get ideas and or recipes. The ADA website can give you direction for the sugar free part. And or going to your local hospital and talking with a registered dietitian.The dietitian can give you lots of ideas on both parts of where and how as well as recipes. Good luck with both. J.
M.W. answers from Chicago on July 21, 2008
E.,
I believe that Jenny McCarthy(famous actress/comedian who's son has Autism) has a website that includes a wheat and yeast free diet. I believe her son had high levels of yeast as well when she was in the process of experimenting with "curing" his Austism through diet. I am not sure what the website is but I know the diet is referenced in her book about her experience. Good Luck!!!
E.W. answers from Chicago on July 21, 2008
I just wanted to let you know that candida is actually something our bodies produce naturally.
It turns out I'm allergic to it (isn't that weird?), so I am supossed to stay away from foos high in yeast and sugar so that I don't produce too much of it to make myself sick.
Since your little one is so high already, I would do as the others suggest and take her to a natualist that can help you figure out a good diet for her. Also, you could look into an allergist. The problem could be that she is allergic to it as well and that's why she's got such a high level of it in her system (with me, because I'm allergic to it, once the levels get too high, then I produce more and then start to get sick and get rashes as well). The allergist I see has me on immunotherapy injections (shots to help suppress the reaction to the candida), it is a commitment though, it can take a few years to finish.
Sorry if this wasn't extremely helpful, I just wanted to give you another insight to the situation.
A.G. answers from Chicago on July 21, 2008
Awwh...poor baby. I'm glad it is not a parasite though, as I'm sure you are as well. My father actually has this problem. Except for him, his skin is affected horribly, just these horrible weeping rashes that breal out all over his back and chest, elbows, and behind knees. He has to eat a strict diet to keep it bay. Now, it's not like he can't have cheese, or beer, or any of those things...just not a lot, kind of like being lactose intolerant. I don't know what area you live in, but Fruitful Yeild in Berwyn, or Naperville has people who really know there stuff. A lady in Berwyn really helped my Dad, I cannot think of her name right now, but she is older and (czech).
S.E. answers from Chicago on July 20, 2008
Sort of... our son had thrush forever and nothing worked until we did this. In addition to diet, try the supplements at lactationinnovation.com (Pau d'arco, Silver Shield, Bifidopholus Flora Force). The owner, Janet Talmadge, is a lactation consultant in Naperville and a real expert on yeast and yeast diets. She has some diet suggestions on her web site also.
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