Many physicians, including researchers, think viruses cause CFIDS. For a time it was thought that the Epstein-Barr virus was the culprit. Yet, laboratory and other studies showed this was not the case, even though in many people, CFIDS develops suddenly following a viral infection. In other individuals, it seems to come on more gradually.
As I read the reports in the medical and lay literature about CFIDS, it seemed to me that the symptoms in many people with this illness were similar to those experienced by my patients with yeast-related problems.
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| What Is Candida Overgrowth |
In the late '80s and early '90s, I attended several conferences on CFIDS and Epstein-Barr. Although the great majority of the speakers focused their attention on viral infections, one CFIDS clinician and researcher, Dr. Carol Jessop, discussed other possible causes of the diseases, including Candida albicans.
At CFIDS conferences in San Francisco and Charlotte, North Carolina, Dr. Jessop discussed her findings in working with 1,324 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome she had seen between 1984 and 1990. Her treatment program featured the use of a restricted diet and the antifungal medications Nizoral and Diflucan. At the Charlotte confereace, she said she thinks there are multiple causes for these illnesses:
I do think that genetic predisposition and environmental factors such as antibiotics, birth control pills, toxins in the environment and infections all have to be considered.
Eighty-four percent of my CFS patients have recovered to a level where they can remain working 30 to 40 hours a week, and 30% have fully recovered. Yet, 44% of the patients experience some recurrence of their symptoms with premenstrual stress, surgery or other infections.
At another conference, I met Dr. Philip Nelson, a Sarasota, Florida gynecologist, who, along with his wife, Marion, served as professional advisors for a Florida CFIDS group. I saw Dr. Nelson again at a California conference and we began to correspond.
In a letter to me in the spring of 1993, he told me that initially he had been skeptical about the yeast overgrowth, but that he had found that a sugar-free diet and Diflucan helped many women with CFIDS and other problems.
Hundreds of CFIDS patients have benefited from a small article in the CFIDS Association's newsletter in 1998. In a letter to the editor responding to the article, Janet Dauble of Share, Care and Prayer, Inc. of Frazier, California said:
In our experience with hundreds of people with disabling fatigue, cognitive problems and pain, finding out what foods they have become sensitive to and avoiding them has been the most helpful treatment tool of all.
FIBROMYALGIA
There's not as much solid information about yeast and fibromyalgia, despite the similarity in symptoms many patients experience.
During 2001 and 2002, I've received weekly newsletters from Joseph Mercola, D.O., a Chicago area osteopathic doctor. Here are excerpts from his July 2002 newsletter, "Fibromyalgia Pain is Real - What You Can Do to Relieve It:"
People with fibromyalgia may experience reductions in their symptoms by eliminating one or more foods from their diet. Following the eating plan seems to help, however, it is quite clear that most people with this disease will not completely relieve their symptoms, even if they follow it perfectly. This is because nearly every person I've seen with fibromyalgia suffers from an underlying emotional component.
MY COMMENTS
Depending on their background and training, professionals interested in chronic fatigue emphasize different treatment approaches, and no one claims to have all the answers.
Certainly, I do not.
Yet, in my practice, I've found that many people with chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, headaches, muscle aches, memory loss, digestive disorders and other symptoms can be helped when they follow a comprehensive treatment program that includes:
- dietary changes
- prescription and nonprescription antifungal medications
- avoiding foods that cause sensitivity reactions
- getting rid of pollutants in their homes
- taking nutritional supplements, including probiotics
- testing thyroid function and taking thyroid supplements (if needed)
- receiving psychological support
I'm not claiming that the common yeast, Candida albicans, is the cause of CFS/CFIDS/fibromyalgia and other disorders that affect many people. Yet, increasing evidence shows that a sugar-free special diet, probiotics and antifungal medications may help many people with these chronic health disorders get well.
Because of my success in treating and helping many patients using this program, I've emphasized the "yeast connection" to health problems that affect millions of women. I realize that I may be one of the few doctors who sees the whole picture.
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| What Is Candida Overgrowth |
As pointed out by John Godfrey Saxe in his classic poem, each blind man described the elephant according to what he had seen, and each blind man had a different story. One of the men looked only at the side of the elephant, another felt his trunk and another felt his sharp tusks. One man felt his knee and said, "This is clear enough, the elephant is very much like a tree."
Another man felt his ear and said, "This marvel of an elephant is very much like a fan," and yet another man, after seizing on the swinging tail said, "I see, the elephant is very much like a rope." To find out more, you can check out What Is Candida Overgrowth.