You need to be aware that starting a program of food elimination and taking an antifungal can create a Herxheimer reaction (also known as Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction) in which you experience die-off symptoms from killing the yeast. This detoxification process may make you feel worse before you feel better, and you may experience flu-like symptoms, headaches, body aches, abdominal distress, or a worsening of your existing symptoms.
To assist with this process, you need to make sure that all your elimination pathways - your kidneys, bowels, lungs, liver, and skin - are functioning optimally. Next post will give you a brief overview of what this entails. You will find more detail on the nutritional supplements you will be taking to detoxify, support, and strengthen your body as you rid yourself of yeast overgrowth.
Kidneys and Bloodstream
To cleanse your kidneys and blood, as well as your liver and lymph, I recommend drinking red clover tea. This herb helps move the detoxification process along more quickly. Slowly work up to drinking one quart (four eight-ounce cups) of the tea (hot or cold) daily. Do not drink this tea, however, if you have grass allergies.
Red clover tea does not contain caffeine, but it may initially keep some people awake at night because it stimulates the movement of waste out of the body, which can cause insomnia. If you are affected in this way when drinking the tea at night, finish your last cup by no later than 5:00 p.m.
If your die-off symptoms are too intense, you will need to cut down on your dosage of the antifungal remedy and red clover tea. Slowly increase the amounts again as you feel better. Stick with the program and work with your practitioner. Die-off symptoms usually mean that you're on the right track because toxins are coming out into the bloodstream. Reactions might include fatigue, headaches, and possibly a worsening of your existing symptoms, which is why you need to increase your detoxifying supplements slowly. These initial symptoms usually pass within a couple of days to a week.
It's important to realize that there's a difference between an allergic reaction and a die-off reaction. With an allergic reaction, you will experience hives, swelling of the throat, or intense itching of the body. If you experience any of these symptoms, discontinue the antifungal, all supplements, and the tea. Wait three days to allow your body to calm down and then reintroduce the antifungal, each supplement, and the tea, one at a time. Observe your body for two days before adding in another supplement or the tea.
To keep balanced, it is important to drink enough fluids in the form of water and herbal tea. Drink one-half your body weight in ounces of water and tea, which should include the four cups of red clover tea for cleansing purposes. For example, a 150-pound person needs to drink 75 ounces of water and tea a day.
Bowels and Elimination: Keeping Things Moving
A daily bowel movement is essential; two to three times a day is ideal. Even if you are consuming adequate amounts of fiber in fruits and vegetables and are eliminating daily, I recommend taking added fiber in the form of organic ground flaxseed. It not only assists you to eliminate each day but also removes the toxins, such as mucous, yeast, and other debris, that have built up on your colon walls. Take one tablespoon daily, either in water or sprinkled on salads or vegetables. Fiber in the form of flaxseed meal can be used indefinitely. Avoid products that contain psyllium (unless you have diarrhea) because it can create more gas and bloating.
If you are still constipated after using flaxseed, you can add an herbal stimulant.
Lungs and Breathing
Seventy-five percent of the toxins you eliminate will leave your body through your respiration. To assist with the release of toxins, do deep breathing exercises several times a day. Focus on your belly - expanding as you inhale for a count of seven, holding for a count of seven, and exhaling slowly, contracting your belly, for a count of seven. Do this for two minutes four times a day. To find out more, you can check out Candida Cleanse Detox.