I think I seriously have a Candida/Thrush Infection. This is serious!! Okay, let me back up for a minute. Yesterday I wrote an article about how I think our sweat pores could be clogged, and that Candida or Bacteria could be the culprit. Could this be a cause of Cholinergic Urticaria after all?
Okay, so I have been researching this Candida stuff for a couple of days. This is a REAL medical condition, and anyone can get it. As I have mentioned before, we all basically have naturally occurring bacteria & fungi on our skin, intestines, etc. Normally, they don’t bother us & can actually be beneficial, but sometimes they can get out of “whack” and one thing can overtake the other. If you get a big dose of antibiotics (like I did), or if you have a weakened immune system (from a disease), then you can get an over-growth of yeast.
What is Candida Thrush?
Candida Albicans is a yeast/fungi that can get out of control in humans. It can cause all sorts of symptoms (a yeast infection for women, a tongue infection, intestinal infection, it can get in your blood, affect the skin, and all sorts of nasty things).
Not only that, but it LOVES sugar! Okay, so I have noticed this white stuff on my tongue for years, but didn’t really think it was a big deal. In fact, the front part of my tongue looks normal, however, the back has this white stuff on it.
As it turns out, I think I do indeed have a Candida Infection on my tongue, almost certainly my intestines, and also I think this could be the culprit behind the hives!! When the Candida grows on the tongue, it is sometimes called “thrush.” Here is a picture of what my tongue looks like close up (warning: graphic images of a tongue below lol):
A Few Pictures of Possible Candida Albicans/Yeast/Thrush on My Tongue:
This picture below shows the white stuff on my tongue. If you Google images of Thrush or Candida on the tongue, you will see this resembles it almost exactly!
Picture of Thrush in Mouth
Here is another picture of what I believe to be Candida/Thrush on my tongue:
And here is a very closeup of the white stuff on the back part of my tongue (towards the center):
I know, I know…seems gross. I promise I have great hygiene, and my tongue doesn’t look that gross in person. I swear to you, this is zoomed in majorly with my new digital camera. It isn’t even that noticeable, and my wife even looks at my tongue daily & didn’t notice it until I asked her to look at it last night (she is a nurse).
It is mostly towards the back part and hard to see in person. But this looks 100% exactly like Candida thrush infection, and this crap can go systemic & get in your blood, intestines, esophagus, skin, & cause all sorts of crazy symptoms (like possibly hives….).
My Symptoms Which Could All Be Linked to Candida (Possibly):
Okay, here are some symptoms which I think Candida explains quite well, and I will explain each one in detail:
- Okay, first, how did I get this? It is almost certainly due to the round of antibiotics I had during my senior year. I used to get strep throat yearly, and I had a bad case right when I graduated from high school. I was given antibiotics, and it was fine. About 4-6 months later, I got my first hives attack. I think the antibiotics threw my flora out of whack, and slowly the Candida multiplied over those months until one day it went systemic. Add to that the fact that I consumed massive amounts of junk food in those days, which fuels Candida as it loves sugar!!!
- My Stomach Issues: Okay, as I have mentioned before, I just can’t eat foods like I used to. I would get terrible gas, cramps, bloating, diarrhea, etc. I used to have great digestion before getting Cu. I could eat milk, cheese, anything! So I decided I must have acquired lactose intolerance & some food issues. I use Digestive Advantage Lactose Defense Formula Pills to help with my lactose intolerance. I recommend them to anyone who has lactose intolerance because they truly are great and help me out a lot. You can find them online through Amazon.com you are interested in buying them. But anyways back to my story…..When I take my Digestive Advantage pills, I could eat fine. However, one day I took a different brand that were only Lactose enzyme (no other “cultured bacteria” were in these pills like the other brand I took). I had an upset stomach! I didn’t realize why, but now it makes more sense! It is because the other brand has the cultures of bacteria in it, and it helps control the Candida when I eat those foods that make Candida thrive (cheese, sugar, yeasty bread). This also makes sense because one time I had posted where I made a gluten free/milk free pizza, and it tore me up! I had no idea why, but now I realize 1 ingredient I put in that pizza: Yeast! That could have upset me even more. Candida messes up your digestion because it rids them of the natural flora you need to digest things like cheese, etc.
- Rashes/Eczema: I would get occasional scaly rashes on my body that were terribly itchy. I thought it was food allergies, but they only got bad when I was eating a lot of foods that Candida thrives on (dairy, cheese, wheat, yeast, etc.). So it could have just been the Candida going crazy on the foods I was eating, which caused skin inflammation. When I eliminated the bad foods, the rashes cleared, but the hives remained. This could be because the Candida was still there, but it just reduced in numbers. Also, this could be why Cholinergic Urticaria seems to go up & down in cycles. It could be up & down growth spurts of this stuff!
- Sun Exposure– People with Candida often claim that Vitamin D helps regulate & control Candida some. It won’t cure it or eliminate it, but vitamin D & sun exposure seems to be beneficial in regulating the amount of Candida in your system. I have found some Vitamin D supplements online and plan on taking them to see if it helps. Plus I think I am Vitamin D deficient because I never go outside (which is the best source for Vitamin D and I don’t drink milk due to my lactose intolerance).
- Hives Improved on low junk food/sugar diets, but didn’t completely go away. The reason? I think it lowered the Candida infection, but the infection still remained. When I really cut back and ate only rice & tomatoes for a few days, there was a noticeable difference in my reactivity, but I still had the hives. Also, these diets helped my skin complexion clear majorly! The rashes would almost completely go away, as would the skin bumps, etc.
- I am Addicted to Sugar–Seriously, I am a skinny guy, but I used to slam 1/2 a gallon of ice cream in a day. I used to eat cookies, snacks, etc. like crazy. I still crave it all the time, but I have really tried to work on eating a healthier diet the past few months. As it turns out, one of the symptoms of a Candida infection is that you crave sugar all the time. The Candida bugs release a toxin that your body adapts to. It produces similar cravings to for sugar just like your body can do for drugs, alcohol, etc.
The Candida Treatment Plan: What to Do Now??
Okay, I think it is obvious that if I do indeed have a Candida infection, I need serious medication, and a proper diagnosis. Even if it is on my tongue only, it needs to be treated. No “anti-candida diet” or “candida cleanse” from a homeopathic thing is going to do the trick. It is a serious issue, and needs serious meds to clear it up.
Some treatment options that seem to be used by doctors are anti-fungals. For the thrush/mouth thing, they sometimes give you a special mouthwash, however, I really suspect this is a systemic issue (meaning it is in my intestines, tongue, skin, blood, etc.).
Therefore, it looks like I need an Oral Anti-Fungal/Yeast medication. I know that Diflucan (Fluconazole) is one popular drug many doctors seem to use to treat this. Again, this is a prescription-required drug, and is very dangerous for some people (especially those pregnant or nursing). But the good thing about this drug is that it does get in your blood, which means it will help kill systemic Candida (at least according to many articles). There may even be newer/better anti-fungals/yeasts that work even better now, so I will have to check on that.
So, what I plan to do is talk this over with my wife (she is at work right now). I don’t know who I should make an appointment with (a regular doctor, a dermatologist, or what)?? I also don’t know if I should wait until we get insurance in a few weeks, or if the cost of the actual visit would be less than a deductible anyways (which means maybe I would come out the same paying out of pocket). I think the insurance we are going to get has a $500 deductible anyways. I need to roll this over in my head a day or two I guess & then decide the proper course of action.
Then comes the hard part that I dread more than anything: The Doctor Visit. Doctors can be great, but after suffering from this the past 7 years, they haven’t exactly won me over with their intelligent diagnoses such as “you have dry skin” and “you must be stressed”.
I must try to convince this doctor (which could potentially be arrogant & difficult), that I suspect I need the big stuff & I need enough of a prescription to ensure this crap gets killed for good.
Will they believe me, or think I am some crazy nut who reads Internet articles all day (LOL-maybe I am)? It would really tick me off if I go & they just try to give me some crap mouthwash or something after pouring out my soul trying to explain this hives & Candida theory. I hope they will at least use their brains and try to at least think if it is possible if they are connected, and give me an adequate prescription to completely clear this thing for good.
So anyways, that is something kind of freaky I realized last night. I wanted to share it with everyone, to see what you think, so you can examine your tongue very closely, and to see if it has potential to be connected with the hives.
Again, maybe the Candida tongue thing isn’t related? Maybe it is something else? But I do remember that for chronic hives, bacterial or fungal infection is sometimes found to be the cause. And considering how I am 99.9% sure my digestive problems, skin problems, and tongue are all related to Candida, it makes logical sense it could also potentially be causing hives.
How awesome would that be if this is true? How awesome would that be if I could take a few pills for a few days/weeks, and be done with cholinergic urticaria forever? On the other hand, it would be sad that so many have suffered needlessly & lost precious time when it is so easily cured. I know how much these chronic hives have messed up my life.
But again, that is wishful thinking, this all may or may not be related. So don’t get your hopes up too much. Hopefully time will tell if this is true, and maybe if we are lucky we will have some answers here in a few weeks/months.
What are your thoughts?? Feel free to let me know below, or discuss this in the forum.
POST UPDATE: I have updated my results of this treatment. Turns out Candida was NOT a factor in my cholinergic urticaria. Read why here: Candida treatment over.
In addition, I no longer think Candida is responsible for most cases of chronic hives. See the video below for more information:
dice says
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=91376
:]
Amazingly gross pics btw lol
Ben says
Yes dice, lol, quite gross. But actually, the funny thing is that you can’t even notice this when I stick my tongue out in person. I had to really say “aaahhh” and angled my head so the camera could see the very back part of it. But it is freaky, and it has to be Candida.
That link reminded me of another symptom that could be Candida related….Stuffy Nose! My nose is always congested!
dice says
I’ve also come across this: http://healthyawareness.com/intestinal-health-and-msg/
I’m really considering stressing the point of yeast as potential factor for the hives occuring when I visit my dermatologist.
Ben says
Yeah, whenever I go to see about this, I am really going to try & insist on getting something that will kill out yeast for good. I am hoping they give me something good. If this is the cause, I will try to eat healthy at all times, and if I do eat something sugary, I will try to eat a probiotic with it to regulate Candida.
Henrik says
Hey Ben
I had the same concern some time ago, I also have this white stuff on my tongue. I think my tongue looks pretty similar to yours. I also got scared that it was some kind of fungus infection. At my next dentist visit, I asked my dentist about it, and she said my tongue looked perfectly normal and that I certainly didn’t have a fungal infection. I think it’s pretty normal to have this white stuff on the back of the tongue. It’s correct that actual fungal infections can sometimes be seen on the tongue, but in those cases the white stuff is much more widespread and looks much more dramatic than in your case.
Actually, a dermatologist I once consulted concerning my cholinergic urticaria suspected that my symptoms could be related to a fungal infection. She prescribed all kinds of anti-fungal medications (dandruff shampoo, cream, and also some pretty strong pills, which I think kill fungus all over the body quite effectively). It didn’t help my itching-symptoms at all, so I don’t think they are caused by fungus in my case.
My point is just that the pictures you’ve shown doesn’t suggest that anything is wrong with you. But I think you should consult a doctor anyway, just to be sure.
Ben says
Hello Henrik,
Thank you very much for your comment. It is a little disappointing that you have already tried some antifungals & it didn’t work. I really hope that perhaps there is something that can be fixed. I do know that as you said, some people have a little white on their tongue, and it isn’t necessarily something that needs to be treated. On the other hand, my wife’s tongue doesn’t have any like mine, nor did my mom’s tongue. So maybe I do have a little too much Candida, but again, it may or may not be related to the hives. I also suspect Candida due to my terrible stomach issues as well.
So I may still get it checked out. But thanks so much for the comment & for sharing your experience. It would be so nice if it were a simple Candida infection that could be treated. Hopefully we can figure this thing out soon.
Sheri says
I started on UDO’S Choice Adult Advance Probiotics for seniors yesterday because I have had diahreah pretty much for the whole last year and a scratchy feeling inside the cheeks of my mouth which a few months ago turned into a blow out of thrush also going up into my sinuses and ears. I’ve been running low grade fevers and having upset stomach and just plain feeling awful for a long time now. My doctor put me on Nystatin and although things did subside a bit, they never completely went away. He wanted to put me then on Diflucan but after I read the side effects, I was too afraid to take it. I do take a half 5.0 Xanax at morning and evening because I’m so stressed now. I was soo happy to start on the probiotics and then today I started reading about studies that said that probiotics will put too much strain on kidneys and liver and can cause the matabolism to go heywire. It also said that it can be very dangerous because it will cause the body to change the good bacteria into bad bacteria and cause the normal good bacteria that was already in the gut to be re routed and not do it’s normal job anymore. I’m paraphrasing what I read because most of the words were one’s I can’t remember in the study report. I also read about some of the good bacteria in probiotics actually being toxic and can get into the blood stream and hook onto the heart instead of the intestinal wall and then cause sepsis. It said only healthy people should take probiotics if at all. But, I’m not healthy and my immune system is a mess because of the systemic candita that I now have. I have no recorse now and don’t know what to do. I’m afraid to take my probiotics now and afraid not to take them. I just feel awful inside and don’t know what’s left for me to do at this point. I’m trying sooo hard to stay on the candeta diet but it’s also making me feel like I’m non existant. My husband cooks good stuff to eat and I can smell it but I can’t eat it. I have swallowing problems also and there are many things I can’t eat because of that, so I’m sort of stuck on cooked carrots and salmon and brocoli and brussle sprouts and water. This is insane and I don’t know how much longer I can take this. I’ve read of people dying from systemic candita and read of people dying from taking doctor’s drugs too and now I’m reading of people dying from using probiotics, is there no help out there anywhere, anymore? aM i JUST STUCK THIS WAY? Please, can you help me and give some SOME advice on all the negative stuff I’m reading about the probiotics? Should I really be afraid to take them or not?
Thank you in advance and I do hope you will write me back so I will have some idea of what’s real, what’s true and what isn’t. God Bless
Ben says
Helly Sheri,
I am really sorry to hear about all of the problems you have experienced with your Candida & diarrhea. First, please understand that I am not a doctor, and you should always follow your doctor’s advice.
If you have visible severe Candida infection in your mouth, throat, etc., then I would definitely get to the doctor to see if there is another medication you can take besides the ones you have tried. There are a few mouth rinses they can give, and also a couple of other oral anti-candida medications available.
My own personal experience was that I had some whiteness on my tongue, and I suspected my upset stomach could be related to Candida. So I took about 1 week’s supply of Diflucan. It helped remove most of the white on my tongue, but it didn’t really help my digestion.
So then I decided to take probiotics which is what I take now. They can help me digest foods & prevent a stomach ache at times (although sometimes they don’t work very well). I take a brand by philips daily, and I also take a lactose probiotic whenever I eat or drink dairy (made by Digestive Advantage).
If your probiotics aren’t helping, then it is possible that you may want to try some other brands/types under your doctor’s supervision. Also, watch out for dairy because if you have developed lactose intolerance it can cause diarrhea daily. So if you eat butter or dairy on those foods you mentioned, it is possible it could be upsetting your stomach. Another thing to watch out for is food allergies. The foods you mentioned don’t seem to have a high allergy, but you could be intolerant to something in the foods, or even something in the probiotics themselves.
So in conclusion: I am really sorry to hear about your stomach & health issues. If you do have a severe candida infection, I would recommend talking to your doctor about some medications. As far as the probiotics are concerned, you may want to try some different types, or lessen your dose, or even change your diet to see if it helps with your stomach issues.
I hope you get better soon, and God bless!
Sheri says
Sorry to write another comment right after my other comment, but I had to say this part too. My UDO’s Choice had 9 differnt strains in it and 24 billion cells per capsule. Just so you know what’s in what I’m taking. I have no credit card and the bottle I just bought pretty much has me broke now so I’m not in a position to try a different probiotic. I realize this site is for Threelac but I still really do need some advice on whether my probiotic is dangerous, or any probiotic for that matter, as my comment above stated my fears.
Thank you again for your time.
Tim says
Hey, thanks for sharing all that; though to be honest, I’m in the midst of a week long wait for the results of a second Complete Blood Count (CBC) – my white blood cells have been low lately, and long story short an HIV test came back “inconclusive.” In the week or two prior to the CBC I had done, I’ve had quite the strange itching rash, not a dramatic one, but it would appear and reappear very shortly afterwards, and generally I seemed to notice when I would get particularly upset or sweat, it would appear. I also had two canker sores in my mouth that were the most bothersome and persistent I’ve ever had in my life. Normally Ill get a canker sore and a day or so rinsing with hydrogen peroxide, and its gone. These were deep, pretty painful sores in my gums that wouldnt go away, even when I’d rinse my mouth well over five times a day, at least. So the thing is I’m looking up symptoms of early HIV, and Those are all symptoms, including this “thrush” thing, which leads me to how I found you. My toungue looks pretty similar to yours, but honestly I seem to recall it being like that for a real long time and not thinkin much of it. Ive been shaking and pretty upset even as i write this, becuase it seemed like it confirmed one more symptom I have of HIV. I am someone who has good reason to worry about the disease, I’ll say that. Sorry you had to hear that from me, but I really think you’ll be ok; I’ve had a toungue like that for years and I’ve been healthy as can be, never thought much of it. Never been much of a health freak, but geez I gotta get off the computer I’m going to have a nervous breakdown heh.
Ben says
Hello Tim,
Thanks so much for the comment and sharing your experience.
The whiteness on my tongue has basically disappeared after I took the medication. As I mentioned in the post, it actually wasn’t quite as bad as the pictures indicate. My camera has a massive zoom on it, and I really zoomed right into some of the white part. The majority of my tongue was actually normal looking.
Also, several people have suggested that some whiteness is actually normal, so I don’t really know if the medication was even necessary at all, but hey, it was worth a shot to see if it helped the hives. So again, some whiteness is normal, and we all have “thrush” or “Candida” in our bodies and on our tongue. It just becomes an infection when it goes crazy and the tongue becomes excessively white. I didn’t exactly have an infection, I was just able to get some medication and I took it.
I am very sorry to hear about the possible HIV, and I certainly hope that you don’t have it. I would advise you to keep getting tested, and please be responsible with others regarding your sexual activity. One thing I would like to point out is that I DO NOT have HIV for sure. I have been tested for almost everything (and had many CBC’s and blood work done), and no one else has it on the forum that has been tested by doctors (that I am aware of) has HIV either. So don’t get too upset until you actually know for sure, as many times diseases have many symptoms that mirror other diseases. There could be other things causing your symptoms (the hives, thrush, etc). But, you may want to make sure to prevent infection from HIV in any way you can, keep getting tested, and be responsible in case you do have it.
So again, I would recommend you keep getting tested, avoid putting yourself at risk in the future, and try not to worry too much about it until you find out for sure. In the event that you did actually have it, the treatment for it these days is excellent, and getting better. So hopefully you will be able to continue to live a relatively healthy and happy life.
Thanks again for the comment, and I hope everything works out well.