Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Need help with yeast overgrowth diagnosis!!!! Please!

Hi Carolyn & others!

I can empathize with your yeast overgrowth problem. Though I was not formally diagnosed, this is something I have been suspecting about myself for a while now. I seem to recall your responding to a post I made a few months back about recurrent yeast infections.

However, I am happy to report, I have had far fewer problems lately. I am still not where I'd like to be ultimately (may still want to try that antifungal diet), but actually, much of my improvement happened unintentionally... to get to my yeast issues, I'll have to start with other issues, though seemingly unrelated, it's all related...

From July to December, I was living in India. I studied abroad there for my fall semester. Before this, I was naturally quite nervous about how my IBS may act up in India, but I tried to remind myself of the strong psychological component to IBS... if I keep thinking I am going to have a problem, I probably will. In the spring/summer just before I went to India, my IBS symptoms ironically & conveniently almost disappeared (this I attribute to a number of factors including but not limited to counseling & better stress management, diet changes, supplements, yoga, meditation, & honestly, medicinal marijuana). The summer before I left I went on a week-long road trip with nine friends from NY to Tennessee & ate hotdogs & hamburgers without any problems, if you can believe it! In India, I had very few IBS symptoms, as I have been C-dominant. HOWEVER!, I had the opposite problem! This had nothing to do with my condition though, all of the foreigners I was traveling with had the same problem, just because there is so much bacteria everywhere in India. The food & water are just highly questionable & it is easy to get bacteria in your system which results in diarrhea & vomiting. For this, I had an antibiotic my general physician in the US prescribed to me just in case before I left, Ciprofloxacin. Cipro is used to treat all kinds of bacterial infections. Though I am not crazy about taking antibiotics or any prescription drugs, I had to take this a number of times to get rid of the bacteria I got in India. In doing this, I think I inadvertently killed the yeast overgrowth I had. I was also taking probiotics consistently. So, the reason this is relevant is because I understand why you wouldn't want to take Diflucan, but it might be necessary temporarily to kill the bad stuff. If I hadn't taken the Cipro, I don't think I would have rid myself of the bad bacteria.

Since my return from India in the beginning on December, I haven't had a yeast infection & overall, I feel generally better. I am also taking two other natural antifungals that are very inexpensive: Apple Cider Vinegar capsules & Garlic Oil capsules. I think these help to keep the fungus in my gut in check.

So, while I am no expert nor do I consider my issue completely resolved, I think you should go ahead with the Diflucan just to kill all that bad stuff & continue your diet & take natural antifungals, whichever one you choose... all the best to you & the others suffering with this problem.

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21, female, Long Island, NY
school in Kingston, RI

IBS-C, abdominal pain, gas, bloating, cramping; acid reflux; fibromyalgia; chronic fatigue syndrome; chronic headaches

"Nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

"Suffering arises ... whenever we resist the flow of life and try to cling to fixed forms..., whether they are things, events, people, or ideas."

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