A Guide To Diagnosing Candida

Feeling A Little “Off” Lately?

Feeling a little fatigued or run down? Do you have a postnasal drip or possibly some nagging abdominal discomfort? Have you thought about candida albicans being the cause?

Candidiasis is a common complaint that is caused by the abnormal growth of a parasitic yeast-like fungus know as candida albicans. In a healthy person, it inhabits the intestine, mouth, esophagus, throat and genital tract, however under certain conditions the yeast will multiply and travel through the blood stream to other parts of the body.

The symptoms of candida are often vague, plus very diverse. For example, there might be gut related problems such as constipation or diarrhea, abdominal pain, bad breath, heartburn or colitis. Mood swings, depression or a foggy memory might be present. There can also be strange tingling sensations, numbness in the face or extremities plus some severe and embarrassing itching in places like the genitals or rectal area . These are just of the signs of candida overgrowth.

How Do You Know If You Have A Candida Problem?

With such diverse symptoms, how do you tell if you have the problem? Firstly, you can observe to see if you feel worse in damp or moldy places. Are the symptoms heightened after consumption of sugary foods or yeast containing foods? Have you recently been pregnant or taken antibiotics? If you answered yes to all this questions, then candida needs to be investigated as a cause of your ill health.

In my practice, I see many ladies who believe they have candida because of the presence of a white, cheese like vaginal discharge, but testing can reveal this is not the cause. At this point, further investigations and other possible causes (such as vaginitis) must be investigated.

We use an easy finger prick test that gives us a positive or negative result in 10 minutes, to determine if candida is present. A more expensive but thorough test, that also looks at other gut related problems, can also reveal the presence and extent of candida overgrowth. Known as a Complete Digestive Stool Analysis, this test can reveal important information on which to base a sound drug-free healing program.

To achieve a good outcome, dietary restrictions are extremely important during this time. The idea is to “starve” the parasitic overgrowth of the fuel it needs to survive whilst delivering nutrients and gut friendly anti-parasitic products, to weaken the hold that the candida infection has on your body.