Has anyone had any success taking neem to combat their candida?

Never actually tried neem but I heard somewhere that the smoke from burning neem leaves ws very effective for all kinds of fungal infections.
Have you tired grapefruit seed extract? I tried a product call Citricidal which did seem to work pretty well - combined with a fairly strict diet.

Hi there,

I think Neem can certainly help, especially with external fungal problems like athlete's foot, but a candida protocol needs to be more comprehensive than taking one thing. I have dealt with this problem for years with clients and have finally found using a protocol given to me by a lab which has only failed me once in the past 3 years. You have to do a prep stage then a 'killing' stage which all in all takes about 12 weeks for most people. It is not something you can self-medicate with.

I would also advise you always get checked out properly whether it is candida, just candida or moulds are involved which mimic the candida symptoms. About half the time, I find it is moulds which is why anti fungal treatment in the past has not helped.

Also, the candida diet does not have to be as strict as you think, since research has now shown it would be impossible to starve candida of sugar because you always have to have a certain amount as glucose for your body to run. That's why the diet alone will never get results.

Hope that's useful!

Hi Micki -
Just - belatedly - been reading what you said. Do you mean that one is allergic to moulds or what? and how to do find out? and once you have found out, what can you do about it? Only asking because I have been feeling fairly yuck for the last few weeks and I had assumed that it was just the weather and the time of year but then I wondered if it was the candida coming back. But maybe as you say, it is something to do with moulds.

Hi Miki Mouse - are we related?!!

Seriously, to clarify: you can have a mould 'overgrowth' in the same way as you can get a yeast overgrowth such as candida. You can treat this with a particular protocol. I get my patients to look at whether their symptoms are worse in damp weather or indoors, whether the symptoms started when they were living/working in a mouldy or damp environment etc - those are clues. I routinely test for moulds whenever I test for candida just in case; I do it through a stool test. Have a look at my website for more info - I've just uploaded all the test info onto it and it lists several ways of testing: www.purehealthclinic.co.uk.

Of course, there is no reason why you can't be allergic or intolerant to moulds either. Indeed sometimes it might be that a leaky gut has allowed the mould spores through and that's what's making you feel 'yuk'.

Hi Micki,

I was thinking of having a blood test for Candida as I think I have a lot of the symptoms and take immuno-suppressant drugs for my ulcerative colitis. I saw your last posting and saw that you do this as a stool sample rather than blood test and that you also think it is worth being tested for mould as well as Candida - do you think it would be better for me to have a stool test rather than blood or are they both equally as good?

Thank you for your help.

Dawn

Hi Dawn,

The two tests are quite different and over the years I have found stool testing to be much more reliant, if done by a lab which knows what it's doing. A blood test will look for whether your body has made antibodies to the candida (which most of us will have so it won't tell you if you have had a past or current infection). The stool test done by the lab I use looks for an overgrowth of all yeasts inc candida and all moulds as often moulds are the culprit, not candida. It also checks if the yeast is producing a particular enzyme to tell if it is a candida that is pathogenic rather than benign. If pathogenic, you need treatment. Stool test every time, and check for all yeasts, moulds, good and bad bacteria, and parasites so you get a good look at the intestinal environment and can rule things in or out.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

Micki

Have been told that acidophilus can be very effective against candida, although it needs to be taken regularly over a period of time. Has anyone tried it?

Acidophilus and bifido bacteria will certainly help because candida simply is an opportunistic yeast which has been allowed to grow because the gut environment - and therefore levels of good bowel bacteria - are too low or imbalanced in some way. If it's a simple overgrowth problem, probiotics over time taken in billions of live cells should help shift the balance back again. But if the candida is pathogenic, it will take a lot more than probiotics and you need a comprehensive candida approach.