Tests for Yeast

[zazuk2010]

Can anyone tell me the specific blood tests we need to take to determine status of yeast? Also need same info for stool sample. And anything else we should do to figure this out.

 

Thanks, Kari

[KeithandElizabeth]

Hi Kari:

 

My belief is that the high dose probiotics will help with the yeast issues. SF Mom and I see the same nutritionist and she has our kids on mega doses of probiotics. Our son is on 500 billion units a day. He used to have many yeast issues pre-antibiotics and now he does not have yeast issues, even though he is on constant antibiotics.

 

Elizabeth

[Chemar]

high dose probiotics dont always get rid of candida albicans ("yeast")

 

sometimes, and especially in stubborn cases, it is necessary to do a modified diet for a while (free of yeast feeding foods ) and / or to take helpful supplements like Candida Clear to eliminate active yeast IN ADDITION to taking a good probiotic

 

there is an unscientific "yeast" test that can sometimes give an indicator of whether candida "yeast" is present

 

if it is positive, that is a pretty good indicator that there is candida overgrowth tho if it is negative one shouldnt assume no yeast infection and then can folllow up with blood and/or stool testing.

http://www.adhdrelief.com/CandidaTest.html

 

an excellent book (with yeast buster recipes) is The Yeast Syndrome by Walker and Trowbridge

[smartyjones]

kari - i'm sorry i don't i have any good recommendations for you - and i think, of course, it's all related. we were first investigating yeast as the problem when my son first presented with symptoms. i was discussing it with the behavior therapist we sought help from. she said she didn't really know if she believed that to be such an issue (from more of a conventional standpoint) but said what i was describing sounded like OCD but he was so awfully young to be presenting with OCD. and then brought up that she had somehow heard something about pandas. she was the only one to bring up pandas. at the time, i thought she was just not such an alternative thinker and was more along the lines of anti-yeast, conventional thinking. come to find out -- she was our angel.

 

so - i do believe yeast is somehow an issue that comes in to play - however, for my son, he was presenting with many symptoms that can traditionally be attributed to yeast, that i now believe were strep at the root. maybe strep throwing off the bacteria/yeast balance but really strep being the demon to deal with. i also remember an article that talked about how strep may bind with an enzyme in the gut that should be digesting gluten/dairy and causing other troubles - but again, strep being the demon.

 

this of course, leaves us in the conundrum of how do we know when we've eradicated the strep or brought it down to a level that is not causing trouble? is it by behaviors? is it so difficult.

 

i don't know - i guess i'm not helping - just wanted to say from my viewpoint with my son, i think i will be more vigilant for the strep as the root cause than other troubles.

[Chemar]

I think it is important to also remember that where strep may be the root cause of the problems, candida overgrowth is a common symptom of antibiotic use, so it is almost expected that anyone on longterm antibiotics will likely also have "yeast" overgrowth as the antibiotics kill off the good bacteria in the gut as well, so allowing the candida to proliferate

[smartyjones]

I think it is important to also remember that where strep may be the root cause of the problems, candida overgrowth is a common symptom of antibiotic use, so it is almost expected that anyone on longterm antibiotics will likely also have "yeast" overgrowth as the antibiotics kill off the good bacteria in the gut as well, so allowing the candida to proliferate

 

 

yes - i definitely agree. for my son, his yeast-type behaviors were part of his pandas presentation and before abx use. that's what i find interesting that he didn't so much have something to draw back to, yet had yeast behaviors. i guess it just goes to show how delicate a balance we live in.

[Chemar]

yes, candida infection isnt only related to antibiotics

 

a number of other things can result in the overgrowth of yeast in the GIT, including dietary factors.

eg Candida is prevalent in alcoholics (alcohol sugars are amongst its favorite foods!)

 

my son had very high candida when we tested him when younger yet had hardly ever been on antibiotics

[smartyjones]

does your son follow an anti-yeast diet currently? did you find what you think was the cause of the yeast?

[zazuk2010]

I think it is important to also remember that where strep may be the root cause of the problems, candida overgrowth is a common symptom of antibiotic use, so it is almost expected that anyone on longterm antibiotics will likely also have "yeast" overgrowth as the antibiotics kill off the good bacteria in the gut as well, so allowing the candida to proliferate

 

 

 

Funny to read your post this morning. I came to the same conclusion during the night. We are taking a bunch of blood tests this morning and I was hoping to include something that would help determine yeast. But, after giving it a lot of thought, I realized that there is no doubt there is an overgrowth of yeast. I don't need a test. Both my sons (twins with PANDAS) have been on antibiotics for 10 months now. While I have cut out all juices and some other sugars, they still eat a diet that is no doubt adding to their problems. I am now trying to find the right doctor to help me with the yeast.

 

I try so hard to limit thier sugar intake, but it is everywhere and since they are only 5, it is impossible for them to understand why all their friends can eat "the good stuff" and they can't. Of course, knowing how much they have suffered with PANDAS makes it even harder to deny them things that other kids get and that would, good bad and ugly, be somthing they would enjoy. Seems I have to be "the bad guy" all day long. And then when the day is over, I have to fight with them to drink medicine they hate and prepare for tests that they are afraid of and that will hurt (blood tests today).

 

Thanks for the input.

 

Bsst,

Kari

[Chemar]

does your son follow an anti-yeast diet currently? did you find what you think was the cause of the yeast?

 

he was probably more susceptible to yeast overgrowth because of his underlying GIT probs (leaky gut, Crohn's Disease)

 

when we initially found his high candida levels we strictly followed the candida eradication diet in that book I mentioned before. Our whole family did the yeast busting and noticed a major improvement in health for all of us!

 

my son's diet has been very pure for some years now (part of his overall natural treatment plan for the TS/OCD/Crohn's) and so he doesnt consume any refined carbs or sugars and part of his supp program is candida clear, which has lots of beneficial natural antimicrobials, especially oil of oregano, in it. He takes all of his natural antimicrobial supps (candida clear, monolaurin, olive leaf extract) for one week every month and has done so for quite some time now. We also use a lot of the natural antimicrobials in foods (turmeric, garlic, ginger, honey)

The candida Clear by NOW also has caprylate in it which is an excellent yeast buster

[smartyjones]

He takes all of his natural antimicrobial supps (candida clear, monolaurin, olive leaf extract) for one week every month and has done so for quite some time now.

 

 

sorry - he takes all of those items for one week as a 'yeast busting' week or he takes each of them for a week separately so he is taking something almost all the time?

[Chemar]

no, sorry, let me clarify:

 

he takes all of the supplemental antimicrobials together daily for one week every month.

the rest of the month he takes his other TS/OCD/Crohn's supplements daily, and uses the antimicrobial foods daily

it isnt just for the candida yeast fungus, but for other bacterial, virus, fungus stuff too

 

when he was first dx with epstein barr a long time ago, the naturopath we were seeing suggested this as my son reacts badly to most chemicals, including prescription meds and antibiotics

 

at that time we also had him on homeopathic antimicrobial remedies

 

 

then again when my son was dx with crohn's, they started him on antibiotics for the infections associated with the crohn's and as usual, he seemed not to tolerate the antibiotics and so we developed this way of getting antimicrobials into him by another method

 

as mentioned before, he is now 20yo and we have been dealing with one health thing or another since infancy with him, but he is doing great and has been for a number of years