bobk@mntgfx.mentor.com (Bob Kelley) (11/26/87)
Does anyone know anything about this herb? Any information or discussion is welcome. -- Robert J. Kelley Mentor Graphics Corporation ...!tektronix!sequent!mntgfx!bobk or bobk@mntgfx.MENTOR.COM
andrea@hp-sdd.HP.COM (Andrea K. Frankel) (11/29/87)
The basis for folks believing that this herb will help heal Candida
overgrowths is that it is the bark of a tree that grows in the Amazonian
rain forests without ever succumbing to any of the funguses that usually
attack both living and dead wood in such a wet environment.
There are many useful medicines which have been "discovered" by
noticing their effects in this way; however, to my knowledge, nobody
has ever done any controlled studies proving Pau D'arco's
effectiveness. On the plus side, I've never heard of any serious or
irreversible problems arising from drinking the stuff, so it's worth a
try to see if it helps you (or whoever has the problem that you're
posting for).
When I was first diagnosed with Candida problems, I tried the
nutritional treatment route - rigorous low-carbo non-yeast diet,
lots of garlic supplements, and quarts of Pau d'arco tea every day.
It caused headaches and a "toxic feeling" which the chiropractor claimed
was due to the rapid kill-off of the candida and subsequent release of
the toxins in the lysed candida cells into the bloodstream. I really
had no idea whether that was correct, or if the headaches were directly
caused by the tea. By decreasing the dosage and then working back up
to the full amount gradually, I was able to handle it.
I got enough relief that I was ok for a couple of years. The second
time the Candida got out of hand, I wasn't able to force myself to stay
on the rigorous diet; the Pau d'arco tea by itself was *NOT* sufficient
to do any good. I ended up going to an MD who prescribed Nystatin
(pure powder, taken orally in water 4x/day) along with a less rigorous
version of the diet. The Nystatin produced some of the same side
effects (headaches and "toxic feeling") that the Pau d'arco had, which
would support the idea that the effects were a result of the kill-off
of the yeast.
My conclusion after several bouts: Nystatin has it all over Pau d'arco
when it comes to knocking the yeast levels back to a normal level, and
you don't have to be as ascetic about the diet. Of course, the more
disciplined you can be about avoiding sugar during either treatment, the
faster the Candida problem disappears. For self-help when I start
noticing the first symptoms of overgrowth, I've found that a new
garlic preparation called Garlicin (Nature's Way) is effective.
Hope this helps...
Andrea Frankel, Hewlett-Packard (San Diego Division) (619) 592-4664
"...like a song that's born to soar the sky"
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boutkevin@chromo.UUCP (12/05/87)
In article <1987Nov25.163709.2911@mntgfx.mentor.com> bobk@mntgfx.mentor.com (Bob Kelley) writes: >Does anyone know anything about this herb? > I've been working with candida for several years, and gotten to know its ins and outs pretty well, including the vagaries of yeast die-off, which is pretty much a prerequisite for healing for most people with candida (I counsel people about it professionally now). I used taheebo for quite a while because everyone said it was a good thing to do, along with my nystatin program. But the taheebo was expensive and a pain to cook up, so I gradually slacked off with it. My present view is that nystatin (as Andrea Frankel said) has it all over taheebo, probably partly because nystatin is a refined, concentrated product (though it's originally of natural origin too) whereas with taheebo you're dealing with the raw, unrefined plant which has the active ingredient (whatever it is) in much diluted form. HOWEVER. Andrea Frankel mentioned pure nystatin powder. I used that for a while--then my new MD switched me to enteric-coated nystatin tabs. Did I ever go through die-off all over again!! The powder hadn't been getting to my gut at all, which is where most of the candida is, according to my MD's research info. Instead it had been wasted, since the stomach digests a lot of it. I've really zoomed in improvement since switching to the new form. In addition, I can't stress enough how important sticking to a low-carb, low-mold diet is for getting well. The clients I've had who've told themselves otherwise have eventually decided they were fooling themselves (or else they didn't improve). Often other changes are necessary too, depending on the person's allergic sensitivities. My opinion is that the popular books available about candida (The Yeast Connection, etc) are not realistic in their dietary recommendations--perhaps they are afraid of scaring off potential book-buyers. ----------- Kevin McLoughlin Physics Board Internet: kevin@chromo.UCSC.edu UC Santa Cruz UUCP: ...ucbvax!ucscc!chromo.kevin Santa Cruz, CA 95064 408-429-2258
toma@sun.uucp (Tom Athanasiou) (12/08/87)
All this talk about candida infections raises what must be a really naive question in my mind. The answer is inportant to me cause my wife has a really long-term vaginal candida infection that is driving us both nuts. Some of these candida-related postings seem to be talking about candida in the intestine and on the skin and so on. Could someone explain the relationship between these types of full-body infections and plain old long-term vaginal candida. Is vaginal candida perhaps a symptom of a more widespread infection? What are the differences in the therapy appropriate to the two types of infections. Etc. Thanks in advance. -- TomA
dyer@spdcc.COM (Steve Dyer) (12/09/87)
In article <35869@sun.uucp>, toma@sun.uucp (Tom Athanasiou) writes: > Some of these candida-related postings seem to be talking about candida > in the intestine and on the skin and so on. Could someone explain the > relationship between these types of full-body infections and plain old > long-term vaginal candida. Is vaginal candida perhaps a symptom of a > more widespread infection? What are the differences in the therapy > appropriate to the two types of infections. Etc. It helps if you remember a couple of things. First, most of the recent postings on candida in sci.med have been positioned well outside the traditional medical understanding of infection. In those articles, candida has been responsible for all sorts of poorly defined, diffuse ills. You can believe them or not, but you'd be hard pressed to find any support from the medical mainstream. Candida is one of the normal fauna in people, and most candida infections are "topical", proliferating in areas where they might usually reside, but for some reason are no longer being kept in check by the body's defenses. This would include oral, vaginal and esophageal "thrush", as well as some cases of intestinal overgrowth. Another localized infection is candidiasis of the bladder, usually due to an indwelling catheter. Now, these types of candida infection, while of varying degrees of seriousness and deserving of treatment, are localized and usually stay that way in an otherwise healthy person. In fact, the primary treatments (nystatin and perhaps amphotericin B, clotrimazole and miconazole) are used as non-absorbed topical antifungal agents. That is, you have to bathe the area (mouth, throat, esophagus, vagina, etc.) with the drugs, which work locally and not systemically. Nystatin, the most popular drug, is not absorbed at all when administered orally or topically, which is a good thing, because this almost benign drug is fiercely toxic when administered parenterally. Recurrent topical infections generally suggest that there's something strange going on, although your doctor would really want to do a history and a workup to begin to discover why. Occasionally it's due to a degree of immune system impairment, such as in uncontrolled diabetes or AIDS (however, I wouldn't worry about something like AIDS when we're discussing a woman who is prone to vaginal candidiasis but is otherwise healthy.) At other times, it's due to the administration of drugs which influence the environment where candida is found; I'm referring to the effects of birth control pills in some women and (more rarely) the effects of antibiotic administration. This last item has been overemphasized in the popular literature; the overwhelming majority of people given antibacterial antibiotics do not have any problem with candida overgrowth. Also, it can be an issue of hygiene; pantyhose trap heat and moisture which can facilitate the overgrowth of candida in the vagina. True disseminated candidiasis is a particularly nasty state of affairs, and is usually seen only in severely immune-compromised patients, such as those with AIDS, leukemia, or bone-marrow transplants. It requires the administration of systemic antifungal agents, most of which are very toxic, such as amphotericin B, flucytosine, and ketoconazole. I wouldn't worry about having it; that is, if you can be sitting up and wondering about it, you probably don't. -- Steve Dyer dyer@harvard.harvard.edu dyer@spdcc.COM aka {ihnp4,harvard,husc6,linus,ima,bbn,m2c}!spdcc!dyer
spaf@uther.cs.purdue.edu (Gene Spafford) (12/10/87)
In reference to chronic vaginal yeast infections: I have heard that
this can be an indicator of a (pre-)diabetic condition. It would be
wise to have the necessary blood/urine/whatever tests to check this out.
Marginal conditions (of diabetes) that flare up only when diet or
exercise regimens change can cause recurring flare-ups of yeast
problems. One acquaintance discovered a diabetic condition this
way, thanks to an alert doctor.
As Steve Dyer noted, birth control pills may make some women especially
susceptible to such overgrowths, but don't let your doctor dismiss it
as simply that (or pantyhose or whatever) without checking other
possibilities.
--
Gene Spafford
Dept. of Computer Sciences, Purdue University, W. Lafayette IN 47907-2004
Internet: spaf@cs.purdue.edu uucp: ...!{decwrl,gatech,ucbvax}!purdue!spaf