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Herbal Medicine - Low White blood cells and reoccuring Candida (Yeast Infections COUSCOUS)

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My girlfriend has reoccuring yeast infections down there Candida Albicans and we have tried numerous therapies, Antibiotics and Chinese medicine (Dodgy-as) to no avail. Her cous-cous is embarrising has led to an abtinence periods of months now, as contact only makes the problem worse. This is not helped by the fact that she has abnormally low white blood cells (Neutrophils).

The antibiotics she was on post surgery has led to an imbalance in her bodies natural flora and in my oppinon made the cous-cous problem worse, The chinese doctor charged $200 for a bottle of pills for 2 weeks which he did not tell us the contents of only that it was 'organic, very good'.

We are frustrated and pulling our hair out, and so, I have come here to ask for your help friends.

I need herbs and or combinations that you can recommend through experience or knowledge you have that can help

1/ increase her immune system and neutrophil count

2/ remove this bloody Candida Albicans cous-cous infection she has

Any advice and or tips you have would be much appreciated!!!

Thanks

Tepa

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It also happened to my GF when she was on antibiotics post surgery. The doctor said it was common with anitbiotics.

try eating yoghurt or something from the chemist like Canesten etc

Edited by Halcyon Daze

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`

Edited by Magicdirt

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Yoghurt seems to be the consensus for that part and I've heard that lemon oil in an aromatherapy vaporizer could possibly raise white blood cell counts.

Ouch sounds bad!....good luck mate.

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Hey

I cant legally prescribe herbs for you with out a consultation but some suggestions re the increasing Neutrophil (WBC) count

may include Astragalus, Siberian Ginseng, Echinacea angustifolia, & possibly Shisandra - (i cant find at the mo a relevant reference).

For Candida Yoghurt as a food & as a external douche may help, as is Keffir .Make sure to get a good yoghurt though as a lot of stuff out there is full of sugar. There are some good supplements from health food stores etc that contain acidophillus & bifodophillus (spelling??) Best to get a refrigerated one as they seem to be fairly reactive to storage & may be inert.Cant remember the best active brand at the mo.

Lots of herbs, tablets etc in health food stores arent what they are worth due to manufacturing & storage.

Other good herbs include Golden Seal, calendula & rehmannia,hypericum,thyme & phytolcca decandra. Golden seal is a bit pricey as its pretty rare in its wildcrafted form. Best to take these in a tincture form as they are then most active.

From memory an external douche of golden seal & calendula seems to work. Use about 3ml herbs to 20ml water in a syringe to squirt about.I have a bit of golden seal in ticture I think.

Another supposedly true & tried herb with good results is a tea tree cream applied to a tampoon & used overnight to 24 hrs. There are one or 2 good ones on the market.

It might be irritating to some cases though, but a quality tea tree oil product shouldnt be irritating.

Also a good multivitamin like Tresos B & a good vitamin C from someone like eagle pharmaceuticals seem to help the body quite a bit as well. These are practitioner brands but might be avail if you ask at the right place & then dont have to pay for a consultation.

Diet is the other major thing to take into consideration.Besides this antibiotic use seems to play a pretty major factor, as you know.

Cant suggest much more with out knowing more about case history etc etc.

I am sure there are other herbs etc.

Oh just remembered that Myrrh gum is specific for increasing white blood cell count & good for candida.Its prob up there with the most useful.

BTW this info is not prescription for herbs/dosages etc but are suggestions. Got to cover my self with a disclaimer....

Any further info you can pm me if you like...

Hope this helps

& good luck

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Yoghurt is definitely a good long term treatment and as a douche may be uncomfortable, but can help. B-d paris creek yoghurt might be a good choice, it's not too thick and is not heavily processed. Probiotics would be a good choice too, maybe along with a prebiotic such as daily dandelion tea (generally good allrounds anyways.)

Lapacho (Tabebuia impetiginosa) is really good for candida specifically and to boost immune function, as is Cat's claw. Take a tea 3 times daily.

Siberian ginseng is good for recovery from chronic illness and maintenance of good health, but shouldn't be used when still ill. Same goes for schisandra I believe.

Good luck :)

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Echinacea Study shows a neutrophil increase, and woman I know swear by the yoghurt, but make sure it is definately active, claims of live culture are often fake and I recall a US study that I can't find now that claimed the cheapest brand on their shelves had the highest concentration of live cultures whilst expensive brands including Vaalia (i think) were practically entirely dead, but the best bet would be to go see a Naturopath or even Homeopath. Sometimes it is hard to show scientific evidence for the use of herbs and it can often be contradictory (there is difficulties in creating an experimental environment whilst dealing with herbs or extracts as concentrations of substances vary heavily, many experiments are done by very biased individuals and are as poorly designed as the early cannabis experiments) however natural remedies are getting more and more popular and I can't believe most people are to stupid to know if they feel 'better' or 'worse' (though sometimes my faith is questioned). I agree that the chinese herbalist sounds shit house, the industry can be sadly unregulated at times and some people only see their fellow humans as an income source, hopefully people like that suffer the conditions they unscrupulously treated 100 fold. If money is tight as is often the case try natural medicine colleges, they often have clinics with very experienced practitioners, their just might be some curious kid in training sitting in the corner. If this is your plan I would recommend Australian College of Natural Med, I am studying naturopathy through them in Bris so I am 100% biased, however many (but not all) of the lecturers and people I meet there are very intelligent and have superb energy, big change when your used to going to some dick med who thinks your just some drugged up retard for having an opinion about how your illness should be treated.

I choose natural remedies as they have evolved with us in most cases and provide an almost perfect cocktail of hundreds/thousands of 'active ingredients' in balanced concentrations naturally, this in my opinion gives a greater healing effect in a softer way to the body. Pharms on the other hand are usually a few large doses of usually less then 10 active ingredients all aimed at changing singular functions of the body in predictable ways, these changes are unbalanced resulting in the wide range of side effects from the treatment. Something like 80% of the pharmaceutical industry is a sad, mentally challenged and crippled version of natural remedies anyway, stripping away anything that they do not believe has an effect on the illness.

Don't be put off Traditional Chinese Med because of your experience, but if you encounter someone offering treatments in the future with no explanation of how or why they work, be very skeptical. Holistic practitioners in my experience try to be as transparent as possible as their is a shit storm brewing regarding their practice and it seems they are trying to fortify their message in the community before the pharma companies make a really big push to outlaw any treatment that isn't theirs'.

Hope I haven't taken it to far off topic as I have a tendency to rant.

Namaste

FCL

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If she likes the taste of garlic, encourage her to eat a 2-3 cloves a day (organic for sure, any other stuff has alot of sulfur left over from fumigation and can make a person feel pretty nasty)cooked in food or raw mashed with honey (as well as heeding all this other good advice). Garlic is a great antifungal. If she dosnt like the taste, you could make a poultice (mash) of raw garlic and put it on the soles of her feet for a couple of hours, alot of the allicin an other goodies will soak through the skin. BUT! some people (especially with sensitive skin) cant tolerate raw garlic on their skin for long, it can burn skin badly so dont leave it on for more than a few hours (i.e. over night)!

Good advice from altenate, having a proper consultation is the best thing to do. It's expensive at private clinics, but if you want to save cash and try western herbs/naturopathy, i strongly agree with FCL and recommend heading to ACNM (on the corner of La Trobe and Elizabeth st's, even open saturdays late some nights, check the website www.endeavour.edu.au ) you can have a consult with a student practitioner for $15 or $10 (i forget) and herbs are relatively cheap, a 500ml bottle is $35 and generally lasts 2 weeks. It's a pretty good option, its a full consult, the students-pracs are professional/confidential and know a fair bit, and nothing gets back to you without going through a qualified naturopath. I've been there a few times for different things and generally had good results with their treatments and advice (honestly not just spruikin the place cause i'm a student there :) , it can be way too expensive to go to a private clinic, this way its pretty much cost price and alot of the students there are as good/better than naturopaths i've seen in private practice). Pre- and pro-biotics and immune support is a must in this hey, cannestin and whatnot wont cut it if it's been a chronic thing..

thats my 2 cents..

Edited by Humanmolecule

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Candida is a fungus. It is normal to have some candida in the body as it lives in equilibrium with bacteria. Fungi produce antibacterials and bacteria produce antifungals. Consuming yoghurt introduces more bacteria into your system as well as some antifungal compounds that the bacteria produce. It also creates a pH more sympathetic to beneficial bacteria rather than fungi.

As a fungus candida needs to feed and it is sugar that it wants. A diet that dramatically reduces carbohydrate intake [in particular simple sugars and starch] can be beneficial to starving the fungus. It won't make as much of a difference as many naturopaths claim, but it will help. Your body can derive plenty of energy from fats and protein, which the candida can't use. Alcohol is also strictly contraindicated.

There is a benign oral fungistat called nystatin. This needs to be taken for an extended period to work well. It mostly kills the candida in the gut, but this will usually help with candida infections elsewhere. I think there might also be nystatin douches.

Failing all that there is a Nizoral. This seems to knock just about everything out, but it is not harmless.

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Have a look into berberine around the web. If it looks like it is something that might be worth a try, shoot me a PM and I'll send you some (free) to see if it helps.

http://www.wellness.com/reference/herb/berberine/dosing-and-safety

"Patients with leukopenia (abnormally low white blood cell count) should use cautiously due to the potential for development of leukopenia symptoms."

"...only one study found that goldenseal might help boost white blood cells (a measure of the infection-fighting ability of the immune system), and it wasn't well designed." [Ref]

Also: Essential oils etc http://www.mediherb....raComplexLR.pdf

Scroll down to "Golden Seal Vaginal Yeast Combinations" http://www.mdidea.com/products/proper/proper00404.html for many options - direct application of boric acid sounds like it might be worth a go.

Edited by Alchemica

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When my partner had similar problems it seemed to clear up having yakult twice a day..

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couple of things I stumbled on in regards to Psoralea when looking for immunity modulators.

"When 19 leucopenia patients were treated with three to nine pills of Fructus Psoraleae honey pills (9mg per pill), 14 patients showed complete recovery, four patients showed improvement while one patient experienced no change."

"Human subjects orally administered with 2mg/kg and 1mg/kg Fructus Psoraleae, followed by fifty minutes of light illumination, showed a decreased lymphocyte transformation rate."

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Candida is a fungus. It is normal to have some candida in the body as it lives in equilibrium with bacteria. Fungi produce antibacterials and bacteria produce antifungals. Consuming yoghurt introduces more bacteria into your system as well as some antifungal compounds that the bacteria produce. It also creates a pH more sympathetic to beneficial bacteria rather than fungi.

As a fungus candida needs to feed and it is sugar that it wants. A diet that dramatically reduces carbohydrate intake [in particular simple sugars and starch] can be beneficial to starving the fungus. It won't make as much of a difference as many naturopaths claim, but it will help. Your body can derive plenty of energy from fats and protein, which the candida can't use. Alcohol is also strictly contraindicated.

There is a benign oral fungistat called nystatin. This needs to be taken for an extended period to work well. It mostly kills the candida in the gut, but this will usually help with candida infections elsewhere. I think there might also be nystatin douches.

Failing all that there is a Nizoral. This seems to knock just about everything out, but it is not harmless.

 

Good advice, almost word for word of what my gf's doc told us.

When my partner had similar problems it seemed to clear up having yakult twice a day..

 

same thing happened to my gf, she had a low WBC count and thrush for ages, tried everything.

We went back to the doc and he suggested yakult twice daily and diflucan(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluconazole) it started to clear up within a day or two, damn powerful stuff.

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Aloe vera gel straight from the plant will help soothe her irritation. 1 drop of teatree oil mixed in with it can also help to reduce the infection but it will sting initially for a few seconds. Natural yoghurt is also fantastic to use, eat it and also use it directly on the infected area.

It used to be a case of taking an additional "good bacteria" supplement like Inner health plus was only necessary with a super strong dose or long course of antibiotics but I'm hearing more and more need this after a normal short penicillin course.

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Have a look at virgin coconut oil, it is meant to be good for just about everything. Apparently it is made up of medium chain fatty acids that are absorbed by the gut before the body needs to release bile and is a big energy source, it contains capryllic acid and the like which are anti bacterial, fungal and viral, apparently as effective as nyastatin.

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what are the definitive diagnostic tests - for intestinal only, in a guy, for example? stool test?

I've seen some of those instant home blood candida antibodies finger stick tests (CanDia5) ... I'm not sure how this proves you have worrying level of overgrowth except that it correlates with other significant symptoms?

any thoughts?

any opinions of these products designed to break down the biofilm or is this just the latest line of paranoia/marketing?

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Look into kefir and kombucha. These are inexpensive but very effective forms of probiotics that you can make yourself at home. They have been shown to be effective for candida. Stay away from antibiotics if possible. They will ultimately make things worse by killing off the good bacteria in your system.

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was hoping to get some feedback from people who have experience with health care / candida

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Ultimately taking herbs alone isn't going to do much for recurrent infection if there is an underlying biological reason causing the problem. Increasing specific vitamins and supplements may however help once you know what's causing the problem. Vitamin B3 is worthwhile taking anyway for the neutropenia as it's used recommended for people who are undertaking chemotherapy which patients frequently suffer C. albicans infections as a result of.

Anyway the neutropenia - Has she always had this??? Has there been further blood tests to check for what might be causing the low levels???

Has there been recent glucose testing???

Is she on birth control pills, and if not does she have any conditions that may cause hormonal imbalance???

Does she take any other medications???

These questions are a good starting point for looking at factors causing Candida vaginitis.

IgA (Immunoglobulin A) deficiency could be a cause as it's necessary for muscosa defense and is important in defense of the genital and urinary tract. So if she gets frequent urinary tract infections that could be an indication.

Deficient cell-mediated immunity (causing antibodies to immunoglobulins) and acquired immunodeficiency syndromes are common in chronic cases of Candida vaginitis so if it's the case it will be worth finding out what the deal is... in short finding out what's causing the neutrophil deficiency in my opinion is the best means working out a way to fix it.

Differential CBC should be done... if platelet levels are low then B12 and folate levels are worth checking. Just to be sure it's worthwhile getting tests for viral infections (CMV, EBV, HIV etc). ESR test should also be done to check for inflammation.

If no cause can be found???

..then testing for IgA antibodies coming back positive could suggest chronic idiopathic neutropenia - which just means that at some point in her life the body decided that it would start attacking neutrophils.

If she is on the pill - she should stop immediately. If she isn't, then hormone levels should be tested. Progesterone and oestrogen levels are shown to have an impact on C. albicans.

High blood glucose levels are also correlated with higher rates of Candida vaginitis, yet unless an metabolic disorder is affecting blood blood glucose levels exists then changing diet will make very little difference.

Find the cause, treat the problem, thrush goes away.

Edited by -=IndigoSunrise=-

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