Four years and counting!!

[Jessica Adams]

Hello to all my fellow dry eye sufferers. It has been 4 years since I discovered the reason for my dry eyes: Candida yeast infection.

I have been away from this forum for quite a while but I owe it to other sufferers from this malady to share hope.

Around 2007, when I was at my wits end, and after spending 3 years of suffering and thousands of dollars I came up with information about the symptoms of chronic yeast infection, one being dry eyes. I was skeptical at the beginning since I thought that LASIK was the cause, but I figured I had nothing to loose so I started an anti candida diet and supplement regime. The recovery took time and there where occasions when I wondered if it was really working. Little by little I enjoyed more prolonged seasons of non dry eyes until around a year ago, gone, finally, no more dry eyes!!!!!. Unbelievable!!!

I cannot state that this condition is the culprit of all the different dry eye manifestations, but I really hope that this encourages you to explore the alternative and find out if this is your case.


I really wish you the best and good eye health

Jessy

[eyes kaput]

Can you estimate how long it took before you noticed a difference? Did you have any blood work that indicated your had candida? Thanks.

[EllMitcho]

Hi Jessy

I have always been a bit skeptical about Candida to be honest - it seems to be one of those conditions that has every symptom know to man listed as sure fire candida

As per the above post I too am interested to know how you confirmed you had it? Is there a definitive test?

Thanks for your uplifting post!

El

[Rebecca Petris]

Little by little I enjoyed more prolonged seasons of non dry eyes until around a year ago, gone, finally, no more dry eyes!!!!!. Unbelievable!!!

Thanks SO much for coming back to update us Jessica... I just love that. I wish everyone would do the same. You know from your experience I'm sure how vital it is to have reason for hope. Great example of persistence, ingenuity and an open mind in the detective work to sort things out.

[Guest]

A great update Jessica! You just never know what might help you... I was curious, so read a bit about the candida diet... correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I can tell, one of the big components is omitting sugar. Interestingly, this is also one of the big components of Brady Barrow's rosacea diet, which makes a significant difference in my own dry eye symptoms...

I still don't know if the diet change helps me because it's eliminating rosacea triggers from my diet, eliminating foods that I might unknowingly be allergic to, or the lower carb aspect is anti-inflammatory and THAT is helping me... still trying to sort out the WHY behind it for myself... but in any case, whatever the WHY ends up being, there's no question that this drastic diet change has helped me... I was sooo doubtful that this would do anything... am still in shock that it actually helps... haven't mentioned it to my doc because I don't want him to think I'm crazy ... but the longer I work on sticking to this diet, the more convinced I become that it honest to goodness is DOING something... I go off the diet, my eyes get redder and redder... MG's get more clogged... go ON the diet, my eyes are less and less red, my MG's look better and better... who knew! maybe one day I'll share it with my doc

The main point of my ramble here is that if you've tried everything else, and your eyes still suck, like Jessica said, you've got nothing to lose by trying one of these diets... it's hard to stick to, but soooo worth it if it gives you some clues as to what dietary factors might be impacting your eyes... (assuming of course that you don't have a medical condition that would be adversely affected by one of these diets)

[Shell]

Hi Jess... A question if I may...

I did try the candida diet once (also incorporating supplements) before and did get some relief for a few months but despite sticking to the diet etc the symptoms returned full force and stayed. Moving on, my dad died and I fell off the wagon diet-wise, eating lots of naughty stuff and putting on a lot of weight. I have managed, five years down the line, to drop a fair bit of the weight gained and in the past few weeks I have been making a greater effort to lose the last stone and a half. This has meant I have been cutting out chocolate and alcohol completely (I didn't drink much but chocolate...well, that was another story!) and in a bid to do this I have been eating a lot of fruit since the beginning of July. This has really, really helped to control the food cravings without taking in too many calories (I have CFS so cannot exercise much). Your post really piqued my interest though... I know the candida diet, at least in its earlier stages, states no fruit should be eaten... I've always been suspicious of a diet that promotes this, to be honest. I mean, I don't think it's healthy to eat fruit all day long but fruit in all its variety is brimming with vitamins, antioxidants, phytonutrients and so on, that I am not convinced a diet that excludes them can be beneficial. I can completely understand getting rid of white flour products and refined sugar products but not fruit...
I suppose this is a long-winded way of asking you exactly what you ate/ took supplement-wise and whether you think cutting out fruit was crucial to your recovery? I was hoping that my current modified diet would help with my rosacea, MGD, migraines, CFS and allergies...
Thanks for coming back to update us all. I'm so glad you have made such great progress. Thanks for sharing. It gives the rest of us hope! Shell

[Rebecca Petris]

I mean, I don't think it's healthy to eat fruit all day long but fruit in all its variety is brimming with vitamins, antioxidants, phytonutrients and so on, that I am not convinced a diet that excludes them can be beneficial.

Just a quick comment: That was my first reaction to the description at thecandidadiet.com too - but it's only for 3 weeks. You can reintroduce some fruits in phase 2.

[spmcc]

My understanding of sugar is that it's anything ending in -ose. So that means lactose (milk), fructose (fruit), sucrose ("table" sugar, sugar cane, sugar beet), maltose, glucose, galactose, dextrose, etc. should be eliminated.

[Jessica Adams]

My anti candida regime

Initially I did follow the strict anti-candida diet for almost 1 1/2 years. I was really skinny and miserable because it was really hard to follow . In addition to that I began a very aggressive anti yeast supplement program! It was awful! My eyes got worse than before the treatment. I read that during the initial stages of any detox program you experience the die off effect which can make your symptoms worse so I made the determination to follow through no matter what.

I did not get an exam to figure that I had a problem with the infection other than the home test (saliva in a glass of water first thing in the morning). What reaffirmed that I did have a big problem with yeast was the fact that I suffered since childhood from recurring female yeast infection (I mean the worse of the worse!!!!), I must have been 5 years old when I was able to understand that I had some sort of issue . This terrible yeast infection has been my companion during my whole life, with terrible episodes. In addition to my dry eyes I experienced swelling of the iris (I don't remember the medical term). When my ophthalmologist found out he referred my to a rheumatologist because this type of condition is only associated to people with autoimmune disorders. Somehow candida has something to do with that too.

During the initial days of my regimen I would feel discouraged and I wondered if the program actually worked. I would go on and off of non-dry eyes experiencing discomfort with a vengeance when it came back. What encouraged me was the fact that I did experience improvement, even if it was for a few days (that was an improvement from pain all the time).

My regime consists now of food grade diatomaceous earth, probiotics, Syntol, Threelac, and lots of vitamins and vegetables. Keeping this regimen allows me to eat carbohydrates, although I avoid as much as I can refined sugar.

I really hope this information helps you,

Jessica.

[tearless2]

Jessica,

What type of anti-yeast supplement program did you follow? Was it with OTC products or prescription medications? Did you eradicate your yeast infection? Are your eyes still comfortable?

[sazy123]

Jessica- what other symptoms did you have other than dry eye?

I was on a strict diet for 3 months avoiding sugar etc and taking supplements for friendly bacteria. But it didnt help.

I did cheat now and then and drank alchole- Do you have to stick to the diet 100% without cheating for it too help? Or do you think the occassional cheating is ok?

How much did you stick to the diet in a year and 1/2 ?

And was it in the first week you noticed a difference in improvement to your eyes?

[Rebecca Petris]

Hey sazy! Long time no see... how are you doing?

[PotatoCakes]

Just out of curiosity, what would be a sample menu that you might follow for a week?