Candida Symptoms Update

I spoke with my Lactation Consultant and she recommended I return to the strict (Stage 2) Candida Diet for 1 week and if I symptoms were gone again I could start SLOWLY reintroducing the foods recommended in Stage 3.  She suggested I maintain a high intake of probiotics for good, basically; as well as the recommended 3 doses of 250mg Grapefruit Seed Extract per day.  She figures my body just needs the extra help to stay more alkaline (yeast flourish in an acidic environment). Oh ya, she also said the pain in my breast could not have been yeast if it cleared up in less than 2 days; a yeast infection that painful would have required the Fluconazole to clear up.  She suggested it was a blocked duct or something along those lines, caused by pressure(s) on the breast (my bras have been fitting loosely from the weight loss, and I recalled adjusting one strangely one night to keep that breast from falling out, so it was probably the cause of a blockage/deep breast pain).

I did the one strict week (lost another 5lbs!) and then began eating Stage 3 foods.  First grapefruit, then beans in a chili, raspberries, blueberries, brown rice pasta, flavoured brown rice rice cakes (with no yeast), etc.  So far so good.  But...I have been doing a Canesten treatment at the same time, (my hubby thought why not help kill the yeast - at one point when I was pregnant the midwives said it couldn't hurt to do a vaginal treatment "just in case" - so that was his logic).  I have chosen to avoid major carbs like breads, baked goods, etc.  I am still staying away from anything sweet/sugary (I doubt I'll be able to handle that stuff ever again until after I stop breastfeeding)...

At this point, I want to keep breastfeeding (and so does my son!), so I've resigned myself to this new way of eating.  But it's not all that bad...and the weight keeps coming off, so that's a great encouragement.  It's taught me that what I eat really does have a consequence in regards to how I feel and how I look!

Candida Symptoms Return - Part 1

I woke to nurse Mister at 3am and my left nipple was so sore; yeast all over again.  I'll start using the APNO after every feed and see how things progress.  I'll increase my Grapefruit Seed Extract intake to 3 doses a day and increase my probiotics to 50,000 BCU twice a day.

Looks like I'm going to have to continue on the CD indefinitely, at least as long as I want to continue breastfeeding.  I just don't know if I can return to strictly following Stage 3 or if I need to go right back and repeat the initial Stage 2 for 28 days.  I kind of figure that if the yeast has regrown enough to cause these symptoms all over again, I probably need to promote another Die-Off (which will not be fun because it made me really sick and now I am working full time).

10 Days Post-Candida Diet Update

Don't you just hate when you've written almost an entire post and your computer decides it's suddenly the perfect time for an update/reboot?  

Yup, I had a wonderfully detailed post of my last 10 days 
in regards to my choice of foods as I finished the 
Candida Diet and began reintroducing foods.  

In the last few days of the diet I began using Kraft salad dressings (just got so tired of lemon juice and olive oil) - and yes they contain a little sugar and some vinegar.  Then I began making smoothies for breakfast as a way of introducing 2 of the recommended berries (blueberries and raspberries - lower sugar); mixing them with plain yogurt.  I then had a few meals of brown rice pasta with Parmesan cheese (avoided during CD due to potential for mould).  I thought it was perfect timing when I saw Kellogg's come out with Brown Rice Rice Crispies, so I began having about 1/2cup of that for breakfast (but with 1% milk which does contain sugar - still have not developed a taste for almond milk).

Note: I have continued to take one dose of probiotics and grapefruit seed extract daily.

The worst has been this last week; I've returned to work.  At work I had one cup of coffee each day (that means caffeine; and with milk sometimes which means some sugar).  Wednesday night we went out for dinner to celebrate our 4th anniversary and I figured I'd been so good while on the diet that I'd treat myself to a real dessert.  I ordered a slice of decadent chocolate cake which we shared some of and brought the rest home.  We had more of it for dessert on Thursday after having pizza for supper (I only had 2 small pieces).  But today was the kicker at work; I had a chocolate glazed doughnut in the morning and in the afternoon I indulged in red licorice and some smarties.  I know, what was I thinking?

Tonight I am wondering if I am beginning to feel vaginal yeast symptoms (there is the potential that it's simply pre-period twangs of pain).  If it's yeast symptoms, that means I will have to re-start the diet ALL OVER AGAIN!  (and I still have some of that amazing chocolate cake left in the fridge). This makes me wonder what I might have done wrong the first time because if all the yeast was killed off as it should have been, how could it repopulate to a point of causing symptoms so quickly?  In some ways I don't mind the thought of getting back on the CD; as I felt quite healthy and loved the bonus weight loss (I've been getting lots of compliments lately)!   I know that before I said that if my yeast issue returned, I would consider weaning Benjamin and stopping breastfeeding, but I am not ready to give up breastfeeding (and I now know that I can survive the CD - I'll admit the weight loss is bonus encouragement to repeat the CD).  My major concern about starting to follow the CD again will be the likely "die-off" symptoms (I felt so sick last time, I could hardly do anything for the first week and a half).  I need to be able to manage at work now.

Well, who am I kidding...I'll finish the rest of the piece of chocolate cake in the fridge tomorrow and THEN I'll decide if I'll begin following the CD again.

Grapefruit Seed Extract and Breastfeeding

Over the holidays I stopped into a local health food store to pick up my usual grapefruit seed extract capsules (GSE) and ask what else I could do/take to raise the pH of my body to help fight off yeast (yeast thrive in an acidic environment).  I spoke with a young woman, maybe my age, maybe even a bit younger.  When I showed her the bottle of GSE I was buying and told her I'd been taking it on and off with Fluconazole over the last year, she freaked!  Literally freaked that I was breastfeeding and taking GSE.  She told me it was awful for me to be doing that, that it transfers to the baby and harms not only my body's balance of yeast and probiotics, but also that of the baby's...(Boy, did I feel like an awful mom!)

BUT...I have been told to take GSE by my Lactation Consultant who referenced the recommendations made by Dr. Jack Newman from the International Breastfeeding Clinic in Toronto, Ontario.  He is considered Canada's "guru" on breastfeeding do's and don't's!  So, I will continue to trust the experts and not some young person who felt the need to verbally attack a horomone-ridden new mother!