Hi! My daughter is three and has had a lot of loose stools over the last 6 months. We thought she might have a parasite because we were out of the country in January. Our doctor ran a comprehensive stool analysis on her and found no parasite, but found very high levels of Candida. All of the different strands of Candida were at such high levels that the doctor said she had never seen this in such a young child. She asked if our daughter had been given many antibiotics in the past (she had a different doctor before) and we told her that she had been given antibiotics a few times, but nothing too out of the ordinary.
She told us to give her a combination of probiotics and herbs and stay away from sugar. She is going to take something called Floraforte and Florastat which are kid safe probiotics and then Nystatin and an herb(?) called Uva Ursi. For adults she said she would put them on a Candida starvation diet if they had an overgrowth, but because she is so young, she needs some of these foods. But she said to stay away from soy and white sugar.
Does anyone have any experience with this and/or recommendations for cookbooks or recipes for kids who need to have a strict diet without sugar/yeast etc.?
Thanks!
E.
E., how lucky are you having a doctor who is knowledgeable on this. Try www.knowthecause.com he has a cookbook on there it is Doug Kaufman and he has many books on this subject. Any questions and I can probably answer them.
L.
I have had a long bout with Candida. In my early 20's I was given long term antibiotics for acne, with out having the knowledge I have now, it has literally ruined my gut. I have to watch what I eat carefully, I am prone to allergies from food. What happens is if you are not given the probiotics, you can develop Leaky Gut Syndrome. Where what ever you eat leaches into the blood stream from very small holes that eat into your intestinal wall from not having enough of the good bacteria to protect it. Google Leaky Gut, it is a real medical condition. Through the help of a really caring chiropractor and his good nutritional advice I am better. It can take a long time. Hang in there. I read the Yeast Connection and the Yeast Connection Cook Book. Please limit soy products too. They can interfere with hormones which can then lead to other issues with the thyroid, etc...Try Google for looking for a cook book for kids. Best Wishes to you and your daughter. Find a good nutritionist too to help. They are a wealth of information. Try a good health food store too. they are very helpful.
We saw Bonnie Minski -- a nutritionist in Northbrook -- to give me an idea of what to feed a one year old with food allergies. Her focus is all natural and she gave me some great ideas. (After we saw her my son jumped from the 10% in weight to the 50%.) If you are looking for a homeopathic doctor -- Tom Bayne in Glenview is great as well. He has experience with candida overgrowth -- as my son had that problem as well and he is doing wonderful now -- although, it sounds like your doc is really on top of things and into homeopathic treatments -- which is pretty progressive for an MD.
My husband was sick for years with upper respiratory stuff and finally his ENT did some allergy tests on him and found out he was highly allergic to candida. He put him on the candida diet which we had to get the book through the library. The doctor told him he didn't know anything about this but knew he needed to find a natural doctor. So my husband did a lot of research and found Dr. Lisa Holk she is a natural doctor downtown Chicago and she also teaches natural medicine. He has been going to her off and on for the last 5 years and he has been very healthy ever since changing his diet. I mean he never gets sick, maybe a little cold once in a while and that is usually because he cheated on his diet. He has to avoid all processed sugar, most dairy, yeast, vinegar. He basically eats meat(unmarinated),veggies, nuts and fruit. Good luck, I suggest you see a natural doctor that knows more about this. He had to take an antibiotic for something once and she made him take all these extra vitamins and supplements to recover his immune system after the anibiotic. Good luck. Email me back if you have any questions. We have been dealing with this for 5 years now.
Sort of... our son had thrush forever and nothing worked until we did this. In addition to diet, try the supplements at lactationinnovation.com (Pau d'arco, Silver Shield, Bifidopholus Flora Force). The owner, Janet Talmadge, is a lactation consultant in Naperville and a real expert on yeast and yeast diets. She has some diet suggestions on her web site also.
My 3yo dauther actually just had a 'bout' with C Diff. She had diarrhea for 2 weeks, but was bery weak. If her stools don't change, find a GI doctor to get a second opinoin. My daughter was in the hospital for a week and the doctors didn't know what was wrong. She had a VERY high white blood cell count and low proteins. Our ped. at first gave us the Florastat, but didn't work. She ended up seeing the GI and was taken to Rush to get a colonoscopy and endoscopy and he found the C Diff. and severe colitis. (something that is caused by too many antibiotics, yet she was never on any)
My advice....NEVER mess around with loose stools. If the smell is strong, any mucus or blood, see your doctor asap!
K.
Mom to 3 kids (12, 6 and 3)
I had a terrible candida overgrowth and had to go on a diet without any sugar or fruit for 2 weeks, also I was put on nystatin..I stoped eating bread and had grits instead, ate protein and put a lot of garlic in the diet as this kills the candida, also there is a herb called Pau'd'arco a Brazilian herb that can be bought at GNC.
There is a book called " The Yeast Connection" that has a lot of good tips and iformation. It is difficult for a so small a child and strange that she got that. I felt so much better after getting rid of those things. They are in everybody's body but overgrow, like the doctor said when one takes antibiotics..yogurt is good if she will eat that.
Good luck
Pat
Hi,
I had a Candida problem in my early twenties. I think the book I had was called "The Candida Diet". There are probably others out there by now (that was 15 years ago). If your library doesn't have it you can request it from another library. HTH
S.
Awwh...poor baby. I'm glad it is not a parasite though, as I'm sure you are as well. My father actually has this problem. Except for him, his skin is affected horribly, just these horrible weeping rashes that breal out all over his back and chest, elbows, and behind knees. He has to eat a strict diet to keep it bay. Now, it's not like he can't have cheese, or beer, or any of those things...just not a lot, kind of like being lactose intolerant. I don't know what area you live in, but Fruitful Yeild in Berwyn, or Naperville has people who really know there stuff. A lady in Berwyn really helped my Dad, I cannot think of her name right now, but she is older and (czech).
Which doctor is it? I would like to have my daughter tested
E.,
I believe that Jenny McCarthy(famous actress/comedian who's son has Autism) has a website that includes a wheat and yeast free diet. I believe her son had high levels of yeast as well when she was in the process of experimenting with "curing" his Austism through diet. I am not sure what the website is but I know the diet is referenced in her book about her experience. Good Luck!!!
E.
Two places I would recommend going to get ideas and or recipes. The ADA website can give you direction for the sugar free part. And or going to your local hospital and talking with a registered dietitian.The dietitian can give you lots of ideas on both parts of where and how as well as recipes. Good luck with both. J.
I just wanted to let you know that candida is actually something our bodies produce naturally.
It turns out I'm allergic to it (isn't that weird?), so I am supossed to stay away from foos high in yeast and sugar so that I don't produce too much of it to make myself sick.
Since your little one is so high already, I would do as the others suggest and take her to a natualist that can help you figure out a good diet for her. Also, you could look into an allergist. The problem could be that she is allergic to it as well and that's why she's got such a high level of it in her system (with me, because I'm allergic to it, once the levels get too high, then I produce more and then start to get sick and get rashes as well). The allergist I see has me on immunotherapy injections (shots to help suppress the reaction to the candida), it is a commitment though, it can take a few years to finish.
Sorry if this wasn't extremely helpful, I just wanted to give you another insight to the situation.
There is a product called Candidase by Enzymedica. YOu can find it at WHole foods or a natural health foods store near you. It has certain enzymes- cellulase, which helps breakdown the tough outer shell of yeast and proteases which help break down the inner part of yeast. You can read about the product at www.enzymedica.com. Good luck!
The book, Is This My Child by Dr. Dorris rapp has a chapter on Candidia and how to treat it in children. www.drrapp.com You can find it on amazon. Good luck
