Acidophilus

I've been taking acidophilus for maybe the last 5 or 6 weeks, without doing anything else that would be considered part of an anti-Candida diet. In fact, my diet has been the total opposite of an anti-Candida diet because I've been eating pizza almost exclusively. I usually don't eat all day, then I make a 10" pizza sometime in the evening because I'm freaking obsessed with teaching myself how to make the best pizza on the planet.

Despite this very high-carb diet, I feel better than I've felt since about September 2010.

Aside from taking the acidophilus tablets 1 to 2 times a day, keeping myself hydrated is the only other thing I've done that remotely resembles any component of an anti-Candida diet. And I really haven't even been very good about that. I've averaged probably a little less than half a gallon of water per day. I consider a gallon of water an ideal daily goal, but I haven't come close to hitting that goal in a long time.

So is the acidophilus responsible for my better health of late? I don't know, but it sure seems that way.

All I know is that I got a pizza jones several weeks ago, so I mixed up some dough and ate me some pizza. I figured my body would put up with it for a few days, then I'd start getting headaches, sinus issues, and jaw pain. But it hasn't happened. There has been a little stomach gurgling at times, but it hasn't been too bad. This really shocks me because I wasn't in really good condition even when I started making pizza every day. I felt OK but always vulnerable.

One other thing I started doing several weeks ago is something similar to oil pulling, but with hydrogen peroxide. I don't even know what made me start doing this. I think it was the always-present sore (abscess?) in my mouth, on the inside of my gums, below my bottom front teeth. This sore was getting real bad before I started using hydrogen peroxide, but now it feels like it might fully disappear soon. Even though it almost disappeared a couple years ago, when I did a die-hard anti-Candida diet, I can't remember not having this sore in my mouth. I don't know if my hydrogen peroxide treatment has contributed to my good overall health of late, but it has clearly improved my oral health, and I recommend giving it a try. It'll leave a bit of a funny taste in your mouth for at least a few days, but that goes away. Even with the weird taste, my mouth has felt a million times cleaner and healthier than before I started doing this.

I don't claim to be a Candida expert. The more I think I learn, the less I feel like I know. But I try to help however I can, and this post may be one of my most helpful posts, even though it's based on almost nothing real. Hope it helps. Good luck, y'all.

Here are links to pics and descriptions of some of the pizzas I've made lately:

Donatos Clone #1

Donatos Clone #2

Donatos Clone #3
Donatos Clone #4

Tommy's Clone #1 (This one was probably more like Shakey's. It was fucking good!)

Tommy's Clone #2

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Optic neuritis and modern medicine

I have felt pretty decent for most of this year. I haven't been on a die-hard anti-Candida diet, but I've certainly been careful not to eat much sugar or carbs. Going balls to the wall with an anti-Candida diet can just be too difficult sometimes, so I've settled into a pattern of being reasonably strict without being gonzo. In other words, I allow myself to have a treat now and then; maybe even more regularly than "now and then." But I'm scared to cheat too much because I know how easily it can cause the misery to return. I fear that misery, and I don't want to feel it again.

It's been a while since I've felt any of the symptoms that tend to warn me that the shit is about to hit the fan. My usual early symptoms include constant headaches, sinus issues, jaw pain, stomach gurgling, and a few other things. Even though I haven't felt a return of those common symptoms, I've had what seems to be a mild case of optic neuritis for about ten days. While I admit that it seems mild, it has worried me enough to write a new post here.

If you google 'optic neuritis,' you'll find a bunch of pages about Multiple Sclerosis because optic neuritis tends to be one of the common predictors of MS. Having said that, I want to make it clear that I am not worried about MS. Even though I've already had two bouts with optic neuritis in the last five years, I'm not worried because I don't think of MS as an illness. Rather, I think of MS as merely a symptom of serious Candida overgrowth. Now, I admit that I may be wrong about this, but it makes sense to me, so I'm going to keep believing it.

Why?

Because I used to trust modern medicine. Just like you, I used to go to doctors whenever my body seemed out of order. But the doctors never fixed what was wrong with me. Over and over, doctors failed to even recognize what was wrong with me. Yet they would treat me for something anyway, usually with prescription drugs, and it almost always ended up making me worse. That's basically the story of my life with doctors.

Eventually you gotta add it all up and come to the conclusion that modern medicine is not medicine at all; it's a system of pushing poisonous substances on people who don't know any better. It's legalized drug dealing, except these drugs are more dangerous than illegal drugs, and the dealers are less caring than "the man" on the street.

You have to realize that doctors aren't there to fix your medical problems. They are there to treat symptoms with pharmaceuticals; they are there to make believe that they are smarter than everyone else. You have to realize that doctors are not the answer to your problems; they're most likely the cause of your problems. Most doctors are simply expensive dope dealers, who are peddling shit that is worse than heroin. It's worse for your body, and it's probably just as addictive. It also costs a lot more money than street drugs.

In March of 2009, I finally had enough of their ineptitude, after two courses of antibiotics destroyed me, making every moment of my life totally miserable in 50 different ways. This is when I started looking for the real solutions to my illnesses. I don't let doctors touch me anymore, and I never will unless I have some kind of illness or injury that I know I can't fix on my own. Even then, I won't trust them, and I won't take their word for anything.

But back to optic neuritis... My current bout with what seems to be optic neuritis is strange because it's in my left eye, and it still hasn't been nearly as serious as the other two times this has happened to me. With each of the two previous fights, the optic neuritis was in my right eye, and it was much worse.

I don't know what to make of it all right now, and I just hope it doesn't get worse. But since it's here, I have to interpret it as a sign that I should take better care of myself. That means making a real effort to put real food into myself. That means forcing myself to drink a ton of water every day. That means using a little more discipline than usual.

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This sucks!

I just want to say I'm having a bitch of a time lately. My head hurts most of the time and I'm frustrated. I usually only eat once a day because it takes so much work to prepare whatever version of chicken I choose to eat each day. When I do finally eat in the evening, it's not enjoyable. There's almost nothing you can eat anymore that won't kill you, just because of greed. Even the stuff that's supposed to be good for you is lethal.

I'm not going to elaborate about the new strategy I mentioned in the previous post because I'm not convinced that it is in any way helpful. It's already hard enough for you sift the good information from the bullshit, so I'm not going make it any more difficult.

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Time to get serious again

After an attempt to get back on an anti-Candida diet a couple months ago, my motivation kind of fizzled out pretty quickly. Well, that and a new passion for pizza took me over. So for the last couple months, I've kind of hovered on the fine line between misery and contentedness (if that's a word).

I believe I mentioned in the previous post that I've had a lot of numbness in my hands and feet ever since I finished the coast-to-coast walk in September 2010. With this numbness getting worse lately, and with people telling me my feet look unhealthy, I became a little worried that it might become a very serious issue if I don't start trying to take care of the problem, which I suspect is Candida-related. So I decided Monday that it was crucial for me to get serious about eating better and taking the right supplements (raw garlic, ACV, coconut oil) a couple times a day. In conjunction with these standard components of Candida warfare, I've also begun a new kind of therapy, which I'm not going to discuss until I feel pretty confident that it's helping.

Anyway, I read a post on earthclinic.com less than an hour ago, in which someone said she successfully ridded herself of warts with this type of therapy. As her post reminded me of a couple wartlike blemishes I've had on my arm for years, I quickly looked at my arm to see if they've changed or disappeared. And yes, they are pretty much gone. I have no idea if they were there a week ago, but they're mostly gone right now. I was surprised because, as I said, these blemishes have been on my arm for many years.

I think this new therapy is probably helping a lot, but I want to give it some time before I say anything more about it. My numbness seems to have decreased quite a bit in the last five days, and my mom says my feet look a lot better already. This leads me to hope I'll be able to come back here in another week and tell you I feel really good.

If you're interested, here's a couple pics of pizzas I've made recently. Oh how I love pizza.

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