Giving up on coconut oil page 2

[yodiewan]

What you're describing sounds just like rosacea. Might not be, but you might want to go here Rosacea.org: The National Rosacea Society and check it out to see. My ex used to have it and it was exactly like you describe.

Thanks for the link Minxxa. My face sometimes does look like the milder cases on the site. And I've had 3 bouts of extreme redeye in the past year or so. I wasn't aware that that was also a symptom. I'm still not diagnosing myself but it's still good to know.

[klawler9]

I do take probiotics, and a little yogurt every day. I don't have overt symptoms of candida, such as yeast infections, or toe fungus or anything like that. I was feeling fine before I started the coconut oil. Also, my skin looked a lot better! Not sure any benefits of killing off supposed yeast is worth having horrible skin for three months.

The fungus is really hard to kill. It took me two years. Taking probiotics was part of it as were........um.....let's just say there was warm water and a skilled practitioner involved.

I think the big difference for me aside from diet was vitamin D. How is your sun exposure or your D levels?

Any other gut issues?

[Minxxa]

I do take probiotics, and a little yogurt every day. I don't have overt symptoms of candida, such as yeast infections, or toe fungus or anything like that. I was feeling fine before I started the coconut oil. Also, my skin looked a lot better! Not sure any benefits of killing off supposed yeast is worth having horrible skin for three months.

Yeah, it could be a reaction to coconut oil. There have been a few people on the board over the time I've been here that didn't seem to handle it well.

However... Just a note to anyone curious about systemic yeast... I had it for years and never had yeast infections either. It can be one symptom of systemic yeast, but many folks never have them. They are related in some way as they are both imbalances in the flora and fauna-- systemic is an imbalance within the gut/intestines. Basically by eating crap we kill off the good bacteria, don't replace it and the yeast takes over. (BTW Candida is only one type of yeast, there are many and people can have overgrowths of different varieties.) Yeast isn't bad in and of itself, it's the imbalance caused by depleting the digestive system of all it's protective stuff that's the problem.

Getting it under control basically means changing the diet to remove the stuff yeast feeds off of-- sugar, grains, etc., adding antifungals (of which coconut oil is one), and repopulating the gut with probiotics. Basically much of the stuff Primal does, LOL.

Some symptoms of systemic yeast include:

1. Allergies: to foods and/or airborne chemicals; particularly adult-onset allergies. The number of offending substances can keep increasing until an individual becomes so sensitive to the everyday environment that they must live in isolation.
2. Fatique: continual, but often more noticeable after eating.
3. Gastrointestinal: poor digestion (constipation or diarrhea, gas, bloating, cramps, heartburn, nausea, gastritis, colitis, etc.)
4. Neurological: carbohydrate cravings, irritability, mood swings, headaches, migraines, "fogged-in" feeling, inability to concentrate/mind "wanders off", poor memory, confusion, dizziness, M.S.-like symptoms (slurred speech, loss of muscle co-ordination, vision affected), depression and/or anxiety without apparent cause (often worse after eating), paranoia without apparent cause, not in total control of one' actions (know right thing to do but unable to execute), mental incompetence (sometimes leading to institutionalization), a variety of other behavioral disturbances.
5. Genito-urinary: vaginal infections, menstrual difficulties, impotence, infertility, prostatitis, rectal itch, urinary tract infection/inflammation (urgency, burning).
6. Respiratory: compromised immune system (frequent colds, flus), hay fever, mucous congestion, postnasal drip, asthma, bronchitis, chest pain, frequent clearing of throat, habitual coughing (usually non-productive).
7. Skin: athlete's foot, jock itch, skin rash, hives, dry brownish patches, psoriasis, ringworm, rough skin on sides of arms which gets worse at certain times of the month or under increased stress.
8. Symptoms resistant to all modes of therapy. The physician may conclude that patient is a hypochondriac and/or neurotic and may suggest tranquilizers, anti-depressants and/or psychiatric help.
9. Clinical history (early childhood): ADD, ADHD, hyperactivity, aggressiveness, SKIN problems (cradle cap, diaper rash, thrush), RESPERATORY problems (chronic ear infection, tonsillitis) or GI problems (colic).
10. Miscellaneous: cold extremities, arthritis-like symptoms, etc.

There's an assessment questionaire at Whole Approach: Candida Symptom Assessment Questionnaire if anyone's interested. But honestly I think eating primal in general will go a long way to fixing any gut imbalances for most people...

Anyway, sorry to hijack your thread!

[jem51]

I slammed CO for 1 1/2 years and had chronic cold sores. I tried giving up nearly everything. Then it came down to the CO. I could not believe it because of all the hype but sure enough.
This past month I've been into a Whole30 and increased my coconut milk consumption dramatically. So sad to report; same thing.

I can still use coconut products but not in extreme quantities.

[inquisitiveone]

Whoa. Thank you so much for posting this ... it's almost scary how my life lines up with many of those symptoms.

Am I correct in understanding that you got your yeast issues under control with just primal eating—not the bentonite/caproyl/psyllium concoction that site sells? If you're willing, I'd like to know more about that. (It could be in a new thread or via PM, so we're not continuing the hijacking of this thread.)

[Stabby]

Let's use an analogy. You have a pool of sharks. Each day you harpoon a shark and the others go crazy from the blood and cannibalize it. Then they breed by one a day and you still have lots of sharks because you're only killing one per day. Killing just one shark at a time doesn't do anything but cause a sharksheimer reaction since they're breeding at the rate that you are killing them. What you need to do is go to town on the sharks and kill them all.

Weird analogy, stabby. Yes, stabby.

[inquisitiveone]

A perfect analogy from a stabby raccoon!

[lil_earthmomma]

Let's use an analogy. You have a pool of sharks. Each day you harpoon a shark and the others go crazy from the blood and cannibalize it. Then they breed by one a day and you still have lots of sharks because you're only killing one per day. Killing just one shark at a time doesn't do anything but cause a sharksheimer reaction since they're breeding at the rate that you are killing them. What you need to do is go to town on the sharks and kill them all.

Weird analogy, stabby. Yes, stabby.

So oh wise Stabbing one, how does one stab all of the sharks? More CO?

[OperaDivaMom]

So oh wise Stabbing one, how does one stab all of the sharks? More CO?

I'm not stabby, but I'll take a "stab" at answering (bad, bad pun, I know).

VERY slowly up the CO, add good probiotics with many different strains that do not contain any sugar at all, stop eating fruit and sugary/high carb things for a few weeks or until cravings subside, add homemade bone broth as often as you can.

Search the GAPS diet, it has a lot more info along these same lines

[runnergal]

Bonebroth? I hadnt heard of that as part of the anti candida diet....what properties of bone broth help?

I'm kind of in the same camp except with PB in general. Since I started PB I feel worse and worse and worse but now I am sensitive to all sorts of foods I wasnt before. I never had candida symptoms, but I have been living in die off hell for over 3 months now.

I cant stand the taste of c.o - even the refined needs a lot of help, but mostly it makes me queasy...I dont know if it is part of the die off or not. I can tolerate coconut milk a little better, although I still get queasy.

One of the things I am struggling with now is although when I started PB I was eating greek yogurt daily, all yogurt gives me an upset stomach now so I think I have pretty much dropped my probiotic sources.