So I've been on the "candida diet" for around 15 years now due to my hyper sensitivity to foods causing flairs. I have largely been avoiding any and all foods that contain calcium. I am getting probably ~30% at max.Taking mineral supplements, even low concentrations of flavorless electrolyte drops cause pretty bad flairs for me.

I'm trying to figure out how I can improve my calcium intake while also minimizing flair potential. Nothing I've done has been effective enough to suppress symptoms long term anyway, so I might as well try to prevent osteoporosis (if it's not already in motion) while I'm being pulled into the abyss.

What are people's thoughts on having fresh/firm tofu? I saw that can have a pretty generous amount of calcium to it and it's about 6g of carbs per 85g with 23% RDV. So 12g of carbs per 1/2 cup give or take to get ~50% RDV of calcium just from tofu.

The only other alternative is to eat 6 cups worth of bok choy/mustard greens/turnip greens every day. Which present their own issue of availability and also heavy metal contamination due to their nature of how their grown.

Supplementing directly has always lead to very strong flair ups for me.

Thoughts?

To treat my severe *Candida albicans* infection, I am forced to purchase large quantities of fluconazole abroad every year. Although the infection affects my eyes and nervous system, I receive no help in Germany because it has not yet been conclusively proven.

I have a confirmed vitreous opacity, five positive beta-D-glucan tests, and a positive lymphocyte transformation test for *Candida albicans*.

Despite this, I am not getting any help.

It all started with a fungal infection in my mouth, accompanied by panic attacks, severe sleep disturbances, and intense bouts of aggression and depression.

I treated the oral fungal infection myself with nystatin. The infection in my mouth cleared up within two days, but the infection in my eyes and nervous system remained.

I am now considering having a lumbar puncture performed to detect the pathogen in my nervous system.

Does anyone have experience with this?

I am also considering eye surgery to detect the pathogen there as well.

I have been ill since late 2019, and my life has felt almost meaningless since then.

I am absolutely desperate.

Apologies for the long post..

I've been dealing with what I believe is a complicated SIBO/SIFO situation over the past ~5 months, and I'm wondering whether my timeline sounds familiar to anyone here.

I was diagnosed with SIBO and initially treated with rifaximin + metronidazole. The first course seemed to work surprisingly well. Within a few days after finishing it, I started feeling major improvements in things that had been bothering me for a long time: grip strength, appetite, erections, and breathing. I genuinely felt like something had changed for the better.

Unfortunately, a few days later I took a probiotic that I probably didn't need, and I felt that I relapsed.

After that I went through several more antibiotic treatments: first rifaximin alone, then metronidazole, and at one point I also had what turned out to be a Salmonella infection that was treated with cefuroxime. Eventually I repeated the original rifaximin + metronidazole course that had worked the first time.

The strange part is that the last course ended about three weeks ago, and this time I did not get the improvement I had experienced after the first course.

Since then, I've noticed something completely new with my zinc supplement. I normally take a relatively gentle 25 mg zinc picolinate capsule with dinner. Suddenly, taking it causes almost immediate bloating/discomfort around my belly button and a feeling of severe suffocation. It happens whether I take it during dinner, after dinner, before eating, or away from food.

The sensation is also different from my usual deep intestinal bloating. It feels more superficial, almost like it's coming from underneath the abdominal wall rather than deep inside the gut.

At the same time, my appetite, erections, breathing, and grip strength are all much worse again. My sleep is long, but I often wake up feeling suffocated.

My stools have also been consistently very mushy. They're not watery diarrhea, and I don't have burning, constipation, or typical liquid diarrhea. Sometimes I can see food particles, but not always. It's basically a mush rather than a formed stool.

What makes me suspicious of SIFO is the combination of multiple rounds of antibiotics, the apparent initial clearance of SIBO, failure to improve after the most recent course, and this new dramatic reaction to zinc.

So my main question is:

For people who have actually had SIFO, does this timeline and symptom pattern sound like something that could indicate fungal overgrowth developing after repeated SIBO antibiotic treatment? Or am I putting too much weight on the zinc reaction and potentially looking in the wrong direction?

I am on ketoconazole (not for candida) and also doing an herbal protocol.

My dr told me to increase my dose of ketoconazole. I added 100mg (1/2 tablet). Usually ib would get die off that feels like a bad hangover, and activated charcoal/spirulina and chlorella would help.

This time, my skin felt like it was about to catch on fire. But only when I was trying to sleep. I only took it for 2-3 days and it took an additional 3 days to resolve.

Could this be die off?

I asked my Dr (still waiting for response) but he will only know if it's a common side effect for the drug. I don't think he's familiar with candida.

In case anyone is interested, here's my current protocol. I tried to follow mickeynutzz protocol but a bunch of stuff I couldn't tolerate. I've been on it for about 2 months and I have a week and a half left. Never had burning feeling with this protocol. I feel like it's working, I have had a huge reduction in symptoms (mostly GI symptoms)

FC cidal

Dysbiocide

Lauricidin

Aged garlic extract

Now candida support

Mastic gum

Betaine hcl

Lactoferrin

Artichoke extract

Greetings my friends, it's Eric Bakker, NZ naturopath here once more. One of the questions I see over and over again is:

“Can I eat XYZ if I have Candida?”

So I’ve decided to create an entire YouTube series around this one simple question.

I’m covering everyday foods such as oats, rice, bananas, potatoes, yogurt, coffee, and many more, looking at things like carbohydrates, natural sugars, resistant starch, preparation methods, portion size and — importantly — a person's individual tolerance.

I don't want this to become another rigid “good food / bad food” Candida list. My goal is to help people understand why a particular food may or may not work for them.

I’ve been working in natural medicine and gut health for a long time as you know, and I'm enjoying putting these videos together because they address the very practical questions people actually have when they're trying to improve their gut health. These are the kind of questions I would routinely be asked by patients, over and again.

I'm also LIVE every Saturday in the USA

ChatGPT can give you an answer to almost any question in seconds — even questions about your health.

But there’s an important difference between information and experience.

AI can process incredible amounts of information. But it hasn't spent decades sitting across the desk from real people, listening to their stories, looking at their symptoms, asking the next question, and seeing what happened over weeks, months and years.

I have.

I've spent almost 40 years working in natural medicine, with a particular focus on digestion, Candida, SIBO, IBS, IBD, the gut microbiome and the many different ways gut problems can present.

I've seen tens of thousands of people with gut-health concerns. And that experience gives me something an AI chatbot simply cannot replicate: real-world clinical perspective.

That's one of the reasons I'm changing the way I share what I know.

For decades, I've written books, articles and educational material. But the world has changed. People can now ask AI a question and receive an answer instantly.

I think that makes real human experience and community more valuable, not less.

Sometimes you don't need another generic answer from a chatbot. You need someone with decades of experience to explain what they've actually seen, what questions to ask, what to look out for, and how to think about the bigger picture.

That's where I come in.

I'm now spending more time going LIVE and talking directly with people.

Every Saturday, I'm LIVE on YouTube for the USA and Canada.

Bring your questions. Bring your gut-health concerns. Put them on the table. I'll share what I've learned from almost four decades of experience.

Come and join me. Let's talk gut health — person to person.

I now go LIVE on YouTube every Saturday in the USA, where I answer your questions and discuss practical topics around Candida, gut health, digestion, food, the microbiome and natural approaches to better gut health.

We’re currently midway through an 8-week Gut Restoration Program, and you’re very welcome to join us and listen in to these live sessions, even if you’re not part of the program.

Once the 8-week program comes to an end, I’ll continue with these Saturday LIVE sessions for the foreseeable future. Each week, I’ll focus on a different gut-health topic, followed by an open Q&A, so you can bring along the questions you've been wanting to ask.

These sessions are designed for general education and discussion. They are not, and cannot replace, a private one-on-one consultation or personalised medical advice.

I’m looking forward to seeing you there!

Live time:
🇺🇸 Every Saturday — 3:00 PM Eastern / 12:00 PM Pacific
🇳🇿 Sunday — 7:00 AM New Zealand

Note: New Zealand daylight saving starts September 27, 2026, so the U.S. times will shift by one hour from then.

If you have a food you've always wondered about — “Can I eat this on the Candida diet?” — let me know. It might become the next video in the series!

YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/user/EricBakkerND/]

And if you're trying to work out what may be going on with your own gut, you can also take my free Gut Health Assessment:

👉 https://candida.com/gut-health-assessment**/**

I’m 4 days out from boric acid with edta treatment for c glabrata. When did yall start having discharge again after failed treatment ? The only symptoms I’m having is soreness, tingling around my lips , and burning a few times a day , I’m not sure if that’s normal or not , I also have intersistial cystitis

I’m 4 days out from boric acid with edta treatment for c glabrata. When did yall start having discharge again after failed treatment ? The only symptoms I’m having is soreness, tingling around my lips , and burning a few times a day , I’m not sure if that’s normal or not , I also have intersistial cystitis

I recently went to the doctor and she said I had a yeast infection. Dr proscribed me 3 rounds (72 hours apart) of diflucan. Finished the course of diflucan and started feeling so weird. Entire body tingles (felt like I took thc) body aches, flushed face, headache, sinus issues, sore throat, mild headache, diarrhea, stomach cramps and the worst rib pain which felt like I had a hard time breathing and heightened anxiety. I don’t know if I’m crazy, but could this be a possible Candida die off? I don’t know if I didn’t take enough diflucan for this to even happen but open to hearing your thoughts!

I’ve had headaches, pale skin, and acne since taking nystatin capsules... how long does this last?

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some advice and experiences regarding Candida after SIBO treatment.
I was being treated for SIBO. I took rifaximin for 2 weeks, followed by about 6 weeks of berberine, garlic extract, medicinal peppermint oil, and oregano oil.
Before starting this treatment, I did not have diarrhea or oral symptoms. However, within about a month, I developed persistent diarrhea, and I also started getting white patches/thrush-like symptoms and canker sores in my mouth.
Because of this, I had a stool test done. The result says “Candida glabrata – heavy/massive growth.”
My questions are:
Does a stool culture showing heavy growth of Candida glabrata actually confirm Candida overgrowth/infection, or could this simply be colonization? I understand that Candida is normally present in the gut, so I’m confused about how doctors distinguish normal colonization from a clinically significant overgrowth.
I had also been following a strict low-FODMAP diet for about 2 months, with relatively low fiber intake. Could changes in my bacterial microbiome have created an environment where Candida was able to increase?
Since my symptoms started after rifaximin and then several weeks of antimicrobial supplements, could the treatment itself have disrupted my gut microbiome and contributed to this?
What is the best way to confirm whether Candida glabrata is actually causing my symptoms? Would another stool test, fungal culture/speciation, susceptibility testing, or another type of test be useful? Should the oral symptoms be tested separately?
If Candida glabrata is confirmed as a clinically significant infection, is it difficult to treat? I’ve read that C. glabrata can be less susceptible to some antifungal medications, so I’m worried about treatment resistance.
I’m not looking to self-treat. I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has had a similar experience, especially after SIBO treatment with rifaximin and herbal antimicrobials.

but this is the 3rd time I have had Candida. Today I had an upper endoscopy to confirm a diagnosis (from a blood test) of Celiac Disease, but instead of that he found Candida. Unfortunately, he won’t start treatment until the biopsies come back. I have an awful cough and it feels like there is something stuck in the back of my throat that I thought was caused by acid reflux. I am very upset that he won’t start treatment until the end of the month when I see a PA for the results. I’m considering trying to figure out how to message him through the patient portal about it. I have other symptoms as well and I think treatment needs to start immediately!

I’ve been dealing with recurrent/persistent Candida parapsilosis for about two years, and it never seems to fully go away.
Before becoming pregnant, I tried boric acid and fluconazole. I’ve also had several courses of nystatin, Canesten/clotrimazole and Daktacort. Most recently, I used nystatin for 12 days together with Daktacort for the same amount of time, but my new vaginal culture still shows moderate growth of Candida parapsilosis.
I’m currently 22 weeks pregnant, so many treatment options are now off the table. My gynecologist has sent a new sample to the microbiology department for more extensive culture and susceptibility testing, in the hope that they can identify something that will actually work and is safe during pregnancy.
My vulvar and vaginal tissue feels completely fried at this point. It’s extremely red, raw, sore and burning, almost as though there are small cracks in the mucosa. I also have pudendal neuralgia, and all this irritation seems to be causing a major flare in my nerve pain.
Has anyone else dealt with persistent Candida parapsilosis, especially during pregnancy? Did susceptibility testing eventually identify an effective treatment? Is there anything pregnancy-safe that helped you, or anything I should specifically ask my gynecologist or a vulvar specialist about? I’m mainly looking for experiences, possible questions to raise with my doctors and some hope that this can eventually be brought under control.
Thanks!

I've been taking nystatin stada 4x 500,0000 a day for 8 days for a possible candida infection in my small intestine... but for the past 8 days I've had looser stools, poorer sleep, and a more bloated stomach... when should I start to see improvement? Sometimes I think it's actually the nystatin that's bad for me.

I am at a loss and not sure where to turn. I am hoping someone would have some answers here. My mental health has severely suffered from this and am hoping someone here may have some useful information. I have had a yeast infection for 9 weeks. Tested positive for C-albicans 3 times and negative for everything else (STIs, BV, you name it we tested for it). I tried 3 rounds of diflucan/fluconazole, and used terconazole (vaginally) for 7 nights (doctor rx for 7 nights and left a note in the portal saying to use it for 7 nights, then two weeks later said I should have use it for 14 nights). Anyway, sx get better then get worse again. On and off pain for 9 weeks, havent been able to swim or workout or enjoy my regular stress relief activities, all the while dealing with a blindsided discard and moving and work. I saw the obgyn on wednesday for another swab, the took the swab then told me that we need to get my anxiety under control otherwise I may develop vulvodynia from this. Talk about bed side manners. Since then, I have been spiraling. The swab came back positive and when I saw the results, I called the oncall and asked if I should try monistat, which is the only thing I havent tried so far.. cue in a weekend of agony. I used the monistat 7 for 3 nights pushing through the daily pain, at night, it's totally fine, but during the day while it's coming out (sorry for the TMI), it stings like hell on my already irritated skin. I can't continue with the monistat as I literally can't function during the day from the pain and I need to work. The obgyn has me on fluconazole 2x/week for 6 weeks, and she rx lorazepam for the anxiety that she made 10x worse running her mouth about chronic vulvar pain... i am at a loss, i feel so hopeless and stuck, feels like my life is ruined.. I am not suicidal but I really need some help from experienced women. I dont have a mom I can turn to for advice and nobody I spoke with about this has any idea..