Sorry to hear it. Did you try applying Tea Tree Oil to the affected parts?

That’s a pretty nice natural remedy for candida skin irritation.

Comment by Candida Remedies — January 15, 2008 @ 11:22 am

One of the hard to deal with aspects of the eczema I have is that it can not abide any type of oil or lotion. I have tried the cleanest, fragrance free pure oils and moisturizers I can find (Organic Jojoba oil, primrose oil, vitamin E etc.) but the results are pretty disastrous. The rash gets worse if anything at all comes into contact with it. I worked with my naturopath and an allopathic doctor to find a lotion recipe that could work but no luck.

Comment by Kimm Wiens — January 16, 2008 @ 3:11 pm

I’m just curious, if you ingest a lot of yogurt and cottage cheese (they contain acidophilus) will that help with skin candida outbreaks? Did you try this?

Comment by candida treatment — January 28, 2008 @ 4:46 pm

I’m glad to hear you are seeing both a naturopath and a doctor. Both can help. The doctor should prescribe Diflucan or Ketaconazole, both of which improved things for me when I had this same thing on my chest-a nightmare, I know. The Naturopath may advice you to load up on EFA’s. Take a high dose of Omega 3’s, and twice that dose of pure Borage oil. Buy separately, not a 3-6-9 mixture. You are most likely defficient in GLA, and your outer skin is too. Try pure Borage oil, with vitamin e oil to protect against rancidity. Use the capsules. They are more fresh. Stop drinking any soy milk, because it will create a GLA defficit, and avoid all vegetable aside from just a little olive oil. You need to get your oils from capsules, so you can calulate your intake until you are back in balance. It’s going to take a LOT more than cultured milk to clear that rash. Have you cleansed your colon yet? I have used Mag 07, an oxygenated magnesium product, followed by large doses (7 capsules daily) of Grapefruit Seed extract, alternating every three days with fresh garlic, that I mince and encapsulate myself before swallowing (no more than 5 cloves, because it hurts when it hits your stomach) and also Caprylic acid in combination with olive leaf extract. These are all internal remedies, and there are others, but GoldenSeal is a bit harsh on some people’s organs, and Oil of Oregano triggers the inflammatory response, which is terrible for the excema. I would cleanse the colon with the Mag07 nightly,(it’s very gentle) eat loads of veggies and no sugar at all, alternate the three internal remedies every three days, and take the oils every day. If you can get the prescriptions from your doctor, I have to tell you now that the Candida will possibly become resistant to them in a week or two. I would not agree to take them long term, but rather, alternate them with the other remedies.

Comment by Alyson Brown — February 3, 2008 @ 7:41 am

Oh, I just read my comment and I meant to say avoid vegetable OILS, because of the high omega 6 content. You want all of your omega 6’s to be high in GLA, and Borage oil has the highest index, higher than EPR oil. I use Skikai Children’s Borage Lotion, that is fragrance free, with Borage oil capules, and vitamin E capsules, and then I rub in this fantastic Aloe you might want to try- Aloe life makes it. It has a bit of comfrey in it, so test it out first. They sell 2 ounce tester bottles, for a couple bucks. Also, you may consider that your body could have an allergy to the yeast, making the symptoms worse. I have many allergies, and my allopathic doctor told me I could take 4 Claritin (Loratadine) instead of the usual one. In Europle they sell it that way- one to four depending on the severity of the allergies. It really did help the inflamation until things were under control.

Comment by Alyson Brown — February 3, 2008 @ 7:52 am

Oh, I get it. I just looked over the website-this is YOUR website, and you know all about this stuff. How long have you been undergoing proper treatment? It seems to me it shouldn’t take so long…how much of the remedies are you taking? Because I’m just a little tiny person, and I don’t have a strong stomach, but I had to take LOADS of the GSE and Garlic and Olive leaf and Capryl, and I used Cayenne and didn’t eat anything but green veggies, ground turkey, eggs, and I munched on seaweed a lot. No milk or starches, not even peas or grapefruits and cretainly not a potatoe or a carot or a tomato. All I wanted in my GI tract was stuff candida can’t eat, and stuff that kills candida. Then at night I took a triple dose of Mag o7 and just flyshed the toxins out. I didn’t honestly even bother with friendly bacteria until the cleaning was done. It got the job done- and the die off wasn’t half as bad with the Mag 07. Because you probably know, the die off toxins create a good environment for Candida to grow-it’s one of it’s survival mechanisms.

Comment by Alyson Brown — February 3, 2008 @ 8:02 am

I wanted to confirm the top comment that Tea Tree Oil has in fact been proven to help with Candida skin outbreaks.

Comment by Tea Tree Oil for Candida — February 4, 2008 @ 1:09 pm

As I mentioned above in my post - all oils and lotions - including an effort with tea tree oil caused serious problems for my eczema - making it much, much worse. I’m certain it does help some people but not everyone.

Comment by Kimm Wiens — February 4, 2008 @ 1:12 pm

I have been going through this hell for about 3+ months now. It all started with a little bit of dry flaking above the eye/eyelids. It eventually affected my cheeks, side of face, ears and forehead - then on to the scalp and neck where it resembled a bad case of dandruff. It then spread down my chest to stomach groin and inner thighs. What a mess! And itchy and burning too! I was able to knock out everything fairly quickly but I was using so many different attack strategies I am unsure which were the most effective. I can say that the two that seemed best were, firstly, the internal use of apple cider vinegar. This seems effective externally as well, but I warn you, it burns like hell! I have a high tolerance for pain but this tested it. While taking a warm shower I stood to the side and poured straight from the bottle and let run over me from neck to legs - when I couldn’t take it any longer (5-10 min) rinsing gave fairly quick relief from the scalding. I seemed to be effective but I was highly motivated to find alternatives! So I would put about 1 part Apple Cider Vinegar to 8-10 parts apple juice and try to down a couple glasses over the course of the day. This really seemed to work, but a bit slowly. Since I was assuming this was killing the fungus internally I would eat plenty of live culture yogurt.
A couple of months with it waning on and off, I then started making colloidal silver. I would have a teaspoon before bed and I mixed almost 50% into some curel handcream and made a sloppy salve that I would put on all affected areas. This seemed highly effective and I have since rid my body of the scourge, however my FACE is still a mess as I rarely did much to it aside from a wide array of moisturizers. My facial skin was much more sensitive to treatment and I found that what ever worked on it wouldn’t do much on my body. What worked on my body was too drying and irritating to my face and I would break out or have dry flaking reactions that made me look like a freak. For my face I am JUST NOW trying coconut oil (which is anti-fungal btw) and I hope this will be effective - it sure feels soothing but it’s hard to keep all these tests going when you have to go out in public on a regular basis. I am hoping anyone can advise me on the coconut oil - or the face in general. Also, I tried tee-tree oil and honey topically but frankly, I was unimpressed by the results.

Comment by John Foster — February 25, 2008 @ 12:38 am

Kimm, have you had any success with getting rid of the rash? I am currently doing the anti-candida diet and am suffering with a rash all over my body that looks exactly the same. Ive been on the diet for about a month now and the rash is the main thing that im suffering with. Im trying my best to rid myself of the candida..of which i was told i had 35% in my gut..which is pretty bad i believe, i am just about to start regular colonics and ive been doing liver cleanses to try and boost my immune system, which requires a colonic afterwards anyhow. also gonna do a kidney cleanse this next month - going for the whole body detox!! im taking various suppliments including garlic, virgin coconut oil and aloe vera to name a few, but like i say im struggling with the rash - finding it very difficult to sleep at night and concentrate during the day because of the itching - so would love to hear if youve had any, even the smallest amount of, success with getting rid of it?

Comment by JenLou — February 29, 2008 @ 4:22 pm

My eczema just doesn’t seem to respond to lotions or creams or diet. In fact, any topically applied cure causes a major flare up. But I’m convinced that not the same things work for everyone and that makes it really difficult and frustrating to figure out what’s what or to even share helpful advice. (Not that we shouldn’t keep trying! :0)

One thing I can say is that I totally and absolutely sympathize with you. The rash is so, so hard to deal with. Mine has been on my face for 4 months now and has really impacted my life in a hard way. I stayed on the Candida Diet for 3 months and although I felt significantly better overall – it didn’t seem to effect the eczema at all. I’m still mostly on it but I’m eating fruit and very occasionally wheat.

Two things lately which have seemed to be of some help are the book “Skin Deep” by Ted A. Grossbart and getting acupuncture. It’s not a perfect cure until the rash goes away but I can say these two things have caused significant improvement for me lately. The OMD giving me acupuncture feels the real root of the problem is emotional and I agree. Mine started after a really charged traumatic event and gets much worse any time there’s an especially stressful time period. The book “Skin Deep” has some ways of dealing with that.

Comment by Kimm — February 29, 2008 @ 7:42 pm

You have to get a product called “ThreeLac”. My baby and I had been battling thrush since he was born-nothing was getting rid of it-including Diflucan.

It’s a miracle product!!! With diligence in taking it, it will clear your body of the yeast!!

Comment by Jennifer — March 11, 2008 @ 8:10 pm

Okay- Here is my opinion, and you don’t have to like it, but keep in mind I used to have horrible Candida and terrible skin from it, and now all I have to do to maintain almost perfect skin is eat low sugar and carbs, no processed sugar,lots of veggies, and stay regular. Easy, right? And I have no yeast. No acne, no rash, no fatigue, no little fuzzy eye spots… no more nightmare! So, here it is: the most AGRESSIVE approach to clearing these fungal things is the ONLY approach that worked for me. Your make think your body hates you for it, and want to take a more “sensible” (gentle) approach, but thats the Candida talking. They have done many studies on GSE, and it’s non toxic in very high doses. It disables the cell membrane of the yeast, so the yeast does not give off the same acids it usually does when it dies because of another antifungal, such as garlic or oregano oil. I just read that you are drinking apple juice- TOO MUCH SUGAR!!! Candida can reproduce using sugar faster than you can kill it. No sugar, very little caffeine and no alcohol, or you will be fighting this for much longer than you have to. Also, I am not readig much here about flushing the colon out. It has to be done…Are you doing it? Candida is in your GI tract, living in the stuff on the intestinal walls, and probably pennetrating the porous walls with it’s opportunistic little “threads”, pushing out any good gut bacteria you have. You can replace the bacteria, good….but you have to scrub, flush, kill…and then replace the yeasts with friendly bacteria. No scrub, no flush, no kill, plus sugar….your yeast only laughs.(Maybe not like it was laughing before you started treatment, but you want it GONE, not just slighly lessened) The agressive approach isn’t so hard… not such a bad life once you get used to it, and once it dies off, you win! Your prize? Your life back!! And it’s not like when you use a colon cleaner you have to hold onto the toilet for dear life..no…it’s very very easy. Easier still,if you flush the colon daily, and give your body a head start at removing the yeast before you anialate the yeast and go through a die off. To be totally honest, I wanted to stay in bed for about a week when I started, but then I started feeling better than I ever had!! This is exactly what I did (take it or leave it) : 1) I did not eat any solid food after 6 pm, so that the colon cleaner would work better. 2) I only ate from these groups: low carb veggies, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and decaf tea or decaf coffee. The condiments I allowed were only sugar free ones, such as mustard, mayo, hot sauce, spices, oil, vinagar. (For exzema, the oil is also an issue, but I was just focusing on yeast)Low carb veggies do NOT include squash, peas, beans, tomatos, or carrots. Low carb veggies are like celery, brocolli, spinach, lettuce, avocado (if that’s a veggie to you) cucumber, onions, ect. That;s ALL I ate or drank. NO EXCEPTIONS. To sweeten coffee, I would use stevia and a spoonful of half and half, since it has only one carb in two tablespoons. 3)I drank at least 3 quarts of water a day, no less, and usually much, much more. During the first few days I did, honestly, drink over two gallons a day, and I was shocked that I was still thirsty. I had been a caffeine addict, so you may not need so much water. 4)I took an extra strength GSE capsule every hour. Every single hour, from when I woke up, to when I went to bed. I also used other candida-killers, but the GSE works on it’s own. The others you have to rotate every three days, and the die off is crazy. With GSE, the die off is not as bad, and you can keep taking it the whole time. 5) 9-10 hours before I knew I would be waking up in the morning, I took a big dose of Mag 07. It’s just a magnesium oxygen cleanser, There’s a bunch of brands. I just picked it because I got it cheap online. It works well for me. I took 8-12 capsules a night for the first week, then 5 every night from then on until finished. 6) After the die off lets up, let up on the GSE. Take it just five times a day. Then you can replenish gut flora with a probiotic, and the GSE won’t distrub the ph too much for your flora. 7) STAY ON THE DIET…until a few MONTHS after symptoms are gone, just to make sure the flora is in place an in charge of your gut. Then add more carbohydrates in the form of vegetables, and see how it goes. If it goes well, add low sugar whole fruits, such as berries. Then you can add a little bit of other fruits, then a little bit of whole grain bread . It is best, no matter what, if your body has this weaknes for fungal takeover, not to ever go back to concentrated sugars, such as in fruit juices.
I really hope you try this approach and it works for you. God bless you and your fight against the fungi!

Comment by Alyson Brown — March 12, 2008 @ 10:11 pm

WHAT WORKS FOR ONE REALLY DOESN’T WORK FOR ALL

My hope in setting up the blog was to note some recipes and things that worked in my case to address Candida and to get some feedback about what worked for others. It’s interesting, if sometimes frustrating that there are so many different ways that people approach curing Candida overgrowth. I’ve tried so many things (religiously) that other people swore by that didn’t work and sometimes even worsened my symptoms. One of the really useful tools I found was Ayurvedic Diet which directly addresses the widely different body types and needs people have. See my Book Reviews page for a great book about this.

If I didn’t know better - I’d be amazed at the varied roads to recovery that work for different people. I followed some of the roads suggested by others and they didn’t work for me. Some of the suggestions helped alot and eventually the right set of treatments ended up really solving the puzzle for me. So some things work for some people and others for other people. It’d be nice if there was A WAY but it’s not that simple. It’s important to listen to your own body and find what works for you. Unfortunately there can be some trial and error but some of the worst days can come from false hopes.

I’m not sure where Alyson got the idea that I was drinking apple juice while I was on the diet but I definitely drank NO juice at all while on the Candida Diet, in fact I ate nothing from the fruit family except occasional blueberries with xylitol. I still avoid juice for the most part. It just seems too sweet now and I don’t really like it anymore. I believe it is true in all cases that you have to cut sugar out completely. Of course, almost all food breaks down to some kind of sugar but we’re talking no boxes or cans that list sugar as an ingredient, and definitely none of those “Candida Chocolate Chip Cookies” I’ve seen recipes for on Candida sites. You REALLY do have to give up the sweets - which is painful for a sweet tooth like myself. That’s why the dessert section is the biggest one on this blog. There is a way to satisfy the sweet tooth just not with sugar. I was amazed how many foods (like some salsas for instance) had sugar in them. Sugar is a big problem so if you have a sweet tooth check out xylitol and / or stevia.

From Alyson’s post I see mustard, vinegar and hot sauce worked for her. All of those caused flair ups for me. In the Ayurvedic system I’m a PItta - so it would make sense that those foods would aggravate any condition of ill health I had.

The rash on my legs in the photos has completely disappeared at this point as have any digestive issues, lethargy etc. I do still have eczema on my face which kicked in while I was taking the extra strength Aqua Flora Candida treatment early on in the Candida treatment. Recently I discovered that Ibuprofen (which I was taking for itching) was a main culprit and I’ve seen a major improvement including some areas of the eczema disappearing completely just from stopping the Ibuprofen. Acupuncture also made significant improvements. The eczema I had on my scalp and neck disappeared completely after just a few sessions and they haven’t reappeared.

As a vegetarian I have to disagree with Alyson’s take on squash, peas and beans. Woman can not live by low carb vegetables alone and had it not been for those more hardy vegees I would have starved. (Meat eating is definitely not an option for me) In any event I experienced no problems from including these vegees.

I was on a very strict diet for three months and I still don’t eat or only very rarely eat wheat, sugar, breads with yeast or fermented foods. I’ve kind of lost interest in them and I’ve found a lot of good things to cook and eat that don’t revolve around those foods.

I’m pleased everyone’s sharing what’s worked for them. Hopefully others may get some useful ideas, hope for a method they haven’t yet tried or just some inspiration that it is possible to overcome Candida.

Comment by Kimm — March 12, 2008 @ 10:46 pm

John Foster was drinking the apple juice, with apple cider vinagar. Your name was above the comment, and his was below it. Still, I can’t help but think, when I look at the recipes on this website, that some of then would be just as much a treat for Candida as they would the person eating them. Our bodies are very individual, but Candida, as a general rule,loves carbohydrates. What I used to flavor my food was just my preference because of flavor, and my very limited options. Mustard and vinagar and hot sauce would never have gotten rid of my Candida. So,Kimm, you got rid of Candida completely but still ate complex carbohydrates? That’s amazing. It would have taken me years to restore my health if I had done that. I was a vegetarian for a few years, and I know the options are limited when you need to stay away from carbs, unless you want to be without any protein, and you just can’t do that. You should post “after” photos, so we can see the recovery, because I originally got the impression you were still suffering!

Comment by Alyson Brown — March 14, 2008 @ 4:40 am

It will be good news to some people (especially vegetarians) that it’s possible to eat small to moderate amounts of non-wheat, non-gluten grains and occasional hearty (more starchy) vegetables and still win the battle with Candida.

Comment by Kimm — March 14, 2008 @ 9:09 am

Thank you all of you for this great information. Of course, I have candida! It’s now soobvious! I strogly recommend colonics that always have healed me. No, I don’t work for people who do it, but not long ago, I was suffering from stomach problems. I was taking prilosec daily. I went to get a colonic. The colonic therapist told me to SLOWLY stop the meds AS i completed a few more colonics and that should clear everything up. It did! I was amazed! I haven’t taken anything for my tummy since then (2 years ago)! -gina I now have this redish, not so itchy rash on my csalp nearthe nap of my neck. I’ve had it for approx. 1.5 years. I was thinking that it may have been from when I moved to a new place. Atthattime, I spent hours in a damp garage goingthrough a lot of stuff that was moldy. Then the new house where I cleaned the showers and bath, as well as the major water damaged, mold in the new basement. (We had that repaired (they say!). Soon after tha, I noticed this rash on my haed in the mirror. Noone can diagnose it. Cedar Sinai specialists don’t know. The first (ER MD) was sure it was ringworm. The other MD strongly disagreed. Here I am now starting to “listen to my own body” as someone suggested (thank you!). I am thinking this is a fingus/yeast problem and I will do the colonics and other ideas mentioned. Trust yourself. I listened to others rather than myself. It’s good to follow your gut…LITERALLY! Thank you again and good health to all! -Gina

Comment by gina — April 7, 2008 @ 10:17 am

My partner has eczema which then turned into facial impetigo in February and then into chronic cracking and peeling lips and a rash around his mouth. He also has patches of rashes on his legs. For the past month + we have been doing the candida diet. I am too for moral support. It is taking forever and of course now we have an arsenal of supplements. garlic,oregano oil, coconut oil, primal defense, paud’arco tea, nystatin powder and cream, lanolin for his lips, threelac,he already used up a bottle of candex, vitamin d because he was told he has a deficiency, he has been to a hydrocolonic person 2 x ,he has tried the zapper,wheat grass and of course GSE. He put hydrogen peroxide on his face last night. I just ordered the mag O7 for him. We have been doing no sugar, no grains, no beans, no fruit except lemons and limes, no vinegar, no caffeine, no carrots,beets or potatoes. He is being really strict. Eating a ton of plain yogurt and Kefir. You would think it would start to clear. He was tested for allergies just your basic pollen, grasses etc. No food ones. I think he should get heavy metal tested. I heard that can interfere with recovery. What pray tell me are we missing? I understand everyone is different but there must be some basic guideline or combination with frequency and amount of things to try. I figure antifungals, probiotics and colonics. He is so depressed about it all. Maybe he doesn’t have candida, maybe it is something else..he completely fits the profile, Antibiotics, weakened immune system life stressors too much caffeine and sugar… I would love to hear some thoughts from anyone.

Comment by sarah — July 8, 2008 @ 5:20 pm

After two years of antibiotics thanks to chronic Lyme disease, I decided to attempt to tackle the inevitable Candida overgrowth. I had just delivered my first baby, and was on “preventive” IV antibiotics during labor, as well, so I thought it appropriate to tackle it after that.

I made my own kefir, and literally, couldn’t stop drinking it until I had put down an entire gallon. One week later, I broke out with an INTENSELY pruritic rash under my breasts that spread down my torso, was diagnosed with candidal intertrigo, given topical Nystatin which did the trick and I went on my merry way, eating all of the pasta, a glass or two of red wine nearly every evening, and succumbing to that insatiable sweet tooth that I am sure you all know well.

Fast forward to several weeks ago: My friend, who also has Lyme, brought over a box of Threelac and told me to take it, because she couldn’t stand the taste. I took one packet and within 60 minutes, my right ear began ringing louder than it ever has. I know that can be a sign of die-off, but a complication that I really didn’t want to deal with at this time, so I stopped. Just took one packet.

Soon thereafter, I developed the SAME rash under my breasts. Went to derm, was told that yeast infections don’t happen on the skin unless you are dying of AIDS or cancer, but she gave me a week’s worth of Diflucan to “humor me.”

I started back on the Threelac and have been doing the Diflucan concomitantly. The rash has spread ALL the way down my torso, to my back, my legs, on my neck and under my chin … OK, well, pretty much, all over. The strange thing is, the rash that is happening on the extremities looks different, but I know it’s the same BECAUSE OF THE ITCH. It’s like nothing else. NOTHING. Purely insatiable desire to scratch. Don’t care about the outcome. Must scratch, scratch, scratch. I am a mess, to say the least.

Got a second opinion today, and he told me that he was CERTAIN this wasn’t yeast, and had no idea about die-off reactions (though at last he conceded to the fact that cutaneous Candida infections are among the most common …). He did a freaking BIOPSY of a spot on my leg, and did a scraping of another and did the KOH culture to prove it wasn’t yeast. No yeast, he says.

Something deep inside of me — like my innermost intestines — tell me this IS Candida, and it is just TOO damn uncanny that both times, this rash happened AFTER a heavy-duty dose of probiotics …

Please, anyone … I would be more grateful than you know for the honor of your brain power.

Comment by Alicia — July 24, 2008 @ 6:25 pm