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Candida/Yeast causing eczema around eyes and in ears?

Messages
39
Hi,

I would appreciate some advice on whether this might be yeast/candida related. For the last couple of years I've been getting a flare up of what seems to be an eczema type of rash around my eyes. The outer corners of my eyes get it the worst, it frequently gets little cuts/breaks in the skin there. But I also get slightly red, dry and flaky skin in the inner corners (no cuts there) and a little bits underneath and on my eyelids.

The one thing that makes me question if it is actually eczema, is that it doesn't itch. In the same year I also started with eczema in ears (this is itchy and flaky). The ear eczema has been consistent since that time.

When this first started on my eyes, it was much more visible but it would also subside and pretty much go completely for short periods. In more recent times it's more or less permanently there, albeit not as severe as when it first started.

It is exacerbated by sugar and foods like crisps. So I keep them to a minimum but it doesn't take much of it to flare up. This is what is making me thing it's yeast/candida related.

I don't really know where to start with it all though. I've so much conflicting advice on Candida and I'm also wary of taking anti-fungals with having M.E.

A couple of years ago I had a stool test done (I'll attach the relevant bits). It did show a small amount of Candida but I don't know how reliable the tests are.
 

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ljimbo423

Senior Member
Messages
4,705
Location
United States, New Hampshire
I would appreciate some advice on whether this might be yeast/candida related. For the last couple of years I've been getting a flare up of what seems to be an eczema type of rash around my eyes. The outer corners of my eyes get it the worst, it frequently gets little cuts/breaks in the skin there. But I also get slightly red, dry and flaky skin in the inner corners (no cuts there) and a little bits underneath and on my eyelids.

The one thing that makes me question if it is actually eczema, is that it doesn't itch. In the same year I also started with eczema in ears (this is itchy and flaky). The ear eczema has been consistent since that time.

I have minor eczema around my nose and eyes. It use to be much worse but has improved, possibly because I've been treating gut dysbiosis for a while now. My eczema doesn't itch either.

There is a lot of research connecting gut dysbiosis to eczema and skin problems. There are also many studies that show a very high percent of poeple with ME/CFS have significant dysbiosis.

Dysbiosis can be caused by a yeast overgrowth (candida), an overgrowth of inflammatory bacteria or both. The thing about treating the gut, weather the dysbiosis is caused by yeast, a bacterial overgrowth or both, the treatment is almost exactly the same.

A low carb.diet is a must. Most likely you will also need herbs or supplements to kill the yeast and/or inflammatory bacteria. Probiotics can also be helpful and some people also find prebiotics helpful as well.

Herbs like Berberine and oil of oregano, treat both yeast and inflammatory bacteria. There are many other herbs that kill both as well. One word of caution about using any of these things. Start with very tiny doses to see how you react to the microbes that are being killed off in your gut.

Many people get a worsening of symptoms in direct proportion the the amount of supplement they have taken. So you could try treating your gut with one of these things and if you notice a significant change. Weather you feel better or worse, this will give you a better idea if you have candida or an overgrowth of bad bacteria in your gut.
 
Messages
39
Thank you for the detailed info, Jim. What protocols/guides did you follow for your gut dysbiosis treatment? You mentioned you get eczema around your eyes, do you get cuts/skin breaks in the outer corners? I would definitely take it slowly with any of the anti-fungal herbs as I've heard the die-off can be horrid.
 

ljimbo423

Senior Member
Messages
4,705
Location
United States, New Hampshire
Thank you for the detailed info, Jim.

Your welcome, happy to help.

What protocols/guides did you follow for your gut dysbiosis treatment?

It's an ongoing process of almost 3 years now.:) So my protocol has changed and evolved over time. I started with 2 courses of Rifaximin. Which is an antibiotic that is not absorbed into the body and becomes deactivated when it gets to the colon. So it only works in the small intestine, where there should be very little bacteria anyway, compared to the large intestine.

The Rifaximin lowered the bacterial overgrowth I had enough, so I could tolerate herbal antibiotics without getting a big flare in symptoms from the bacterial die-off. I did the specific carbohydrate diet for a while, which is a great diet to treat candida or a bacterial overgrowth in the gut. It made me feel sick though, because my carb intake was too low and I don't do well with very low carb. So I modified the diet for myself, so I was still doing low carb but didn't feel sick.

I also took and still take, many antibacterial herbs, prebiotics, probiotics and supplements to heal a probable "leaky gut" that often comes with dysbiosis. If you want me to be more specific about the individual supplements I take, just let me know.

If you want to treat candida or a bacterial overgrowth in your gut. The fist place to start would be to focus just on diet. Once you have that in place, you could move on to herbs to kill off the overgrowth in your gut and add in pre and probiotics and herbs to help heal your gut.

There is a lot to be learned about treating your gut so feel free to ask any questions you have.

You mentioned you get eczema around your eyes, do you get cuts/skin breaks in the outer corners?

I don't get the eczema in the corners (inner or outer) of my eyes. I get it along my eyebrow and between my eyebrows, as well as around my nose. It does bleed a little bit sometimes when I scratch the white flaky skin off. It use to be much worse and I would have open sores around the sides of nose, after I took a shower, which washed away the white flaky skin, exposing the sores.
 
Messages
39
Your welcome, happy to help.

Thanks again Jim, that's a great help. I'm currently working my way through this thread on Candida & Biofilms - Theory & Protocol - It has some very useful information. If you don't mind, I would very much like to hear which supplements you used please. Was there any specific reason you chose the Specific Carbohydrate Diet as opposed to the Perfect Health Diet? Both seem quite similar and I've seen people recommending over the other in various threads.
 

ljimbo423

Senior Member
Messages
4,705
Location
United States, New Hampshire
If you don't mind, I would very much like to hear which supplements you used please.

I take a lot of supplements. These are most of the ones I take for my gut. I do take many others for mito. support. etc.

Oil of oregano- 3 - 150 mg gelcaps of a 10:1 extract, Neem- 500 mg, Thyme- 500 mg- 2 times a day, Ox bile extract - 75-100 mg with each meal, Berberine- 100 mg, Olive leaf extract, 20% (2-500 mg caps), Prebiotics- Acacia, Inulin, resistant starch and partially hydrolysed Guar gum.

Ceylon cinnamon- 3 grams, Holy Basil- 600 mg at bedtime (good antibacterial for the gut and great for sleep), Probiotics- 66 billion, Curcumin- 500 mg (for inflammation), Clove- 450 mg, Charcoal- 3 grams (this is great for absorbing toxins from the gut).

Was there any specific reason you chose the Specific Carbohydrate Diet as opposed to the Perfect Health Diet?

I chose the SCD because it's designed for gut health. The idea behind it, is to limit carbs that feed yeast and bacteria in the gut. The carbs allowed on the diet are absorbed in the upper gut, leaving very little food for bad bugs, further down the GI tract to feed on.

That's why starchy carbs like potatoes, rice, oatmeal, etc. are not allowed on the SCD. They take longer to digest and feed more of the yeast and bad bacteria, further down the GI tract.
 
Messages
39
I take a lot of supplements. These are most of the ones I take for my gut. I do take many others for mito. support. etc.

Oil of oregano- 3 - 150 mg gelcaps of a 10:1 extract, Neem- 500 mg, Thyme- 500 mg- 2 times a day, Ox bile extract - 75-100 mg with each meal, Berberine- 100 mg, Olive leaf extract, 20% (2-500 mg caps), Prebiotics- Acacia, Inulin, resistant starch and partially hydrolysed Guar gum.

Ceylon cinnamon- 3 grams, Holy Basil- 600 mg at bedtime (good antibacterial for the gut and great for sleep), Probiotics- 66 billion, Curcumin- 500 mg (for inflammation), Clove- 450 mg, Charcoal- 3 grams (this is great for absorbing toxins from the gut).



I chose the SCD because it's designed for gut health. The idea behind it, is to limit carbs that feed yeast and bacteria in the gut. The carbs allowed on the diet are absorbed in the upper gut, leaving very little food for bad bugs, further down the GI tract to feed on.

That's why starchy carbs like potatoes, rice, oatmeal, etc. are not allowed on the SCD. They take longer to digest and feed more of the yeast and bad bacteria, further down the GI tract.


Thank you for all that info, Jim. How much of an improvement have you found with the above regimen?

Elaine Gottschall’s book: 'Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal health' seems to be the de facto guide for the SCD?
 
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ljimbo423

Senior Member
Messages
4,705
Location
United States, New Hampshire
Thank you for all that info, Jim. How much of an improvement have you found with the above regimen?

Your very welcome.

My health has continued to improve slowly and I seem to have times every 6-8 months where there's a big jump in the improvement of my health. In the last 3 years I have gone from feeling tired and miserable most of the time, to feeling good most of the time.

I could only do about 3 hours of physical activity a day when I started treating my gut. Now I do 6-7 hours a day, without a problem. In the last week or so, I've noticed a big increase in energy and less PEM.

I think I might be hitting another milestone so to speak and my health is taking another leap forward! :thumbsup:

If you are able to tolerate high doses of the herbs that kill off inflammatory bacteria in your gut, I'm sure your health would improve much, much faster than mine. That has been what has slowed me down the most. I can only tolerate low doses of herbs and I was only able to increase them very slowly.

If I try to take higher doses now, I feel worse and get flu-like flares quite often. These symptoms are from me killing off the inflammatory bacteria in my gut and the toxins from them, Lipopolysaccharides, getting into my bloosstream, stimulating my immune system and causing fatigue, flu-like symptoms, etc.

Elaine Gottschall’s book: 'Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal health' seems to be the de facto guide for the SCD?

That's my understanding too.
 

Rufous McKinney

Senior Member
Messages
13,249
My husband developed some weird....ear issues...that looked like an exzema type of rash...

He damaged the natural microorganisms in his ears by over cleaning and putting peroxide in there. Then, inbalanced bad stuff was growing there instead. So he had to take antiinflammatory drops in the ears for this to stop....it went on for a number of weeks and was very odd.
 
Messages
39
Your very welcome.

My health has continued to improve slowly and I seem to have times every 6-8 months where there's a big jump in the improvement of my health. In the last 3 years I have gone from feeling tired and miserable most of the time, to feeling good most of the time.

I could only do about 3 hours of physical activity a day when I started treating my gut. Now I do 6-7 hours a day, without a problem. In the last week or so, I've noticed a big increase in energy and less PEM.

I think I might be hitting another milestone so to speak and my health is taking another leap forward! :thumbsup:

If you are able to tolerate high doses of the herbs that kill off inflammatory bacteria in your gut, I'm sure your health would improve much, much faster than mine. That has been what has slowed me down the most. I can only tolerate low doses of herbs and I was only able to increase them very slowly.

If I try to take higher doses now, I feel worse and get flu-like flares quite often. These symptoms are from me killing off the inflammatory bacteria in my gut and the toxins from them, Lipopolysaccharides, getting into my bloosstream, stimulating my immune system and causing fatigue, flu-like symptoms, etc.



That's my understanding too.

That's so good to hear your regimen has helped so much. That's quite an improvement. Are you using the SCD as a permanent diet? I've heard it referred to as an elimination diet but from my basic understanding of it, it covers enough of the nutrient spectrum to be considered for long term usage.
 

ljimbo423

Senior Member
Messages
4,705
Location
United States, New Hampshire
Are you using the SCD as a permanent diet?

Basically. I had to add in small amounts of oatmeal and potatoes. If I don't, I get horrific die-off symptoms, from the inflammatory bacteria in my gut dying. This causes what feels just like the flu.

This tells me though, that the SCD is doing exactly what it's suppose to be. The carbs from the diet are absorbed fast enough, that they don't feed most of the inflammatory bacteria, that live further down my GI tract. Causing a lot of bacterial die-off and flu-like symptoms.

So that's why I get such bad die-off symptoms from a strict SCD. Because it works great! So I just modified it, to where my symptoms are tolerable but I am still getting good benefits from the diet.

I've heard it referred to as an elimination diet but from my basic understanding of it, it covers enough of the nutrient spectrum to be considered for long term usage.

Yes, that's my understanding too. There are plenty of healthy carbs, fats, veggies, protein sources and even some fruits that are allowed on it.

I would just like to give you an idea of how the die-off presents itself in me. I get mild fatigue, swollen glands under my jaw, a headache, runny nose, start sneezing, start coughing off and on and probably a couple of others I can't think of rate now.

These are all signs of immune system activation. But they are being cause by the inflammatory bacteria in my gut dying off and the toxins from those bacteria (LPS), getting into my bloodstream, causing immune stimulation and symptoms.
 
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