If you have been experiencing weird symptoms like fatigue, frequent genital infections, sinus infections, or gut issues, you might be dealing with candida overgrowth. It can be difficult to diagnose, and instead usually relies on looking at your symptoms and ruling out other possible causes for them. This blog post will help you understand more about candida overgrowth and what you can do about it.
Learning More About Candida
Candida overgrowth is often responsible for chronic fatigue, digestive issues, mental health changes, and many other ailments. Candida is a fungus that already exists in your body, in the form of yeast. This is what often causes fungal infections in the form of rashes or with yeast infections. However, some people have an overgrowth of the candida in their body, which can lead to other physical and mental changes.
Could You Be at Risk?
It is important that you understand the candida (yeast) is already in your body. There is nothing wrong with having it; the problem occurs when it starts to grow and can cause other side effects. Candida usually lives in your mouth and intestines, so it can cause anything from oral thrush to gut problems, emotional or behavioral changes, fatigue, and so much more.
The cause of an abundance of candida in your body can come from different sources, but it is more common in people that kill off the good bacteria in their gut. This commonly occurs when you have one too many rounds of antibiotics. Your gut has good and bad bacteria that provides a peaceful balance, but if you lose too much good bacteria, the bad bacteria takes over and can cause a growth of the candida.
Other things that can lead to candida overgrowth include:
- Eating too much sugar and refined carbohydrates
- Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol
- Having a lot of stress in your life
- Taking certain medications, like oral contraceptives
How to Know You Have it
The combination of symptoms of candida overgrowth are what might convince your doctor to test you for it. This is because many of these symptoms often point to other medical conditions. Here are some of the more common symptoms that you might have candida or yeast overgrowth:
Chronic Fatigue
If you suddenly have a lot of tiredness and fatigue, no matter how much sleep you get or what your schedule is like, it could be a sign of candida overgrowth. Typically, when you have fatigue like this that can’t be explained, there is something going on with your body. It is a good reason to talk to your doctor about the possibility of candida.
Craving Sweets and Carbs
Do you find that when you crave something specific, it is usually either refined carbs or sweets? This could be from a few different situations
going on in your body, but one possibility is that you have candida overgrowth.
Mood Changes
Too many people assume changes in their mood or behavior is just being grumpy or irritable, but often times it points to something else going on. If you feel that you are much moodier lately, or that your mood is worse when you have these other signs of candida overgrowth, it is worth looking into.
More Anxiety and Stress
Not only can your mood change, but mental health can also take a nosedive. Maybe your stress seems worse than usual, or like you can’t handle stress like you used to, or your anxiety seems triggered by something, but you can’t figure out what it is.
Recurring Infections
This is a big one, and something not to ignore. If you get the occasional skin infection or yeast infection, it is probably normal. But when they turn chronic, where they keep recurring no matter what you do, it might be from having too much candida in the body.
Treating Your Candida Overgrowth
There are a few different ways to treat candida overgrowth, but many people choose to do a candida diet. This is a diet that removes sugar and carbohydrates, which can exacerbate the problem, and adds in more probiotic foods meant to reverse the overgrowth of yeast.
It is still a good idea to talk to your doctor about the best way to treat this condition.
