What Is Going on with Me?

Hi A.. You won't need meds for the heartburn and intestinal cramping. There is a whole food, all natural ingredient that can help you with this. I was on meds for heartburn and I've stopped taking them. I've had heavy PMS cramping but it's also subsided considerably and the bleeding has been cut in half. I'll give you the website where you can do more reading. This is not an advertisement so I ask that you do with the info as you wish. www.sevenstarlife.com

D., mother, wife of nearly 17 years, SAHM (yah right, after all the errands it's more like TTSAHM, Try To Stay At Home Mom)

Hi A.,

Yes, emotional and physical stress can be a big factor, because it not only affects how and whether you digest your food (stomach acid levels, assimilation of important micro-nutrients, movement of foods through your GI tract), it also affects WHAT you eat and drink--tendency to "quick fix" or comfort foods that are often high in fats and sugars, low in the nutrients we need to help with digestion and lowering stress...and THERE's your connection! If your body either isn't getting or can't assimilate nutrients that help DEAL with stress, then you become even MORE stressed, and the cycle continues.

That being said, while reducing your load and getting some exercise and watching your diet all must be done to reduce the overall stress, you now also have an internal physiological cycle that needs breaking. The symptoms you describe could be a number of things, and each could have a number of direct causes and specific things you can do to help:

Regular heartburn--may just be poor nutrition. Be sure you are taking a good probiotic supplement (yogurt is good IF it is a natural brand with high levels of live cultures, but it doesn't provide the complete spectrum of probiotics or enough potency to really deal with this) for now. You also may want to take a digestive enzyme supplement--especially if your diet is not high in raw fruits and vegetables (organic ones, which actually still have micronutrients in the soil where they are grown, as opposed to chemically grown, which is completely depleted soil).

--heartburn could also be a sign of a heart problem in women, or more likely, an acid reflux problem. You should probably get checked out by your doc to rule this out, but don't jump to acid reflux medication necessarily--you may be able to manage that often with nutrition and exercise. The fact that you say it has gotten better is a good sign for non-medical management.

Yeast infection: Assuming you've had one of these before, it's pretty likely you know exactly what you've got and it isn't some other type of infection. There are LOTS of things I've learned from midwifery training and my own pregnancies that you can do without the antibiotic ointments or internal antibiotics (which all kill off the GOOD bacteria in your system--those probiotics you need for the heartburn). My favorite no-meds treatment for yeast infection is this:
1) Avoid all sugars, sweetened juices, etc for awhile
2) Drink unsweetened cranberry juice--you can buy this concentrated and add water, and drink LOTS of water.
3) Alternate once per day--use a peeled garlic clove as a vaginal suppository in the morning, just pop it up there like a tampon, and then use a probiotic capsule the same way in the evening. I guarantee within a couple of days you'll be feeling much better! Keep doing it for 7 days, though.

There are other things you can try, but these are the ones that I've seen work over and over--and that have worked for me unfailingly even when antibiotics did not.

Fiora

When we're stressed by being afraid, our stomachs often stop producing stomach acid because of the fight/flight response. This means your body is not absorbing nutrients properly, causing overload on the digestive system and giving candidiasis a chance to overload. Food allergies can give you Candida as well. Cut a food out for 4 days and you can usually tell if you feel better, if that is the offending food or not. A little simpler than allergy tests. However, naturopaths can give you a blood test that finds allergies, instead of getting the pinprick test that doesn't really tell what food allergies you have.

Bread - because I'm gluten intolerant will cause me Candidias as will dairy products. Dairy does it to me the fastest. You didn't mention if you have been on antibiotics or if you eat a lot of sugar.

If you have a lot of yeast infections, read this book "The Yeast Connection". It has the whole Candida problem laid out and has a test that can let you know whether or not you have a systemic Candida problem. Unfortunately a lot of MDs don't believe in this condition, just as they used to not believe in Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue. Some are beginning to believe this is a real condition. This book will tell you to get rid of all sugar products, as well, to relieve the Candida overgrowth, including bread, sugar, white flour, and in my case I had to go off fruit as well.

Stress can also cause Candida. I know this from personal experience. I prefer to take probiotics to taking yogurt, because it's much more potent. I like Jarrow's EPs or Dr. Ohira's Probiotics. AMAZING how these things can knock out a yeast infection like nothing else. You may have developed a food allergy you didn't have before, that is leading up to all of this. Also, believe it or not, heart burn can be caused by either too little or too much stomach acid. If there is too little acid, the stomach doesn't drain, then everything backs up the esophagus. The test is, take a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon(you could try it over a salad). If you feel better after the lemon or vinegar, you know you need MORE acid. If you feel worse, you need less. My sister was having terrible stomach pains for over a day, and I had her do this test, she had complete relief within an hour! Only start taking antacids if you KNOW you are in need of less acid, because otherwise, you will make your symptoms worse - especially the Candida over the long haul. If you have discovered you need digestive enzymes, with the vinegar test, then in addition to the probiotics you need a good digestive enzyme. My favorite is "Digest Gold" by Enzymetica which you can purchase at Super Supplements. Good luck. I've dealt with similar problems for years, and now I don't get the infections very often any more, and the heartburn is gone. This for me was debilitating.

I had so many digestive problems prior to taking the digestive enzymes it was embarrasing. Not to mention stomach pain, and acid reflux. I hope yours clears up quickly.

God bless.

I don't have your problem but found this sight that sounds very similiar to your experience. Best of Luck.

http://www.steadyhealth.com/Vulvadynia_and_heartburn_t101...

A.,
You answered your own question. It has a lot to do with the environement you are in as far as stress. I went through this a couple of years ago and I did everything to make them go away and nothing would help, finially I just stayed home and didnt offer to do this and that or go to work, I was in so much pain anyway so I couldnt go anywahere. I made sure to wear cotton underwear and none at all when I could (nighttime) so that (it) was not uncomfortable. Have you tried the pill for the yeast infection? works greatk, that is the only thing I can really say that works.
A.

I think you should see a doctor. I have had a lot of stomach troubles before, and a lot of your symptoms, heartburn and cramps could be indigestion or worse, an ulcer. If it is indigestion, then you wouldn't want to be eating yogurt for the yeast infection, because that makes indigestion worse. So definitely see a doctor, and chill out! I see that you are stressing over a lot of stuff. Stop. Prioritize and downsize the overload. :) Its worth it.

Hi A.
well i'm not a doctor, but here are my two cents... I would be sure that your yeast infections are actually truly yeast infections. Go to your doctor and have them test you. They could be a Group B infection, etc. which would not be treated by yeast infection cream. The other thought I had was, instead of eating yogurt, which typically has a lot of sugar in it that essentially counteracts the acidophilus cultures in it, take some Probiotic Acidophilus, you can get it at Fred Myers in the natural section, and keep it in your fridge to keep those little cultures happy. But that could help your intestines as well. It "promotes intestinal health" says it on the bottle. So you could hit two birds with one stone by taking it.

Stress will do strange things to us, and it is a direct link to our digestive system for sure. But be sure that there isn't something going on with the bigger picture too, i'd go see a doc. A naturopathic will most likely look into more options with you too, don't limit yourself to a gastro doc either, conventional doctors don't always have the answers.

good luck!

Stress is definitely mind/body related; especially in the GI tract. It sounds like your body is in over production of yeast mode. The same thing happened to me and I tried a lot of things but the thing that helped me the most was a dramatic change in my diet. I stopped eating bread and sugar(which I craved). I also started taking pro-biotics in capsule form because I think you get the same benefits from yogurt but I couldn't eat enough yogurt. It was really hard to give up toast and treats but everything got better and I lost weight too. Now I have a small amount of bread and sugar in my diet and I notice if I've eaten too much. Its hard when you're stressed because your body craves carbs and sugar for the quick fix, but I feel so much better having snacks like apples and nuts. Don't forget to treat yourself to alone time too--yoga, hikes, gardening; whatever that means. Good luck to you good mama! Oh--papaya enzymes help heartburn; you can get them at a health food store, they are yummy too!

I hope you have gone to a doctor by now. You don't say your age, but I put off going to my doctor back in 2003 when I was 53. They had diagnosed me with figromyalgia in 2002 but when I went back they fouud that I had 99% blockage of my arteries to my heart. The symptoms for a woman are not always the same as for a man. I was under alot of stress with several deaths in my family, working full time, and just living the usual life. Please don't put off getting a heart check up. Don't let the doctor put you off. My pains were from one tip of the hand to the other tip of my other hand and the chest had so much pressure I could hardly breath at times. There were other symptoms. No matter what your age please look into this as heart failure is one the biggest causes for womens deaths in this country. J.

For the heartburn...have you tried drinking aloe (Trader Joes sells it). It really helped me a lot during pregnancy and I still drink it every once in a while. As for the 'insane amount' -- I know this might sound silly -- but deep breathing works for me when I'm feeling overwhlemed. Hope this helps!

Start taking a probiotic I suggest Pharmax HLC High Potency caps you probably have a systemic candida problem. (candida is yeast) Yogurt isnt the best way to get your live active cultures and mostly because yogurt unless you eat it plain will have sugar in it Sugar feeds candida which actually causes you to have a worse infection then before. Get a good probiotic take it every day it will help. Good probiotics requre refrigeration dont buy one that isnt refrigerated.

Angie's right; you already know the answer. "Taking on an insane amount" is a form of insanity, so cut back if you possibly can. The digestive system is the first place many folks feel stress. And stress also lowers your immune response (this has been measured in scientific studies), so a problem like a yeast infection is more likely. And infections add to the body's stress load, so it can become a vicious cycle if you don't recognize the signs early on.

Take care of yourself, A.. You know that when they give airline passengers the talk about what to do in an emergency, they always tell parents to put on their own oxygen mask first! That's so they will be in good enough shape to help their kids.

You already figured out that you need to cut back on the insane amount you are taking on lately. The stress is bad for your overall health and will come back to haunt you later if you don't making real changes now.

How is your diet? It is easy to rely on sugar and caffeine to give us extra energy when we are overscheduled. Too much of either can cause our bodies to go out of whack.

The symptoms you have may be your body warning you to cut back on activity. But if they continue, do check in with a doctor to rule out any another physical problem that might need to be addressed.

Yes, You are right and not crazy. Your stress level and anxiety is the cause of the inbalance in your system. The stress causes extra acid in the stomach and heartburn. The extra acid in the system also causes the inbalance so you also get the yeast infection. I would suggest using the over the counter acid reflux and heartburn meds along with the 3 day treatment and use the activia to balance everything back out in the stomach. The old fashioned apple cider vineger with the pulp floating around will also help with the balance of acid. Just one shot every other week or so keeps it good.
If it doesn't go away in a couple weeks. Please see a doctor.
The acid can cause extra harm to the esophogial area. (I was just in the hospital a couple weeks ago. I though I was having a heart attack. Luckily it was only a major esophogial spasm caused by anxiety, stress, acid reflux and a weak esophogial sphinkter (sp)(the valve that opens and closes to the stomach parts)You are the best doctor for your own body. You know what feels right. Slow down on the caffeine, chocolate, and pop, all the stuff with high acid content. O, and eat slower and dring water with your meals. All this has worked for me.
Take care of yourself. Its the best thing you can do for everyone. Your family needs you heathly too.
T

It sounds like you are really stressed.. I have one comment. My obgyn told me that often times with yeast infections.. the 3 day cures do not work.. they do not treat the problem long enough so your yeast infection will keep coming back since they never fully went away. she told me to buy the 7 day treatment (a pain but it went away and have not had one in 11 months) Also, when I am stressed I get diarreah so I try to calm down drink plenty of fluids and eat a better diet.. and cut way down on coffee.
best of luck

Try micro-biotics! It worked for me. Start with looking at your yogurt, looking for live cultures. Next start slowly with acidophilus. Then go to your local health food store and ask for help in finding the micro-biotics that will help you. Start slow.

Good luck! W.

Hi A.,

I'd have to agree with your last two words; "so stressed". That's all it takes. If it were me, I'd get in to my doctor and ask for some medical advice. In the meantime, make some time for yourself, quiet time. If you can find 10 minutes a day, I think that little bit will make a huge difference and it's a great place to start.

Good Luck!

D. P.

Mother of four, and master of the "stressed life".