Candida & Blood Tests - Candida Message Board

notpain · 08-08-2005, 06:07 PM

The more I read about Candida the more I realize there just isn't a lot of good information out there, and instead of embracing the possiblity of the disease those in the Hallowed Halls of Higher Learning would rather just dismiss it as a non-disease and get everyone on the high paying Anti-Depressants.

Anyways My question is this:

I have had several blood tests - CBC, Metabolic Panel, Lipid (Cholesterol) tests, and colon cancer screening. All come back normal.

Have any of you recovered from Candida yet had "normal" readings on your blood tests? This is not a question for those who have been self-diagnosed or not diagnosed, but rather for those who really have recovered.

And everything I read points only to those with suppressed immune disorders, huge use of anti-biotics, or the dreaded AIDS. Don't all Labs now test you for aids before they test the blood for saftey reasons? I mean is it possible to have "normal" results on your bloodwork and have AIDS?

I know little about blood tests, and I'm already overwhelmed reading about everything else. I have no outward signs of Candidaisis. I have tried twice last week to see an ND that understands this disease, and my appointment was rescheduled and canceled 3 times. I spend most of my time reading and waiting weeks and weeks to see the next specialist (Yes me whining). I don't like to waste time, so I continue to try and learn as much as I can.

Any advise?

rubindj · 08-08-2005, 06:18 PM

Some answers....

First off, they do not test all blood for HIV -- only if the physician orders it. They assume all samples are contaminated with HIV -- and use universal precautions on all blood tests.

Candidia as you know is a fungus, and can have a variety of causes, but its not neccissarily due to a compromised immune system or other issues -- it can just happen. It is commonly caught as an STD, and if it catches you at a stressful time can cause problems. It also has other causes than STD's such as atomosphere and contamination. Generally, they only look for a bigger issue if it doesn't respond to diflucan or comes back repeatedly.

Pig Lover · 08-08-2005, 07:28 PM

As I stated in other posts, I haven't been officially diagnosed with candida yet. I self-diagnosed myself in April and eliminated all sugar/yeast/wheat products as recommended in a book I read by (and I can't remember if I'm allowed to write this) Jeanne Marie Martin called Complete Candida Yeast Guidebook Revised 2nd Edition. All I can say is I felt much, much better after only 2 weeks, and I've been eating the same way ever since. I recently went to my local health food store (every city has one) and asked for a health practitioner they recommend who uses a more holistic approach. They gave me a name & I'm currently in the process of his tests. He believes and has treated people with candida & is also looking at gluten intolerance, which can't correctly be identified by a skin test. He also is an MD, and uses both conventional and holistic medicine. I'll get a stool analysis (the only true test for candida) in a couple weeks after all my self-prescribed vitamins & minerals are out of my body to make the test most accurate. He told me that he once had a patient that had tremendous amounts of yeast overgrowth in his body, yet he had no health complaints at all!

Anyway, go to the health food store, a big one, and they should have a dr. in mind. I've had a thousand blood tests too, and everything is always negative. But yet, my new doc is testing for all different things too that a general physician wouldn't normally do. Keep us posted!

sneezydiva · 08-09-2005, 02:17 PM

I am also self diagnosed, but am actually questioning that diagnosis, since my white tongue has dispapeared after getting some cavities filled, that my previous dentist never diagnosed as cavities.

Anyway, even when I have felt at my most ill, all my blood tests come out "normal" also. Even my white blood count (which is an indicator of infection in the body) would come out in the normal range (albeit on the high end of the range). This happened even when I was in the middle of a horrible sinus infection which was evident on a CT scan.

Why does this happen? I can't say for sure, but I have a few theories. One is a problem with "normal" vs optimal. All normal means, is that the majority of people tested fall into that range. It doesn't mean that everything is just peachy keen. For example, an alcoholic's liver panel would be abnormal because of all the drinking he does that the rest of the population doesn't. But if most people drank like an alcoholic, then elevated liver enzymes would technically be "normal" in the statistical sense.

So theoretically, if the majortity of the population has a mild Candida infection, even people who are healthy and have no health complaints, it would go undetected because their blood results are "normal" like everyone else who has it.

The other reason blood results can be normal is because of the the amazing machine that our body is. It is constantly working, even when we are ill, to keep all body functions working properly. And most of the time it suceeds, so everything looks okay in our blood tests. This is not to say it isn't taxing our body, wearing it out and setting us up for future problems, but for now it is able to keep up, and maintain normal levels.

There used to be a time when a doctor's goal was to make you feel better. LAb tests , while really valuable for some things, have ruined the mindset of doctors. Now they have decided that if lab tests are "normal" we must be fine. They don't care about how you feel, just how healthy you look on paper.