Doctor Visit

 

Well, I finally backed down and went to a “real doctor” yesterday.  As I suspected, I have a severe candida infection.  I’ve been drinking nothing but water for the past 6 days, yet things have gotten worse, not better.  I cannot run at all.  I take off around 12-minute pace and can’t even maintain that.  That is probably due to the die off reaction, which supposedly peaks between Day 3-Day 7.  I did get an oral prescription and a cream for the candida.  The doctor also did blood work but he didn’t tell me what he was testing.  Candida and adrenal dysfunction are inter-related and I suspect that I’ve had it for many years.  Nobody could have discovered it until recently when I began to see flaky and itchy discoloration of my skin.  It was noticeable under my armpits and above my butt.  Gross! 

I looked at some of my old posts when I was at my best and I was not as healthy as I remembered.  Yes, I clocked some pretty amazing times and had an impressive training log, but I had to make frequent small adjustments.  Just one extra pill or missed dose would have a significant negative effect.  I think it is entirely possible that the candida was causing the sensitivity all along.  I can live a happy life with a little fatigue but NOT with extreme sensitivity.  What hurts the most is that I was given the appearance of healing all while I was headed for a collapse. 

It's too soon to say how this will play out or even how I feel about it.  One upbeat thought that I did have is that if I discovered and treated the candida sooner, I probably would not have addressed the detox and methylation in an attempt to get well.  I believe that both were necessary.  The WORST-CASE scenario is that everything will come back normal, as was the case the last time I saw a “real doctor.”  If that happens, he will almost certainly push anti-depressants, which I will refuse.  I will say that I am alarmed by current weight and blood pressure.  I suspect elevated aldosterone, which is an adrenal hormone.  There is a supplement that I tried in the past called Stress-Pak.  It was not tolerated at the time but that was before the detox and candida treatment.  It is designed to lower a high Na/K ratio, which has been elevated on previous hair tests.

Hawaii is now 3 months away and I cannot run at all.  Do I go and then try again next year?  I do have plans to visit all 4 major tourist islands.  I went to the Big Island last winter and this trip will be to Oahu.  Still need Maui and Kaui.