The Candida die off symptoms were INTOLERABLE last week. It was supposed to get better after 10 days but instead, it got worse. In desperation, I tried a product called NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine), which is a sulfur containing amino acid and precursor to Glutathione. I had read from Amy Myers that it can be effective in managing detox symptoms. The theory is that the die off has released toxins that have overwhelmed my Liver and the Glutathione will assist in cleaning it out.
Result:
On Monday, I came through the first half mile in a pathetic 5:30 then turned around after popping a pill. It wasn’t a miracle, but I did feel noticeably better, and the watch showed it. The back half was a decidedly less horrible 5:00, or a full minute per mile faster. Again, just ONE pill made that much difference. That’s hardly an unusual occurrence for me.
Tuesday morning, I was at Vestavia track for test intervals. As expected, I was awful without the NAC. It took me 1:13 to run just 200 meters and probably would not have been much better than 5:30 for a half mile. Again, I was significantly better after a pill (2:08 for 400) but it wasn’t until I took a 3rd pill that I felt somewhat like myself. For about 20 seconds, I was moving quite well but faded after the first 100. Still, I managed to finish the lap in 1:39, which is the fastest I’ve gone in several months. However, by the end of the workday, I was hurting badly again and needed more pills in the evening.
On Wednesday, I jumped right into it. After just a few strides to warm up, I wanted to see how fast I could go on 3 pills and believed that I had an outside chance of beating my reset PR of 86 seconds. I passed 200 in 42.x but it was nearly 43. I’ve never negative split a 400 before but I did it today with a time of 83.8. I was very encouraged by how I felt in that last 100. I got the familiar jelly legs but had enough juice to run the final straight in about 20 seconds flat.
After this success, I was curious to see how I could do in a Mile that evening. The reset PR of 7:48 looked awfully soft in comparison with the 83 second 400. I was shooting for at least 7:30. By lunchtime, I was hurting again after having gone several hours without NAC. I waited until 4PM and took 3 pills in divided doses 20 minutes apart. I was on schedule for the first half with a 3:44 split but I felt as if the power supply was unplugged around 900 meters. I managed just a pair of 1:58 laps to finish and had zero finishing kick but enough in reserve to lower the PR to 7:40. I was pleased but knew that I would really struggle in the longer distances. My 5K PR of 27:48 was safe for the time being.
Concerned by the amount of sulfur that I was taking in, I decided to take some CBS/NOS pills to guard against a reaction to the NAC. Bad call. It was as if the CBS/NOS pill cancelled the effectiveness of the NAC. I opened with a 2:44 lap without the NAC and was still well over 2:00 even after 3 pills so I didn’t even try a time trial. Again, I cheated on the diet and must get back on track. I may have to endure a rough day or two but perhaps the NAC may help with the caffeine detox. We shall see. I have a faint glimmer of hope going forward.
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