OCD, Diet, and Thrush

[Guest Sméagol]

I posted a couple things on this topic in reply to various posts, and then I saw yet another relevant post. So, as I'm new here, rather than making yet another post on the subject and people getting the impression that I'm some sort of zealot and this information is part of my obsession, LOL, I thought I'd just start a thread on the subject in hopes it might help as many people as possible.

I saw various posts asking about the relation of thrush, alcohol and caffeine, junk food cravings, fatigue, etc, to OCD, and they all really hit home for me. I've come to realize that I've suffered with OCD since I was a kid - I turn forty next month (!) - and I've suffered with candidiasis (systemic yeast/thrush) for nearly two decades now.

I've discovered that my OCD is very much affected by my blood sugar, and alcohol has a significant effect on blood sugar, as does caffeine. If you're insulin resistant or hypoglycemic, when you get a heavy sugar/insulin hit, your body overcompensates and your blood sugar subsequently falls too low, and one of the hormones the body uses to regulate/raise blood sugar levels is adrenaline. And if you're insulin resistant or hypoglycemic, the body tends to overcompensate in that direction as well, and apparently, the effects of this imbalance can last over the following day or so. Once that connection was pointed out to me, I really noticed how my anxiety was affected by my diet, and it totally makes sense, given that adrenaline is also the 'fight or flight' hormone. A low carb diet can make a world of difference in helping to regulate blood sugar levels and reduce anxiety.

A qualifier to that is that if, like me, you also have systemic thrush issues, you may end up experiencing die-off symptoms as a result of the low carb diet helping to kill off the thrush (which releases toxins into the body as it dies). I've been on a regime the past week or so in an effort to get rid of this thrush problem that's been plaguing me for almost two decades, and the die-off has caused the most disturbing, vile OCD thoughts I've had in my entire life - my level of distress has been astronomical. But I was taking a fairly high dose of probiotics along with improving my diet; I've since stopped the probiotics temporarily, and the symptoms have eased off a bit, though sadly not as much as they probably would have if I hadn't already overloaded my system with all those toxins.

Generally, though, diet alone won't kill off the thrush fast enough to cause the die-off symptoms, but it's something to be aware of in determining the connection between your diet and symptoms, and any benefits you might gain from a change in your eating habits. If it does occur, it really is only a temporary thing - it generally passes within a few weeks, if not sooner - and is actually beneficial in that it means your body is ridding itself of a fungal overgrowth.

In any case, the connection between all these factors is simple - blood sugar affects chemical balance and energy levels, as well as contributing to thrush overgrowth (in those for whom it's a factor). And the thrush itself can play havoc on brain and body chemistry: the book The Yeast Syndrome (with which I'm no way affiliated, this bit just really stuck out in my mind) presents the case of a woman with severe mental illness who was able to eventually be weaned off all her psych meds when her thrush overgrowth was resolved. And stress - both triggering and resulting from the OCD - can weaken the immune system, and leave us more vulnerable to thrush overgrowth or other conditions. Stress can also affect our sleep patterns, and lack of sleep can lower our immune systems further as well as affect our blood sugar.

Diet, stress, lack of sleep, and OCD symptoms can all conspire to leave us feeling physically unwell, regardless of any associated conditions or lack thereof. It can be a nasty vicious cycle if you're not aware of it, or even if you are, for that matter. All of which is simply to say that, while none of us is to blame for our condition, lifestyle has a significant effect, and it's worth paying attention to the relation between what you eat and any symptoms spikes you might experience (a food/symptom journal might be helpful), as well as realizing that various conditions can indeed affect and exacerbate one another. Sadly, a lot of doctors are a bit like the tale of the blind men and the elephant, in that they often focus in on only one part of a larger picture. But if, unlike me, you've found a supportive, open-minded GP, then hopefully you can get your doctor's input on how all these factors may be influencing one another and how best to get them under control.

(Sorry if this came out sounding like a lecture - I just wanted to share the information in hopes that it might help, because in reading over some of the posts these issues seem to crop up relatively often, and I feel too vulnerable and in too much distress to get into anything more personal than that at the moment. Suffice it to say, this forum has been a lifeline right now, particularly the wonderful article 'Sex & OCD', which I'd gratefully discovered awhile back, and which inspired me to seek this place out again in my recurring time of darkness.)

Edited March 11, 2009 by Guest

[Hal]

Hi smeagol.....Your post is a breath of fresh air :original: !

I've been rattling on about blood sugar levels/hypoglycemia/insulin resistance and the importance of diet and how it can affect OCD for ages.

I'm convinced there's a link, at least there has been for me. As you say healthcare profesionals just look at each individual part of the body rather than taking a holistic approach.

I did an experiment over the course of a month with refined carbs and the OCD went through the roof (no fun), as soon as I went back to keeping my blood sugar levels balanced throughout the day, the dodgy thoughts diminished.

Don't get me wrong I still have the same sort of thoughts but the sense of panic/anxiety is nowhere near as bad........ good to 'meet' you, scooby

Edited March 12, 2009 by Guest

[Guest Kitty]

Smeagol - this is a great post, and very helpful. In one of the last editions of our OCD-UK Newsletter I wrote a feature on OCD and Diet and it's something that I feel quite strongly about as someone who suffers from a lot of eating problems.

I get in a terrible state with my blood sugars yo-ying, and have to be really careful about what foods I choose in order to stop terrible mood swings and anxiety. Admittedly a lot of my problem is being unable to eat full meals or platefuls of food and being in a perpetual state of hunger because of my OCD thoughts :blushing: .

Your thoughts on Candida are also very interesting too. Many people who have diets high in refined carbs, sugars etc can suffer from this without really knowing what it is.

I've recently started (in an effort to try and introduce new foods into my diet) to make my own live yoghurt which contains all the live, good bacteria needed to improve health. I use a product called Easi-yo which I buy from Lakeland. It's very nice indeed and after the initial outlay in price works out cheaper than buying yoghurt from the shops - it actually says in the bumf you get with it it helps to kill off things like Candida, interestingly enough.

Anyway, just to say I thought that was a really interesting post :original:

[Guest Peony]

Hi, it was really interesting for me to read your post because I have been suffering with thrush for a number of years now and have OCD, so what your saying is that diet can play a huge role in manging both?

If you don't mind could you be more specific with what type of foods to avoid and what foods to have?

Thanks

Peony xx

[Guest Sméagol]

Thank you so much, all, for the positive response to my post! Being the obviously anxious sort, I was worried people would think I was talking out of the top of my hat... then again, I'm so used to people in my life acting like that whenever I bring up any of this stuff, it's no surprise I would worry. But I guess it makes sense that people who are going through the same things you are are more prone to understand where you're coming from about it all!

And yeah, Scooby, I'm the same; keeping my carbs lower doesn't insure I won't have any anxiety, but it generally lessens it quite a bit, while eating tons of starch and/or sugar almost always makes it worse!

Kitty, sounds like you're between a rock and a hard place between your OCD thoughts keeping you from eating enough, and not eating enough likely sending your blood sugar too low and making you even more shaky and anxious. I can really relate to a health problem making it harder for you to do what you need to do to improve the problem; my thrush and fibromyalgia related fatigue (yes, I'm blessed with all *sorts* of wonderful health problems :dry: ) make it so much harder for me to cook healthy meals from scratch, which I really need to do for the most part since it's quite hard to find many pre-packaged low carb foods in the UK, especially in smaller cities and towns.

That yogurt sounds wonderful, I'll have to look into it! I've been eating a bit more plain, no sugar bio-yogurt lately since I've been really tackling the thrush again, since you're right that, the more healthy flora you introduce into your eco-system, the easier it is for your body to eradicate the thrust.

And yes, Peony, not only does diet play a huge part in managing both OCD and thrush, but managing the thrush plays a big part in manging the OCD as well; when it's system wide, it wreaks havoc with your entire system, and that includes your brain chemistry. Yeast feeds off sugar, so any sugar or starches you eat - starches turn straight to sugar - basically feed the yeast. There are a lot of anti-candida diets you'll find on the 'net, and there are certain foods some say you need to avoid and others say are fine. But the one thing they all agree on is that you need to avoid refined sugars and starches like the plague (as well as - *SOB* - potatoes!). Even whole grain breads and pastas turn straight to sugar, as do fruits, but if you don't want to eliminate these things completely even temporarily, then your best bet is to eat whole grain bread without sugar (you can find store brands without, you just have to read labels because they generally don't advertise), and if you must have pasta or rice, have that whole grain as well. As for fruit, the lower carb ones are the best, like berries and cantaloupe. And a lactose free milk (I use a brand called Lactofree) is of course better being that it's that much less sugar in your diet, though there are conflicting opinions as to whether or not you should avoid dairy and to what degree when you're dealing with thrush overgrowth. I limit my dairy to some degree anyway, for various health reasons, but given that I'm a cheeseaholic and milk is the only thing I normally drink with meals (I love my water as well, but not so much with meals), that's always a challenge!

As for what you do want to have, that would be protein (meat*, nuts, eggs, etc), loads of veg (particularly of the green, non-starchy variety), and some of the lower carb fruits and maybe a bit of dairy, as mentioned. And while the emphasis should be on healthy fats, you needn't worry too much about the amount of fat in a diet like that; if you're keeping the carbs low enough, your body will start burning fat as a fuel source instead of glucose, and you'll be burning it instead of storing it. That's why you lose weight much more easily on a low carb diet, and why it's generally beneficial to your cholesterol and blood pressure as well, because the insulin your body makes in response to glucose stores fat, and your body will burn all the glucose you give it before it ever touches the fat!

* (Just a note: you can theoretically do vegetarian low carb - there are various websites offering helpful advice on how best to do so - but it's much more challenging, insofar as getting enough non-meat protein sources and still getting all your other required nutrients.)

Anyway, a good place to start, diet-wise, is this diet, which is not only helpful for managing insulin resistance/hypoglycemia (and diabetes, for that matter), but has reportedly been very sucessful at eliminating thrush as well. Also, if you're really having a sweet craving, I personally recommend (again, with no affiliation) a sweetener called xylitol, available either as Perfect Sweet - possibly in your grocery store - or Xylobrit, which you can find either in your local health food store, or order online. Xylitol is a natural occuring sweetner that not only has no health risks, but is actually good for you! And it tastes almost exactly like sugar, with the exception that it has a slightly fruity flavour, so will take more getting a bit more getting used to in black tea than, say, plain yogurt flavoured with fruit or flavour extracts.

[An overview, a FAQ, and a comprehensive article on xylitol, so you can make an informed choice as to whether this might be something you'd like to introduce into your diet. Again, not affiliated, just a product I share about because I was so thrilled myself to find a sweetener that didn't give me as many symptoms as sugar and wasn't just as risky to my health (not to mention one that tastes so good)!]

Also, along with the bio-yogurt, any kind of probiotic - other than those yummy little drinks, none of which sadly are sugar-free - is good for dealing with thrush. Your can get various probiotic supplements as well; I've used one you can get in the health food store or online called Multidophilous, which has a high concentrate of good bacteria, as well as one I got online called Xtralac, which I'm currently trying out now. There are other supplements that help as well, but the probiotics are the main thing. Oh, and while I'm on about supplements, one of the best things I've taken for my OCD anxiety is omega oil; I've been taking the regular omega 3, though the 3-6-9 seems to do even better for me.

So anyway, I hope all that information isn't too overwhelming, or more information than you wanted to know, but I figure more information than less is generally better! Any questions, I'm not an expert, but I have been reading up on this stuff for quite awhile now, and have gotten valuable information from doctors, nurses and other sources whose knowledge and judgement I very much trust, so I'd be happy to pass along what I've learned, with resources for more info - including low carb recipes - where requested.

Thank you all again for helping me feel like I've made a worthwhile contribution in my short time here, rather than treating me like an unwelcome outsider. Not that I expected you would, from what I've seen of all the wonderfully accepting and supportive posts here, but seeing as I didn't exactly come in here baring my soul, I was worried that perhaps I wouldn't make a good impression (though, let's face it, I have OCD, I worry about *everything*!).

Edited March 15, 2009 by Guest