Yeast/Candidiasis

[Horst]

Hello All,

In reading "12 Effective Ways to Help Your ADHD Child" I came across something that intrigued me. The author says that an over abundance of yeast may play a role in add/adhd.

Have any of you treated for yeast? What tests were done to determine if it was needed? Were treatments effective?

I've done some searching on the web and keep coming across a product called "Threelac". It sounds almost too good to be true, so it probably is - but I'd be interested in hearing if anyone has used it.

By the way, a month or so ago I posted a thread asking for info about Brain Gym. I believe it has been helpful for my ADD-inattentive son and would say that if you are thinking about the program that it is worth a try!

Blessings to you all,
Horst

[HooDunnit]

The administrator / owner of our old site, www.adhd.com, was convinced that yeast often played a problem in children with add/adhd. I don't know much about it though, and hope that someone else can help you.

Barry

[catatonic]

Take a look at Great Plains Laboratories on-line. They will test for yeast...and insurance will cover if you get a doctor to write the lab order.
www.greatplainslaboratory.com/home.htm

We did a brief yeast treatment several months ago, and I felt it was helpful. My son's behavior showed improvement and he stopped craving starchy foods. I gave him grapefruit seed extract (VERY bitter tasting stuff!) and a course of probiotics (acidophilus) for a couple of weeks. This is the second time we've done this (the other was about a year previous), and he also takes acidophilus any time he requires antibiotics, in order to prevent yeast problems from occuring. (Our pharmacist says there's no problem about taking the two together.)

For severe cases or chronic problems, this might not do the trick. You may need a course of anti-fungal like nystatin, and longer term dietary modifications. I'd definitely pay for testing before doing that. For an otherwise healthy kid, though, iGSE and acidophilus can push things back into balance sufficiently that you don't need to do anything else. It's inexpensive and low risk.

I haven't used the Threelac, but my opinion is you could duplicate most of what's in it and accomplish the same thing at about 1/10th the price by going to your health food store and buying a bottle of acidophilus, a multi-vitamin, and a jar of nutritional yeast. You could add the grapefruit seed extract too, and still be spending about 1/9th the cost of Threelac!

[franksmom]

Catatonic- Is it safe to treat for yeast without all the lab work?
If so can you tell me exactly what to buy and how to administer it? My son is 10 years old and weighs apprx. 67 lbs.How long do we do this and once we do it what do we give them to keep the yeast in check?
I have been trying to do so many things and nothing is truely working. I dont want to go back to meds if I can help it. They really scare me. I have to try more. His behavior is not good- he is disruptive in class and is constantly getting himself into trouble. They call me daily from school .
We are using supp. I cut out the dyes ,preservatives and HFC as best I can we are working with a therapist and we signed up for martial arts! Now I need to try something else.

Also what is the benefit of using Zinc on an ADHD child.
I bought a liquid zinc- (E-lyte2)you add 7 drops to a drink daily for 6.8 mgs. .
He is also getting 15 mgs of zinc(citrate) in his muliti-vit daily.

[catatonic]

Susan,
There really aren't any risks associated with using acidophilus/GSE for yeast, so the only reason to test would be to determine if you want to do something like the Nystatin fungicide that requires a prescription and medical supervision, or just to satisfy your own curiosity.

Acidophilus comes in capsules and should be refrigerated. Its strength is measured in terms of live organisms. The one I have, for instance, says it contains lactobacillus acidophilus with 50 million live organisms. You can also buy probiotics that contain the lactobacillus along with bifidobacteria, although I haven't really read any research that convinces me this makes a difference in effectiveness. For a child, you just give them one capsule after each meal.

Grapefruit seed extract is a liquid and your goal is to give it twice daily, 50mg each time. The type I have, that means 5 drops stirred into a glass of water. This stuff tastes seriously BAD, very bitter. Your son is a little lighter than mine, so you could probably get away with 3 drops each time if 5 drops makes it too bitter to stand. A little of this stuff goes a long way. A tiny 1/2 ounce bottle will last you over a month. GSE is reported to work as well as fungicides in clearing out excess intestinal yeast. (You can also buy capsules of GSE, but I have no idea how effective these are. We just use the drops.)

For us, using both of these for 3 weeks was enough. Recommendations vary from a minimum of 3 weeks to as much as six weeks. There's a pretty good overview of yeast treatments on the link below, although don't feel you have to follow ALL the recommendations. They go over everything that might help, not very selectively, and you certainly don't need to do all that!
www.herbs2000.com/disorders/candidiasis.htm

Zinc is probably worth trying for a while, although the results on zinc supplementation aren't terribly conclusive. Yet. One well-designed study found a modest effect from zinc supplementation in reducing hyperactivity/impulsivity (it had no effect on attentiveness) and another found that zinc used along with Ritalin was more effective than Ritalin alone.

Zinc alone:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=14687872

Zinc and Ritalin:
www.biomedcentral.com/1471-244X/4/9

Good luck. Hope this works for you. It can be sooooo frustrating sometimes (that's when I write myself a prescription for a 16-ounce margarita!!)

[Horst]

FranksMom,

Hi. Maybe you are already trying this, but the Omega 3 fish oils have made a true difference in my son. He is ADD inattentive and his concentration shows a definite downturn when he is off the Omega 3. There is a lot of great info on this board (from Catatonic) about Omega 3.

I am not a "believer" in very much natural therapy. I think there are some things that work and very many more that will just waste your money. I have gotten so much good advice from the kind folks at this board. They have saved me a lot of frustration! Take a close look at some of the older threads, they have important info.

Blessings as you continue to find your way.
Horst

[rosyred45]

Oh Horst, thank you for the compliment about the site and thank you members that have been providing such great advice here.

You all are what truly makes this site work.

And as far as the grapefruit seed extract goes, does it matter the dilution or is that just to help with the taste? Will it loose effectiveness with/without the proper amount of water?

Thanks

[MistyMorningPA]

Catatonic, Do those drops HAVE to be in water or could you put them in another beverage? If yes, which beverages would you suggest? Thanks. This is very interesting!

[catatonic]

No, they don't have to go in water. In fact, something really sweet like pineapple juice might improve the horrible bitterness. We haven't tried that because my son is weird. He refuses to take any vitamin unless it is with water. The only beverage I definitely would not try the drops with are anything milk-based. The GSE is so acidic that it would probably curdle the milk!

[franksmom]

Thank you so much everyone. I will try to get on the GSE ASAP. I am alrady doing the fish oil and the flax seed oil. I dont see any drastic changes but I may be looking too soon.
Things have been rough and I am now spending my days at school beside my son trying to help him get through his days with some success. Today was a good one! It seems that he just needs the support and the help focusing. Thats ok with me-I will gladly do 5th grade again! I will keep you all posted on our progress.
By the way we also started martial arts and it is so wonderful. He loves it and I hope it is a sport that he will finally be able to succeed at. Any success is so greatly appreciated at this time.