Curing Candida - My story

In 2005 I went to Japan, dazzling landscapes, new experiences and a great opportunity for growing and widening my knowledge of life…

Before I went to Japan I knew something was up, I wasn’t feeling myself and my parents were telling me to slow down. I was with my longterm boyfriend and couldn’t wait for the holiday, however I ‘knew’ something was up, it looked like everything was okay (boyfriend, friends, socialising, etc) but I’d said to myself that even though everything seems okay to remember in years to come that I was not happy at this moment in time.

I was 24 and over the past few years a few things had crept up on me. Although I looked and acted like an everyday girl I’d developed sharp occasional chest pains, which disappeared as quickly as they came on and the doctor couldn’t find anything wrong so I put them to the back of my mind. I also had subtle tingling sensations in my legs and very occasional shooting pains in my thighs. I also became short of breath and found it difficult to get air. I was not asthmatic.

I was bloated, constipated and ate like a horse, oh and I had lots of spots. Despite this I still looked okay and a fairly attractive 20 something girl.

Several years before going to Japan I had also developed an unpredictable mood – crying for no reason, lashing out at my boyfriend, parents, even best friends, it seemed I had turned into an aggressive and horrid person. I’ve had my fair share of moody and emotional PMS but this was different. All these things crept up on me and before I knew it I was a mini monster woman or emotional wreck.

Japan was bright, fast, amazing. We had a great time except… I lashed out at my boyfriend in the middle of Tokyo and lost my cool in the middle of Chinatown and my boyfriend thought I had problems and couldn’t understand where his nice sweet girl had gone…?

So I knew something was up… touch down in Heathrow. I get on the tube, I feel hot, tired… sick… like I’m shaking inside, I start panicking. I get off the tube because I think I’m going to pass out, I feel like crying or being sick, or collapsing. My boyfriend doesn’t know what to do so he drags me back on the train.

I get home, try to sleep it off. I go back to work, just a nice reception job, not too much stress, lovely people. I find however much I eat I’m still hungry. Everytime I come across a mildly stressful or even fairly normal situations I have a mild panic attack.

I have become the former of myself overnight. I cannot keep up the pretence anymore, most people can tell I’m not well.

I am taken to the doctor’s. They cannot find anything wrong, why can’t they find anything wrong if I feel so terrible? They suggest a psychiatrist and I decline. Private nutritionalist No.1 tells me I am low on most minerals and things. Nutritionalist No.2 tells me I am sensitive to every food except leek and courgette (mmm) and to stop taking the pill. Nutritionalist No.3 makes me have a good cry and makes me realise there is more to life than vitamin supplements and unnatural diets. Both things my family told me for many months. For two years I immersed myself in trying to find a ‘cure’. Eventually I started eating normally, dropped the vitamin supplements, went to church and became a nice person again.

What I didn’t realise until now is that most if not all of those symptoms could be put down to the contraceptive pill I was on. What I have now learnt (the hard way) is that the pill’s side effects slowly crept up on me. I went from a happy go lucky 18 year old to a depressive, dark former of my old self.

My doctor gave me the pill as I passed all the health checks (weight, blood pressure, family history). I got on with it for about 6 years with the symptoms very slowly getting worse with time. I was on Microgynon for 3 years and Cerazette for 2 years. Whilst on Microgynon I did complain of the tingling sensations and even some off balance/visual sensations I sometimes got. They wanted to test me for MS! I was petrified. Since coming off the pill, the tingling has gone.

From recent research I have found hundreds of women on the internet with reviews of the same pills - panic attacks, food sensitivities , depression, shortness of breath, migraines, palpitations, the list goes on…

I caused my parents, boyfriend, sister, friends and family a lot of heart ache and worry. They were at their wits end and didn’t know what to do. In the end they thought I was a selfish mentalist. But they were also very forgiving and all the time just wanted me to get better.

Sure some women can tolerate the pill, everyone’s different. I’ve now been off the pill for nearly 5 years and feel alive again. I felt alive as soon as I realised it wasn’t my diet and gave my body a few months to recuperate without the pill. Most, if not all my symptoms have gone…

Last week I thought that maybe I had just been given a pill in the past that didn’t agree with me and that a different contraceptive pill would suit me better. I tried Yasmin. Yasmin brought all the memories back and that’s why I wrote this letter. I was spaced out, felt extremely teary, like my life wasn’t worth living, and couldn’t think straight. Literally 2 days earlier I had been little miss normal, skipping on with life. I want to share the message just in case other women are going through the same thing.

I’ve decided that I will no longer go for hormonal contraceptives and until it’s baby time I will learn the natural family planning technique (NFP). I’ve bought a couple of books of Amazon and my doctor says they teach it at the local hospital. It is apparently extremely accurate when learnt properly.

I hope that my experience will help other people, we’re all here to help each other out. Please please pass this message onto friends and family.
Much love
xxx