Yeast Syndrome Sinus Infection

Alana: Hi, the candida seems to really like my sinus passages and lungs. I get stuffiness, post nasal drip, painful throat and also asthma too. Of course, all of this was treated for over 8 years with antibiotics, steroid sprays (both nasally and most recently 1 year of inhaled steroids for my asthma symptoms). Now that I am more informed, I am off ALL steroid sprays, which I suspect, along with two courses of antibiotics in January, really caused the yeast to overgrow. I will never go on an antibiotic again unless something is cultured first and something is growing. I really learned a lesson here. Perhaps I did have sinus infections in the past that really needed the antibiotics, but now is the time to address why I keep getting them in the first place.

Marie: I’ve had a bad headache for about 10 days now. I think it is from spraying silver into my sinuses and putting some in my ears. Here’s my problem. First of all, I thought my sinuses were getting better because I have had much less mucus. I went to the doctor today for a check up, and he told me that my sinuses and ears are infected and that I need antibiotics to cure it. The doctor wanted to give me really strong antibiotics, but I told him I would only take Amoxicillin because this antibiotic isn’t as strong as the others. What should I do? Should I skip the antibiotics and keep using the silver? Silver is an antibiotic, isn’t it? Has anyone out there cured a full-blown sinus infection with just the silver? I really don’t want to take the antibiotics!! I feel I am finally beginning to get rid of my yeast. Maybe I should take the antibiotics and also take lots of probiotics. Again, I want to know if you think I can cure a sinus infection with just the silver. Thanks for your help.

Shelley: We are all different, so I don’t want to steer you in the wrong direction. However, I want to tell you that I had this problem (an infected salivary gland) about a month or so ago and I had to take an antibiotic for it. My MD hardly ever gives antibiotics. Yet he told me that my choices were to take an antibiotic or go into the hospital to get the infection drained and that in the hospital they would give me an antibiotic anyway and they would be much less sympathetic about it. (Obviously, I also had the choice of just walking out of his office and not taking his advice. But, since I trust my doctor enough about this stuff I figured I had better take the antibiotic.)

He took a blood test to see for sure if it was an infection. It came back with really high numbers that indicated infection. The infection cleared up in about 3 days after I started taking the antibiotic. He was making me stay in touch the whole time (he’s never done that before). When I went to see him three days later, the infected gland was much much better. I asked him if I had to take the antibiotics for the whole ten days. He told me to go just for a week.

Now I am on an antifungal and I really don’t think I lost ground taking the antibiotic. I think I would have done myself WAY more harm if I hadn’t taken it. From my experience (abscesses in teeth and sinus stuff) doctors are pretty right about antibiotics in stuff that is in your face, near your brain and all that. The point of all this is that I think personally that you should listen to what your MD says and if he thinks you need an antibiotic then maybe you really do. Take things one at a time.

First, deal with the immediate, which is an unfortunate sinus problem, and then go on to the next level of better health. Has your doctor checked to see if what is wrong in your sinuses is infection? I wouldn’t mess with them anymore. See the MD. Just my personal feelings. Take care of yourself.

Harold: Marie, first try my good old standbys. Mix together in a glass bowel (not metal of any kind):

1 cup of chopped onion,

2-3 crushed cloves of garlic,

4 tablespoons of UNPASTEURISED honey.

Let sit until a liquid forms. Then eat 1 or 2 teaspoons every hour. Along with this, squirt colloidal silver up each nostril while holding the other one shut. This onion bit and colloidal silver may keep you from having to take antibiotics, which can be disastrous for candida sufferers.

Your symptoms are more than likely a combination of die-off and mucus. Is there an increase of nasal drip in the back of your throat? This is what I have found to happen. To make sure the colloidal silver gets into your sinuses, after you squirt into your nostrils, lean way over until you are almost standing on your head. This gets the colloidal silver into the sinus cavities in your forehead too. Do the directions on the bottle say you have to shake before using? If so, it is not the best on the market. You also must put colloidal silver in your ears too, because this bacteria will re-infect if you don’t. All it takes is 2 drops (warmed) in each ear. OK? Follow the directions and the chances are good that you won’t have to go the full 10 days, but be prepared for flare-ups and then repeat the procedure. You will find that the infections get fewer and farther between.

Bernie: Marie, I’m sorry to hear about your flare-up of infection. I think some store bought colloidal silver is less than useless. It can have dyes and other additives and the silver settles out of the solution over time. It can be like spraying water (and contaminated mucus) into a breeding ground of the body for bacteria, the sinuses.

Yes, you probably need to take antibiotics to clear up this infection. I have an infected inner ear that the colloidal silver did not touch. I just started Ampicillin for it. I’m going to keep taking my homemade colloidal silver with it. I drink at least 12 oz. each day. I hope it will help to keep down the yeast overgrowth if the Ampicillin kills off too much friendly bacteria. I’ll post how I do, good or bad.

Lynn in North Carolina: I recently found two solutions to my sinus problems (one is homemade). I took one of my leftover Nystatin capsules and emptied it into a brand new bottle of saline nasal spray (Ocean or Sea Mist or whatever your pharmacy carries). I spray that in my nose once or twice a day. If you have no Nystatin, I bet you could use Kyolic, since garlic is a great yeast killer too. My second thing to use is a nasal spray that I bought at the health food store. It’s made by Nutribiotic, and it’s just called Nasal Spray Pump. It comes in a white box with pink and purple on it. It contains .1% Grapefruit extract. My sinuses were KILLING me daily (burning, dried out like paper) until I started using this, and now, even with the heat on, I am having no problems. For best results, you probably need to rotate your antifungal sprays.

Polly: I don’t think there is a lot of research on nasal fungus infection remedies, yet. You must be careful not to use anything that could possibly harm the tissue of the nose. I don’t know about the safety of using garlic, Nystatin or these other substances in the nose, although it sounds logical. Don’t experiment with unusual substances in the ear. If you damage the tissue there, you could lose your hearing. For a fungal infection of the ears you can ask for prescription antifungal octic drops like clotrimazole and econazole. [8]

Since so many people have used silver, this might be a reasonable substance to try. However, nothing is ever 100% safe. If you try the silver, you might want to look for the clear silver products. Several people have told me that the clear silver products are more effective than the yellow ones.

A saline solution with vitamin C in it may help get rid of infections. Dr. Linus Pauling in his book How to Live Longer mentions that

“vitamin C introduced in solution up the nasal passage is 1000 times more concentrated in the sinuses than vitamin C ingested by mouth.”

MSM mixed with sterile water can be used for the ears and eyes, if it is dilute enough, and if you are careful to keep it sterile. (Article at www.pennysaved.com.). According to the following article, a stronger solution of MSM can be sprayed into the nose to treat nasal inflammation. The recommended dilution for the nasal spray is about one level teaspoon per ounce of water. See

www.naturalhealthconsult.com/Monographs/msm.html

A product called DAG contains phenolated iodine and some herbs. Taken orally, it helped clear up one forum member’s sinus and ear infections. (See Sara’s experience with DAG, as told in the antifungal chapter.) Since this product is taken by mouth, you don’t have to worry about damaging the tissue of the ears and nose. Yet be careful, there is always the possibility of an allergic reaction to a product that contains iodine.

For irrigation of the nasal passages, doctors usually recommend a solution of salt and baking soda, one teaspoonful each in 2 to 8 cups of water. You won’t be allergic to that, yet, there is always the danger present with any nasal irrigation that it might facilitate the spread of infection to the other sinuses, the eyes or throat. You may want to ask your doctor for his opinion in your particular case. This is a short article on the subject of nasal irrigation at this website www.doctorhoffman.com/ydouche.htm

A product called Alkalol is sold in some drugstores as a mucus solvent and cleaner. If you can tolerate a strong smell, then a spray of this in the nose may help clean out some of the mucous. It contains thymol (an antifungal), eucalyptol, camphor, and many other ingredients that will add to the strong smell. (I find it a pleasant smell.) It is made by The Alkalol Company of Taunton, Massachusetts. At least a spray of this should not spread the infection like an irrigation treatment could.

In the February 2002 Townsend Letter, Anthony di Fabio wrote about his experience with a very nasty sinus infection. He had seen quite a few experts, but what finally cleared up the infection was two rather simple formulas. His doctor first gave him a 6 minute treatment in the office using cotton swabs dipped in a mixture of silver, eucalyptol oil, water and glycerine. That cleared out a lot of the mucous. Then for home use, his doctor had him use some drops. Two to three drops were to be placed in each nostril two to three times per day. The drops contained:

1. 60% Aloe vera concentrated whole leaf juice

2. 40% DMSO, 99.9% pure pharmaceutical grade

Anthony di Fabio rightly points out that the type of aloe vera used is very important. He states that one suitable product is made by New Life Nutriceuticals. Here is one of many places to purchase this, phone 800 282-7216.

We can’t just focus on fungus infections of the nasal passages. I know that my child had numerous antibiotics to clear up her nasal and ear infections. The antibiotics always worked. For those who have recurrent bacterial infections, a nasal spray of 5% to 11% Xylitol (a sugar) can reduce the incidence of bacterial infections of the nose and ears by reducing the adherence of the bacteria. [9] At least it is something to consider. Ask at your local health food store, or here is a place to order it: www.xlear.com

There is a good website on fungal infections of the sinuses, www.fungalsinusitis.com . They give medical evidence that it is crucial that you clean your house and car of mold. (Some of the suggestions on how to do this are covered in the chapter on Recovery Of Health, under Sarito’s story.) When my child was in first grade, she had a constant stuffed-up nose. I put a large HEPA filter in her bedroom, and after a year, the stuffy nose was gone. Just giving your body eight hours free of allergens and mold can help your immune system recover and deal with the allergens that it is exposed to during the day.

Teresa Binstock posted an interesting abstract on the use of glutathione nasal spray to reduce the occurrence of inner ear infections in children. 600 mg of glutathione was sprayed into each child’s nose each day for two weeks. Three months later, two-thirds of the group receiving the treatment showed improvement compared to only 8% of the control group. [10] Wish I had known this when my kid was going through all those earaches. I just recently found out that she is low on glutathione. I’d like to bring her levels up, but I don’t feel comfortable giving her plain cysteine, although she tested low on that too. She doesn’t like the taste of undenatured whey, so that is unacceptable as a means of increasing glutathione. So I’m giving her a tiny bit of glycine, taurine, lipoic acid, MSM and the DEWS product called Me-cofactors instead. I really don’t know which is the most important. Her selenium levels, which are also needed to use glutathione, seem adequate.

Later --- Marie: I just saw a new doctor, and now I have some hope. His theory on my bad yeast problem is simply this: My sinuses and ears are so full of candida that I have to clear that infection up before I get rid of the stuff in my stomach because I just keep on re-infecting myself. Makes sense to me.

To clear up the sinuses he told me to first open up my sinuses as much as possible with steam (put a few drops of tea tree oil in water, this helps) Then basically saturate my sinuses and ears with colloidal silver. I have been putting silver in my sinus and ears for a few weeks with not much help. So when the doctor said to do this I didn’t think it was going to help. But it did, with the right silver! Previously I’d used some very expensive colloidal silver. I paid around $70.00 for 8oz. But when the doctor tested it, he said that it was no good. He recommended some silver made by a local woman who charges $25.00 for 8oz. I used this silver last night, and I had a horrible headache night after I did it, but today my sinuses are draining for the first time in years. My other doctor told me I had to go on antibiotics! My new doctor said the antibiotics would have done me in. He has hope for me, and now I have some hope. At least I have a plan of attack.

Harold: I sure recommend colloidal silver, but it has to be the good kind. If the directions say you have to shake it before use, then it is not good. I make my own now for a fraction of the cost. To make your own all you need is some pure grade (.999) silver, three 9 volt batteries, two alligator clip jumper wires (Radio Shack) and distilled water.

My sinuses are not 100% yet, but not bad. On a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 is the worst, mine now are about a 2. I went through the hoops with a lot of different treatments like sniffing salt water, inhalers, etc; but the best was colloidal silver and ingesting my onion, garlic and honey recipe. The main reason I ended up with full-blown candidiasis, was the Doc giving me broad spectrum antibiotics for my sinus problems. They are both linked and when one flares up, so does the other. And to tie the knot in the cows tail, my sinuses only got worse. So keep in there, I’m pulling for you. We’re all in this together.

Later --- Bernie: Hi, Here’s my late follow up. The antibiotic took care of my ear infection, along with help from the end of heating season (dry air and dust). I am still taking the colloidal silver and am slowly getting the yeasties under control. I now have less skin breakouts and brain-fog. While I have great faith in the colloidal silver, it is a long slow process getting the candida cleaned out completely.

Harold: I found squirting colloidal silver up into nasal cavities and holding head low to allow it to run into them helped me very much. Also squirting into the mouth regularly aided the reaction. I salvaged a nasal prescription pump bottle to use.

Bernie: I found that adding MSM and DMSO to the colloidal silver increases its antifungal effectiveness in the sinuses considerably. I need all the power I can get in this area of treatment. I think DMSO has too much risk of transporting contaminants into the body for the average use.

Someone on the silver list suggested that if you add MSM to the colloidal silver until no more will dissolve, the mixture will give 80% of the effect of using DMSO and colloidal silver together, with the advantage that MSM doesn’t transport additives past the mucosa like DMSO will. MSM only increases the contact of the colloidal silver with the tissue of the sinuses, thus allowing more complete treatment of the mucosal passages.

Harold: Your procedure sounds good; and you’re right, DMSO has to be used cautiously, it can transport impurities into the body. The mix of colloidal silver with MSM sounds good.

Note: MSM and DMSO are closely related chemically. In fact, MSM is also called DMSO2.

Sally: Everyone read this news release, “CNN - Fungus causes most chronic sinusitis, researchers say” --- September 9, 1999. (website article no longer available.) This short article talks about Candida and other fungal overgrowths and their related allergic reactions causing chronic sinusitis. There is a link in this article to the full text study. The study is conclusive and valid, but it states that there is no current treatment and estimates 3-5 years to develop one. This statement is not true. My doc has been successfully treating this for 25 years with diet, nutritional correction, antifungals and allergy testing and shots.

They are calling this a shocking study but wait till they realize that the postnasal drip infects the rest of the body they’ll really be shocked. The ensuing allergic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract only adds to the leaky gut phenomenon we here are so familiar with.

Polly: I found another article from the Mayo Clinic Rochester News Thursday, September 9, 1999 “Mayo Clinic Study Implicates Fungus as Cause of Chronic Sinusitis.” Doctors at the Mayo Clinic have found fungus present in almost all cases of chronic sinusitis. (Fungus was present in 96% of 210 patients. Forty different fungus varieties were identified with an average of 2.7 varieties per patient.) The doctors feel that the sinus inflammation is the body’s reaction to the presence of fungus; it is an immune reaction, not an allergic reaction. These results were only for chronic sinusitis (lasting over three months). For acute sinusitis (lasting less than one month), the cause is usually bacteria.

Al: Now maybe mainstream medicine will also investigate fungal problems and parasites in the digestive tract. It will take time but this is a major breakthrough. Also, now the drug manufacturers will spend major bucks to develop antifungals to fight the various fungi. It will all take time but it will now happen. We must also find what causes the immune system to weaken, eliminate those causes and address strengthening the immune system again.

Jane: Are they actually treating intestinal fungus? I’m very skeptical of traditional medicine.

Polly: I doubt it. Conventional medicine has always acknowledged vaginal yeast infections. Now, they are adding nasal fungus infection to the list of possibilities. I strongly doubt that mainstream medicine will quickly embrace the yeast syndrome. Yet, if mainstream medicine acknowledges that fungus can inflame the nasal mucous membrane, and that it can be a chronic problem in “non-immunocompromised” patients, then they are one step closer to acknowledging the same phenomena in the intestines.

Before traveling to any institution for treatment of intestinal yeast/fungus, at least take a look at their website or ask others on the net about their experiences with that institution. This may save you thousands of dollars and a lot of disappointment.

Update: A study published by Dr. Jens Ponikau’s Mayo team showed that a common, generic antifungal drug, amphotericin B, reduced nasal obstruction in 38 of 51 patients, removing it completely in 25 cases. (Daily doses of the drug are needed to prevent recurrence.) Dr. Ponikau is now working on the possibility that an immune response to fungus will cause chronic asthma. [11]

Update --- Alana: Hi everyone. I was on this wonderful board in 1999/2000. I don't recognize any of the previous names except for Polly (Hi Polly!).

I am here to tell you that there is hope. Have been fully recovered going on over FOUR years but will always remember and appreciate the advice I received here.

I was quite ill with an overgrowth of candida. Too many antibiotics for sinus infections, a steroid inhaler for both my nose and lungs, and general poor nutrition tipped me over to the point where I developed a fungus ball in my lower throat, yes it was as gross as it sounds! God only knows how much Candida I had growing in my bloodstream as well.

My symptoms included fatigue, food allergies, painful and swollen lower throat, frequent colds, asthma and an exremely anxious and poor outlook on LIFE.

An ear, nose and throat specialist finally diagnosed the fungus growing in my throat after he did a procedure that sent a tube with a camera down my nose to gain access to my lower throat. I had such a sore throat for so long and he would look at it and say well it's red and all, let's start another antibiotic. It was nightmarish. I had to plea, cry and basically go nuts for him to do the procedure.

I couldn't even fathom getting better and realizing that there would be a day where I didn't think or dwell about the throat, lungs, what I was eating etc.

My therapy included: Diflucan for three months --- strict anti candida diet --- NO PROBIOTICS, just ate natural yougurt --- tons of fresh garlic --- Vitamin C 1000mg daily --- Good quality multivitamin.

In all honestly, it was probably the DIFLUCAN that got me better. But that's not to discount the diet, exercise, vitamins and natural antifungals and 'good' probiotics from yogurt.

Please keep the faith. It's frustrating, I know. I've been there. I now don't even think about my diet, eat what I want, drink wine occasionally etc. I rarely get sick anymore. Good luck and hello to anyone I might have missed!