[cistusincanus]

hey folks~
i'm super excited to have found this forum, you all seem really knowledgeable.

so,,, 8 months ago i was on an antibiotic and it messed my body right up. bloating, constipation, that type of thing. i did research into how exactly an antibiotic can make a body sick and stumbled onto candida albicans and immediately threw myself into an anti-yeast diet (you can look this up online) and stopped taking abx. for candida you are recommended to eat tons of cruciferous veg because they have antifungal properties, and i was basically living off cabbage, brussel sprouts, 2-3 tablespoons of flax seed a day, small amounts of canned fish and quinoa. for 2-3 months. ( i eat pretty well rounded now, still lowish carb but lots of veg, protein and healthy fats.) immediately stopped getting my period and lost most of my libido, which had been pretty voracious because i was freshly off antidepressants, too. blood tests showed very low estrogen as well as low testosterone, but i'll post my lab results in the comments.

a few months later and after speaking to a naturopath about my GI symptoms, we concluded it was likely i have a small intestinal bacterial overgrowth rather than an intestinal fungal overgrowth and i took various herbs for that (with some real progress made) and those included oregano, olive leaf, cistus, berberine, neem , cat's claw, wormwood, and pau d'arco in various rotations. she also insisted i should drink large quantities of strong infusions of nettle leaf (not root). i think it was shortly after adding the cat's claw (and maybe neem) that my hair started falling out very badly. my mother has pretty severe androgenic alopecia, but i and my older sisters have never experienced it and it was super scary. it got even worse when i stopped all the herbs until i water fasted for five days. the shedding stopped during those five days and the following five days, until within a few hours of drinking some nettle leaf infusion it started again. read up on nettle and learned about dht and how nettle lowers SHBG. have been consuming lots of pumpkin seed oil since then to try to stop it.

started on saw palmetto about four days ago and right away (after a very brief increase in shedding) the hair loss is stabilized and all the cute lil hairs on my tummy that i actually liked have grown back in (it had gone bald?) , my subtle chest acne has come back, i had the very hormonal experience of crying in a long line at the grocery store. in short my body feels a little bit more like the body i remember owning. my question is i assume the effects of saw palmetto are temporary? am i just taking it as a placeholder until i figure out how to raise my estrogen, progesterone, SHBG and testosterone without raising my free testosterone? i thought of adding vitex, but i think i read it doesn't work in conjunction with other herbs. would saw palmetto have a lasting impact on my hair loss given that the hair loss was an imbalance created by herbs and lifestyle to begin with ? like, will the extra testosterone in my system convert to estrogen as well and therefore raise SHBG in a lasting way?
am afraid to try certain things (e.g. fenugreek) due to existing GI issues.
am afraid to try maca in case it raises my free testosterone
.

[cistusincanus]

most recent bloodwork

prolactin 4.3 range 3.9-29.5 ug/L

estradiol <18 range:
prepubertal 0-130 pmol/L
early follicular: 90-715
luteal 147-950
post menopausal 0-145

progesterone 1.7 range:
follicular 0.1-5.0
luteal 3.5-67

T total 0.7 range: 0.3-1.7
SHBG 99.6 range 32.4-128.0
T Free cal 6 range 3-33
T Bio Cal 0.14 range 0.60-0.76


my hormonal results shortly after my period stopped, before my hair loss started

Estradiol <18
T total 0.9
SHBG 162.2
T Free 5
T Bio 0.13

[EllaC]

hey folks~
i'm super excited to have found this forum, you all seem really knowledgeable.

so,,, 8 months ago i was on an antibiotic and it messed my body right up. bloating, constipation, that type of thing. i did research into how exactly an antibiotic can make a body sick and stumbled onto candida albicans and immediately threw myself into an anti-yeast diet (you can look this up online) and stopped taking abx. for candida you are recommended to eat tons of cruciferous veg because they have antifungal properties, and i was basically living off cabbage, brussel sprouts, 2-3 tablespoons of flax seed a day, small amounts of canned fish and quinoa. for 2-3 months. ( i eat pretty well rounded now, still lowish carb but lots of veg, protein and healthy fats.) immediately stopped getting my period and lost most of my libido, which had been pretty voracious because i was freshly off antidepressants, too. blood tests showed very low estrogen as well as low testosterone, but i'll post my lab results in the comments.

a few months later and after speaking to a naturopath about my GI symptoms, we concluded it was likely i have a small intestinal bacterial overgrowth rather than an intestinal fungal overgrowth and i took various herbs for that (with some real progress made) and those included oregano, olive leaf, cistus, berberine, neem , cat's claw, wormwood, and pau d'arco in various rotations. she also insisted i should drink large quantities of strong infusions of nettle leaf (not root). i think it was shortly after adding the cat's claw (and maybe neem) that my hair started falling out very badly. my mother has pretty severe androgenic alopecia, but i and my older sisters have never experienced it and it was super scary. it got even worse when i stopped all the herbs until i water fasted for five days. the shedding stopped during those five days and the following five days, until within a few hours of drinking some nettle leaf infusion it started again. read up on nettle and learned about dht and how nettle lowers SHBG. have been consuming lots of pumpkin seed oil since then to try to stop it.

started on saw palmetto about four days ago and right away (after a very brief increase in shedding) the hair loss is stabilized and all the cute lil hairs on my tummy that i actually liked have grown back in (it had gone bald?) , my subtle chest acne has come back, i had the very hormonal experience of crying in a long line at the grocery store. in short my body feels a little bit more like the body i remember owning. my question is i assume the effects of saw palmetto are temporary? am i just taking it as a placeholder until i figure out how to raise my estrogen, progesterone, SHBG and testosterone without raising my free testosterone? i thought of adding vitex, but i think i read it doesn't work in conjunction with other herbs. would saw palmetto have a lasting impact on my hair loss given that the hair loss was an imbalance created by herbs and lifestyle to begin with ? like, will the extra testosterone in my system convert to estrogen as well and therefore raise SHBG in a lasting way?
am afraid to try certain things (e.g. fenugreek) due to existing GI issues.
am afraid to try maca in case it raises my free testosterone
.

Oh my I can totally relate! TWO lots of un necessary antibiotics and the same symptoms! Gas bloating and you name it. Now I've spent thousands on diff remedies and still in the dark as to whether I have sibo or gut candida (no yeast infections however) but yeh hair falling out too.
Still can't find a SINGLE Dr who even believes in sibo or candida let alone treat for it.. But yeh I was told by the health shop candida can mess up our hormones.

You sound very in tune with your body though which is great

[cistusincanus]

yeah it's all frustrating !
how are you managing, how long have you had such symptoms ?


i definitely think my imbalance is self induced rather than due to candida or whatever alone.

i'm really wary of various herbs. i just bought maca and found out after my first dose that it can cause gut permeability to worsen, but i can't tell if that still applies to the gelatinized kind. there just isnt enough information online. u_u

[EllaC]

yeah it's all frustrating !
how are you managing, how long have you had such symptoms ?


i definitely think my imbalance is self induced rather than due to candida or whatever alone.

i'm really wary of various herbs. i just bought maca and found out after my first dose that it can cause gut permeability to worsen, but i can't tell if that still applies to the gelatinized kind. there just isnt enough information online. u_u

Hi.
It's the antibiotics that cause the candida by killing off good bacteria along with the bad. I never had ANY gut issues prior to the degree I've had now. My tummy was iron clad infact :s
But yeh the antis can cause gut bacteria imbalance leaving us susceptible to getting these gut infections. What you can do and I just brought the "intestinal permeability test", cost me 200 and I haven't done it yet but that will give you a definitive yes or no to leaky gut.
I had symptoms for about a year an a half. While I don't suffer any yeasty type infections the gut symptoms can or may be yeast overgrowth contained to the gut region but I'm not aware of any definitive test to prove it. Do you believe in the candida spit test? I'm not sure if it's viable or not :s

But HELL I never heard maca worsens gut permeability blood hell cause I take maca off and on..

I brought this $400 homeopathic solution that Calum's to address candida parasites and regulates the gut system in a period of days. I suspect a load of hogwash but will see what happens :s

For help with our guts though a lot of the herbs plants etc used for NBE are also used to smooth mucous membranes etc fenugreek fennel marshmallow root and licoruce to heal ulcers , glutamine etc you could review them and see what you think

[EllaC]

yeah it's all frustrating !
how are you managing, how long have you had such symptoms ?


i definitely think my imbalance is self induced rather than due to candida or whatever alone.

i'm really wary of various herbs. i just bought maca and found out after my first dose that it can cause gut permeability to worsen, but i can't tell if that still applies to the gelatinized kind. there just isnt enough information online. u_u

Hi.
It's the antibiotics that cause the candida by killing off good bacteria along with the bad. I never had ANY gut issues prior to the degree I've had now. My tummy was iron clad infact :s I was told by my naturopaths candida causes hormone imbalance too. Evil thing that is is.. There's a heal your gut seminar on at the mo. Check out dr josh axes website or chrisbeatcancer.com it's very eye opening esp to the likes of us!

But yeh the antis can cause gut bacteria imbalance leaving us susceptible to getting these gut infections. What you can do and I just brought the "intestinal permeability test", cost me 200 and I haven't done it yet but that will give you a definitive yes or no to leaky gut.
I had symptoms for about a year an a half. While I don't suffer any yeasty type infections the gut symptoms can or may be yeast overgrowth contained to the gut region but I'm not aware of any definitive test to prove it. Do you believe in the candida spit test? I'm not sure if it's viable or not :s

But HELL I never heard maca worsens gut permeability blood hell cause I take maca off and on..

I brought this $400 homeopathic solution that Calum's to address candida parasites and regulates the gut system in a period of days. I suspect a load of hogwash but will see what happens :s

For help with our guts though a lot of the herbs plants etc used for NBE are also used to smooth mucous membranes etc fenugreek fennel marshmallow root and licoruce to heal ulcers , glutamine etc you could review them and see what you think