Beverly's Story

I knew something was desperately wrong. During the past few months I had vertigo, bladder infections and hemorrhage-type periods. My blood sugar seemed always low. My hair looked dull and was falling out. My face was oily and broken out. I had on-going vaginal infections, and my digestion was constantly upset. I felt anxious as I never had before. Even my toenails were strange. They had black spots under them.

I went to a number of doctors. I was prescribed Claritin, Valium, and antidepressants. I knew these things would offer me no help because I knew that I had an underlying problem that was undefined. Three different doctors told me I might have cancer. A gynecologist told me that my heavy bleeding was a precancerous condition of the uterus. A general practitioner told me that my bladder problems called for a scope because it all seemed suspicious. A dermatologist looked at my toenails and said she may need to remove the toenails to do a biopsy because the spots looked like they may be some kind of funny mold. So now on top of feeling so bad, I had cancer anxiety!!

Finally in October of 2001 the bottom fell out. It’s hard to describe how sick I was. My immune system went into overload and I, having never had an allergy in my life that I know of, became allergic to almost every food that went into my mouth. I was allergic to the trees outside, to the mold inside. I even had weird sensitivities to florescent lights and TV and computer screens. Everything in my environment made me feel tremendous pressure. I often said I feel like I’m in a trash compactor.

And then God sent some angels in the form of friends. Linda told me of a doctor who could help. Beth told me about a book The Yeast Connection by William Crook. These things, I believe, saved my life.

I started taking nystatin, an antifungal medication, and began following a diet that would starve the yeast and build my immune system. Staying away from junk food wasn’t hard since I was allergic to it all anyway! He also put me on supplements that did wonders for me. It turns out that as a result of the yeast invasion in my intestines, I had developed Leaky Gut Syndrome. I had not been absorbing nutrients for who knows how long. I began taking L-Glutamine which helped to heal my intestines.

The medicine and diet were working - slowly but surely. I slowly began to see little improvements: I could tolerate a little more food; I wasn’t as sensitive to fabrics and chemicals; I could once in a while take a deep breath; My hair and skin looked better. There were improvements, but this illness still very much had the upper hand.

Talking to a woman who 20 years earlier had been confined to her room for two years suffering from yeast overgrowth was maybe the most helpful contribution to my optimism and therefore to my healing. She said to narrow my focus “You need to do just one thing--Kill the yeast!!” So from that point on I had a single objective, to kill the yeast overgrowth and from that point each month I was able to chart my improvement. It was undeniable. My strange allergies seemed to be subsiding in direct proportion to the yeast problem subsiding.

Human beings are so complicated, and some illnesses so personalized that even the most committed doctor could never completely understand all the issues.

Realizing this, each day I went to the Great Physician and said, “What shall I do today, my Great Physician, to get well?” How did He answer? He used the information I had gained from reading, research, doctors, and talking with others who had this illness. He used my common sense. He used my husband who probably understood the whole thing better than any other human being - because he was so interested since he loved me and wanted me to get well.

While you're here, read an excerpt from The Yeast Connection and Women's Health.