I learned the hard way its important to detox prior to and during antifungal treatment.  After failing to make any progress using prescription antifungals, I moved to herbal antifungals.  I was doing a four day rotation of three different herbal antifungals that was supposed to take nine weeks.  The first two weeks were fine.  Then I started feeling more and more wiped out and achey.  By the fifth week, even one capsule of the herbal antifungal would make me feel worse, so I stopped treatment. I realized that I was having a die-off reaction, also known as herxheimer reaction.    

At that point I figured out that my body was too toxic to handle anti-fungals.  I was very gun-shy about trying more antifungals after being through the three rounds of prescription antifungals followed by the herbals.  I still had all of the candida symptoms and was more exhausted than ever. At this point I knew that I had to improve my immune system and detoxify before going on with another antifungal treatment.

Since I have to watch what I eat I learned to read the labels of practically everything that I ate, including supplements. Having a history of candida, I avoid sugar.  Its amazing how sugar is used in so many things.  Sugar goes under many names including dextrose, mannose, dextrin, sucrose, glucose, and fructose.  Also, I noticed that liquid supplements often contain alcohol, which is also bad for candida patients. I've had doctors give me supplements that contained alcohol, yellow and red dye, yeast, and carnuba wax which is used in car wax.  The point is that you should simply read the labels for yourself before eating a new food or trying a new supplement, and don't just take anyone's word for it. 

If you are going through the candida protocol or have a history of candida, you ideally don't want to have to take antibiotics.  However, sometimes there are times when you may really need to take one.

First of all, ask your doctor if  you really need an antibiotic to treat a particular infection, or is it just a preventative measure. Also, check into a natural method for a particular infection and discuss with your doctor.  For example, D-mannose works just as good as an antibiotic for most UTI infections.  If you get a bacteria infection and need to take an antibiotic, talk to your doctor about taking something like a Z-pack, which you only need to take for 5 days.  That’s what I did.   And if you have to go on an antibiotic, go on a probiotic and stay on a it for a couple of weeks after you are done with the antibiotic. Its a good idea to have a plan set up with your doctor just in case you need to take an antibiotic.  So don't wait until you have an infection, discuss this with your doctor on your next visit.

If you have candida or have been through candida you need to be careful with antibiotics.  Antibiotics kill both good and bad bacteria.  If your friendly bacteria is depleted enough, then your intestinal flora will be out of balance and candida can get out of control.  

First of all, you should definitely listen to your doctor if he or she says you must take an antibiotic.  However, there are times when a doctor will offer an antibiotic as a preventative.  For example, I was bit by a dog last year. and I got a tetanus shot.  My doctor wanted me to take an antibiotic as well.  I asked if it was necessary and he said no, it was just in case the bite wound became infected.  So I took the script but never had to get it filled.  Another example is I hd to have my wisdom teeth taken out shortly after getting over the candida.  The periodontist initially wanted me to take an antibiotic as a preventative.  After discussion with him and our physician, I decided to not take the antibiotic. I had the script just in case.  Rinsing out my mouth with salt water several times a day for a week after the extraction was all that was needed.