The Yeast Connection – Ew, gross!

Actually, The Yeast Connection by William G. Crook, MD may be one of the most important books you’ll read, if you have a whack of weird symptoms that can’t be diagnosed, are bothered by persistent or recurrent symptoms related to your gut, fungal infections (in your mouth, on your feet and, er, in between – men and women!), feel bad or ill when exposed to mold, perfumes, tobacco, chemicals or have taken rounds of antibiotics.

According to Crook, yeast-related issues may cause all (and sundry) sorts of havoc on our bodies… from the oft-lamented fatigue to learning difficulties … and yeast may be connected to AIDS and suicidal depression, among other things <<< yes, I am serious!

I first read this book in the 1990’s and found it illuminating, to say the least. I had just been diagnosed with antibiotic poisoning. Yeah, it’s a thing! Who knew? Certainly, not me! Here’s what I’ll say about it… but be forewarned… it’s gross.

I was going through the death throes of my first marriage. I had recently finished my third round of Prednisone for asthma, whatever-number round of Cipro for UTI and was constantly taking Imitrix for migraine – twice a month, like clockwork. To make things more interesting, peri-menopause was kicking my butt. A perfect storm, all of it. That’s not the gross part… this is: Explosive Diarrhea, the kind Imodium couldn’t touch, for days into weeks into months. I had every medical test known to (wo)man and beast. My colon was so swollen I wrote a poem about it – as you can see, it fell into my lap, what with colon and swollen. In fact, my colon was so swollen that they couldn’t do an internal test. I had to have a full body CT scan. Fun times.

Turned out, I had the mother of all yeast infections, brought on by … well… all of the above. It took me no less than a year to get back to “normal” and the only good side effect is that I lost around 100 pounds. No shit! <<< yeah, I’m hilarious. Not a diet I would recommend. The working-while-exploding was (by far!) the most horrifying. Let’s just say that one morning, I came into my office and it had been “tee-pee’d” with toilet paper. What a way to lighten the mood, huh? I wasn’t embarrassed at all. *sarcasm isn’t my first language but you get the drift*

Ahem.

This book is crammed full of easy-to-digest (pun!) information, with charts, lists, diets, illustrations, questions-and-answers and a very thorough written self-test. If a book about yeast can be fun, this is it!

So, you may be wondering if there is a cure. Yes, both prescription and non-prescription medications, like Nystatin. But the thing is, yeast is such a tricky bugger… even after getting rid of it, it may find its way back in, if you don’t block the highway, that is. How do you do that? Well, this book will tell you. Hint: Sugar is one of the biggest culprits! So, diet is first in line. It’s a life-long struggle, honestly. And a LOT of people suffer, though many don’t know! And what happens then? Maybe nothing. Maybe an explosion.

This is just an all-around excellent book that is “a must” in your library, if you’re interested in feeling better. In fact, going back through it today… makes me remember what I DO NOT want to happen again. I need to work on my (high sugar) diet before it works on me, if you know what I mean.

PS: There’s also a website: The Yeast Connection