I was a severe sinus sufferer (for about 12 years). I had multiple sinus surgeries and followed the common practice of medicine (and my condition became worse over time). The turning point to my sinus freedom was following the Sinus Survival Program, which one step was to eliminate the candida overgrowth I had.
Unfortunately, this candida elimination had some side effects, some small bumps in the road, called the Herxheimer Reaction, which is a necessary part for the road to recovery for some people.
Balancing candida and the toxins released into your body is all the more reason why you need to be totally committed to a 90-day process. Unfortunately, candida may have a last say before you get it under control.
Herxheimer Reaction: a short-term (a few days to a few weeks) detoxification reaction. Herxheimer is also referred to as die-off or Herxing. As a flood of candida begin to die-off, they release their endotoxins into the tissues and blood faster than the body can eliminate them. This can spark an inflammatory response in the body that is similar to a reaction when you get a virus.
For most individuals who have chronic sinusitis, their immunity has been compromised. The immune system kicks in to try and clean-up the cellular debris, which releases a mass of inflammatory molecules. The combination of the abundance of toxins and the rise of these inflammatory molecules cause symptoms in the areas where the bacteria are being killed. This is why it affects people differently.
Symptoms: It’s not uncommon to feel flu-like symptoms. The good news is that the die-off process is working, the bad news is that this process can magnify the symptoms that you already had including aching muscles, body aches, headaches, and joint pain. It can also cause a sore throat, sweating, the chills, and nausea. For me, my sinus pain got worse, I had more drainage, more congestion, and my allergies were miserable. It just depends on the person to what extent, if any, this reaction might have.
How Do You Minimize This?
1). The Right Antifungals: One way to minimize this die-off process is to use the right mix of antifungals. Candisol is an excellent antifungal that attacks the cellular walls of candida and minimizes candida die-off. Allimed is so effective that it may cause the Herxheimer effect. If this is the case, it isn’t the time to retreat and abandon ship, it means that it’s working. You will have to be the judge, you could back-off on the dosage, but we’d recommend following the detox strategies below first.
2). Follow Dr. Ivker’s Detox Strategies. It’s important to have a detoxification strategy in place so that you’re able to eliminate these toxins from your body. Our bodies normally detox unwanted toxins through the intestines, lungs, lymph, kidneys, and skin. But when you have this flood of candida toxins taking action all at once on all fronts, it is the difference between having a few aches and pains and feeling nauseated for weeks.
Dr. Ivker’s Breakthrough Membership highlights each of these recommendations and provides a full step-by-step process, proven effective to eliminate chronic sinusitis and candida from your life. Here are a few detox strategies:
- Drink ½ an ounce of water per pound of body weight. Why? 70% of toxins are eliminated through urine. It’s always important to hydrate, even more so with a candida cleanse.
- Get fiber in your diet. The average person only gets about 12-15g of fiber per day. We actually need about 25g for females and 38g for males, or about 14g of fiber for every 1,000 calories consumed. Fiber naturally detoxifies unwanted matter through the colon. The best sources of fiber include brown rice, organic vegetables, beans, chickpeas, bran, barley, bulgur, lettuce, dark leafy greens, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, okra, sweet potatoes, popcorn, whole wheat, nuts, radishes, cabbage, spirulina, seaweed, and chlorella.
Note: We didn’t mention organic fruits, which are an excellent fiber source, but for a candida diet, we leave sugar off the list. This also includes vegetables that are high in sugar like peas and carrots.
- No sweat – actually sweat a lot. We detoxify through our largest membrane, our skin. Perspiration is one important detox component. Add an aerobic 30-minute exercise to your daily routine, take a 30-minute brisk walk, jump rope, practice yoga, or go sit in a steam room or sauna.
- Cleanse the liver. A few times a day drink dandelion detox tea, green tea, milk thistle, or other detox tea.
- Take 1,000mg of vitamin C. This vitamin helps the body produce glutathione, which is beneficial in detoxification.
- Colon therapy. This is a must for individuals with chronic sinusitis. It speeds up the detox elimination in the colon to remove unwanted particles that can make you feel the flu-like symptoms.
- Deep breathing exercises. Circulating enough oxygen in the system is beneficial.
- Sleep and rest. Get a quality 8 hours of sleep, your immune system needs it. Unfortunately, many chronic sinus sufferers can’t get a good night’s sleep BECAUSE OF THE CANDIDA. Try and get as much rest as possible. Take a nap during the day if sleep is difficult at night. Before bedtime, Dr. Ivker recommends taking 400mg of Magnesium Glycinate. It is a natural sleep agent and it also helps to open the sinuses and relief respiratory issues so you can get a good night’s sleep.
How Do I Know if I Have the Herxhiemer Reaction?
If you had specific symptoms before, but they feel magnified, this is the most common response of Sinus Survival’s past patients. Many chronic sinusitis patients get frustrated early in the program complaining that “this isn’t working; I’m feeling worse than when I started.” We tell individuals that this is common due to the candida die-off or Herxhiemer Reaction.
The most common symptoms include increased or severe fatigue, swollen glands, skin rashes, headaches, joint or muscle pain, night sweats, hypertension, hypotension, and heavy perspiration. Others report having a low-grade fever, tinnitus, heart palpitations, coordination issues, flu-like symptoms, dizziness, and sore throat. Many of these symptoms are your body’s natural immune defenses at work.
Things to Remember
- Your commitment to adhering to Dr. Ivker’s proven candida program is a small price to pay for having a life-changing result.
- The Herxheimer reactions are only temporary and only last for a few days in most people, a few weeks for others.
- The Detox Strategies can help you eliminate toxins and feel better faster.
Leave a Reply