The author of this article, Dr. Dean, is a key health advisor to www.yeastconnection.com, a Web site I highly recommend to women based on the pioneering work of Dr. William Crook.

Dr. Crook, one of my first mentors and a friend who passed away last year, was the author of the classic book, The Yeast Connection, and many other bestsellers that helped millions of women. He was instrumental in helping me recognize that there was a wide network of physicians who understood the importance of nutrition. He indirectly helped connect me to this network and I will be ever grateful for his guidance in this area as that was really the beginning of my journey into high-level natural health.

His great legacy is being carried on at www.yeastconnection.com, where you will find out all the latest insights on how Candida yeast causes problems in your body, and how to alleviate them.

By Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D.
Health advisor, yeastconnection.com

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia are similar conditions, with long lists of symptoms for which there are few real remedies. While they are called different disorders, CFS and fibromyalgia are close cousins, sharing many of the same symptoms. They are often spoken of in the same breath.

In fact, they may be connected. Certainly their similarities, beginning with a shared feeling of profound fatigue make it easy to find a connection between the two.

Only recognized by the CDC since 1988, CFS, now called Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS), is characterized by the following factors:

Not until 1990 did the American College of Rheumatology establish diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia that included incapacitating fatigue, muscle and joint pain, neuralgia, sleep disorders, anxiety, depression, cognitive confusion and digestive problems.

It appears that CFIDS and fibromyalgia may also be connected to yeast overgrowth for the simple reason that a significant number of sufferers from these two syndromes find relief when they follow an anti-candida diet and other protocols to address Candida albicans yeast overgrowth, including prescription antifungal medications when necessary. The decided lack of interest by the scientific establishment in studying candidiasis alone or as it affects people with chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia leaves a distinct gap in our ability to treat these conditions.

However, Carol Jessup, M.D., who treated 1,000 CFIDS patients with anti-fungal medication, found that up to 75 percent of patients with CFS also had candidiasis. She is convinced that if candida is treated, the majority of CFIDS patients will recover.

Disputed studies

A study by Dismukes in 1990 on only 42 patients given a double-blind trial of therapy with the prescription antifungal medication, Nystatin, claimed to "prove" that chronic candidiasis did not exist because neither Nystatin or placebo benefited the patients. Dismukes also declared that since chronic candidiasis was not reproducible in an animal model, it was not verifiable.

However, the country's foremost authority on yeast infections, the late Dr. William Crook said that Dismukes got it all wrong. Dr. Crook said Dismukes' study was, in fact, successful. It was successful in proving that Nystatin alone is not the treatment for chronic candidiasis. Dr. Crook's approach to candidiasis involved a combination of diet, probiotics and antifungal supplements and antifungal medication when necessary.

In spite of Dr. Crook's decades of dedicated work on the yeast connection, conventional medicine has not given chronic candidiasis sufferers any support. Perhaps, it's because conventional medicine only seems to investigate drug treatments and only uses one drug at a time in research. By continuing this one-sided approach, they may never catch up with Dr. Crook and the benefits he gave many thousands of people affected with candida. Patients, however, for the most part, are left struggling to find answers themselves.

The complaint of being "tired, so tired" and "sick all over" is a common link between sufferers of CFIDS, fibromyalgia and yeast overgrowth. So is the litany of multiple visits to numerous physicians without relief, and the laundry list of symptoms in common.

Even though they are so similar, CFIDS and fibromyalgia have some defining differences.

CFIDS

The CFIDS Association estimates that 800,000 Americans suffer from this condition, but no more than 16 percent have been diagnosed. In addition to muscle pain, multi-joint pain without swelling or redness, and lack of refreshing sleep, CFIDS sufferers complain of:

1. Deep fatigue lasting more than 24 hours after exercise
2. Impairment of short-term memory or concentration
3. Sore throat
4. Tender lymph nodes
5. Headaches of a new type, pattern or severity

The association adds, "CFIDS brings with it a constellation of debilitating symptoms... It is characterized by incapacitating fatigue experienced as a profound exhaustion and extremely poor stamina." Although many doctors tell patients suffering from these symptoms that "it's all in your head," it is not a psychological disorder.

Unfortunately, there are no specific diagnostic tests for CFIDS, and no cure has been found. There are a number of treatments that can be helpful, along with yeast-related treatments. Many people with CFIDS are highly sensitive to drug therapy and find much more relief taking natural nutrients and non-invasive therapies.

Some of these include:

• Supplements for digestive problems and nausea that often accompany CFIDS, including probiotics, digestive enzymes and ginger

• Supplements for depression and anxiety, including St. John's wort, tryptophan, and 5-HTP

• Supplements for muscle and joint pain, including magnesium malate, glucosamine sulphate

• Counseling, to help develop coping skills necessary to live with a debilitating chronic disease (not overdoing it is the most difficult skill to acquire)

• Gentle exercise (yoga is great!)

• Sleep and rest management (St. John's wort, tryptophan, and 5-HTP are also very useful for sleep)

For more about these solutions, visit our Web store.

Stay tuned for Part II in our next newsletter.

Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D., is health advisor to Woman's Health Connection at www.yeastconnection.com and is featured on the website's "Ask A Pro" page. Her latest books are The Miracle of Magnesium and Natural Prescriptions for Common Ailments.

Related Articles:

PMS and The Yeast Connection

Depression: Is Yeast a Missing Link?

Allergies: Is Yeast a Missing Link? Part I

Fibromyalgia Pain is Real -- What You Can Do to Relieve It

Diet Helps Fibromyalgia

Physicians' Protocol For Using Antibiotics in Rheumatic Disease

References

Dismukes, W. E., J. S. Wade, J. Y. Lee, B. K. Dockery, and J. D. Hain. 1990. A randomized, double-blind trial of Nystatin therapy for the candidiasis hypersensitivity syndrome. N. Engl. J. Med. 323:1717-1725.