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From: andrea@hp-sdd.HP.COM (Andrea K. Frankel)
Newsgroups: sci.med,sci.misc
Subject: Re: Pau D'arco or Taheebo query
Message-ID: <1051@hp-sdd.HP.COM>
Date: Sat, 28-Nov-87 22:58:52 EST
Article-I.D.: hp-sdd.1051
Posted: Sat Nov 28 22:58:52 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 1-Dec-87 03:33:26 EST
References: <1987Nov25.163709.2911@mntgfx.mentor.com>
Reply-To: andrea@hp-sdd.UUCP (Andrea K. Frankel)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, San Diego Division
Lines: 54
Keywords: Pau D'arco taheebo herbs healing candida
Xref: mnetor sci.med:3750 sci.misc:645


The basis for folks believing that this herb will help heal Candida
overgrowths is that it is the bark of a tree that grows in the Amazonian
rain forests without ever succumbing to any of the funguses that usually
attack both living and dead wood in such a wet environment.

There are many useful medicines which have been "discovered" by
noticing their effects in this way; however, to my knowledge, nobody
has ever done any controlled studies proving Pau D'arco's
effectiveness.  On the plus side, I've never heard of any serious or
irreversible problems arising from drinking the stuff, so it's worth a
try to see if it helps you (or whoever has the problem that you're
posting for).

When I was first diagnosed with Candida problems, I tried the
nutritional treatment route - rigorous low-carbo non-yeast diet,
lots of garlic supplements, and quarts of Pau d'arco tea every day.
It caused headaches and a "toxic feeling" which the chiropractor claimed
was due to the rapid kill-off of the candida and subsequent release of
the toxins in the lysed candida cells into the bloodstream.  I really
had no idea whether that was correct, or if the headaches were directly
caused by the tea.  By decreasing the dosage and then working back up
to the full amount gradually, I was able to handle it.

I got enough relief that I was ok for a couple of years.  The second
time the Candida got out of hand, I wasn't able to force myself to stay
on the rigorous diet; the Pau d'arco tea by itself was *NOT* sufficient
to do any good.  I ended up going to an MD who prescribed Nystatin
(pure powder, taken orally in water 4x/day) along with a less rigorous
version of the diet.  The Nystatin produced some of the same side
effects (headaches and "toxic feeling") that the Pau d'arco had, which
would support the idea that the effects were a result of the kill-off
of the yeast.

My conclusion after several bouts:  Nystatin has it all over Pau d'arco
when it comes to knocking the yeast levels back to a normal level, and
you don't have to be as ascetic about the diet.  Of course, the more
disciplined you can be about avoiding sugar during either treatment, the
faster the Candida problem disappears.  For self-help when I start
noticing the first symptoms of overgrowth, I've found that a new
garlic preparation called Garlicin (Nature's Way) is effective.

Hope this helps...


Andrea Frankel, Hewlett-Packard (San Diego Division) (619) 592-4664
                "...like a song that's born to soar the sky"
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