Hello out there!

[metis woman]

Hi all, I've been an occasional lurker for a couple of years now, thought it was high time I joined and put in my 2cents. We've done our best to avoid conventional medicine and cleaning products since having kids over a decade ago, we all had morg symptoms for years, but called it chemical sensitivity until things got really weird a year or so ago...

We already use herbs and homeopathics, unscented and homemade cleaning and personal care products, cloth diapers and wipes, I cook everything from scratch using local and organic ingredients as much as possible...

I'm a stay at home mom of 4, we are unschooling as we believe the educational system is just as useless and corrupt as the sick care system...

All of which makes me a freak according to folks around here before I even start talking about morgellons!
(Which I rarely do.)

So I'm really looking forwards to having someone to talk to about this mess!

Thanks for being there!
metis woman

[metis woman]

Also, we've both,(baby daddy & myself),been dealing with candida issues since the early '90s, which explained a lot of our symptoms for a while, and I've been bitten by ticks a few times, so I thought maybe I had Lyme disease, but was never actually tested for either... I haven't had any vaccines since '96 and my children have never had any ever. So far they are A-OK. *knocks on wood*

[lamb]

Welcome! Sorry you are here. You sound pretty functional, what makes you think you have m? Symptoms, I mean.
Hope your kids stay well.
God Bless

[fracty]

Hi Metis Woman,

Welcome and nice to have you here. Although it would be nicer for all of us if this were the Successful Billionaires Chat Group rather than MDR Forum, but I guess you can't have it all.

Well, welcome again!

[metis woman]

Why thank you fracty and lamb! I sound functional, eh? I don't feel it!

I started looking at samples from my body,(hair, skin, fluids,etc...), under this old microscope I had. I was checking for what was causing this terrible itch all over my body, but especially on my head and arms. There were bird mites on a window near where we'd left a birds nest, until their babies flew away, in the eaves of the house, and I was worried that some had crawled up my arms and infested me when I was cleaning them off of it... I also thought there might be demodex mites causing the awful acne on my face and chest.

I'm no biologist, and the scope was only 100x, but what I was seeing was like a bad science fiction horror movie. Fibers in every fluid and orifice, my hairs were not at all hair-like up close, and mutant strongyloides for starters...

I don't remember ever not being covered with lint,(black is my favorite clothing color),but never thought much about it b4 then, or looked too closely at the lint, why would I?

I had the sores all over, it was a gradual progression from face and scalp to trunk, legs and arms. In desperation, and too poor to pay for the naturopath, I turned to conventional medicine... My energy was lower than ever in my life, and none of the blood or urine lab tests showed anything abnormal as per nutrient levels or toxicity...

My arms were going painfully numb every night and morning, I was diagnosed w/ carpal tunnel and referred to a neurologist who did some nerve response tests and told me I needed surgery immediately. My symptoms were not quite right for CT, I read a medical diagnosis manual about it, but my FP refused to listen to my concerns and would only advise me to talk to the surgeon about it. Like a surgeon is going to send business away.

Then I was referred to a dermatologist who, from behind her desk, diagnosed me w/ pityrosporum ovale,(turns out it's a mycelial(sp) form of candida overgrowth), and gave me a prescription for 2weeks of flucanazole, which I didn't want to take, and couldn't afford at the time anyway so I tucked it away for later and did some research on p.ovale. Found out that people were treating themselves with topical pyrithione zinc, so I went out and bought some unscented dandruff shampoo which really did help a LOT, for a while...
Now it seems to just irritate and dry out my skin something fierce.

I'm not yet "cured", but gathering strength and trying to maintain some sanity, whatever that even means anymore, now that my reality is so altered.

[Kritters]

You can't cure systemic Candida with a topical remedy.
Pityrosporum ovale and skin diseases. [Keio J Med. 1993] - PubMed result
“…Even systemic infections have been described….”

[metis woman]

Was still on a low sugar diet, using antifungal herbs and supplements...
I found that the zinc pyrithione was more effective than anything else we tried over the years. We'd slather it on all over and let it dry b4 getting dressed, we were staying at a cabin on a lake at the first of this treatment, and I found that the shampoo was gone after a few hours, no bubbles were there when I'd go swimming. As a result, I think topical stuff gets absorbed fairly completely by the skin.
(At this point I hadn't even been using shampoo at all anymore, even the natural kind made my head itch and crawl. I was desperate.)

[Kritters]

Metis,

I'm referring to SYSTEMIC pityrosporum ovale....

Even though you might have injested some anti-fungal herbs and supplements, once a fungus becomes systemic it can obliterate the organs. Not all anti-fungals work on certain fungi. If your derm diagnosed you with this fungus from behind her desk without even ordering tests, I'd say, A) she should have her license removed and B) you most likely have candida. Just my opinion, but I would have it checked to find specifically what you're dealing with.

Kritters

[metis woman]

We have both definitely had candida issues for years... Never lab-tested, but diagnosed by MDs and confirmed w/ muscle and vega testing by several Naturopaths. Been on diflucan a couple of times long b4 ever even seeing that Derm or getting diagnosed w/ p.ovale...

My candida symptoms are always lurking there in the background, but until this past year or so, it was directly related to things I could at least somewhat control, like diet and environment.

The pyrithione zinc worked like magic on my all over sores, the only actual lesions left are a couple of recurring ones on the sides of my face, the so called 'carpal tunnel' seems to be somewhat alleviated too,(sans surgery), only my knuckles are sore now... I'd like to think that dealing with some of the stuff on the outside would help the body to heal some on the inside too.

I am done with seeking answers from conventional medicine, so far it's done us more harm than good.

[Kritters]

Metis,

I also think topical application will help, since the skin is the largest organ in the body.

I brought up the Candida (and in several threads) because I think it's a much more pathogenic entity than people have been led to believe. I think in some cases here, it is PART of a mix of what 'Morgellons' is in some people and maybe not so much in others.

I'm on the Candida kick now and plan on continuing to research what it really is and what it's really capable of. Like you, I have learned that conventional medicine is sorely lacking in knowledge of so many things which are affecting us.

Best of luck,
Kritts