Candida: The Beast That Lives Inside Me

Beginnings

My whole life I've always been a little unhealthy. I was born prematurely and have had a weak immune system throughout my childhood. When I was young, I feared sleeping due to the darkness that took over the inside of my house at night. My fear turned into anxiety and sometimes I would actually throw up from it! My parents thought this was normal behavior and that I was "working [myself] up into a tizzy." Though, this was the only persisting problem I had as a kid. 

My discrete symptoms of a candida overgrowth started during my Sophomore year of high school. I had chosen to go to public school after I had been home schooled since fifth grade. I was nervous, excited, and everything was brand new.

Shortly after starting school, I joined the cross-country team to meet some friends and get exercise at the same time. I got to know a couple people on the team: my current boyfriend and my great friend exercise induced asthma! We got along really well! Little did I know this was one of my first steps toward physical and mental demise.

School was going great! I was getting good grades, I met some friends, and I was settling in nicely to my new school. My focus was not on my health, even after I had my first panic attack during lunch one day. They say everyone usually has at least one panic attack in their life. They also say that school elicits stress therefore producing stress-induced attacks. Right?

Occasionally during that year I would have periods of heart palpitations. They weren't too bad but they made my chest tight. I didn't like them. Though, changing hormones can definitely cause palpitations, so I disregarded them.

The rest of the school year went by in a blink and that summer we went on a trip to Wyoming. Palpitations persisted along with screaming anxiety. It was less than pleasant but I ignored my body and continued eating sugary cookies. If there's anything you need to know about me, it's that I love sugar.

That summer I didn't prepare for the hellish school year that would be my Junior year.