For the better half of nearly 2 years I've been dealing with what I thought was a nasty candida overgrowth. I was constantly fatigued, had brain fog, and struggled with digestive issues, amongst other weird problems like feeling faint everytime I stood up. I tried all sorts of antifungal supplements and diets, but nothing seemed to provide lasting relief.

It wasn't until I came across some research on the connection between COVID-19 and fungal infections that I started to put the pieces together. Apparently, COVID-19 can actually your risk of developing candidiasis - a fungal overgrowth caused by the Candida yeast- BUT it can also disrupt your gut generally, on fact there's a whole sub on it r/Longcovidgutdysbiosis.

The virus seems to weaken the immune system in a way that allows Candida and other bad bacteria to thrive, even in people without obvious immune deficiencies

And some of the treatments for COVID-19, like steroids, can further increase the risk of these fungal co-infections and gut dysbiosis problems.

So it's very possible that what I thought was a standalone candida issue was actually a lingering effect of my previous COVID-19 infection - a condition known as "long COVID." When I traced back in my journal entries I realized all my symptoms started happening a few weeks after a really bad covid infection that I never quite felt better from.

No wonder the antifungal treatments weren't working!

I took a gut test with the website Biomesight and had a pretty atrocious score 42/100. I made several dietary, lifestyle, medication, and treatment changes and every 3 months redid the tests. 5 tests later my score is now 87/100- I'm still a tad low on certain good bacteria like Lactobacillus.

I've learned my chronic dizziness and fatigue was from Dysautonomia (autonomic dysfunction) that was caused by covid and is actually not an uncommon thing that some people suffer from post-virally in general- not just covid. I was able to get medication to help with these issues as well as upping my salt intake greatly (a common thing people with POTS do to regulate blood volume/lessen dizziness, POTS is a form of dysautonomia.) as well as compression socks have made such a difference in my life.

I remember lurking this sub for months and not understanding how I was doing everything "right" and still not improving- so I wanted to offer a second perspective that may shed some light as others may have equally complex cases going on which would explain why they're not responding to treatment.

Good luck and good health! 🙏