My name is Ken, and I am a sugar addict. I thought it was just a sweet tooth that gave me chocolate and ice cream cravings at lunch, at dinner, after dinner, late at night, or essentially 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Just an unhealthy indulgence that was balanced by an otherwise healthy lifestyle. However, the cravings got stronger, and living next to a Shopper’s Drug Mart where a wonderful variety of Lindt chocolates and Breyer’s ice cream is always on sale did not help me keep my place sugar free.
Eating copious amounts of chocolate and ice cream never seemed like a bad thing. Finishing 4 litres of ice cream and a box or 2 of chocolates in a week was not unheard of. After all, I never gained weight (hate me if you must), my glucose levels were normal, I had excellent blood pressure, and every other medical indicator of illness tested negative, so why should I be concerned?
The problem was not in the measurable, quantifiable things that would turn up in a medical exam. It was those little things that started to cause concern. Why do I have sugar cravings where I used to only have the occasional sweet tooth? Why am I always tired? Why was it getting harder to concentrate and follow a train of thought to its conclusion? Why was I feeling so moody so frequently? Why are my eyes so irritated? Why do my muscles and joints ache so much? Why is my body so prone to injury and inflammation?
These questions usually led me to question the amount and quality of exercise I was getting, my sleeping habits, my job satisfaction, and my life choices. Usually adapting these would lead to some positive changes and all would be fine in Camelot. But this time was different. I had a yeast infection that refused to go away, even after 4 weeks of treatment with clotrimazole, a topical anti-fungal agent. A different approach would be needed.
After researching online and filling out some online questionnaires, it became clear that I had a candida infection. It seemed outlandish that a guy could ever have a candida infection, but it does happen, and in truth, having a Y chromosome just means that the symptoms are more easily masked. Speaking with a nutritionist confirmed all of this. As difficult as it was to accept that I had a candida infection, the hardest part was yet to come.