Expert: Dr. Kristina Conner - 1/8/2009

Question
To start off, I'm male, 16.

My stomach has been bothering me for about a year now...
I decided to go on a mostly raw diet a couple months ago thinking that would help, but it hasn't much.
(what I eat is as much fruit and vegetables as I want, about an oz of raw walnuts or almonds per day, I have fish fish sometimes, baked potatoes, oatmeal. No wheat, no dairy, no sugar, no salt, pork, beef, or poultry.)

So basically what has been going on is my lower abdomen pretty much always hurts, and I feel nauseated. I'm constipated, and when I do make bowel movements, my stool is skinny, and has some undigested food even though I make sure to chew extra.

I'm tired right after waking up, my inner ears are itchy, sometimes the glands in my throat swell up and are tender, and I've had hives for 8 weeks now.

My doctor doesn't know whats going on. I'm pretty sure I have either parasites or candida overgrowth in my intestines.

If you know anything on this topic, what would you recommend?

I know of a now foods black walnut husk/wormwood/clove liquid complex, which is supposed to kill parasites, if I did this, how long should I do it for?

Thanks for your time,
Andrew

Answer
Hello Andrew,
Thanks for your question.  While I do think it's possible that you may have candida overgrowth, or parasites, it's difficult to say for sure without a full assessment.  So that's what I would recommend over trying any product on your own.  This is particularly true because of your age; either in more unusual for someone your age, so it makes more sense to try and rule out more serious pathology first.  If possible, find a naturopathic (www.naturopathic.org) or holistic (www.holistic.org) doctor in your area for this.  If that's not possible, and you do want to try some things on your own, diet & digestive aids are the first places to start.  Your diet is free of most major allergans, but raw foods are sometimes harder to digest than cooked ones.  You might consider a digestive enzyme or bitters to supplement your diet; as well as fiber &/ or a probiotic to make sure you are not constipated.  Once that's in order, if that does not correct function, then consider the candida or parasite cleanse.  Typical candida cleanses are 2-4 weeks, with an antifungal agent & anticandida diet, followed by a probiotic.  Parasite cleanses are trickier; because of the various life cycles of the parasites, it may take more time, or more than one round of antiparasitics, to get at the problem.  It's best to have some kind of lab work done to give you a better idea of what parasite you're dealing with; otherwise, an educated guess is the best you can do.  
Good luck!
Dr Conner