It's not all in the hands of the immune system, though that is way important. Those bacteria/yeast that are able to get past the stomach acid, are then confronted by the beneficial bacteria in the the small intestine. Maybe you just forgot to say that part. This is the main reason that we caught the miserable infection in the first place...because we had destroyed our healthy intestinal flora; probably by antibiotics, or your mother never passed them on to you at birth...or not very many. Then we have to farm those little buggers and keep them happy. If they die, we die.
During my candida treatment I took natural antifungals...herbs, and a few other outstanding products that were quite powerful. They were not drugs. Also the good bacteria L. acidophilus types at first, because that's what lives in the small intestines. They kept increasing the quantity. In the second phase they added the B. bifidus types that naturally are in-charge of the colon. My elimination became darker...ew! Then in the last 2 or 3 months of the program they gave me between 500 billion and 1000 billion per day. It felt like the candida had come back! But those bacterium were "kickin' butt!" and making war.
You see...the surface area in your GI tract is comparable to a tennis court, and you have to replant that flora in there. It also has to dissolve all of that crud thats coated your colon. So I want to hear somebody talking about the importance of the good bacteria. Without them being reestablished, your not gonna be cured. Health doesn't happen without those fellas. Even in the soil.
Did you know that to really define organic food, you have to put the soil under the microscope and look at the bacteria, because they are the ones that make the soil healthy, which make the plants healthy and deliver the nutrition to our bodies. That's why soils are lacking nutrients today, because the harsh fertilizers and techniques kill the good critters in the soil.
Candida creates major amounts of acetaldyhide and many other toxins in the body, but the good bacteria keep us clean and free of them. They create B vitamins and vitamin K. They create their own antibiotic/antifungals. They digest our food completely, keep our livers clean, and do a myriad of other things. You will do well to get as many of these into you as you can. I can buy 50 billion per capsule of high-tech strains designed to better attach to the intestinal walls. If you want to learn what I have learned, go to www.thecandidayeastanswer.com , where you can down-load their free book. That's what I did.
Of course, the diet is important, too, and if you can't afford the clinic, it will take a few years of diligence.
I'm still on the look-out for effective candida cures that are inexpensive. I've just recently heard that cold-pressed coconut oil is effective. Has anyone tried that? (www.coconutdiet.com)
I've also heard of something called Miracle2 Soap, but I haven't tested it yet. (www.miracle2distributors.com/more.html)
Also Donna Gates speaks of her Body Ecology Diet and all of her cultured food products that you can make yourself to add beneficial cultures to you diet. (www.bodyecology.com)
And...I hope you all get better.