Hi Chelan,

For me, it was both mercury and candida that caused me obsessive fearful thinking patterns. Something that I really wasn't in much control of. I began to become fearful of fear. It got so bad, I would avoid talking to people.

I went on a candida diet. I excluded all forms of sugar, wheat/gluten and yeast. I reduced (now eliminated most) high carbohydrate foods like fruits, potatoes/beans/peas/carrots etc, all grains (even non gluten), milk etc.

I stuck to eating safe foods that candida doesn't really thrive on - eggs (free range), meats/liver, low carbohydrate vegetables (there are many), acidophilus yoghurt (plain and sugar free), almond/brazil raw nuts, butter and other good animal fats that aid healing. I removed all vegetable oils from my diet, aside from extra virgin olive oil which is a good one to have in the diet. Herbal and ordinary tea.

I excluded coffee, as everytime I drink coffee, I relapse. Coffee is bad for candida I have discovered.

It may sound very restrictive, but if someone is suffering enough, it's amazing what they will give up in order to gain improvement. I really was so ill before this, that I was barely able to function. I was suicidal, anxious and severely depressed. The diet may not be a cure, but it is a great help whilst a person is battling other things like mercury, viral infections etc.

I went through a withdrawal and detox from doing this and felt worse for a few weeks as the toxins started to come out of me and candida began to die off. Cravings also increased as the yeast start to die, you crave the very things they need to survive. But keep strong, battle it out and the cravings eventually reduce. But improvements were quite marked after this was over. My anxiety was much reduced and the obsessive thinking patterns were far better. I also began to sleep better too and the dreams were not so bad.

That's how I dealt with my anxiety. I believe that high levels of yeast do this. I know mercury can too, but mercury is often the cause of candida occuring.

It is indeed torture and nothing worse than the torture of the mind.

Chelation can also flare candida, so it's not surprising that you might get worse. Not only with the mercury being moved/removed which causes enough symptoms, but also possibly candida getting flared up in the process. If you're not already, you would be very wise to look into treating possible candida - as this can be a very big problem.

It may not be easy to remove the foods we love to eat (and that the candida requires to thrive on), but it can lead to great improvements and peace of mind. It also improves immunity and helps the body to eliminate toxins more efficiently. Personally for me, I did not find antifungals/probiotics to be of much use in the end. Certainly, not without the diet in place.