David was 45 years old when he developed dry, itchy patches of skin on his arms and legs, seemingly out of nowhere.
He had suffered from chronic sinus infections since his thirties, and had taken antibiotics every few months since to keep the infections at bay, so he wondered whether his skin issue might be attributed to pushing it too far with the antibiotics.
While his doctor had never seemed concerned about overprescription, David knew that he likely wouldn’t be able to continue to take antibiotics forever, given the stories he had heard of people who had developed weird symptoms after taking them long-term.
The antibiotics were certainly effective at knocking out his sinus infections, which is why he never really questioned his doctor.
But he also felt like it was only a matter of time until he would be forced to find a better approach.
Conventional medicine
After examining the affected patches of skin on David’s arms and legs, his doctor arrived at his diagnosis: atopic dermatitis, or, more commonly, eczema.
To treat the condition, David would need to apply a steroid cream to the affected areas, and if that wasn’t enough, he might need to take an immunosuppressive medication as well, in case his immune system was causing the issue.
David should start with the steroid cream, and schedule a follow-up appointment in a few months, to evaluate whether it makes sense to proceed with the more extreme treatment.
As for whether David’s eczema was caused by the antibiotics, his doctor speculated that while it’s certainly possible, he thought it was unlikely, given that David had been taking antibiotics regularly for more than a decade now, so he likely would’ve already experienced a reaction years ago.
Unconventional medicine
Frustrated that his doctor didn’t seem to take his concerns about antibiotic overuse seriously, and that apparently the only treatment for his eczema was to continue adding more and more medication, David realized he would need to go elsewhere for answers.
He knew that eczema didn’t just happen out of nowhere.
He knew that something was causing the condition, whether it was the antibiotics or not.
Maybe it was his diet.
Or maybe he had a deficiency in something.
Or a toxicity.
Or an infection.
Or something else.
Whatever it was, David knew he would need help figuring out was going on, and that his doctor’s obvious bias—that medication is the only approach—probably wasn’t going to get him very far.
Enter Quantify
Seeking answers, David eventually discovered Quantify in a Facebook Group for people with eczema, when a member reported how they were able to resolve their eczema after eliminating certain foods from their diet that were identified on a food sensitivity test.
Curious to learn more, David checked out the website, and soon signed up.
After getting matched with a certified health coach, completing a health questionnaire, and meeting with his health coach over video chat, a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) stool analysis was ordered for David, to test for parasites, bacteria, fungi, and viruses, and evaluate intestinal permeability, inflammation, and the health of his microbiome.
Candida overgrowth
A few weeks later, he received his test results, and his health coach explained that his qPCR stool analysis showed a significant overgrowth of Candida albicans, a fungus that typically exists at low levels throughout the gastrointestinal tract, but that often overgrows due to antibiotic overuse.
His health coach added that by taking antibiotics regularly for more than a decade, David had likely developed candida overgrowth years ago, but only recently reached a tipping point at which his immune system could no longer keep the fungal infection under control, resulting in his eczema, a common manifestation of uncontrolled candida.
Had he continued with the same approach—taking antibiotics every few months for his sinus infections, while further disrupting the balance of his microbiome—it’s quite likely that eczema would be just the first of many other chronic symptoms that he would develop down the line.
To address candida overgrowth, his health coach continued, David would need to optimize his immune function and gastrointestinal health, by eliminating processed foods, sugar, grains, and dairy from his diet, increasing consumption of fruits, vegetables, and fermented foods, and taking certain supplements, such as ginger, triphala, and astragalus.
Recovery
It wasn’t easy for David to hear that his eczema was caused by an intestinal fungal infection, which, in turn, was caused by his overreliance on antibiotics, but he wasn’t surprised.
He had been apprehensive about his use of antibiotics for years, knowing that at some point he would have to pay the piper, but his doctor’s lack of concern had ultimately dissuaded David from exploring other approaches.
Recognizing that this was both a moment of reckoning, but also an opportunity to take control of his health, David started making the dietary changes and taking the supplements his health coach had recommended.
Within a few months, his skin started to improve, and within a year, his eczema had completely resolved, with a follow-up qPCR stool analysis showing a normal level of Candida albicans.
But that wasn’t all.
An unanticipated side effect of his health plan was that his sinus infections—the symptom that led to the antibiotics in the first place—followed the same trajectory as his eczema, gradually decreasing in severity over time as his overall health improved.